argumentative essay about urban planning

Introductory essay

Written by the educators who created Ecofying Cities, a brief look at the key facts, tough questions and big ideas in their field. Begin this TED Study with a fascinating read that gives context and clarity to the material.

Right now, our economy operates as Paul Hawken said, "by stealing the future, selling it in the present and calling it GDP." And if we have another eight billion or seven billion people, living on a planet where their cities also steal the future, we're going to run out of future really fast. But if we think differently, I think that, in fact, we can have cities that are not only zero emissions, but have unlimited possibilities as well. Alex Steffen

The urgency of urban planning today

Within a few decades' time, we can expect the planet to become more crowded, resources more precious, and innovative urban planners increasingly important. By midcentury, the global population will likely top nine billion, and more than half will live in cities. What will these cities look like? Will we have the resources to power them and comfortably provide for their residents? Will global urbanization harmonize with efforts to curb climate change and secure a sustainable future, or are these forces hurtling towards a head-on collision?

The TED speakers featured in Ecofying Cities underscore the urgency, but also suggest that some optimism's in order as they outline the issues and offer imaginative solutions.

There's no single reason for or response to the complex environmental, economic and social challenges that are part of our future in cities. They call for multiple approaches, originating from different sources — individuals, communities, governments, businesses — and deployed at different levels — in the home, the neighborhood, the city, region, nation and across the globe — to respond to the challenges at hand. As Alex Steffen reminds the urban planners, architects, designers, elected leaders and others involved in the effort, "All those cities are opportunities."

Urbanism and the environment: A brief history

For centuries, successful city-building has required careful attention to the environmental consequences of urban development. Without this, as Jared Diamond demonstrated in Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed , a city inevitably ended up fouling its nest, thus entering a spiral of epidemics, economic hardship, decline and, ultimately, oblivion. Civilizations evolved different ways of dealing with environmental considerations — some with more success than others. For example, thanks to elaborate aqueducts and sewer systems, the Romans were able to build and sustain for centuries large cities that featured a reliable public water supply and state-of-the-art public health conditions.

In other civilizations, however, residents simply abandoned cities when they could no longer rely on their environment to supply the resources they needed. Often this was a direct result of their own activities: for example, deforestation and the attendant erosion of fertile soil, epidemics due to contaminated water and, with the advent of coal-fired industrialization, air pollution.

Urban planning got its start as a profession largely dedicated to averting different types of crises arising from urban growth and providing conditions for public health. This was particularly true in the many 19th century European and North American cities transformed by industrialization and unprecedented rates of population growth. Rapidly deteriorating air and water quality made it necessary to introduce regulations to protect the health of the residents of these cities.

The planners' first-generation improvements included sewers, water treatment and distribution, and improved air quality through building codes and increased urban green space. It's especially remarkable today to think that these interventions were adopted in response to observable health consequences, but without knowledge of the contamination mechanisms at work: germ theory didn't arrive on the scene until Louis Pasteur published his work in the 1860s. From the late 19th century onward Pasteur's findings bolstered the case for even more urban sanitation improvements, particularly those designed to improve water quality.

Starting in the 1950s, however, planners no longer narrowly targeted immediate health effects on urban residents as their chief environmental concern. Their work also absorbed and reflected Western society's deeper understanding of, and respect for, natural processes and growing awareness of the long-term environmental impacts of cities from the local to the planetary scale.

Rachel Carson is often credited as the first to popularize environmentalism. Published in 1962, her landmark book Silent Spring sounded a warning call about how pesticides endanger birds and entire ecological systems. Soon after, air pollution became a rallying point for environmentalists, as did the loss of large tracks of rural and natural land to accelerated, sprawling development. Today, sustainable development and smart growth, which largely overlap and address multiple environmental considerations, enjoy wide currency; most urban planning is now based on these principles.

Today, as we reckon with population growth, advancing rates of urbanization, and widespread recognition of climate change, we know that the cities of the future share a common destiny. The choices we make about how we build, inhabit and maintain these cities will have global and long-term effects.

Sustainable development: Two schools of thought

In modern urban planning, there are two general categories of sustainable development. The first doesn't challenge the present dynamics of the city, allowing them to remain largely low-density and automobile-oriented, but still makes them the object of measures aimed to reduce their environmental load (for example, green construction practices). Ian McHarg spearheaded this approach as a way to develop urban areas in harmony with natural systems; the planning principles he formulated gave special care to the preservation of water and green space. His lasting influence is visible in many of the more enlightened suburban developments of recent decades which respect the integrity of natural systems. Today, the Landscape Urbanism movement promotes these same ideas.

A second school of urban development focuses on increasing urban density and reducing reliance on the automobile. This approach advocates transit-oriented and mixed-use development along pedestrian-friendly "complete streets." On a regional scale, it aims to reduce sprawl by creating a network of higher-density multifunctional centers interconnected by public transit. Today, it's common for plans with a metropolitan scope to follow this approach.

Studying the city: About these materials

Cities are arguably the most complex human creation (with the possible exception of language) so it's not surprising that we study them at multiple scales and from diverse perspectives. We can approach cities through a narrow focus on an individual building or a neighborhood, expand the investigation to consider a metropolitan region in its entirety, or study the global system of cities and its interconnections. What's more, we can think about cities as built environments, social networks, modified ecologies, economic systems and political entities. Aware of the multiple ways that we engage with cities, the Romans had two words to refer to them: urbs referred to the physical city with its wall and buildings, and civitas , the city as a collection of residents.

Ecofying Cities explores urban areas at different scales. In some cases, the TED speaker focuses on a neighborhood project, like The High Line in Manhattan; others describe city-wide transformation, as in Curitiba, Brazil, or a regional or national initiative like China's plan for a network of eco-cities to house its growing urban population. Likewise, the talks explore cities from different disciplinary perspectives including urban planning, urban design, transportation planning, architecture, community organization and environmental science. What unites them all? A commitment to sustainability and a belief that sustainability is more about creating positive effects rather than reducing negative impacts.

The message emanating from Ecofying Cities is one of complexity, optimism and uncertainty. We can't be sure that the changes these speakers suggest will be enough to help us balance supply and demand in the sustainability equation. But we can expect that their ideas and efforts will improve the built environment — as well as quality of life — in cities, thereby providing hopeful perspectives for a sustainable future.

Let´s begin with writer and futurist Alex Steffen´s TEDTalk "The Sharable Future of Cities" for a look at the interplay between increasing urban density and energy consumption.

Alex Steffen

The shareable future of cities, relevant talks.

Ellen Dunham-Jones

Retrofitting suburbia.

Jaime Lerner

A song of the city.

James Howard Kunstler

The ghastly tragedy of the suburbs.

Majora Carter

Greening the ghetto.

Michael Pawlyn

Using nature's genius in architecture.

Robert Hammond

Building a park in the sky.

William McDonough

Cradle to cradle design.

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Urban Planning Argumentative Essays Samples For Students

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112 Urbanization Essay Topics, Questions, and Examples

🏆 best questions to ask about urbanization, ✍️ urbanization essay topics for college, 📌 discussion questions about urbanization, 👍 good research questions on urbanization, ❓ questions about urbanization.

