This page has a worked passage from our teachers.
What tracking an argument means
Much of the non-fiction in IGCSE English tries to convince you of something. It might be an opinion piece, a speech, a persuasive letter or a discursive essay. To track the argument, you follow the writer’s reasoning: where they begin, what they claim, what supports it, how they handle objections and where they end.
Do not read for scattered facts. Read for the thread that links them. Then you can understand the text, summarise it accurately and respond with a case of your own.
This skill supports non-fiction reading in First Language English and ESL. It also helps in directed-writing tasks that ask you to respond to, or write, a persuasive or discursive piece.
Task wording and marks differ by board and syllabus year, so we teach from each board’s official syllabus. See our qualification pages.
Following the line
An argument is a chain. There is a main position, supported by claims, each backed by evidence. Writers often raise a counter-argument, which is the other side’s view, in order to answer it.
As you read, ask what each paragraph is doing. It may give evidence for the claim before it, or admit a point so that it can answer it. The text then stops being a wall of words and becomes a structure you can describe.
The most useful habit is to separate claim from evidence. A claim is what the writer wants you to accept. Evidence is what they give you so that you will accept it.
A five-step method
- Find the main position. This is the one thing the writer wants you to believe by the end. It is usually near the start or the close.
- Label each paragraph. Is it a claim, evidence, an example or a counter-argument?
- Link the parts. This evidence supports that claim. That concession sets up this answer.
- Watch the persuasive moves. Notice emotive words, rhetorical questions and appeals to fairness or fear. Ask what each one does to the reader.
- Judge the whole. Where is the argument strongest? Where does it rely on feeling instead of evidence?
A worked example
This passage and analysis are our own, written for teaching.
We are told that our town needs the new bypass to ease its traffic. Yes, the morning queues are real, and no one enjoys them. But a bypass does not remove cars.
It invites more of them, as every town that has built one has discovered. If we truly want quieter streets, we should be widening our pavements, not our roads.
- Main position: it comes at the end. The town should improve its pavements, not build a bypass.
- Opposing claim: the opening reports it (“our town needs the new bypass”).
- Concession: “yes, the morning queues are real” agrees with the other side so that the writer seems fair.
- Pivot: “But a bypass does not remove cars” starts the writer’s own claim.
- Support: the appeal to “every town that has built one” works as evidence, though it gives no details.
- Close: “pavements, not our roads” leaves the position in a memorable contrast.
In a few lines, the writer has conceded, answered and asserted. Seeing that structure is what tracking the argument gives you.
If this is where marks are going missing, a trial hour with an experienced teacher can work on it one-to-one.
Common mistakes
- Reading for facts only. A summary then becomes a list of unconnected points.
- Mixing up claim and evidence. The student treats an assertion as proof.
- Missing the counter-argument. The student thinks a raised objection is the writer’s own view. This is costly, because concession then rebuttal is a favourite structure.
- Naming techniques without effects. The student spots a rhetorical question but does not say what it does to the reader.
- Missing the overall position. The student describes the parts but not the point.
Labelling as you read prevents most of these, because it brings the structure into the open.
How to practise
Take a short opinion article and label every paragraph: claim, evidence, example or counter-argument. Then write the argument’s shape in two or three lines.
Do this with different writers. You will soon see structure quickly, which you need in the exam.
Next, take one paragraph and split it into “what the writer says” and “what the writer offers as support”. This shows how much of a case rests on feeling.
Finally, write your own short argument using concession then rebuttal. Reading and writing argument then help each other.
Where students usually get stuck
Many students understand each sentence but cannot say how the whole piece fits together. In 1-to-1 lessons, our teachers label a persuasive text with you, line by line, then ask you to state the writer’s position and judge where the case is strong. You then use the same skill in your own writing and in First Language English reading questions.
If you want to see how this works, book a paid one-hour trial and bring a text you found confusing.
What to read or try next
Compare your work with the annotated model responses, then try the practice tasks. Next, read how to write a formal letter and how to write a report.