An argumentative essay is a kind of analysis that creates an argumentative kind of scenario in its analysis. The argumentative essay gives an overview on what the paper being discussed is about, then the writer keeps arguing on the points that the paper is talking about. It is more of a criticism kind of paper, although in this case the argumentative essay can have positive arguments as well.
The argumentative essay is easy to write about because the writer does not need to do any research. What is needed is for the writer to give his/her opinion on the paper. For any point that the writer feels uncomfortable with, he/she should give a reason as to why the point is wrong, and what he/she feels should be done about the situation. This way, the reader will be comfortable with the argumentative essay because it will be easier to know the stand of the writer with regard to the subject matter that is being discussed. A good argumentative essay does not ask the reader to give his/her opinion. This is because the reader is the observer, and in this case he/she is supposed to observe the argumentative process.
Argumentative essays are not liked by most students because they do not feel so confident giving their opinions of the books or research papers that they are analyzing because they fear that they may be judged on the basis of their arguments. This, however, should not be the case in writing an argumentative essay because their arguments are not expected to be purely honest.