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Effective strategies for crafting a compelling persuasive essay.
![Effective Strategies for Crafting a Compelling Persuasive Essay Steps to write a persuasive essay](https://studbaywritingvip.com/wp-content/images/steps-to-write-a-persuasive-essay.jpg)
When it comes to making a compelling argument, a persuasive essay can be a powerful tool. Whether you’re trying to convince your audience of a certain viewpoint or persuade them to take a specific course of action, crafting a persuasive essay requires careful planning and execution.
From choosing a strong thesis statement to providing evidence to support your claims, every step in the process plays a crucial role in the overall effectiveness of your essay. In this step-by-step guide, we will walk you through the key components of crafting an impactful persuasive essay that will leave a lasting impression on your readers.
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Defining the Purpose: What Makes an Effective Persuasive Essay
Before diving into crafting a persuasive essay, it is crucial to understand the purpose and goal of this type of writing. A persuasive essay aims to convince the reader of a particular viewpoint or argument by presenting logical and well-supported evidence. The key features of an effective persuasive essay include:
- Clear Thesis Statement: The essay should start with a clear and concise thesis statement that presents the main argument or position.
- Focused and Organized Structure: The essay should follow a logical structure with each paragraph focusing on a specific point and supporting evidence.
- Evidence and Examples: Supporting the argument with credible evidence, facts, statistics, and real-life examples strengthens the persuasiveness of the essay.
- Engaging Introduction: An engaging introduction that grabs the reader’s attention and provides background information on the topic is essential.
- Counterarguments: Acknowledging and addressing counterarguments strengthens the overall credibility of the essay.
- Call to Action: Ending the essay with a strong call to action or a compelling conclusion to leave a lasting impact on the reader.
By defining and understanding these key components, you can craft an effective persuasive essay that not only presents a compelling argument but also persuades the reader to take action or change their viewpoint.
Researching Your Topic: Gathering Credible Information
![what are the components of persuasive essay Researching Your Topic: Gathering Credible Information](https://studbaywritingvip.com/wp-content/images/steps-to-write-a-persuasive-essay-vkiludi5.jpg)
Effective persuasive essays are built on solid research. To craft a compelling argument, it’s crucial to gather credible information that supports your thesis. Here are some essential steps to research your topic effectively:
1. Define Your Topic: Start by clearly defining the specific topic or issue you want to address in your essay. This will help you narrow down your research and focus on relevant information.
2. Identify Reliable Sources: Look for reputable sources such as academic journals, books, government publications, and credible websites. Avoid relying on biased or unreliable sources that could weaken your argument.
3. Conduct Thorough Research: Dive deep into your topic by exploring a variety of sources. Take notes, highlight important facts, and analyze different perspectives to gain a comprehensive understanding of the subject.
4. Verify Information: Double-check the accuracy of the information you gather. Cross-reference data from multiple sources to ensure its credibility and reliability.
5. Organize Your Research: Keep track of your sources and organize your research materials systematically. Create an annotated bibliography or a research outline to help you structure your essay effectively.
6. Stay Objective: Approach your research with an open mind and evaluate information objectively. Consider counterarguments and opposing viewpoints to strengthen your argument and address potential objections.
By investing time and effort in thorough research, you can strengthen the credibility and persuasiveness of your essay. Remember, well-researched arguments are more compelling and convincing to your audience.
Structuring Your Argument: Organizing Your Ideas
When crafting a persuasive essay, it is crucial to have a well-structured argument that effectively conveys your point of view to the reader. Organizing your ideas in a logical and coherent manner can significantly enhance the persuasiveness of your essay. Here are some key strategies for structuring your argument:
1. Introduction: Start by introducing your topic and clearly stating your thesis. This sets the tone for the rest of your essay and gives readers a roadmap of what to expect.
2. Body Paragraphs: Develop your argument in a series of body paragraphs, each focusing on a different aspect of your topic. Make sure to provide evidence, examples, and reasoning to support your points.
3. Counterarguments: Acknowledge opposing viewpoints and address them in your essay. This shows that you have considered different perspectives and strengthens your argument.
