Writing an effective argument essay is contingent on your ability to understand exactly what the presented topic is all about. You'll want to ask yourself:
- Who: Is the argument about any one person, a group of people, a country, a city, voters, mothers, businessmen, etc.?
- What: What is the central idea or topic? What is being discussed? Speed limits? Hunger? Immunization?
- When: What is the time period in which the topic is based? The past, present, or future?
- Where: Is the topic pertinent to only a specific location? If the argument topic is about coastal flooding, you'll need to raise different conclusions as if the topic were about high-mountain camping.
- Why: Most importantly, WHY is this topic being discussed? Why does it matter?
Once you answer these and similar questions, you should have a good understanding of what the argument is about. More importantly, in answering and thinking about these questions, you should raise objections to some of the presented statements, and it is these objections that you want to enumerate and discuss in your essay. Going over such a list of questions is exactly what being a discerning reader is all about. Not only do you read what you are presented, but you think about and analyze.