Point-by-point versus block arguments
My advice is to start writing and see whether you naturally tend towards one or the other method. But whether you do this or plan everything out beforehand, you need to have an idea of what the final shape of your essay will be.
In an argumentative essay, such as the one on the evils of sugar, you may either stack up all the arguments on one side in the first part of the essay, and then stack up all those on the other side in the second part. This is known as the block method.
Alternatively, you may decide to adopt a point-by-point approach, in which for every point in favor (or against) is contested, contradicted, challenged or called into question by your next point.
For example: Although sugar is generally regarded as a harmless substance or, indeed, a natural food (you are for, in favor, you express the positive part), our use of it today exceeds anything that we have done in the past (now you are against, doubtful, opposes, you express the negative part) .
The structure is FOR-AGAINST or AGAINST-FOR.
Here you are saying sugar is ok, then -sugar is not ok, or at least not as we use it. The second clause rebuts the first one.
It does not have to be so stark a battle between FOR and AGAINST. You might want to give some credit to a view you do not espouse - it makes you look fair-minded - but then immediately withdraw the credit, as follows:
Whereas Fox News is the most watched TV program in the USA (FOR, POSITIVE 😄👍👍, Yay! Go Fox!), its target audience is now ageing (AGAINST, NEGATIVE, PROBLEM 😠👎👎,Yaa-booh! Losers!).
In a few years, the only viewers will be old, white and part of a declining and increasingly irrelevant section of the population (continuation and expansion of the negative view 😠😠😠😠👎👎👎👎).
This is a point-by-point structure. You give, acknowledge, accept, then you take away, rebut, reject.
When you use this point-by-point approach, you will find yourself using words and phrases such as however, on the contrary, on the one hand …on the other, while, whereas, even though, in contrast, although, that said, even so, unlike, conversely, and meanwhile, as well as the humble conjunctions but and yet.
The point-by-point structure does not necessarily require you to use concessive conjunctions (although, while, whereas). Perhaps you prefer to write single-clause non-complex sentences. If that's your thing, then you write one or more full single-clause sentences in favor or for something, then one or more single-clause sentence against, opposed to whatever it is.
Here is an example of what I am talking about:
POINT-BY-POINT
[AGAINST the joys of teaching composition] 😠👎 Teaching composition is a thankless task. Students are bored and annoyed because their instructor seems to be challenging abilities they believe they have already acquired. As a discipline, Composition is not really scientific or empirical, yet it is full of rules and caveats. In many respects, composition is vague and wishy-washy, in that, unlike math, no single “solution” or answer ever exists.
[FOR the joys of teaching composition] 😄👍On the other hand, composition and good writing are perhaps the most important professional skills that anyone will ever learn. No matter what your future career, a solid grounding in style, syntax and grammar will always stand you in good stead.
The example above is still a point-by-point structure. You give one or two sentences arguing one way, then one or two arguing the other.
Needless to say, your point of view will almost always be expressed in the second part.
A block approach to the above might run something like this:
[AGAINST - i.e. COMPOSITION IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TEACH]😠👎
Teaching composition is a thankless task. Students are bored and annoyed because their instructors seem to be challenging abilities the students believe they have already acquired. As a discipline, Composition is not really scientific or empirical, yet it is full of rules and caveats. In many respects, composition is vague and wishy-washy, in that, unlike math, no single “solution” or answer ever exists.
[NEW PARAGRAPH STILL AGAINST]😠👎😠👎😠👎
Another intractable problem with composition is that no-one can pinpoint where composition ends and creative writing begins. A student may therefore argue that her prose is deliberately colloquial, purposely loose and intentionally alternative, and that the professor is simply failing to appreciate her genius. The professor might doubt that he is in the presence of an authentic genius, but runs the risk of offending the sensibilities of the author. A student who believes that writing comes directly from the soul (a belief that does not seem to extend to work in other disciplines such as mathematics) will feel that criticism is aimed at the core of her very being. Pointing out grammar mistakes thus becomes tantamount to an attack on the student's spiritual beliefs, and the war between teacher and pupil descends rapidly into a form of religious conflict.
[STILL AGAINST]😠👎😠👎😠👎
Likewise, writing is often taken as a proxy for intelligence, so that a poor grade may be seen as an accusation of stupidity. The student may be perfectly conscious that the world is full of intelligent people who cannot write well, yet fail to recognize that she might be one of those people, and will consequently dismiss the teacher's assurances to the contrary as patronising and dishonest. Solid self-belief is the best remedy for despair in such cases, yet self-belief can easily shade into arrogance and an unwillingness to learn or change. Correcting an essay in front of a student often feels like a harrowing counselling session in which the teacher, like a skilled psychologist, must guide the student gently through all five stages of grief: from denial, anger, bargaining, and depression to, finally, reluctant acceptance that "thusly" is not a valid adverb and "throughout" does not mean the same thing as "through" .
[AND NOW NEW PARAGRAPH FOR - i.e. COMPOSITION IS POSSIBLE TO TEACH] 😄👍
Yet composition is amenable to quasi-scientific analysis and, like dancing or music (two other skills that many seem to view as both natural and as somehow an expression of an inner worth), can be broken down into teachable components. .... etc.
😄👍😄👍
For the next few paragraphs, the writer will talk about how teaching composition is feasible and rewarding. The essay might then return to the negative aspects for a few more paragraphs, then, perhaps, add a few more paragraphs on its positive aspects before drawing a final conclusion.
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