How To Come Up With Argumentative Essay Topics For 7th Grade Students

Most students know that coming up with topics for essays can be one of the hardest parts of the whole process. It isn’t uncommon for middle school students to get hung up for hours trying to come up with a topic, while they could be writing the paper itself. Argumentative papers can be one of the most difficult for this, because the require the student to decide how they feel about a subject and make sure that they can come up with a compelling argument for their position. Luckily, there are some easy tips you can follow to come up with a great topic quickly and easily.

Pick something that you are passionate about

There are two steps to picking a topic—first you must choose a subject and then you must choose a position on the topic. For instance, you could choose the death penalty as your subject and the pick the stance that the death penalty should be abolished as your stance. It is best to pick a subject that you are passionate about or at least interested in. This will make it much easier for you to decide what stance you want to take because you’ll likely already have one.

Pick a topic with two sides

It is also easier to pick a subject that has two clear sides. For the example of the death penalty, there are two distinct stances that it should be allowed or not be allowed, with little in between. Picking a more complicated topic, with many different stances will make it more difficult to argue against the others.

Pick a topic that you can make a logical argument about

It is also important that you pick a topic that you can create a logical argument for, not just an emotional argument. This is one of the key parts to an argumentative essay, that you can logically lay out an argument in a well organized way that will be able to convince your reader.

Consider arguing the opposite of what you actually believe

Sometimes students have a difficult time crafting a logical argument, especially if it is on a topic that they are passionate about or that they have had a strong belief about for a long time. In this case it can be a good idea to argue the opposite of what you actually believe because it will force you to think more carefully about your argument.