• Advantages and Disadvantages of Urbanization Essay These resources are easily exploited because of the availability of facilities and labor in the cities, which leads to economic development and improvement of living standards of the city dwellers.
• Urbanization and the Environment Due to urbanization, the number, the size, the kind and the compactness of cities, in addition to the effectiveness of their management of the environment are major concerns for attainment of the international sustainability.
• Social, Economic and Environmental Challenges of Urbanization in Lagos However, the city’s rapid economic growth has led to high population density due to urbanization, creating social, economic, and environmental challenges the challenges include poverty, unemployment, sanitation, poor and inadequate transport infrastructure, congestion in the […]
• Urbanization Process in Mesopotamia History of the involvement of the cities in the world has different reasons that lead to the development and establishment of the towns.
• Urbanization Merits and Challenges Urbanization is in most cases associated with the human movement from the rural to the urban areas. This is as a result of increased population in the rural areas in relation to the lands and […]
• Urbanization and Environment The resources can be identified through the acquisition of knowledge about the environmental conditions of the areas in which urban development is expected to take place.
• Urbanization and Technological Development in the Philippines In the course of writing the material, not only data from previous works were used, but also static data that allowed us to track the dynamics of the development of Philippine in the last 15-20 […]
• Technological Innovation Effect on Urbanization By the 20th century, as large-scale industrial production became effective, the idea of urbanization appeared, leading to the further growth of the world’s leading cities. As such, the idea of urbanization is the cornerstone of […]
• Agricultural Revolution and Changes to Ancient Societies in Terms of the State, Urbanization, and Labor This made the climate and soil more adaptable to plant growth and farming as some of the wild variants of barley and fruit began to grow in the region on their own.
• Urbanization and Suburbanization Therefore, more people come to life in the city, in order to be able to take advantage of the many opportunities it offers.
• Urbanization: Origins and Growth of Cities That is why there is no doubt that the emergence of social classes and the distribution of labor significantly contributed to the rise and growth of ancient cities.
• Urban Economics: The Urbanization Process and its Effects However, the rate of urbanization started to increase in the late 20th century and by the beginning of the 21st century, a significant portion of the developing world’s population lived in urban settlements.
• Is Taiwan Urbanization Rate Growing? Urban & Rural Areas The ratio of the urban population to the total population determines the degree of Taiwanian urbanization. There has been a decline in the agricultural industry and this could be one of the ways to revive […]
• American Cities and Urbanization After the Civil War American cities’ central development and urbanization occurred in the years after the end of the Civil War. Firstly, the active development of urbanization was caused by the fact that people began to move to cities […]
• Demography, Urbanization and Environment The coefficients of migration, immigration, and emigration show the movements of people, which also change the number of people living in a particular territory.
• Urbanization and Technological Development in Third-World Countries Extensive consolidation is necessary to get rid of poverty and improve the internal situation in third-world countries. It is essential to establish cooperation in all spheres of human life and competently use the resources of […]
• US Urbanization and Migration Trends at the End of the 19th Century It discussed the factors leading to successful urbanization, the challenges of urban life, and the effects this trend caused on the history of the state and its further development.
• Impacts of Immigration and Urbanization Urbanization is a special term that describes the decreasing proportion of people who live in rural areas, the population shift from rural to urban areas, and the possible ways of societies’ adaption to these changes. […]
• Technology and Migration in the Industrial Urbanization The history of the United States has a life-changing period between the end of the nineteenth century and the middle of the twentieth – industrial urbanization.
• Information and History of Ecuador: Urbanization, Natural Resources and Politics Official Name: Republic of Ecuador Area: 272,046 square kilometers Official Language: Spanish Currency: US dollar Capital: Quito Largest City: Guayaquil Regime: Unitary presidentialconstitutional republic Constitution: August 10, 1998.
• United States History in 1864-1900 Years: Industrialization, Urbanization, and the Commercialization of Farming The Western frontier advanced in the years 1864 and 1900 by the establishment of democracy in America, industrialization, urbanization and the commercialization of farming.
• Urbanization and American Immigrant Myth The questions of urbanization and the growth of megacities have raised the significant attention of many people recently. The are several reasons for that, such as “the neoliberal globalization since 1978”, the wrong actions of […]
• Rapid Urbanization and Underdevelopment The essay through examples of the developing world and the developed world establishes the linkage between rapid urbanization and underdevelopment in both; the cities as well as the outlying peripheral areas.
• The Relationship Between the High Rate of Urbanization in Africa and AIDS Spread This movement results in to increase in the number of people in the towns and cities in a particular year. The increased social interaction of people in towns has led to increased HIV/AIDS infections in […]
• New Urbanism: The Problems of Urbanization The scales of differentiating private to public space include the following: spatial, degree of exclusivity and openness, and modes of social encounter.
• Rural Residents in “Rapid Urbanization” by Jennifer Weeks Research shows that many rural dwellers in developing nations move to towns and as cities struggle to accommodate the high growth, the rural residents often end up living in slums that are already teemed.
• Urbanization and Sub-Urbanization in the United States The exposition resulted in the creation of a beautiful urban space, and people acknowledged the benefits of city planning as well as the cooperation of different professionals.
• Urbanization Processes in Post-Socialist China To explain this phenomenon, this paper answers three questions what is the cost of forming this middle class what led to the emergence of this middle class how has the formation of the middle class […]
• China’s National New-Style Urbanization Plan The problems related to the rapid growth of the city population have accumulated at a certain point and started to prevent the further improvement of the quality of life of the population.
• Industrialization, Urbanization, and Migration The beginning of the Industrial Revolution is shown both in the article and the book focusing on terrible working conditions in the factories.
• Urbanization in Hong Kong and Effects on Citizens However, “while the proportion of people living in small cities is expected to decline, the million-plus cities accounting for about 40% of the total urban population in 2011 is expected to increase to 47% percent […]
• Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Urbanization Challenges As documented in the literature, Port-au-Prince is faced with many urban challenges and problems, ranging from social and geographic segregation to elevated poverty levels and occurrence of natural disasters which compound the problem of poverty.
• China’s Success in the Urbanization Process The current paper aims at reflecting and analyzing the article to comprehend the reasons of why the challenges appear during the process of urbanization when it is so important for the society and becomes a […]
• How do Migration and Urbanization Bring About Urban Poverty in Developing Countries? When there is a high rate of rural to urban migration, there is pressure on the limited resources in the urban centers.
• History of Urbanization in Brazil in 1980 In addition, according to Morrison, “there is a disparity in term of salary or wage differentials, and therefore aspirations and lifestyles, among classes in the country”.
• Urbanization in Mexico Some services are available in the urban areas but most of the residents are not in the position to pay for them.
• Baseball and Urbanization For instance, at the very beginning of the nineteenth century, the urban population in the United States was 5% of the total population.
• Human Geography: Urbanization The high prices of food in some regions of the world make most of the people to starve. Most of the people in developed countries like in US, UK, Canada and Australia are well endowed […]
• The Pressures of Urbanization on the Environment
• Urbanization Problems And Sustainable Development
• The Urban Mortality Transition and Poor-Country Urbanization
• Urbanization and Agricultural Policy in Egypt
• Urbanization Has Negatively Affected Biological Diversity
• Urbanization and Food Security: Empirical Evidence from Households in Urban Southwest Nigeria
• Urbanization and Rural Development in the People’s Republic of China
• Urbanization Migration And Development In Asia Economics
• The Roles of Women in Urbanization vs the Challenges of Living in the Countryside
• Urbanization, the Creation of Cities and the Impacts on the Natural Environment
• Urbanization, Mortality, and Fertility in Malthusian England
• Urbanization Of Urbanization During The 19th Century
• Urbanization and Labor Market Informality in Developing Countries
• Urbanization in India: Evidence on Agglomeration Economies
• Relocating or Redefined: A New Perspective on Urbanization in China
• Wildlife and the Impact of Urbanization
• Urbanization and the Viability of Local Agricultural Economies
• Sustainable Development Policies Can Reduce Urbanization Problems
• The Causal Relationship between Urbanization, Economic Growth and Water Use Change in Provincial China
• Urbanization Of Poverty And The Sustainable Development Of Urban Areas In Chile
• Urbanization as a Fundamental Cause of Development
• The Affect of Industrialization and Urbanization After Civil War
• Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Beijing’s Urbanization Efficiency from 2005 to 2014
• Role of Landscape Architecture in Urbanization
• Urbanization, Gender, and Business Creation in the Informal Sector in India
• World Capitalism and Third World Urbanization
• The Major Problems Associated with Rapid Urbanization
• Urbanization Patterns, Information Diffusion and Female Voting in Rural Paraguay
• The Negative Impact of Urbanization on the Earth and Environment
• Urbanization, Lifestyle Changes and the Nutrition Transition
• The Role of the Demographic Transition in the Process of Urbanization
• Regional Differences in China’s Urbanization and its Determinants
• Urbanization in Romania During the Twentieth Century up to Today
• Urbanization Trends in Chicago Versus Houston
• What is the Role of Globalization on Urban Urbanization
• Technological Progress and the Urbanization Process
• Urbanization, Productivity and Innovation: Evidence from Investment in Higher Education
• The Relationship Between Urbanization And Industrialization
• Urbanization Is the Main Contributor to Disaster Occurrence in Developing Countries
• Urbanization, Inequality, and Poverty in the People’s Republic of China
• What Are the Economic Effects of Urbanization?
• Does Urbanization Increase Pollutant Emission and Energy Intensity?
• Does Urbanization Help Poverty Reduction in Rural Areas?
• What Is Urbanisation and Its Effects?
• Why Urbanization Is a Problem?
• What Are the Main Effects of Urbanization?
• What Is the Impact of Urbanization on the Environment?
• What Are the Three Main Causes of Urbanization?
• What Are the Negative Impacts of Urbanization on the Environment?
• What Are the Five Problems That Can Come Out of Urbanization?
• What Are the Effect of Urbanization on Society?
• How Does Urbanization Affect Population?
• How Does Urbanization Affect the Economy?
• How Does Urbanization Create Pollution?
• What Are the Six Environmental Impacts of Urbanization?
• What Are the Four Stages of Urbanization?
• What Is History of Urbanization?
• When Did Urbanization Become a Trend?
• Why Did Urbanization Become Popular?
• What Are the Three Reasons Why Urbanization Is Increasing?
• Does Population Mobility Contribute to Urbanization Convergence?
• How Has Urbanization Changed the World?
• What Is Evolution of Urbanization?
• Is Urbanization Increasing or Decreasing?
• What Are the Factors Affecting Urbanization?
• What Is the Most Important Feature of Urbanization?
• How Is the Pattern of Urbanization Changing?
• What Is the Pattern of Urbanization Around the World?
• What Is the Trend of Urbanization in India?
• What Is the Impact of Urbanization in India?
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Writing in Geography and Urban Planning

This resource provides a brief introduction to writing in the field of  Geography and Urban Planning  through the lens of threshold concepts.

