Awesome Discursive vs. Argumentative Papers’ Writing Advice, Part Two

In the previous part of the article, we defined two kinds of essay writing and specified the main purposes each one pursues. In this article, we will help you to see a detailed survey of the main distinguishing features and similarities in the way of composing these types of papers. So how to differ a discursive paper from an argumentative one? Here are some good tips for you:

Style

While writing an argumentative essay, you should focus on articulating your own opinion and use some rhetorical action plans to persuade the readers in the true origin of your thoughts about the chosen subject. Such strategies may consist in appeal to the readers’ emotions or state the main question in such a way that it already has an evident answer. A discursive paper usually persuades readers by investigating and highlighting why each side of the discussion is either good or bad. It is necessary to pursue an indifferent point of view so to compose an impartial and revealing piece of work for your audience.

Subject

Discursive essays base on highlighting the topic of research in a wide and reflective way so the audience could see and contemplate all the sides of the discussion and not only the writer’s. Argumentative essays, on the contrary, represent a list of valid reasons why everybody should pursue writer’s way of thinking on the chosen subject. Essays of both types should be written in a logic and understandable manner. Discursive papers are best to be written in a third-person perspective and in a formal manner, while argumentative essays are supposed to represent a writer’s own point of view and thus better be written in a first-person perspective. The topics of the latter may be something like ‘Does Technology Make Students Distracted?’, ‘Is Online Learning as Good as Face-to-Face One?’, ‘Can Graffiti Be Considered Art?’, etc. while the topics for a discursive paper can be like ‘Modern Technology and Its Impact on Young People’, ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Learning’, ‘Reasons Why Graffiti Can or Cannot Be Considered Art’, for example.

Components

Both types of writing we are discussing require a valid knowledge in the sphere of the chosen topic and some gathered facts as supporting evidence. An argumentative essay usually starts with identifying the main idea that states writer’s point of view. Throughout all the other paragraphs, the person who writes the paper investigates both sides of the controversy but refuses one side while supporting the other one. The person who writes the paper may mention a counterargument only at the end of the writing, specifying the opposing side’s viewpoint and then disprove it with evidence. A discursive essay, on the other hand, usually begins with an impartial presentation of the chosen topic. Each chapter of such an essay investigates a separate aspect of the subject of the research. Often some writers express their own thoughts about the reviewed issue in the last chapter of their essays and leave their audience with a good idea to consider.