Guide for writing influential Advantages and Disadvantages Essays with easy to understand instructions and compelling tips. This article includes 8 powerful steps and 5 incredible tips for helping you to write better Advantages and Disadvantages essays.
An advantages and disadvantages essay is one based on facts and weighing the options to come to a conclusion. This article takes you through the steps needed for you to produce an excellent piece of advantages and disadvantages essay.
What Is An Advantages And Disadvantages Essay?
An advantages and disadvantages essay is one whereby the writer chooses to look at the two opposing sides of a topic and using facts, comes to a conclusion that favours the side with the most advantages on its side. For instance, one can decide to select the topic of after school jobs for kids. On the advantages side, one can argue that such jobs help to give a child a sense of responsibility and a means of earning their own money. On the disadvantages side, the writer can argue that such a job takes kids away from participating in extracurricular activities like sports and also gives some parent s room to exploit their children for money.
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A writer needs to evaluate both the good and bad aspects of the topic and in the conclusion stand for the side that presents the most facts. This is not an essay that requires mush imagination but more of simple analysis of the topic. It is somewhat similar to a comparison essay. It requires someone to look at a topic in an unbiased manner so as to bring out both the positive and negative attributes of a topic. Even if the writer personally favours one side over the other, he or she should still be able to clearly represent both sides.
This kind of writing is very useful as it helps the writer to analyze both sides of an issue and give due consideration. Even beyond high school or college writing level, this kind of analysis is useful in real life situations and in business. For instance in considering presidential candidates, viable business projects and even in choosing a car. Looking at both sides of the coin helps tin making more reasonable decisions.
Instructions (Steps)
1. Choose The Right Topic
In choosing a topic, try to select one that you are familiar with. This makes identifying both the advantages and disadvantages easier. If the topic has already been chosen however, do not despair. It only takes some logical thinking to create a good advantages and disadvantages essay. The topic would have to be something already covered in the course work, so the writer should merely try to remember as many pertinent facts of the topic as possible to make a good list of the relevant advantages and disadvantages.
2. Outline the Advantages And Disadvantages
An outline makes it easier to arrange the flow of the paper. In this kind of essay, it also helps to ensure the writer presents the strongest advantages and disadvantages first. Simply list down the relevant advantages and disadvantages, and identify the key facts and figures you will use to back up each one.
3. Research
Doing research will help you identify strong points for each side. Use as many resources as you have at your disposal to collect the points. Do not miss out on the most obvious and most presented points.
4. Choose your format
You can choose to present each advantage with its corresponding disadvantage. In such a case, there will be a lot of usage of such phrases as ‘Although’, ‘On the other hand’ and ‘However’. Another alternative is to simply present every advantage and follow this with the disadvantages. The first option is generally preferred as the writer is able to discuss each point more elaborately and how the advantage weighs up against its corresponding disadvantage.
5. Introduction
Start an advantages and disadvantages essay by giving a general description of the topic. The writer does not need to go into details but should provide adequate general information to familiarize the reader with the topic at hand. The writer should also clearly explain that the essay is about providing information on the advantages and disadvantages of the topic described.
6. Give The Advantages And Disadvantages
The advantages and disadvantages already listed should now be expounded upon in the body of the essay. Do not just list the point, rather give some explanation and where possible back it up with evidence. For instance if the advantage of coal mining is employment, provide the figure on the number of jobs it provides to people in the area under discussion.
7. Conclusion
At the conclusion, the writer is not meant to provide their own opinion. Simply restate in summary the main advantage and disadvantage of the topic being detailed. The reader should have formed their own opinion after having read all the pertinent facts provided in the main body of the advantages and disadvantages essay.
8. Get A Second Opinion
As with any other essay, have another person proofread the final draft and give an opinion as to whether the writer has accomplished what they set out to do.
Tips
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1. Ensure that the topic you select is one that you can argue both sides. If you are writing the advantages and disadvantages essay in an exam situation, try to stick to a topic you are familiar with. Even if you favour one side, chances are you are still aware of the merits to the other side’s argument. If you have time and access to research materials, then you may risk an unfamiliar topic. As mentioned earlier, ensure that you do enough research to demonstrate that both sides were fairly represented.
2. Do not show a bias for one side over the other. Providing eight advantages versus three disadvantages will show a clear bias and may not be well taken by the teacher, professor or editor. Be balanced ad make sure the advantages and disadvantages are comparable in strength. Do not provide very weak advantages and very strong disadvantage that are backed with figures.
3. For students, remember to pay attention in class. Such an essay can be given as an assignment in virtually any class and the facts the teacher will expect to have presented would be the ones already contributed in class discussion. This kind of essay is an excellent way for teachers, lecturers and professors to gauge how attentive a student has been in class. If you already remember the advantages and disadvantages discussed, pick the best ones and add on any new and interesting ones you come across in your research. This is sure to earn you an excellent grade.
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4. Get your facts straight. With term papers, there is no reason that you cannot provide facts and figures from reputable sources. Students and writers have time enough to collect necessary data on both sides of the issue. Be however careful with data from the internet as a lot of information is contradictory. Stick to reputable websites for your information.
5. Have your paper reviewed. If the essay is not for publication and will not go through an editor or proofreader, arrange for that yourself. Before handing in a paper for grading, be sure to give it to a friend or classmate to assist in accessing how well done it is. They can check everything from spelling to representation of facts.
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