Developing Your Argument in a Research Essay

March 13, 2024 CustomEssay.com Write my essay

A research essay can cover many types of essays, from basic term essays written in high school through academic essays at colleges and universities to dissertations required in graduate schools. Given this range of definitions for such a task, it is no wonder that students can feel overwhelmed and confused when told they must write a research essay, and are given few other parameters.

This article will provide some needed advice for developing your essay. Once you have broken down your overarching essay plans into component parts, and looked at the professor’s expectations and the scale of the essay, it can be seen that research essay arguments can be easily developed.

Research essay arguments can be almost anything, regardless of the scale of the essay or the level of research and writing required. They all must begin with a sound thesis, or main idea, which is introduced in a concise thesis statement at the beginning of the essay and repeated in a conclusion at the end.

When considering the literature, too rarely do students take the time to actually make sense of the argument an author is presenting, and yet this is really a substantial and important skill you should be developing as early as possible in your academic career. Being able to cut to the heart of the matter without losing important detail is an invaluable writing skill. Spend some time evaluating what you read before you get started.

While the length of the essay may range depending on your course requirements, and the style, amount of research, sources, citations and documentation may change, at the core the argument of the research essay remains the same. A research essay requires you to select a side of the issue, decide upon their thesis and write a statement, do the research to support the thesis and summarize the outcome at the end. Once that is done, it is a matter of finding the supporting materials and writing the research essay to the specifications provided by your professor. Closing with a final paragraph in which you summarize the essay, echoing your thesis statement.