Argumentative assignments, unlike what many students have misunderstood, not only mean that you must argue your point. Arguing your theory is a part of most types of research papers. It is the nature of the argument that changes. In an argumentative essay or research paper, the argumentative nature starts from the topic and lasts through the research paper. The efforts towards preparing an argumentative research paper should start from the point of choosing a topic which is of argumentative nature and forming a thesis to argue on it.
Even though most people find it an effortless task to argue verbally, while handling academic assignments, it is not so easy to argue your point through written words. Proving the thesis you state is the objective of a research paper assignment. In an argumentative research paper, your argumentative thesis must be argued and proved effectively. Hence the thesis must be considered well enough before committing to prove it.
• You might be sure that your thesis is right but your audience will not believe it without substantial evidence. Hence, if you need to submit a research paper proposal, confirm that you will be able to gather enough evidence to prove your thesis, before submitting it . If your stance on the topic is something for which you do not have enough evidence, you will not be able to complete your assignment based on it. So, choose wisely; even if it means compromising on your views. Remember that your objective is to argue your thesis effectively.
• An argument will certainly have two versions or more. Some of them will be easier to prove than the others. You must choose your stance according to the time allotted for the project. Taking up the tougher ones might be challenging but if the deadline is too short and if you cannot finish it within the given time, the tougher and more interesting stances will not help you in any way.
• Do not choose the obvious view as your thesis. It will not add to the appeal of an argumentative research paper. The counter arguments on the most obvious stances will be few. A thesis which has a strong counter argument will be the most interesting one. Depending on the given time, choose such a stance for your thesis which would be interesting to the reader and, at the same time, manageable within the deadline of the assignment.
• If you want your task to be a very easy one, then it will help to evaluate the intellectual level of the audience also before finalizing your thesis. Where as a basic or rather simple stance might look like an obvious one to a sophisticated level of audience, a complicated view might be incomprehensible to an audience with lesser knowledge of the topic. If you are willing to go to the trouble of writing for the audience, this clause will not matter at all at the stage of forming the thesis.
Good argumentative research paper writing requires a combination of argumentative thinking and effective arguing. The thesis must be reasonable as well as arguable. It should be one that would interest your audience and add to the appeal of your research paper. The thesis is the focal point of your research paper. So the trouble which goes into it is worth it.