What is Geography?

Geography integrates the study of  people, places, and environments  to better understand the world and improve decision-making in sustainable development, urban and regional planning, and geospatial science.

Geography is literally and figuratively a worldview—exploring space, place, landscape, region, and environment—to better understand our changing planet, communicate that understanding, and apply it to decision-making. The geographical perspective is integrative but is focused through specialized subfields like urban geography, cultural/development geography, biogeography, and physical geography, among others. These differ in their object of study, methodology, regional focus, and application, and align with professional fields like urban planning, sustainable development, and environmental science.

Geographical research methods are also integrative yet diverse. They can be qualitative or quantitative (or a mix), including: field measurement and landscape interpretation; surveys and interviews; remote sensing, archival research, and content analysis; and geospatial analysis and mapping. Data sources or methods depend on the kind of research questions asked and who the intended audience is.

People are surprised both by the interdisciplinary breadth of geographical thinking and its relevance to understanding and impacting the world through fields like planning, sustainable development, and geospatial science. While geographers and planners are diverse, they share an emphasis on some key ideas (or threshold concepts):

• spatial processes and patterns are interdependent and linked across scales;
• landscapes and environments are dynamic across time and space;
• places reflect and reinforce patterns of unevenness and inequality; and
• individual actions have the power to transform the world.

But each geographical subfield also has its own threshold concepts. Human/social geographers emphasize the social production of space, development geographers the unevenness of development, physical geographers the dynamism of environmental processes and change, and urban geographers the mutually reinforcing link between transportation and land use.

Geographers and planners are united by many core values like the importance of curiosity and exploration, integrative thinking about interconnected phenomena, reflexivity and self awareness, engaging diverse people and places and the problems they face, and the power of the visual and graphical communication. Geographical thinking values synthesis over reductionism. And while many use laboratory or archival methods, field research is a priority. Because geography is so diverse, debates inevitably arise around differences in theories and methods as well as relative merits of different approaches (physical sciences vs. social science vs. humanism, etc.). But we value such diversity and debates, and pride ourselves in our ability to communicate across sub-disciplinary boundaries.

What Do Geographers and Planners Value in Writing?

Our values, goals, threshold concepts, and methods of study are all embodied in what and how we write.

We communicate—textually and often graphically—in genres like:

• place-based description/field reporting , including site reports, landscape interpretations, map and geovisual description and interpretation, travel writing and journalistic reporting, or existing conditions analysis;
• graphical thinking and communication , including maps, visual renderings, multimedia website, video, and diagrams, etc.;
• independent research , including literature reviews, research papers, scholarly articles and monographs;
• professional, collaborative reports , which include policy analyses/white papers, reports, and plans; and
• public communications , including presentations, posters, social media posts, and written correspondence.

The writing processes within each genre can vary:

• When  reviewing literature  we identify a topic scope, keywords, and research question. Searching for relevant sources by keyword is followed by a summary of individual sources and synthesis—seeing connections and contrasts, putting individual sources in context. We construct a narrative about the state of current knowledge and ongoing debates.
• Analyzing geographic phenomena  entails identifying a research question; synthesizing relevant literature; systematically applying an appropriate research method to gather data; and presenting, analyzing, and summarizing findings.
• When  writing plans or reports  we define a problem and goals, review existing literature and knowledge (typically including best practices), evaluate alternative problem-solving strategies, and suggest policy solutions.
• Communicating graphically  includes the visual depiction of spatial data or analysis through tools like mapping, artistic rendering, or diagramming. This involves choices about symbolic representation, and information to help viewers interpret them (e.g., map descriptions and keys).
• When  presenting to wider audiences  we make careful choices about how to concisely organize complex information for particular audiences, including choices about appropriate media and presentation styles.

What Makes Good Writing in Geography and Urban Planning?

In general, geographers and planners value writing that is clear and understandable. We look for logical structure, active voice, a sense of place, carefully framing and contextualization, support through visually rich (where relevant) evidence, and demonstration of methodical analysis and communication rooted in evidence. We also want to see authors acknowledge the limitations of their individual perspective.

As an integrated social and natural science, professional writers in our field must provide evidence for their claims. We gather data from across the world—whether that be field measurements or archived texts—to draw conclusions and develop recommendations. Professional writers in our field are credible when they:

• outline a compelling and relevant topic;
• acknowledge and cite current knowledge and debates;
• outline a clear methodology, whether qualitative and/or quantitative;
• communicate concisely and illustrate their claims with evidence; and
• draw conclusions or make recommendations grounded in evidence.

They are often not seen as credible when they do not or are not able to include supporting evidence.

The citation practices we use in our field also embody our goals, values, and conventions. In the Department of Geography, we primarily use author-date in-text citation style(s), which puts authors more front-and-center than in other fields. Often we chose the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style, simply because it is widely used and documented.

In some cases, plan and report writers will use note-based styles like footnotes. This places the bibliographic information below the cited information on the same page, so that it’s easy for the reader to refer to. We discourage the use of endnote-based styles, since they place key bibliographic information at the end where it is slower to access.

Whatever the citation style, whenever you make written claims that depend on outside information, you  must  cite the source(s) of that information. Readers must be able to quickly understand where you are getting information from. This requires:

• citing the source immediately upon first reference to that data;
• using textual cues in the same paragraph to make clear that information that follows also comes from the same source, but otherwise not repeating the same citation multiple times in the same paragraph;
• and including the page numbers if quoting material from a text with pages.

Keep in mind, however, that geographers and planners cite a wide range of data, including:

• demographic or economic development statistics from the United Nations, World Bank, or US Census Bureau;
• maps and geovisual representations of data;
• arguments from scholars and other experts about the state of knowledge that frames our work conceptually;
• interviews, portions of which we will often incorporate as quotations in social scientific and humanities-based work;
• various kinds of documents (including historical) that more humanities-oriented geographers in particular will incorporate, often as quotations to evaluate more subjective ideas, opinions, and reflections.

When deciding when to paraphrase versus directly quote information, generally you should only quote if the source of the quote is particularly significant and the specific wording strengthens the clarity of your claims. Like most disciplines, we prefer you explicitly specify in the text the quotation source, rather than to use “blind” quotes.

We follow all of these guidelines because this is how we document the evidence that supports strong arguments, and without it, we have no real basis for our claims.

How Do We Incorporate Writing in Our Courses?

Because writing styles and genres vary across Geography and Urban Planning, students develop different writing skills across the curriculum. Our major curricula prioritizes good written and graphical communication, but developing those skills happens in different ways in different classes.

• Undergraduates taking Miami Plan or electives in the Department of Geography  should recognize the interdisciplinary and space/place grounding in our writing and try to understand this when they write for us. We think this will be useful to them later even if they are not our majors because this framing will help to broaden their world view.
• Undergraduate majors in Urban and Regional Planning or Geography and Sustainable Development  should recognize spatial reasoning and evidence-based arguments and try to practice integrative thinking and analytical reasoning when they write. Over time they will need to become skilled at posing, answering, and communicating geographic research questions to prepare them for career success, lifelong learning, and informed civic engagement.
• Graduate students in Geography  should recognize the disciplinary and scholarly underpinnings of our writing and must learn to articulate geo-spatial relationships when they write for us. By graduation, they need to be able to design and carry out an independent thesis-driven research project to prepare them for professional advancement and career success.

Overall, when students are learning to write and read in our field, they will benefit from a better understanding for the dynamism of human and physical relationships over time and space.

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Urban Planning Against Poverty: How to Think and Do Better Cities in the Global South

By Jean-Claude Bolay. Springer, 2020, ISBN 9783030284190.

