A pros & cons essay is an evaluative piece of writing that examines the merits and demerits of specific phenomena or social issues. Pros & cons essay usually highlights the strengths and weaknesses of a chosen topic and provides a comparative argument with supporting evidence and examples. It is like a debate on a topic where one team supports it while the other opposes it. However, in essay format, you must present the facts, arguments and opinions in a comparative form by yourself. So, if you are confused about how to write a pros & cons essay, then you have come to the right place, and this article will provide tipis for structuring and formatting your essay.
What is a pros & cons essay?
A pros & cons essay is an argumentative essay that involves assessing the strengths and shortcomings of a specific topic. It seeks to provide a comparative perspective highlighting the positive and negative aspects. However, you have to take a strong position and clearly define your stance in the thesis statement, which means you either defend or oppose the issue. For example, if your topic is Democracy: Merits and Demerits, you have to highlight both the positive and negative aspects of democracy. But you also have to define a clear stance on the issue that whether you support democracy as a form of government despite its shortcomings or do you think it is not a feasible form of governance. Either way, you will have to substantiate your claims with concrete facts, strong arguments and statistics.
It is important to remember that you cannot just give your opinions on the issue without providing proof. It is essential to corroborate your claims with concrete evidence and logical reasoning. A pros & cons essay is an argumentative essay; therefore, you should avoid rhetoric and value judgements since it is common in debates. But the essay differs from debates, where you must convince your readers about your stance with ample evidence and logical reasoning.
How to structure and format a pros & cons essay?
A pros & cons essay typically follows the standard essay format as follows:
- Introduction
- Main Body
- Conclusion
Introduction
The introduction is the most crucial part of your essay since it informs the readers about the topic. It is your only chance to impress the readers and capture their attention. A poorly written introduction fails to capture the readers’ attention, and they do not bother to read the entire essay. Therefore, it is important to write a well-written introduction. The introduction of your essay sets the tone and direction for the rest of the essay. It must start with a broad idea defining your topic coupled with attention grabbers. For example, “We live in a democratic age” But are we truly democratic?”
Now, if you start your essay with a rhetorical question, it captures the readers’ attention and compels them to read further. Then you must provide a brief overview of your topic (definitions and historical background). The background information sets the context of your essay, and it should be enough to give the reader a better understanding of the topic. In the end, you introduce your thesis statement, which is the central idea of your essay. Here are a few tips for writing a strong thesis statement:
Thesis Statement
A thesis statement is the central position of the author on the essay topic. It is a logical and coherent argument that captures the key ideas of the entire essay and informs the essay that the entire essay will revolve around this central idea. It must be a strong and unified statement because a vague statement generates ambiguity. For example, if your topic is democracy in a pros & cons essay, you would first highlight the merits and demerits of the topic briefly, and then you would take your position. For example:
Democracy is the opposite of monarchy, dictatorship, and despotic rule. It is broadly defined as the “rule of the people, by the people and for the people.” Democracy has led to the growth and development of many advanced nations and generated an era of prosperity. But the world is now witnessing a crisis of democracy, and it raises a question whether democracy would be able to withstand the onslaught of populism and rising factionalism. Moreover, democracy failed to materialize in many developing countries, and the experiments with democracy led to corruption, misgovernance and rising global inequalities. Democracy gives power to the people to choose the best among them for governing the body politic. Democracy ensures political and civil liberties, freedom of the press, assembly, and speech, protection from arbitrary state power and political equality. However, democracy also creates factionalism and political gridlock and leads to populism and the rise of demagogues. Democracy may not be the perfect form of government, but despite its shortcoming, it is the only viable option to ensure human growth, prosperity and political equality.
If you review the passage above, there are broad ideas coupled with specific aspects of democracy. The author has provided the pros and cons and then takes a clear stance in the last sentence, which is the essay’s thesis statement. A strong introduction is important in a pros & cons essay, and if you need help writing an impressive introduction, you can always get help from expert writers at Essay Writing Services.
Main body
The main body of a pros & cons essay should be divided into paragraphs. The main body in a standard essay usually has three paragraphs, but it depends upon the length of your essay and how many ideas you want to include in the essay. Each paragraph must be structured around one key idea and develop and expand with corroborating evidence. However, it is important to link each key idea of the paragraph with the thesis statement.
Conclusion
The conclusion of a pros & cons essay brings the discussion to its logical end. In conclusion, the author summarises the discussion by reiterating the thesis statement briefly and stating the key points. The conclusion must not provide any new information or idea. But you must stick to the main points discussed in the body paragraphs and provide a valid conclusion.
Final Remarks
A pros & cons essay must provide a balanced perspective of any issue or phenomenon. Even if you are supporting something, you must consult counter-examples and evidence about developing a balanced account; otherwise, your reader will think you are biased.
