Janene van Loon, Arnoud Thüss, Nicole Schmidt and Kevin Haines - Academic Writing in English

1 Introduction to academic writing

ognising the opposing point of view and then move on to refute the oppos ing assertion. Once all arguments have been adequately covered, the essay is rounded off with a concluding paragraph. Argumentative essay structure: The Security Council should reflect the international power structure Visual representation: Writing theory: Example: Introductory paragraph ■ ■ General introduction of the topic ■ ■ Narrow down to thesis state ment (last sentence) Thesis statement […] The legitimacy of the Security Council is at stake because the UN still reflects the post-WWII

international power structure and not that of the 21st century […] American congressman Joe Smith claims that the current structure should not be changed because it ensures a stable balance of East ern and Western interests. New rising powers are under-rep resented in the current Security Council. Countries such as Brazil and India should have a bigger role in resolving international conflicts.

Body paragraph ■ ■ Transition/Topic sentence ■ ■ Counterargument (one or two sentences). This shows that you recognise a counterargu ment to your own. Note: It is not one counterargument per paragraph, but one counterar gument per argument. ■ ■ Refutation (the rest of the paragraph and additional par agraphs, if needed). This is an opportunity to deconstruct the counterargument, to highlight its weakness(es) and show that your argument is stronger. ■ ■ Concluding sentence

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