Structure your writing

The most important voice to get across in your writing is your own; it is how you can show the reader what you are thinking, what your views are and how you have engaged critically with the topic being discussed. You can do this by building an effective and persuasive argument for your reader.

Make an argument

Your argument is how you express your viewpoint and answer the question you have been set, using evidence.

Your argument can help you plan the structure of your work and guide you to find the evidence you need to support it.

Make sure that your argument runs throughout your writing and that everything you include is relevant to it. Try to sum up your argument in a few words before you start writing and keep checking that it remains the focus as you research and write your work.

Structure your argument

Guide your reader through your argument in a logical way. Think about what questions your reader might have. If you can answer these questions through your argument, it will seem more convincing.

Present the different sides of a debate, along with your thoughts, linking together different elements.

You can then work towards a conclusion by weighing the evidence and showing how certain ideas are accepted and others are rejected. Your conclusion should make clear where you stand.

Develop your argument

Develop your argument by considering the evidence and drawing your own conclusions.

If you are considering a range of opinions, try to group them together under different headings.

Look at the strengths and weaknesses of the different sets of evidence and present these clearly and in a critical way. This will help to show you understand what you have read.

Take the evidence into account when you develop your own argument and make clear what your viewpoint is. Perhaps your argument has strengths and weaknesses as well – it is fine to acknowledge these.