Kevin deLaplante, Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Iowa State University, has composed and filmed an excellent set of videos entitled “How to Write a Good Argumentative Essay.” The full contents of this series are listed below the “Introduction” video below.

“How to Write a Good Argumentative Essay: Introduction,” by Kevin deLaplante.

Kevin deLaplante writes:

This is the introductory video to a tutorial course on how to write argumentative essays.

Full table of contents:

Part 1: Guidelines for Structuring an Argumentative Essay
1.1 A Minimal Five-Part Structure
1.2 Writing the Introduction
1.3 Writing the Conclusion

Part 2: A Sample Essay with Some Problems (and Strategies for Fixing Them)
2.1 The Essay: “Should Teachers Be Allowed to Ban Laptops in Classrooms?”
2.2 Analysis: The Introduction
2.3 Analysis: The Main Body: First Argument
2.4 Analysis: The Main Body: Second Argument
2.5 Analysis: The Main Body: Third Argument
2.6 Analysis: The Main Body: Evaluation and Recommendations
2.7 Analysis: The Conclusion
2.8 The Essay: Improved Version
2.9 The Essay: Improved Version with Commentary