Every semester, the same scene plays out during my office hours. A bright student sits across from my desk, looking utterly exhausted, and admits, “Professor, I can write the paper, but I just don’t know what to write about.”
The paralysis of choice is real. But here is the secret I tell my classes: the topic is 80% of the battle. If you choose a subject that has been debated to death (please, no more papers on school uniforms unless you have a revolutionary sociological angle), you are fighting an uphill battle to keep your reader interested.
An argumentative essay requires more than an opinion; it requires a claim that can be substantiated with rigorous evidence, yet remains open to reasonable counter-argument. This guide will help you find that sweet spot.
The Anatomy of a Good Argument
Before you pick a topic, you must understand the distinction between a fact, a preference, and an actual academic argument. I often see students conflate these, leading to essays that go nowhere.
You need a topic where reasonable people can disagree. If you can’t imagine a smart person taking the opposite stance, your topic is too simple.
| Category | Example Statement | Is it Arguable? |
|---|---|---|
| Fact | “Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.” | No. This is verifiable data. There is no debate here. |
| Preference | “Vanilla ice cream is better than chocolate.” | No. This is subjective taste. You cannot “prove” a flavor is superior. |
| Broad Topic | “Pollution is bad for the environment.” | No. Everyone agrees. There is no tension or conflict. |
| Argument | “The carbon tax has failed to reduce emissions in urban centers due to loopholes for heavy industry.” | Yes. This relies on evidence and interpretation. |
Category 1: The Ethics of Technology
As a society, we are adopting technology faster than we can philosophically understand it. This is fertile ground for academic writing because the answers aren’t in the textbooks yet—you are writing the history of the present.
- AI and Creative Copyright: Should Artificial Intelligence that generates art or text be required to pay royalties to the human artists whose work was used to train it?
- The Right to Disconnect: Should laws prohibit employers from contacting employees after work hours, or does this stifle the flexibility of the modern gig economy?
- Algorithmic Bias in Policing: Is the use of predictive policing software reinforcing historical racial biases to the point where it should be banned?
- The “Dead Internet” Theory: Is the increasing volume of bot traffic ruining the internet’s utility as a human archive?
Category 2: Education and the Academy
Since you are currently navigating the university system, why not write about it? These topics affect your life directly, and you likely have primary source experience.
“The tenure system, originally designed to protect academic freedom, now serves primarily to protect underperforming professors and stifle curriculum innovation.”
Consider arguing for or against these propositions:
- Student Loan Forgiveness: Does blanket loan forgiveness solve the root cause of tuition inflation, or does it merely subsidize universities raising prices further?
- Grade Inflation: Has the cultural shift toward “customer service” in education devalued the college degree?
- Vocational Training vs. Liberal Arts: Should high schools push trade schools as aggressively as they push four-year universities?
Category 3: Bioethics and Health
These are high-stakes topics. They require you to balance scientific data with moral philosophy. Be careful here—do not rely on emotion alone. You need hard data to support your ethical claims.
- Genetic Editing (CRISPR): Should we allow gene editing to eliminate hereditary diseases in embryos, and if so, how do we draw the line before “designer babies”?
- The Obesity Epidemic: Is obesity primarily a public health crisis requiring government intervention (like sugar taxes), or is it a matter of strictly personal responsibility?
- Mandatory Organ Donation: Should nations adopt an “opt-out” system for organ donation (presumed consent) rather than an “opt-in” system?
Category 4: Economics and Society
Avoid the broad topics like “Capitalism vs. Socialism.” They are too big for a 2,000-word essay. Narrow your scope to specific policies.
The “Gig Economy” Classification:
Are drivers for Uber and DoorDash entrepreneurs, or are they exploited employees misclassified to avoid providing benefits? This is currently being litigated in courts worldwide—a perfect topic for a paper.
Universal Basic Income (UBI):
In an era of automation, is UBI a necessary safety net, or does it create a disincentive to work?
Remote Work and Real Estate:
Will the permanent shift to remote work cause a collapse of the commercial real estate market that necessitates a government bailout?
From Topic to Thesis: The “So What?” Test
Once you have picked a topic from the list above—or found one of your own—do not just start writing. You need to refine it. When a student pitches a topic to me, I always ask: “So what?”
If you tell me, “I am writing about AI art,” I will ask, “So what?”
You must answer: “So, I argue that without regulation, human creativity will cease to be a viable career path, leading to cultural stagnation.”
Topic Viability Checklist
Scope
- Is the topic narrow enough to cover in the assigned word count?
- Have you avoided broad generalizations (e.g., “Since the dawn of time”)?
Evidence
- Can you find peer-reviewed sources on this topic?
- Is there data available, or is it purely speculative?
Opposition
- Is there a valid counter-argument?
- Can you respect the opposing view without resorting to strawman attacks?
Interest
- Does this topic actually make you angry, excited, or curious?
- (If you are bored writing it, I promise I will be bored grading it.)
A Final Word of Advice
When you sit down to draft this, imagine you are writing to a person who is intelligent but slightly skeptical of your view. Do not preach to the choir. Your goal is not to prove that you are “right” and the other side is “stupid.” Your goal is to show that you have considered the complexity of the issue and found a path through it.
Pick a topic that matters. Now, go do the reading.