Misunderstood Activity
I am teaching international students how to write argumentative essays at the college level. Many students often struggle to grasp the concept of writing argumentative essays in their second language after many repeats. I tell them that writing an argumentative essay is like making a jigsaw puzzle. As the way there are parts for jigsaw puzzles that we need to put in their right place, there are parts for essays that need to be placed in their right place. I tell them that writing an argumentative essay is a collection of smaller jigsaw puzzles. I explain to them that an argumentative essay is a big puzzle that is made up of five main jigsaw puzzles, namely: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Next, I explain to them that each one of these jigsaw puzzles is made up of their parts. For example, the Introductory paragraph is made up of a summary and thesis statement; body paragraphs are made up of topic sentences, supporting evidence, and concluding sentences, and the concluding paragraph is made up of a re-statement of the thesis and a clincher. Like jigsaw puzzles, for argumentative essays to be complete, they must include all the parts and include them in their right place.
Figure 1: Jigsaw Puzzle of Multi-Ethnic Female Face
Source: (Peepo, 2022)
Reference:
Peepo (2022, February 11). Jigsaw Puzzle of Multi-Ethnic Female Face [Online image]. https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/jigsaw-puzzle-of-multi-ethnic-female-face-gm1369915293-439578757?utm_campaign=srp_photos_bottom&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Funsplash.com%2Fs%2Fphotos%2Fpuzzle&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=unsplash&utm_term=puzzle%3A%3A%3A
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