Supportive arguments provide the explanations and examples as to why a thesis is true. Without strong arguments to back up a claim, the thesis would look like a statement of opinion. If the thesis statement is "Testing on Animals is Unethical," the arguments provided must support why this is so. Some examples of supporting arguments would be, "Animal testing is impractical because it does not tell us about the human body" and "Animal testing is unethical because it is cruel and inflicts pain to animals."
Counterarguments need to be included in a thesis to validate your claim. They can also help determine whether important variables have been considered, if the study is based on reliable research, and whether you have chosen the appropriate population or setting. An example of this type of argument is, "Animal testing not only finds cures to diseases for people, but for animals as well."
Arguments serve as the topic sentences for your thesis. These are followed by supporting details or evidence behind your findings. Arguments can also aid in the direction of your thesis paper. Animals' rights can be broken down into subtopics. For example, under the topic, "Animal testing causes both physical and mental pain to the animal," information pertaining to studies done, statistics and research findings can be listed as supporting details. A supporting detail would then be," Animals have the same basic nervous system as humans." The next paragraph would be a different topic, such as "Animal testing is inclusive," followed by reasons that support this claim.
Arguments can answer questions such as what, where, when, how and why. Using animal testing as an example, a thesis on this subject would explain what animal testing is, where it is used, when is it used, how is it used and why is it used.