schools uniforms Essay Examples

A Writing Guide on an Argumentative Essay about School Uniform

An argumentative essay presents the writer’s views systematically. However, a strong essay needs to provide enough information or evidence to support the writer’s argument, and ultimately change the audience’s view about the topic at hand. This sets an argumentative essay from the rest. It offers the reader another perspective on the issue and encourages them to see things differently. Normally, an argumentative essay starts with an introduction. It gives some information about the topic. After the introduction, comes the body text. This part contains everything that the author wants to present about the topic. Here, you will find paragraphs arranged into a neat structure that, altogether, present the writer’s claim and back it up with evidence or reasons. Finally, in the last paragraph, you will find the resolution to the issue. Consider it as the final verdict of the essay. The end-goal of an argumentative essay is to convince the audience of the author’s point of view. Normally, students will be told which position they need to take when they write their essay. Sometimes, students can choose whichever stance they like, though. When students write an argumentative essay, they need to arrange the information, evidence or reasons in such a way that the reader can follow it without getting lost or confused. So, the information needs to be organized properly. To do that, students may need to do thorough research on the topic. In this case, students need to find out the good things and the bad things about school uniforms. In addition to the orderly presentation of information, students should also present their reasoning in an engaging way. To achieve this, they need to master the art of using words that can pull the audience in. This can be difficult to accomplish considering that, most of the time, the topic has strong arguments on both sides. Taking one side can force the student to disregard the other. However, everything is possible when students use logical explanations and real-life examples.

How to Start Writing

After you have done your research and brainstorming, it is time to start writing. In the introductory paragraph, you need to give the readers some background information about the topic or its argument. The audience may not know the subject, so you need to let them know what you are talking about before presenting your argument.

The Body Paragraphs

Normally, the body section should have up to three paragraphs, one of which will present an argument from the opposing view (which you need to refute with logic and evidence of your own). In the first paragraph, you should present your argument and claim. For instance, if you need the first paragraph to detail how school uniform restricts the student’s self-expression, you can start with: “The student’s freedom of expression is restricted by the school uniform because many schools enforce compulsory uniform on the campus. This is a mistake because most students like to express their deep emotions in the way they are dressed. By forcing the students to hide their inner feelings (which is a bad parenting practice), students may rebel and start engaging in less than desirable behaviors.” In the second paragraph, you need to provide more evidence to support your argument. Here, detailed explanations are necessary to make a convincing essay. Continuing with the example above, you need to show why school uniform is a bad idea. You can explain the cost of school uniform. A good example is: “Since most families have more than two children, by forcing them to wear uniform means forcing the parents to spend more money on buying different uniforms if they change year-by-year. Even if the school uniform needs to be changed once every 3 years or when the student changes school, the money wasted would be enormous and not all families can afford that. Education alone can be costly to many families. It is not right to restrict their access to education simply because they don’t wear the clothes other students wear.” Here is another example, “School uniform can promote corruption since school uniforms are different from one school to another. Most uniforms have logos on them to identify which school the student comes from. Since the school only work with a few suppliers to sell their uniforms, then they could sell them at a steep price, since no one else can sell the uniform except that particular manufacturer. This situation is especially true for schools that are particularly famous and require a certain uniform. Consequently, it will cost parents a lot more money for mere clothing that has an extra logo on it. This is a very common practice in many countries across the globe.” It is important to remember that, although you need to support your own claim and present relevant evidence, you need to include a little bit of the opposing view and refute the claim. Here is an example: “Although school uniforms have their own disadvantages, they do have a good side to it. School uniforms help in identification. It is easy to identify students based on their uniform, and this can promote safety. Unfortunately, this protection has many loopholes that intruders can exploit. They can just buy the uniform and wear it. It does very little in stopping crimes or bullying. In fact, schools risk having their reputation stained if some teenagers who don’t even study there bought the uniforms and went to commit a crime in that uniform. Alternatively, if a teenager misbehaves outside the school while wearing the uniform, it could really make a bad impression of the school. School uniform restricts both the student’s freedom of expression and hurts the school’s reputation.”

The key to refuting the counterargument is the use of logical explanation. Like the example above, the writer clearly explained that school uniform cannot stop bullying or crimes, and it can even negatively affect the school. From here, we can say that anyone can buy the uniform and wear it, so the protection by identification cannot work. In fact, this identification can harm both the students and the school. This rebuttal is very logical. Finally, you can make the essay more engaging by putting in the reaction of both parents and students. By presenting their views, your essay about school uniforms becomes even more convincing. Alternatively, you can bring up some recent events relevant to the topic at hand to spice up your essay.

The Conclusion

To conclude your essay about school uniforms, you need to restate the important points of the argument. Here, you need to point out why it is necessary to support your own view on the topic. You can do this by simply reviewing the points you have raised earlier in your writing. However, you cannot just copy paste the sentences you already used. To close the concluding paragraph, you need to play around with words a little bit. Try to make the final sentence sound catchy, as it will strengthen your argument.

Final Revision

After you have finished your essay, it is always a good idea to review what you have written. Although you have put your ideas into a sophisticated chain that ensures the delicate flow of information to your readers, there may be some errors to watch out for. You can submit your paper without revision, but it is unwise. You don’t want your flawless work to receive a low grade because of some rookie mistakes. It is always wise to proofread your paper and make any corrections. Here, you need to watch out for grammatical or spelling errors, as well simple typos. Those mistakes can really hurt your mark and potentially cost you an A or even a scholarship. Once you’re done, you can submit your paper with confidence.