Joshua Kirshner (University of York) reviews this book which explores the foundations of urban planning and their suitability for application in mid-sized cities of the Global South.

In Chapter 2, ‘Urban Facts,’ Bolay makes the case for the importance of small and medium-sized cities in the Global South as ‘intermediate cities’ within wider urban networks, advocating for their centrality in global urban agendas given their strategic role in regional economies, their linking of urban and rural worlds via migration, mobility and supply chains, and their growing share of the world’s urban residents. Some interesting discussion of rural-to-urban migration flows, drawing on Bolay’s doctoral research in central Mexico, is also presented. Chapter 3, ‘Global Sustainability: How to Rethink Urban Planning,’ highlights the disjuncture between spatial planning methods fostered in developed economies and the pressing needs and aspirations of developing world cities and their residents. Such disjuncture is particularly felt among poorer urban dwellers living precariously with high levels of informality in employment, land, habitat and access to basic services (e.g. water and electricity) and the legacies of colonial planning histories.

Bolay then turns to developing three case studies: one from West Africa and two from South America, covered in Chapters 4-6. First, Koudougou (pop. 120,000), an intermediate city in Burkina Faso—one of the poorest countries in the world—offers scope to understand how these issues translate in the African urban context. The reader encounters a provincial capital whose authorities confront multiple challenges, but are unable to systematically address them due to an insufficient municipal budget and dependence on the central government and international aid agencies. Urban development thus depends less on local consultation than on donor priorities and top-down, state-led decision making. Bolay stresses the need for reinventing planning in the African context while advocating greater autonomy for local actors to decide how best to put it to useful ends.

Second, Nueve de Julio (pop. 50,000), which lies in the Argentine pampas, demonstrates new forms of social exclusion and spatial fragmentation linked to production for agro-export markets in a small-sized city with growing global connections. Founded in the 19th Century amid territorial conquest, the city typifies secondary cities in terms of its relationship to surrounding rural spaces and local-global linkages. With no long-term vision for sustainable urban development, successive municipal governments have allowed longer-term challenges to mount while addressing only the most urgent problems. As a result, it now faces runaway territorial sprawl and has a poor, poorly integrated populace. Sustainability planning is much needed, but leaders are ambivalent about embracing longer-term investments with no visible or immediate effects when local elections loom.

Montes Claros, an agglomeration of some 400,000 residents in Minas Gerais, Brazil, is the third city under study. In 2015, local authorities updated its master plan with support from universities and professional planners and technicians, but with little input or engagement with ordinary residents. Somewhere between non-existent planning (as in the Argentine example) and exogenous, top-down planning (seen in the Burkina Faso case), the Brazilian example allows us to follow an unfolding process. Faced with ongoing demographic growth and a variety of political and economic risks, the authorities are concentrating on the city centre while abandoning its peripheries. Rather than taking the opportunity to extend bottom-up participation and recognize residents’ agency in broader urban trajectories, they rely on a techno-economic approach, revealing professional biases in public administration and reinforcing socio-economic privilege and hierarchies.

Before concluding, Bolay puts in perspective the discussion of the three cases to highlight the challenges of pursuing sustainable urban development. Though enormously different in their geo-historical development, each is a lesser-known city serving as a hub for a wider region, tapping into global circulations and infrastructures, and linking surrounding rural spaces. Each faces challenges of service provision, accessibility, liveability and job creation amid rapid (and often unplanned) urban expansion, with new neighbourhoods cropping up on their outskirts.

The book is readable and accessible, integrating perspectives from the literature with the author’s own research and three decades of on-site professional experience. It would be a good addition to university courses in planning, urban studies and geography at upper-level undergraduate or masters level. Compelling photos taken by the author are interspersed, and Bolay uses some appealing phrasing, such as when he says “your breath forgets to disembark with you in El Alto airport, 4150m above sea level,” (p. 19) in recounting a visit to La Paz, Bolivia. The early chapters are wide-ranging with a wealth of empirical details, but at times unwieldy, lacking clear and succinct summaries to wrap up. A few points seem outdated, such as a mention of NAFTA on p. 21, or “the recent liberalization of international trade rules and instantaneity of telecommunications” on p. 36. Some more recent or emerging trends are neglected, including the hardening of borders and ‘de-globalization’, the use of algorithms in urban service provision and securitization, or China’s and India’s engagement in Global South cities’ infrastructure.  

A related point, Bolay’s treatment of the literature frequently relies on sources from the 1990s and 2000s in tracing the evolution of development planning, but equally in attending to current urban dynamics, especially in the framing chapters. Much contemporary, interdisciplinary urban research is overlooked, such as on urban precarity, infrastructural politics and urban sustainability transitions, off-grid cities, nature-based solutions, climate disruption, intersectionality and exclusion. To take just a few tributaries from this (transdisciplinary) river would enrich Bolay’s account of the realities in these cities while enhancing his critique of Eurocentric and technocratic planning approaches

That said, the book provides a useful synthesis that broadens our understanding of spatial planning, social integration and poverty alleviation in less-studied, mid-sized cities of economies in transition, where a growing share of humanity resides. It offers valuable insights that can inform planning practice and theoretical understandings of our increasingly urban condition.

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How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement . The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.

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Table of contents

When do you write an argumentative essay, approaches to argumentative essays, introducing your argument, the body: developing your argument, concluding your argument, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about argumentative essays.

You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class. The prompt will often ask you to argue for one of two positions, and may include terms like “argue” or “argument.” It will frequently take the form of a question.

The prompt may also be more open-ended in terms of the possible arguments you could make.

Argumentative writing at college level

At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts.

In this context, you won’t necessarily be told to write an argumentative essay—but making an evidence-based argument is an essential goal of most academic writing, and this should be your default approach unless you’re told otherwise.

Examples of argumentative essay prompts

At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response.

Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis.

• Don’t just list all the effects you can think of.
• Do develop a focused argument about the overall effect and why it matters, backed up by evidence from sources.
• Don’t just provide a selection of data on the measures’ effectiveness.
• Do build up your own argument about which kinds of measures have been most or least effective, and why.
• Don’t just analyze a random selection of doppelgänger characters.
• Do form an argument about specific texts, comparing and contrasting how they express their thematic concerns through doppelgänger characters.

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An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.

There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model.

Toulmin arguments

The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:

• Make a claim
• Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim
• Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim)
• Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives

The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don’t have to use these specific terms (grounds, warrants, rebuttals), but establishing a clear connection between your claims and the evidence supporting them is crucial in an argumentative essay.

Say you’re making an argument about the effectiveness of workplace anti-discrimination measures. You might:

• Claim that unconscious bias training does not have the desired results, and resources would be better spent on other approaches
• Cite data to support your claim
• Explain how the data indicates that the method is ineffective
• Anticipate objections to your claim based on other data, indicating whether these objections are valid, and if not, why not.

Rogerian arguments

The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:

• Discuss what the opposing position gets right and why people might hold this position
• Highlight the problems with this position
• Present your own position , showing how it addresses these problems
• Suggest a possible compromise —what elements of your position would proponents of the opposing position benefit from adopting?

This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.

Say you want to argue that the internet has had a positive impact on education. You might:

• Acknowledge that students rely too much on websites like Wikipedia
• Argue that teachers view Wikipedia as more unreliable than it really is
• Suggest that Wikipedia’s system of citations can actually teach students about referencing
• Suggest critical engagement with Wikipedia as a possible assignment for teachers who are skeptical of its usefulness.

You don’t necessarily have to pick one of these models—you may even use elements of both in different parts of your essay—but it’s worth considering them if you struggle to structure your arguments.

Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introduction , a body , and a conclusion .

Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction . The introduction serves to capture the reader’s interest, provide background information, present your thesis statement , and (in longer essays) to summarize the structure of the body.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. Here you’ll present evidence, analysis, and reasoning to convince the reader that your thesis statement is true.

In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings.

Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Each of these topics must contribute to your overall argument; don’t include irrelevant information.

This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position.

Hover over different parts of the example to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

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An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body.

No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research. In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument.

Hover over the following example to see the typical elements of a conclusion.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

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An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

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3 Key Tips for How to Write an Argumentative Essay

General Education

If there’s one writing skill you need to have in your toolkit for standardized tests, AP exams, and college-level writing, it’s the ability to make a persuasive argument. Effectively arguing for a position on a topic or issue isn’t just for the debate team— it’s for anyone who wants to ace the essay portion of an exam or make As in college courses.

