The thesis statement is one of the most important aspects of any essay because it adds definition and structure to the rest of the document. Yet it is also one of the most difficult items to compose because it is highly compact. The thesis statement is a single sentence in the introductory paragraph, usually at the end, that sets up the rest of the essay. It accomplishes four tasks: it states the topic, identifies a problem within that field, articulates the position that the essay will argue and offers a brief overview of how the essay will argue that position.
Although the first paragraph itself introduces the topic, the next critical part of an essay is the background section. This section expands on the claims you made in the thesis. It provides a fuller history of the issue, identifies major voices or schools of thought within the field and briefly explains why the prior positions and arguments about the topic are insufficient. This explanation justifies why your essay is a necessary addition to the field. In this section you will mainly use secondary sources as your evidence.
The bulk of an argumentative essay puts forth your own position, evidence and arguments. Although this portion must be influenced by the background, it does not heavily rely on the work of past academics. This section requires a complete, ground-up argument. Do not merely rehash what someone else has already said. Establish your own position and explain the lines of critical thought that justify it, supporting your statements with primary sources.
The counterarguments section is a synthesis of the previous two parts. Based on your position and insights, respond to what you consider to be the most serious counterarguments that other scholars might direct at your analysis. This shows an awareness of your arguments' own weaknesses and explains why, despite those weaknesses, your arguments are still correct. Potential objections are not, however, limited to what you have said. They also include what you have not said. If there is a factor that could have influenced your arguments but didn’t, you need to explain why it did not. In this section you will use secondary sources to describe the potential objections to your arguments, and you will use primary sources to counter those potential objections.
The conclusion is similar to the thesis statement in that it is a condensed version of the rest of the essay. It summarizes the problem that the essay addressed, the causes of the problem, your insights on that problem and why those insights are correct. In advanced academic fields, you can use the conclusion to establish the relevance of your essay and introduce avenues for further research or discussion. However, this is not acceptable until you are doing graduate-level writing. Generally speaking, the conclusion should not contain any new information.