Fifty Awesome Argumentative Essay Topics 

If you’re reading this, you’ve already bitten the apple. You’re actively searching for argumentative essay topics, so we’re not going to waste any time trying to convince you as to why your students should be writing argumentative essays for your class. Instead, we’re simply going to stoke the fire that’s already burning.

Below, you’ll find a list of fifty (+five) good argumentative essay topics that promise to engage your students, to offer rich bodies of relevant research, and to lend themselves to the nuances of argumentative writing.  Once the groundwork for argumentative thinking and writing are in place, developing these argumentative essay topics often becomes the trickiest (if not most time consuming and brain-draining) part.  Offer your students this list of argumentative essay topics to give them high quality choices and to inspire their writing!

PS: We’ll send you this list of argumentative essay topics as a neatly formatted and editable Word Doc, and as a PDF.  Simply request it at the bottom of this page!

Tech-Based Argumentative Essay Topics

1. Have human relationships grown stronger or weaker as a result of social media?
2. Have the advances made in technology over the course of the last ten to twenty years made human beings smarter?
3. What role should technology optimally serve in schools? Are laptops and cell phones helpful, or are they a hindrance to focus and learning?
4. Is social media best used in moderation? If so, what does moderation look like – and how easy/challenging is this to achieve?
5. Has the rise in the number of cameras and microphones present in any given room at any given moment (i.e. in everyone’s smart phones) impacted the way people behave?
6. What role should robots play in our futures? Are there any particular roles or jobs that they should – or should not – replace?
7. Are video games a waste of time? / Are video games harmful to their users?
8. Has the ease with which digital materials are altered or falsified (i.e. fake user profiles, viral hoaxes, Photoshopped images) impacted the way that humans interact with the world?
9. How would society react if a major solar storm suddenly rendered all technology useless?
10. Should the manner in which a person behaves on social media (through images posted by themselves and others, through posts in which they are mentioned or that they authored themselves) be considered an accurate reflection of who they are in real life? Should it be considered in hiring and firing individuals from their jobs?

Education-Based Argumentative Essay Topics

1. Should computers be allowed to grade your essays on standardized tests and/or for the work you do in school?
2. How much writing should be done in classes outside of English class? In Science and Social Studies?
3. Would you learn as much in an online learning environment as you would in a physical classroom?
4. Should digital books, or ebooks, be used in the place of paper books?
5. Should classic literature, such as Shakespeare, be taught in English classes?
6. Should modern works of literature be integrated into the English curriculum? If so, at what cost? At the expense of which canonical works?
7. Does popular culture, such as lyrics from popular songs and scenes from popular movies, deserve to be studied in school? If so, in what capacity?
8. Should a two-month summer break still exist?
9. Are final exams important? Should they be part of the curriculum? What about midterms?
10. Is home-school as effective as attending a physical school?
11. Should students still be receiving quarterly marking period report cards? Why not five yearly reports? Why not trimesters or semesters?
12. Are grades important? Can we do without them?
13. What is the point of school?
14. Should summer reading be mandatory? Should it be tested in September?
15. Should courses be tracked into different levels, such as college prep and honors?

Looking for the best ways to teach argument?  Check out our lesson plans here!

Entertainment-Based Argumentative Essay Topics

1. Should music streaming on services such as Spotify continue to be allowed, even if it means less money for musicians?
2. What makes a television series successful after many seasons?
3. Is television more or less popular than it was in the past?
4. What was the best (or most groundbreaking) movie released this year?
5. Has the ability to stream television “on demand” impacted human behavior in a negative way?
6. Why do trends, such as the most recent “zombie craze,” exist in popular culture? What is it about zombies?
7. Should violent or graphic video games be more tightly regulated with regard to the age of their players?
8. Should video games be studied in an academic fashion, in a similar manner as art, film, or literature?
9. Why do people care so much about celebrities’ lives?
10. Why is a musical artist who you don’t believe should be famous, famous?

Sports-Based Argumentative Essay Topics

1. Do professional athletes deserve their high salaries?
2. Should professional athletes be fired from their sports teams for personal misconduct?
3. Considering what we’ve learned about the long term effects of concussions, should the way society views sports like football and boxing change?
4. What makes a sport “a sport”? Does chess count? Cheerleading? Video gaming?
5. Should steroids be acknowledged and allowed for all professional athletes to use?

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Politics-Based Argumentative Essay Topics

1. Should the rich pay a higher or a lower percentage of their income in taxes than the poor?
2. Under what circumstances is it acceptable to use military force?
3. Should the death penalty be abolished?
4. What restrictions should be placed, if any, on gun ownership? On carrying firearms?
5. Should illegal immigrants be given a free public education? Health care?
6. Who should and shouldn’t be allowed to vote?
7. Should it be a requirement for the president to be a native born citizen? To be 35 years of age?
8. Is privacy more or less important than freedom or security?
9. Should the government be allowed to tap into phone or email conversations? To track Internet usage? To view any camera and listen to any microphone?
10. How worried should humans be about climate change? What should be done?

Five Bonus “Big Picture” Argumentative Essay Topics

1. Are children the products of their environments? Which is more important, nature or nurture?
2. When should a person be allowed to vote? To join the military? To purchase cigarettes, alcohol, or guns? To rent a car?
3. Does money make people happier?
4. What are the most important qualities for being a “good” person?
5. How important is pursuing a career that one is passionate about? Is passion more or less important than pay?