To give you everything you need to know about how to write an argumentative essay , we’re going to answer the following questions for you:

• What is an argumentative essay?
• How should an argumentative essay be structured?
• How do I write a strong argument?
• What’s an example of a strong argumentative essay?
• What are the top takeaways for writing argumentative papers?

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepped and ready to write a great argumentative essay yourself!

Now, let’s break this down.

What Is an Argumentative Essay?

An argumentative essay is a type of writing that presents the writer’s position or stance on a specific topic and uses evidence to support that position. The goal of an argumentative essay is to convince your reader that your position is logical, ethical, and, ultimately, right . In argumentative essays, writers accomplish this by writing:

• A clear, persuasive thesis statement in the introduction paragraph
• Body paragraphs that use evidence and explanations to support the thesis statement
• A paragraph addressing opposing positions on the topic—when appropriate
• A conclusion that gives the audience something meaningful to think about.

Introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion: these are the main sections of an argumentative essay. Those probably sound familiar. Where does arguing come into all of this, though? It’s not like you’re having a shouting match with your little brother across the dinner table. You’re just writing words down on a page!

...or are you? Even though writing papers can feel like a lonely process, one of the most important things you can do to be successful in argumentative writing is to think about your argument as participating in a larger conversation . For one thing, you’re going to be responding to the ideas of others as you write your argument. And when you’re done writing, someone—a teacher, a professor, or exam scorer—is going to be reading and evaluating your argument.

If you want to make a strong argument on any topic, you have to get informed about what’s already been said on that topic . That includes researching the different views and positions, figuring out what evidence has been produced, and learning the history of the topic. That means—you guessed it!—argumentative essays almost always require you to incorporate outside sources into your writing.  

What Makes Argumentative Essays Unique?

Argumentative essays are different from other types of essays for one main reason: in an argumentative essay, you decide what the argument will be . Some types of essays, like summaries or syntheses, don’t want you to show your stance on the topic—they want you to remain unbiased and neutral.

In argumentative essays, you’re presenting your point of view as the writer and, sometimes, choosing the topic you’ll be arguing about. You just want to make sure that that point of view comes across as informed, well-reasoned, and persuasive.

Another thing about argumentative essays: they’re often longer than other types of essays. Why, you ask? Because it takes time to develop an effective argument. If your argument is going to be persuasive to readers, you have to address multiple points that support your argument, acknowledge counterpoints, and provide enough evidence and explanations to convince your reader that your points are valid.

Our 3 Best Tips for Picking a Great Argumentative Topic

The first step to writing an argumentative essay deciding what to write about! Choosing a topic for your argumentative essay might seem daunting, though. It can feel like you could make an argument about anything under the sun. For example, you could write an argumentative essay about how cats are way cooler than dogs, right?

It’s not quite that simple . Here are some strategies for choosing a topic that serves as a solid foundation for a strong argument.

Choose a Topic That Can Be Supported With Evidence

First, you want to make sure the topic you choose allows you to make a claim that can be supported by evidence that’s considered credible and appropriate for the subject matter ...and, unfortunately, your personal opinions or that Buzzfeed quiz you took last week don’t quite make the cut.

Some topics—like whether cats or dogs are cooler—can generate heated arguments, but at the end of the day, any argument you make on that topic is just going to be a matter of opinion. You have to pick a topic that allows you to take a position that can be supported by actual, researched evidence.

(Quick note: you could write an argumentative paper over the general idea that dogs are better than cats—or visa versa!—if you’re a) more specific and b) choose an idea that has some scientific research behind it. For example, a strong argumentative topic could be proving that dogs make better assistance animals than cats do.)

You also don’t want to make an argument about a topic that’s already a proven fact, like that drinking water is good for you. While some people might dislike the taste of water, there is an overwhelming body of evidence that proves—beyond the shadow of a doubt—that drinking water is a key part of good health.  

To avoid choosing a topic that’s either unprovable or already proven, try brainstorming some issues that have recently been discussed in the news, that you’ve seen people debating on social media, or that affect your local community. If you explore those outlets for potential topics, you’ll likely stumble upon something that piques your audience’s interest as well.  

Choose a Topic That You Find Interesting

Topics that have local, national, or global relevance often also resonate with us on a personal level. Consider choosing a topic that holds a connection between something you know or care about and something that is relevant to the rest of society. These don’t have to be super serious issues, but they should be topics that are timely and significant.

For example, if you are a huge football fan, a great argumentative topic for you might be arguing whether football leagues need to do more to prevent concussions . Is this as “important” an issue as climate change? No, but it’s still a timely topic that affects many people. And not only is this a great argumentative topic: you also get to write about one of your passions! Ultimately, if you’re working with a topic you enjoy, you’ll have more to say—and probably write a better essay .

Choose a Topic That Doesn’t Get You Too Heated

Another word of caution on choosing a topic for an argumentative paper: while it can be effective to choose a topic that matters to you personally, you also want to make sure you’re choosing a topic that you can keep your cool over. You’ve got to be able to stay unemotional, interpret the evidence persuasively, and, when appropriate, discuss opposing points of view without getting too salty.

In some situations, choosing a topic for your argumentative paper won’t be an issue at all: the test or exam will choose it for you . In that case, you’ve got to do the best you can with what you’re given.

In the next sections, we’re going to break down how to write any argumentative essay —regardless of whether you get to choose your own topic or have one assigned to you! Our expert tips and tricks will make sure that you’re knocking your paper out of the park.

The Thesis: The Argumentative Essay’s Backbone

You’ve chosen a topic or, more likely, read the exam question telling you to defend, challenge, or qualify a claim on an assigned topic. What do you do now?

You establish your position on the topic by writing a killer thesis statement ! The thesis statement, sometimes just called “the thesis,” is the backbone of your argument, the north star that keeps you oriented as you develop your main points, the—well, you get the idea.

In more concrete terms, a thesis statement conveys your point of view on your topic, usually in one sentence toward the end of your introduction paragraph . It’s very important that you state your point of view in your thesis statement in an argumentative way—in other words, it should state a point of view that is debatable.

And since your thesis statement is going to present your argument on the topic, it’s the thing that you’ll spend the rest of your argumentative paper defending. That’s where persuasion comes in. Your thesis statement tells your reader what your argument is, then the rest of your essay shows and explains why your argument is logical.

Why does an argumentative essay need a thesis, though? Well, the thesis statement—the sentence with your main claim—is actually the entire point of an argumentative essay. If you don’t clearly state an arguable claim at the beginning of your paper, then it’s not an argumentative essay. No thesis statement = no argumentative essay. Got it?

Other types of essays that you’re familiar with might simply use a thesis statement to forecast what the rest of the essay is going to discuss or to communicate what the topic is. That’s not the case here. If your thesis statement doesn’t make a claim or establish your position, you’ll need to go back to the drawing board.

Example Thesis Statements

Here are a couple of examples of thesis statements that aren’t argumentative and thesis statements that are argumentative

The sky is blue.

The thesis statement above conveys a fact, not a claim, so it’s not argumentative.

To keep the sky blue, governments must pass clean air legislation and regulate emissions.

The second example states a position on a topic. What’s the topic in that second sentence? The best way to keep the sky blue. And what position is being conveyed? That the best way to keep the sky blue is by passing clean air legislation and regulating emissions.

Some people would probably respond to that thesis statement with gusto: “No! Governments should not pass clean air legislation and regulate emissions! That infringes on my right to pollute the earth!” And there you have it: a thesis statement that presents a clear, debatable position on a topic.

Here’s one more set of thesis statement examples, just to throw in a little variety:

Spirituality and otherworldliness characterize A$AP Rocky’s portrayals of urban life and the American Dream in his rap songs and music videos.

The statement above is another example that isn’t argumentative, but you could write a really interesting analytical essay with that thesis statement. Long live A$AP! Now here’s another one that is argumentative:

To give students an understanding of the role of the American Dream in contemporary life, teachers should incorporate pop culture, like the music of A$AP Rocky, into their lessons and curriculum.

The argument in this one? Teachers should incorporate more relevant pop culture texts into their curriculum.

This thesis statement also gives a specific reason for making the argument above: To give students an understanding of the role of the American Dream in contemporary life. If you can let your reader know why you’re making your argument in your thesis statement, it will help them understand your argument better.

An actual image of you killing your argumentative essay prompts after reading this article! 

Breaking Down the Sections of An Argumentative Essay

Now that you know how to pick a topic for an argumentative essay and how to make a strong claim on your topic in a thesis statement, you’re ready to think about writing the other sections of an argumentative essay. These are the parts that will flesh out your argument and support the claim you made in your thesis statement.  

