Tutor profile: Ashleigh K.

How can I write an effective argumentative essay?

Argumentative essays consist of a recipe, and if you follow it, you're sure to nail it! Let's start with the introduction. The introduction must introduce both sides of your topic, and then your narrow your focus to a claim. This is your position on the topic. Body 1: What's the first reason someone should support your position? Body 2: What's the second reason someone should support your position? Body 3: This is where it changes. Here, you include a counter-claim, which means you acknowledge the other side's view, but you also refute it (prove it wrong). Conclusion: This is your call to action or your last chance to review why your reader should support your position. You should just copy the things you've said. Find other ways to say them in effort to review your points, but also remember this is your last chance to convince your audience you have a valid argument.

Is the character considered static or dynamic?

A static character is one who does not change. You can associate "static" with "stay" because the character stays the same. A dynamic character is one who changes over the course of the text. So, ask yourself, is this character the same person as he or she was when the story began, or did he or she undergo changes?

How do phrases function in sentences?

You can think of phrases as decorations in a sentence. No, they do not have to be there, but the sentence has more detail with them. For example, you can say, "I went to school." This is a clause because it contains a subject and a verb (we know who is doing what), but we can add details to that. You can say, "I went to school with a headache," which tells us how you felt. With a headache is used to describe something in that clause. Did the school have a headache, or did it tell how you went to school? In this case "with a headache" functions as an adverb because it's a group of words acting like an adverb (describing a verb). Basically, to determine how a phrase functions, ask yourself "What is it really describing here?" or "What is it giving me more information about?"