4. Conclusion: Summarize your main points and reiterate your thesis in the conclusion. Leave readers with a strong takeaway that reinforces the importance of your argument.
By organizing your ideas in a structured and coherent manner, you can effectively convey your argument and persuade your audience to see things from your perspective.
Writing the Essay: Crafting a Compelling Narrative
When crafting a persuasive essay, it is essential to focus on creating a compelling narrative that resonates with your audience. A strong narrative can captivate readers and make your arguments more persuasive.
Start by outlining the main points you want to convey in your essay. Consider the structure of your narrative and how you will present your ideas in a logical and coherent manner. Use evidence and examples to support your arguments and make them more persuasive.
Remember to engage your audience emotionally by using storytelling techniques that evoke empathy and connect with their values and beliefs. This will help make your essay more persuasive and convincing.
As you write your persuasive essay, pay attention to the flow of your narrative and ensure that each paragraph transitions smoothly to the next. Use transitional words and phrases to guide your reader through your argument and reinforce your main points.
In conclusion, crafting a compelling narrative is essential to writing an effective persuasive essay. By engaging your audience emotionally and logically, you can create a persuasive argument that leaves a lasting impact on your readers.
Revising and Editing: Perfecting Your Persuasive Essay
After you have completed the initial draft of your persuasive essay, it is crucial to spend time revising and editing your work to ensure that it is polished and effective. The revision process allows you to refine your arguments, check for logical consistency, and strengthen your overall message.
Here are some key steps to help you perfect your persuasive essay:
- Review your thesis statement: Ensure that your thesis statement clearly expresses your main argument and is supported by evidence throughout your essay. Make any necessary revisions to strengthen your central claim.
- Check the organization: Review the structure of your essay to ensure that it flows logically from one point to the next. Make sure that each paragraph builds on the previous one and that your arguments are arranged in a coherent manner.
- Examine your evidence: Verify that the evidence you have presented is accurate, relevant, and effectively supports your arguments. Make any necessary adjustments or additions to strengthen your case.
- Evaluate your language and tone: Pay attention to the language you use in your essay and consider whether it is appropriate for your audience and purpose. Ensure that your tone is persuasive and respectful, avoiding any offensive or inflammatory language.
- Proofread for errors: Carefully proofread your essay for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Check for any typos or inconsistencies that could undermine the credibility of your argument.
By taking the time to revise and edit your persuasive essay, you can ensure that your arguments are clear, compelling, and well-supported. Remember, the quality of your writing can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of your persuasive essay, so it is important to invest the necessary time and effort into perfecting your work.
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How to Write a Persuasive Essay: Tips and Tricks
![what are the components of persuasive essay Allison Bressmer](https://assets.prowritingaid.com/f/145420/684x684/da4001fef2/headshot-writer-allison-bressmer.jpeg/m/)
By Allison Bressmer
![what are the components of persuasive essay How to write a persuasive essay](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/How-to-write-a-persuasive-essay.png)
Most composition classes you’ll take will teach the art of persuasive writing. That’s a good thing.
Knowing where you stand on issues and knowing how to argue for or against something is a skill that will serve you well both inside and outside of the classroom.
Persuasion is the art of using logic to prompt audiences to change their mind or take action , and is generally seen as accomplishing that goal by appealing to emotions and feelings.
A persuasive essay is one that attempts to get a reader to agree with your perspective.
![what are the components of persuasive essay What is a persuasive essay?](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/What-is-persuasive-essay.png)
Ready for some tips on how to produce a well-written, well-rounded, well-structured persuasive essay? Just say yes. I don’t want to have to write another essay to convince you!
How Do I Write a Persuasive Essay?
What are some good topics for a persuasive essay, how do i identify an audience for my persuasive essay, how do you create an effective persuasive essay, how should i edit my persuasive essay.
Your persuasive essay needs to have the three components required of any essay: the introduction , body , and conclusion .
That is essay structure. However, there is flexibility in that structure.
There is no rule (unless the assignment has specific rules) for how many paragraphs any of those sections need.
Although the components should be proportional; the body paragraphs will comprise most of your persuasive essay.
![what are the components of persuasive essay What should every essay include?](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/What-should-every-essay-include.png)
How Do I Start a Persuasive Essay?
