Skill Focus: Argumentative essay structure (block format)
Time Required: 30 minutes
File Download: argumentative-essay-sentence-ordering-block.docx
Brief Description: Students put sentences from an argumentative essay in the correct order
If you are teaching argumentative essay writing, this worksheet might be useful for you. The essay contains the introduction, counter-argument, and refutation paragraphs from a sample argumentative essay that answers the research question Will British Columbia's recent minimum wage hike benefit the economy? (Edit the file to change the location if you'd like).
The essay structure in the worksheet is the block format (as opposed to the point-by-point or 'chain'). This means that the counter-argument points are grouped in one paragraph, and the refutation points are grouped together as well below it.
Hopefully, this will be useful for someone's class.
Worksheet Preview
Block Argumentative Essay – Sentence Ordering
Instructions: Drag and drop each bulleted item below into the proper order.
| [Introduction] | |
| Background | |
| Thesis statement | |
| [Counter-argument] | |
| Topic Sentence | |
| Supporting Detail 1 | |
| Supporting Detail 2 | |
| [Refutation] | |
| Topic sentence | |
| Refutation Pt. 1 | |
| Refutation Pt 2. | |
| [Essay continues…] |
Ideas (in random order)
- Recently, the government of British Columbia has raised the minimum wage to $16.75 per hour.
- First of all, though people may have more money, they may lose their jobs. A study by Lammam et Al. (2018) found that wage hikes result in companies cutting positions. This particularly affects low-skilled positions.
- Though this move was made to benefit workers, it will have negative consequences for the BC economy and workers overall.
- Firstly, it could be argued that higher wages mean that people will have more money, which they will spend at stores and businesses.
- Moreover, both arguments fail to grasp that higher wages actually increase inflation instead of combatting it because higher wages require that companies charge more to maintain profit margins (Phelps, 2022). This means that, although wages increase, the price of goods increases along with them. As a result, the worker’s purchasing power does not increase.
- Nevertheless, these arguments fail to understand two key points.
- On a surface level, raising the minimum wage may appear to have benefits.
- Also, supporters of higher wages could argue that such raises are necessary to combat inflation.
Worksheet Answer Key
| [Introduction] | |
| Background | Recently, the government of British Columbia has raised the minimum wage to $16.75 per hour. |
| Thesis statement | Though this move was made to benefit workers, it will have negative consequences for the BC economy and workers overall. |
| [Counter-argument] | |
| Topic Sentence | On a surface level, raising the minimum wage may appear to have benefits. |
| Supporting Detail 1 | Firstly, it could be argued that higher wages mean that people will have more money, which they will spend at stores and businesses. |
| Supporting Detail 2 | Also, supporters of higher wages could argue that such raises are necessary to combat inflation. |
| [Refutation] | |
| Topic sentence | Nevertheless, these arguments fail to understand two key points. |
| Refutation Pt. 1 | First of all, though people may have more money, they may lose their jobs. A study by Lammam et Al. (2018) found that wage hikes result in companies cutting positions. This particularly affects low-skilled positions. |
| Refutation Pt 2. | Moreover, both arguments fail to grasp that higher wages actually increase inflation instead of combatting it because higher wages require that companies charge more to maintain profit margins (Phelps, 2022). This means that, although wages increase, the price of goods increases along with them. As a result, the worker’s purchasing power does not increase. |
| [Essay continues…] |