Like other types of essays, argumentative essays typically have three main sections: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Within those sections, there are some key elements that a reader—and especially an exam scorer or professor—is always going to expect you to include.

Let’s look at a quick outline of those three sections with their essential pieces here:

• Introduction paragraph with a thesis statement (which we just talked about)
• Support Point #1 with evidence
• Explain/interpret the evidence with your own, original commentary (AKA, the fun part!)
• Support Point #2 with evidence
• Explain/interpret the evidence with your own, original commentary
• Support Point #3 with evidence
• New paragraph addressing opposing viewpoints (more on this later!)
• Concluding paragraph

 Now, there are some key concepts in those sections that you’ve got to understand if you’re going to master how to write an argumentative essay. To make the most of the body section, you have to know how to support your claim (your thesis statement), what evidence and explanations are and when you should use them, and how and when to address opposing viewpoints. To finish strong, you’ve got to have a strategy for writing a stellar conclusion.

This probably feels like a big deal! The body and conclusion make up most of the essay, right? Let’s get down to it, then.

How to Write a Strong Argument

Once you have your topic and thesis, you’re ready for the hard part: actually writing your argument. If you make strategic choices—like the ones we’re about to talk about—writing a strong argumentative essay won’t feel so difficult.

There are three main areas where you want to focus your energy as you develop a strategy for how to write an argumentative essay: supporting your claim—your thesis statement—in your essay, addressing other viewpoints on your topic, and writing a solid conclusion. If you put thought and effort into these three things, you’re much more likely to write an argumentative essay that’s engaging, persuasive, and memorable...aka A+ material.

Focus Area 1: Supporting Your Claim With Evidence and Explanations

So you’ve chosen your topic, decided what your position will be, and written a thesis statement. But like we see in comment threads across the Internet, if you make a claim and don’t back it up with evidence, what do people say? “Where’s your proof?” “Show me the facts!” “Do you have any evidence to support that claim?”

Of course you’ve done your research like we talked about. Supporting your claim in your thesis statement is where that research comes in handy.

You can’t just use your research to state the facts, though. Remember your reader? They’re going to expect you to do some of the dirty work of interpreting the evidence for them. That’s why it’s important to know the difference between evidence and explanations, and how and when to use both in your argumentative essay.

What Evidence Is and When You Should Use It

Evidence can be material from any authoritative and credible outside source that supports your position on your topic. In some cases, evidence can come in the form of photos, video footage, or audio recordings. In other cases, you might be pulling reasons, facts, or statistics from news media articles, public policy, or scholarly books or journals.

There are some clues you can look for that indicate whether or not a source is credible , such as whether:

• The website where you found the source ends in .edu, .gov, or .org
• The source was published by a university press
• The source was published in a peer-reviewed journal
• The authors did extensive research to support the claims they make in the source

This is just a short list of some of the clues that a source is likely a credible one, but just because a source was published by a prestigious press or the authors all have PhDs doesn’t necessarily mean it is the best piece of evidence for you to use to support your argument.

In addition to evaluating the source’s credibility, you’ve got to consider what types of evidence might come across as most persuasive in the context of the argument you’re making and who your readers are. In other words, stepping back and getting a bird’s eye view of the entire context of your argumentative paper is key to choosing evidence that will strengthen your argument.

On some exams, like the AP exams , you may be given pretty strict parameters for what evidence to use and how to use it. You might be given six short readings that all address the same topic, have 15 minutes to read them, then be required to pull material from a minimum of three of the short readings to support your claim in an argumentative essay.

When the sources are handed to you like that, be sure to take notes that will help you pick out evidence as you read. Highlight, underline, put checkmarks in the margins of your exam . . . do whatever you need to do to begin identifying the material that you find most helpful or relevant. Those highlights and check marks might just turn into your quotes, paraphrases, or summaries of evidence in your completed exam essay.

What Explanations Are and When You Should Use Them

Now you know that taking a strategic mindset toward evidence and explanations is critical to grasping how to write an argumentative essay. Unfortunately, evidence doesn’t speak for itself. While it may be obvious to you, the researcher and writer, how the pieces of evidence you’ve included are relevant to your audience, it might not be as obvious to your reader.

That’s where explanations—or analysis, or interpretations—come in. You never want to just stick some quotes from an article into your paragraph and call it a day. You do want to interpret the evidence you’ve included to show your reader how that evidence supports your claim.

Now, that doesn’t mean you’re going to be saying, “This piece of evidence supports my argument because...”. Instead, you want to comment on the evidence in a way that helps your reader see how it supports the position you stated in your thesis. We’ll talk more about how to do this when we show you an example of a strong body paragraph from an argumentative essay here in a bit.

Understanding how to incorporate evidence and explanations to your advantage is really important. Here’s why: when you’re writing an argumentative essay, particularly on standardized tests or the AP exam, the exam scorers can’t penalize you for the position you take. Instead, their evaluation is going to focus on the way you incorporated evidence and explained it in your essay.

Focus Area 2: How—and When—to Address Other Viewpoints

Why would we be making arguments at all if there weren’t multiple views out there on a given topic? As you do research and consider the background surrounding your topic, you’ll probably come across arguments that stand in direct opposition to your position.

Oftentimes, teachers will ask you to “address the opposition” in your argumentative essay. What does that mean, though, to “ address the opposition ?”

Opposing viewpoints function kind of like an elephant in the room. Your audience knows they’re there. In fact, your audience might even buy into an opposing viewpoint and be waiting for you to show them why your viewpoint is better. If you don’t, it means that you’ll have a hard time convincing your audience to buy your argument.

Addressing the opposition is a balancing act: you don’t want to undermine your own argument, but you don’t want to dismiss the validity of opposing viewpoints out-of-hand or ignore them altogether, which can also undermine your argument.

This isn’t the only acceptable approach, but it’s common practice to wait to address the opposition until close to the end of an argumentative essay. But why?

Well, waiting to present an opposing viewpoint until after you’ve thoroughly supported your own argument is strategic. You aren’t going to go into great detail discussing the opposing viewpoint: you’re going to explain what that viewpoint is fairly, but you’re also going to point out what’s wrong with it.

It can also be effective to read the opposition through the lens of your own argument and the evidence you’ve used to support it. If the evidence you’ve already included supports your argument, it probably doesn’t support the opposing viewpoint. Without being too obvious, it might be worth pointing this out when you address the opposition.

Focus Area #3: Writing the Conclusion

It’s common to conclude an argumentative essay by reiterating the thesis statement in some way, either by reminding the reader what the overarching argument was in the first place or by reviewing the main points and evidence that you covered.

You don’t just want to restate your thesis statement and review your main points and call it a day, though. So much has happened since you stated your thesis in the introduction! And why waste a whole paragraph—the very last thing your audience is going to read—on just repeating yourself?

Here’s an approach to the conclusion that can give your audience a fresh perspective on your argument: reinterpret your thesis statement for them in light of all the evidence and explanations you’ve provided. Think about how your readers might read your thesis statement in a new light now that they’ve heard your whole argument out.

That’s what you want to leave your audience with as you conclude your argumentative paper: a brief explanation of why all that arguing mattered in the first place. If you can give your audience something to continue pondering after they’ve read your argument, that’s even better.

One thing you want to avoid in your conclusion, though: presenting new supporting points or new evidence. That can just be confusing for your reader. Stick to telling your reader why the argument you’ve already made matters, and your argument will stick with your reader.

A Strong Argumentative Essay: Examples

For some aspiring argumentative essay writers, showing is better than telling. To show rather than tell you what makes a strong argumentative essay, we’ve provided three examples of possible body paragraphs for an argumentative essay below.

Think of these example paragraphs as taking on the form of the “Argumentative Point #1 → Evidence —> Explanation —> Repeat” process we talked through earlier. It’s always nice to be able to compare examples, so we’ve included three paragraphs from an argumentative paper ranging from poor (or needs a lot of improvement, if you’re feeling generous), to better, to best.

All of the example paragraphs are for an essay with this thesis statement: 

Thesis Statement: In order to most effectively protect user data and combat the spread of disinformation, the U.S. government should implement more stringent regulations of Facebook and other social media outlets.

As you read the examples, think about what makes them different, and what makes the “best” paragraph more effective than the “better” and “poor” paragraphs. Here we go:

A Poor Argument

Example Body Paragraph: Data mining has affected a lot of people in recent years. Facebook has 2.23 billion users from around the world, and though it would take a huge amount of time and effort to make sure a company as big as Facebook was complying with privacy regulations in countries across the globe, adopting a common framework for privacy regulation in more countries would be the first step. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg himself supports adopting a global framework for privacy and data protection, which would protect more users than before.

