Argumentative essay & thesis statement

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Lesson goals:

• Recognise essay writing structure 
• How to write a strong thesis statement 
• Hand-in thesis statement on itslearning 
• Complete vocab assignment on itslearning  

What is an argumentative essay?

Argumentative essay (betoog)

• A piece of writing in which you persuade/convince your audience of a statement.
• In order to do so you use several arguments in favour (pros) of your statement.
• You also give some counter arguments (cons), but you refute (weerleggen) those, so that they eventually support your statement.

Structure outline 

1. Introduction: attention grabber, hook, thesis statement

2. Pro (+ Con refuted)

3. Pro (+ Con refuted)

4. Pro (+ Con refuted)

5. Conclusion 

Check essay writing reader for a more in-depth outline! 

Thesis statement formula:

Claim (your position) + reason (evidence) = thesis statement 

Strong thesis statement:

Claim (your position) + reason (evidence) x 3 = strong thesis statement!

Time to try it out! 

• Mobile phones should be banned in school - agree or disagree? 
• After lockdown, online lessons should still take place once a week - agree or disagree?  
• Hand in both thesis statements on itslearning (the assignment is also posted there with video link). 

To do (now & for homework): 

• Write two thesis statements and hand-in to itslearning 
• Complete vocab assignment on itslearning - DL 18th Jan.
• Study vocab chapters 18-19 

Write down three interesting topics that you have recently learned about in one of your classes (social sciences or natural sciences)

For each of these topic write down:

       Why you like them

       What you like to know more about