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

1.7 Academic papers: the argumentative essay

The French representative, Roleux, claims that the Security Council reflects the international power relations of most parts of the world. Only South America and West Asia should have addi tional seats. The Security Council need not be expanded if fewer European countries have permanent seats and new emerging powers are given permanent representation. If the Security Council is to remain the principal organ of the United Nations, and if it is to remain capable of making impor tant military decisions, it should consist of a representative sample of the most powerful countries. Because military power is shifting from European to South Ameri can and Asian countries, the com position of the Security Council should follow that trend in order to remain ready for decisive ac tion. European countries should hold on to their principles rather than their seats in the Security Council.

Body paragraph ■ ■ Transition/topic sentence ■ ■ Counterargument ■ ■ Refutation ■ ■ Concluding sentence

Concluding paragraph ■ ■ You may restate the major points in support of your thesis or summarise key points and remind readers of the weak nesses of opposing arguments. ■ ■ You can end your arguments with a strong last sentence, such as a quotation or a statement that sums up your argument or places your topic in a wider perspective.

TASK 12 Respond to the following questions about the preceding argumentative essay.

1 The essay above does not have a thesis statement. What would be a good thesis statement for the essay? 2 The introductory paragraph of the essay above on the Security Council uses general to specific order. What logical order is used in the concluding paragraph?

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