What’s Wrong With This Example?

First, let’s look at the thesis statement. Ask yourself: does this make a claim that some people might agree with, but others might disagree with?

The answer is yes. Some people probably think that Facebook should be regulated, while others might believe that’s too much government intervention. Also, there are definitely good, reliable sources out there that will help this writer prove their argument. So this paper is off to a strong start!  

Unfortunately, this writer doesn’t do a great job proving their thesis in their body paragraph. First, the topic sentence—aka the first sentence of the paragraph—doesn’t make a point that directly supports the position stated in the thesis. We’re trying to argue that government regulation will help protect user data and combat the spread of misinformation, remember? The topic sentence should make a point that gets right at that, instead of throwing out a random fact about data mining.

Second, because the topic sentence isn’t focused on making a clear point, the rest of the paragraph doesn’t have much relevant information, and it fails to provide credible evidence that supports the claim made in the thesis statement. For example, it would be a great idea to include exactly what Mark Zuckerberg said ! So while there’s definitely some relevant information in this paragraph, it needs to be presented with more evidence.

A Better Argument  

This paragraph is a bit better than the first one, but it still needs some work. The topic sentence is a bit too long, and it doesn’t make a point that clearly supports the position laid out in the thesis statement. The reader already knows that mining user data is a big issue, so the topic sentence would be a great place to make a point about why more stringent government regulations would most effectively protect user data.

There’s also a problem with how the evidence is incorporated in this example. While there is some relevant, persuasive evidence included in this paragraph, there’s no explanation of why or how it is relevant . Remember, you can’t assume that your evidence speaks for itself: you have to interpret its relevance for your reader. That means including at least a sentence that tells your reader why the evidence you’ve chosen proves your argument.

A Best—But Not Perfect!—Argument  

Example Body Paragraph: Though Facebook claims to be implementing company policies that will protect user data and stop the spread of misinformation , its attempts have been unsuccessful compared to those made by the federal government. When PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted a Federal Trade Commission-mandated assessment of Facebook’s partnerships with Microsoft and the makers of the Blackberry handset in 2013, the team found limited evidence that Facebook had monitored or even checked that its partners had complied with Facebook’s existing data use policies. In fact, Facebook’s own auditors confirmed the PricewaterhouseCoopers findings, despite the fact that Facebook claimed that the company was making greater attempts to safeguard users’ personal information. In contrast, bills written by Congress have been more successful in changing Facebook’s practices than Facebook’s own company policies have. According to The Washington Post, The Honest Ads Act of 2017 “created public demand for transparency and changed how social media companies disclose online political advertising.” These policy efforts, though thus far unsuccessful in passing legislation, have nevertheless pushed social media companies to change some of their practices by sparking public outrage and negative media attention.

Why This Example Is The Best

This paragraph isn’t perfect, but it is the most effective at doing some of the things that you want to do when you write an argumentative essay.

First, the topic sentences get to the point . . . and it’s a point that supports and explains the claim made in the thesis statement! It gives a clear reason why our claim in favor of more stringent government regulations is a good claim : because Facebook has failed to self-regulate its practices.

This paragraph also provides strong evidence and specific examples that support the point made in the topic sentence. The evidence presented shows specific instances in which Facebook has failed to self-regulate, and other examples where the federal government has successfully influenced regulation of Facebook’s practices for the better.

Perhaps most importantly, though, this writer explains why the evidence is important. The bold sentence in the example is where the writer links the evidence back to their opinion. In this case, they explain that the pressure from Federal Trade Commission and Congress—and the threat of regulation—have helped change Facebook for the better.

Why point out that this isn’t a perfect paragraph, though? Because you won’t be writing perfect paragraphs when you’re taking timed exams either. But get this: you don’t have to write perfect paragraphs to make a good score on AP exams or even on an essay you write for class. Like in this example paragraph, you just have to effectively develop your position by appropriately and convincingly relying on evidence from good sources.

Top 3 Takeaways For Writing Argumentative Essays

This is all great information, right? If (when) you have to write an argumentative essay, you’ll be ready. But when in doubt, remember these three things about how to write an argumentative essay, and you’ll emerge victorious:

Takeaway #1: Read Closely and Carefully

This tip applies to every aspect of writing an argumentative essay. From making sure you’re addressing your prompt, to really digging into your sources, to proofreading your final paper...you’ll need to actively and pay attention! This is especially true if you’re writing on the clock, like during an AP exam.

Takeaway #2: Make Your Argument the Focus of the Essay

Define your position clearly in your thesis statement and stick to that position! The thesis is the backbone of your paper, and every paragraph should help prove your thesis in one way or another. But sometimes you get to the end of your essay and realize that you’ve gotten off topic, or that your thesis doesn’t quite fit. Don’t worry—if that happens, you can always rewrite your thesis to fit your paper!

Takeaway #3: Use Sources to Develop Your Argument—and Explain Them

Nothing is as powerful as good, strong evidence. First, make sure you’re finding credible sources that support your argument. Then you can paraphrase, briefly summarize, or quote from your sources as you incorporate them into your paragraphs. But remember the most important part: you have to explain why you’ve chosen that evidence and why it proves your thesis.

What's Next?

Once you’re comfortable with how to write an argumentative essay, it’s time to learn some more advanced tips and tricks for putting together a killer argument.

Keep in mind that argumentative essays are just one type of essay you might encounter. That’s why we’ve put together more specific guides on how to tackle IB essays , SAT essays , and ACT essays .

But what about admissions essays? We’ve got you covered. Not only do we have comprehensive guides to the Coalition App and Common App essays, we also have tons of individual college application guides, too . You can search through all of our college-specific posts by clicking here.

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Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Argumentative Essays – Is Urban Planning about bringing

1. Argumentative Essays is about: Is Urban Planning about bringing safety to our livesThere will be one practice essay worth 10 points plus four (4) argumentative essays worth 30 points each (weeks 3, 7, 9, 11, 13),. Essays must be submitted to the designated dropbox on iCollege by midnight the Wednesday before class. Each essay must incorporate these features:The main points on both sides of the argument. Describe the relevance of the pro and con points. Proper supporting citations for both sides of the question using posted materials.Meet standards for content, organization, and grammar. No first person.Inclusion of one discussion questions you would like to ask. What do you want to know? What is unclear to you? (these serve as tie-breakers)Essays may NOT exceed one page (1 inch margins, 11-10pt font, single spaced (double spaced between paragraphs), about 300 typed words.) Essays should consist of 4-5 well written paragraphs. All material, including assigned reading , is to be properly cited using Chicago style citation. The Author-Date style is preferred and is fairly easy to learn and use. See http://www.chicagomanualofstyle…./tools_citationguide.html for guidance. Essays will be graded on:? Were they on time? Late work automatically loses points and will NOT be accepted if more than one week late.? Were instructions followed? Is it formatted correctly? Is a question included?? Quality of work. Good organization and writing is essential. A rubric is provided on line. Did you identify and support the main points on both sides of the issue using materials from the readings? Did you provide one relevant discussion question ?

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Attacks on Walz’s Military Record

By Robert Farley , D'Angelo Gore and Eugene Kiely

Posted on August 8, 2024 | Corrected on August 9, 2024

Este artículo estará disponible en español en El Tiempo Latino .

In introducing her pick for vice presidential running mate, Kamala Harris has prominently touted Tim Walz’s 24 years of service in the Army National Guard. Now, however, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance and the Trump campaign are attacking Walz on his military record, accusing the Minnesota governor of “stolen valor.”

We’ll sort through the facts surrounding the three main attacks on Walz’s military record and let readers decide their merit. The claims include:

• Vance claimed that Walz “dropped out” of the National Guard when he learned his battalion was slated to be deployed to Iraq. Walz retired to focus on a run for Congress two months before his unit got official word of impending deployment, though the possibility had been rumored for months.
• Vance also accused Walz of having once claimed to have served in combat, when he did not. While advocating a ban on assault-style weapons, Walz said, “We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”
• The Republican National Committee has criticized Walz for misrepresenting his military rank in campaign materials. The Harris campaign website salutes Walz for “rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.” Walz did rise to that rank, but he retired as a master sergeant because he had not completed the requirements of a command sergeant major.

A native of West Point, Nebraska, Walz joined the Nebraska Army National Guard in April 1981, two days after his 17th birthday. When Walz and his wife moved to Minnesota in 1996, he transferred to the Minnesota National Guard, where he served in 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery.

