In writing, an argument is a way in which one proves a thesis, or main idea of an essay or longer researched writing. This is often confused with writing contentious work that deliberately attacks or inflames an opposing viewpoint without support. The argument is actually the support of the main theme, and is not an opinion. The better the support, based on facts and evidence, the better the argument.

For example, a person might write an essay with a thesis statement like the following: “Charles Dickens’ work, Little Dorrit shows great opposition to the idea of imprisonment for debt.” The argument would then consist of examples from the novel that would support this thesis. One might also evaluate, cite or refer to other’s opinions on this thesis to further strengthen an argument.

Generally proof is virtually impossible, but support is fairly easy to find with a good thesis. In the above thesis example, few people would argue to the contrary, thus the argument is fairly easy to make. Certain topics are much more difficult to take on and construct a well-supported argument. These include hot topics like the death penalty, abortion, or euthanasia.

The difficulty with these contentious issues is that one is most likely to find a lot of information that supports both sides of these issues. Further, this support may be based in appeals to emotion, rather than actual factual references. While one could argue a pro-life stance and cite that the number of abortions has increased dramatically since Roe versus Wade, others could argue that there is no way to compare modern statistics to illegal, unrecorded abortions.

Since these statistics are debatable, such a thesis is often supported by moral viewpoints. No matter how strongly one believes in a particular side, an argument consisting of moral viewpoints is simply not strong. As well, if one is constructing an argument on a thesis where people are likely to hold strong opinions, the writer runs the risk of incensing those grading the paper. So for example, if one writes a pro-life argument, one might annoy a pro-choice teacher, especially if it is nearly impossible to defend the position in a factual way.

An argument in writing is much easier to produce when the issue is non-contentious. It also is conducted in a way that leaves one’s opinion out. An opinion is implied in a thesis statement. Generally, most essays do not base arguments on “I think, “ or “I feel.” Instead the argument is support of the thesis on what others have said or proved, or what can be proven by assessing evidence. One can certainly write an opinion piece, and some opinion pieces are convincing. However, from a rhetorical standpoint, they do not carry the strength of true argument.

One can come up with a wholly original thesis based on one’s opinion and then attempt to prove them. When much proof can be found for an opinion, the argument can be very successful indeed. Most often, in writing the argument, the most important factor is sufficient evidence, not whether the argument is in fact true. Often an argument has no truth value. The argument merely asserts the likeliness of a thesis through sufficient use of evidence.