“While serving in Minnesota, his military occupational specialties were 13B – a cannon crewmember who operates and maintains cannons and 13Z -field artillery senior sergeant,” according to a statement released by Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, the Minnesota National Guard’s state public affairs officer.

According to MPR News , Walz suffered some hearing impairment related to exposure to cannon booms during training over the years, and he underwent some corrective surgery to address it.

On Aug. 3, 2003, “Walz mobilized with the Minnesota National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery … to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey. Governor Walz was stationed at Vicenza, Italy, during his deployment.” Augé stated. The deployment lasted about eight months.

“For 24 years I proudly wore the uniform of this nation,” Walz said at a rally in Philadelphia where he was announced as Harris’ running mate on Aug. 6. “The National Guard gave me purpose. It gave me the strength of a shared commitment to something greater than ourselves.”

Walz’s Retirement from the National Guard

In recent years, however, several of his fellow guard members have taken issue with the timing of Walz’s retirement from the National Guard in May 2005, claiming he left to avoid a deployment to Iraq.

Vance, who served a four-year active duty enlistment in the Marine Corps as a combat correspondent, serving in Iraq for six months in 2005, advanced that argument at a campaign event on Aug. 7.

“When the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it,” Vance said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with. I think it’s shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, to make a promise that you’re going to follow through and then to drop out right before you actually have to go.”

In early 2005, Walz, then a high school geography teacher and football coach at Mankato West High School, decided to run for public office. In a 2009 interview Walz provided as part of the Library of Congress’ veterans oral history project, Waltz said he made the decision to retire from the National Guard to “focus full time” on a run for the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District (which he ultimately won in 2006). Walz said he was “really concerned” about trying to seek public office and serve in the National Guard at the same time without running afoul of the Hatch Act , which limits political speech by federal employees, including members of the National Guard.

Federal Election Commission records show that Walz filed to run for Congress on Feb. 10, 2005.

On March 20, 2005, Walz’s campaign put out a press release titled “Walz Still Planning to Run for Congress Despite Possible Call to Duty in Iraq.”

Three days prior, the release said, “the National Guard Public Affairs Office announced a possible partial mobilization of roughly 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard. … The announcement from the National Guard PAO specified that all or a portion of Walz’s battalion could be mobilized to serve in Iraq within the next two years.”

According to the release, “When asked about his possible deployment to Iraq Walz said, ‘I do not yet know if my artillery unit will be part of this mobilization and I am unable to comment further on specifics of the deployment.’ Although his tour of duty in Iraq might coincide with his campaign for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional seat, Walz is determined to stay in the race. ‘As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or in Iraq.'”

On March 23, 2005, the Pipestone County Star reported, “Detachments of the Minnesota National Guard have been ‘alerted’ of possible deployment to Iraq in mid-to-late 2006.”

“Major Kevin Olson of the Minnesota National Guard said a brigade-sized contingent of soldiers could be expected to be called to Iraq, but he was not, at this time, aware of which batteries would be called,” the story said. “All soldiers in the First Brigade combat team of the 34th Division, Minnesota National Guard, could be eligible for call-up. ‘We don’t know yet what the force is like’ he said. ‘It’s too early to speculate, if the (soldiers) do go.’

“He added: ‘We will have a major announcement if and when the alert order moves ahead.’”

ABC News spoke to Joseph Eustice, a retired command sergeant major who served with Walz, and he told the news organization this week that “he remembers Walz struggling with the timing of wanting to serve as a lawmaker but also avoiding asking for a deferment so he could do so.”

“He had a window of time,” Eustice told ABC News. “He had to decide. And in his deciding, we were not on notice to be deployed. There were rumors. There were lots of rumors, and we didn’t know where we were going until it was later that, early summer, I believe.”

Al Bonnifield, who served under Walz, also recalled Walz agonizing over the decision.

“It was a very long conversation behind closed doors,” Bonnifield told the Washington Post this week. “He was trying to decide where he could do better for soldiers, for veterans, for the country. He weighed that for a long time.”

In 2018, Bonnifield told MPR News that Walz worried in early 2005, “Would the soldier look down on him because he didn’t go with us? Would the common soldier say, ‘Hey, he didn’t go with us, he’s trying to skip out on a deployment?’ And he wasn’t. He talked with us for quite a while on that subject. He weighed that decision to run for Congress very heavy. He loved the military, he loved the guard, he loved the soldiers he worked with.”

But not all of Walz’s fellow Guard members felt that way.

In a paid letter to the West Central Tribune in Minnesota in November 2018, Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr — both retired command sergeants major in the Minnesota National Guard — wrote, “On May 16th, 2005 he [Walz] quit, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war. His excuse to other leaders was that he needed to retire in order to run for congress. Which is false, according to a Department of Defense Directive, he could have run and requested permission from the Secretary of Defense before entering active duty; as many reservists have.”

“For Tim Walz to abandon his fellow soldiers and quit when they needed experienced leadership most is disheartening,” they wrote. “When the nation called, he quit.”

Walz retired on May 16, 2005. Walz’s brigade received alert orders for mobilization on July 14, 2005, according to the National Guard and MPR News . The official mobilization report came the following month, and the unit mobilized and trained through the fall. It was finally deployed to Iraq in the spring of 2006.

The unit was originally scheduled to return in February 2007, but its tour was extended four months as part of President George W. Bush’s “surge” strategy , the National Guard reported. In all, the soldiers were mobilized for 22 months.

Responding to Vance’s claim that Walz retired to avoid deploying to Iraq, the Harris-Walz campaign released a statement saying, “After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform – and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families.”

Walz on Carrying a Weapon ‘in War’

Vance also called Walz “dishonest” for a claim that Walz made in 2018 while speaking to a group about gun control.

“He made this interesting comment that the Kamala Harris campaign put out there,” Vance said, referring to a video of Walz that the Harris campaign posted to X on Aug. 6. “He said, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets.’ Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq and he has not spent a day in a combat zone.”

In the video , Walz, who was campaigning for governor at the time, talked about pushing back on the National Rifle Association and said: “I spent 25 years in the Army and I hunt. … I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can do [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] research. We can make sure we don’t have reciprocal carry among states. And we can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”

But, as Vance indicated, there is no evidence that Walz carried a weapon “in war.”

As we said, Augé, in her statement, said Walz’s battalion deployed “to support Operation Enduring Freedom” on Aug. 3, 2003, and “supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey.” During his deployment, Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, and he returned to Minnesota in April 2004, Augé said. There was no mention of Walz serving in Afghanistan, Iraq or another combat zone.

In the 2009 interview for the veterans history project, Walz said he and members of his battalion initially thought they would “shoot artillery in Afghanistan,” as they had trained to do. That didn’t happen, he said, explaining that his group ended up helping with security and training while stationed at an Army base in Vicenza.

“I think in the beginning, many of my troops were disappointed,” Walz said in the interview. “I think they felt a little guilty, many of them, that they weren’t in the fight up front as this was happening.”

In a statement addressing his claim about carrying weapons “in war,” the Harris campaign noted that Walz, whose military occupational specialties included field artillery senior sergeant, “fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times” in his 24 years of service.

Walz’s National Guard Rank

The Republican National Committee has criticized Walz for saying “in campaign materials that he is a former ‘Command Sergeant Major’ in the Army National Guard despite not completing the requirements to hold the rank into retirement.”

Walz’s biography on the Harris campaign website correctly says that the governor “served for 24 years” in the National Guard, “rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.” 

Walz’s official biography on the Minnesota state website goes further, referring to the governor as “Command Sergeant Major Walz.”

“After 24 years in the Army National Guard, Command Sergeant Major Walz retired from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005,” the state website says. 

Walz did serve as command sergeant major , but Walz did not complete the requirements to retire with the rank of command sergeant, Augé told us in an email. 

“He held multiple positions within field artillery such as firing battery chief, operations sergeant, first sergeant, and culminated his career serving as the command sergeant major for the battalion,” Augé said. “He retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.”

This isn’t the first time that Walz’s National Guard rank has come up in a campaign. 

In their 2018 paid letter to the West Central Tribune, when Walz was running for governor, the two Minnesota National Guard retired command sergeants major who criticized Walz for retiring before the Iraq deployment also wrote: “Yes, he served at that rank, but was never qualified at that rank, and will receive retirement benefits at one rank below. You be the judge.”

Correction, Aug. 9: We mistakenly said a 2007 “surge” strategy in Iraq occurred under President Barack Obama. It was President George W. Bush.

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not accept advertising. We rely on grants and individual donations from people like you. Please consider a donation. Credit card donations may be made through  our “Donate” page . If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, 202 S. 36th St., Philadelphia, PA 19104.