As with any essay introduction, this paragraph is where you grab your audience’s attention, provide context for the topic of discussion, and present your thesis statement.
TIP 1: Some writers find it easier to write their introductions last. As long as you have your working thesis, this is a perfectly acceptable approach. From that thesis, you can plan your body paragraphs and then go back and write your introduction.
TIP 2: Avoid “announcing” your thesis. Don’t include statements like this:
- “In my essay I will show why extinct animals should (not) be regenerated.”
- “The purpose of my essay is to argue that extinct animals should (not) be regenerated.”
Announcements take away from the originality, authority, and sophistication of your writing.
Instead, write a convincing thesis statement that answers the question "so what?" Why is the topic important, what do you think about it, and why do you think that? Be specific.
How Many Paragraphs Should a Persuasive Essay Have?
This body of your persuasive essay is the section in which you develop the arguments that support your thesis. Consider these questions as you plan this section of your essay:
- What arguments support your thesis?
- What is the best order for your arguments?
- What evidence do you have?
- Will you address the opposing argument to your own?
- How can you conclude convincingly?
![what are the components of persuasive essay The body of a persuasive essay](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/The-body-of-a-persuasive-essay2.png)
TIP: Brainstorm and do your research before you decide which arguments you’ll focus on in your discussion. Make a list of possibilities and go with the ones that are strongest, that you can discuss with the most confidence, and that help you balance your rhetorical triangle .
What Should I Put in the Conclusion of a Persuasive Essay?
The conclusion is your “mic-drop” moment. Think about how you can leave your audience with a strong final comment.
And while a conclusion often re-emphasizes the main points of a discussion, it shouldn’t simply repeat them.
TIP 1: Be careful not to introduce a new argument in the conclusion—there’s no time to develop it now that you’ve reached the end of your discussion!
TIP 2 : As with your thesis, avoid announcing your conclusion. Don’t start your conclusion with “in conclusion” or “to conclude” or “to end my essay” type statements. Your audience should be able to see that you are bringing the discussion to a close without those overused, less sophisticated signals.
![what are the components of persuasive essay The conclusion of a persuasive essay](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/The-conclusion-of-a-persuasive-essay.png)
If your instructor has assigned you a topic, then you’ve already got your issue; you’ll just have to determine where you stand on the issue. Where you stand on your topic is your position on that topic.
Your position will ultimately become the thesis of your persuasive essay: the statement the rest of the essay argues for and supports, intending to convince your audience to consider your point of view.
If you have to choose your own topic, use these guidelines to help you make your selection:
- Choose an issue you truly care about
- Choose an issue that is actually debatable
Simple “tastes” (likes and dislikes) can’t really be argued. No matter how many ways someone tries to convince me that milk chocolate rules, I just won’t agree.
It’s dark chocolate or nothing as far as my tastes are concerned.
Similarly, you can’t convince a person to “like” one film more than another in an essay.
You could argue that one movie has superior qualities than another: cinematography, acting, directing, etc. but you can’t convince a person that the film really appeals to them.
![what are the components of persuasive essay Debatable and non-debatable concepts](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/Debatable-versus-non-debatable-concepts.png)
Once you’ve selected your issue, determine your position just as you would for an assigned topic. That position will ultimately become your thesis.
Until you’ve finalized your work, consider your thesis a “working thesis.”
This means that your statement represents your position, but you might change its phrasing or structure for that final version.
When you’re writing an essay for a class, it can seem strange to identify an audience—isn’t the audience the instructor?
Your instructor will read and evaluate your essay, and may be part of your greater audience, but you shouldn’t just write for your teacher.
Think about who your intended audience is.
For an argument essay, think of your audience as the people who disagree with you—the people who need convincing.
That population could be quite broad, for example, if you’re arguing a political issue, or narrow, if you’re trying to convince your parents to extend your curfew.
Once you’ve got a sense of your audience, it’s time to consult with Aristotle. Aristotle’s teaching on persuasion has shaped communication since about 330 BC. Apparently, it works.
![what are the components of persuasive essay Ethos, pathos and logos](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/Ethos-pathos-and-logos.png)
Aristotle taught that in order to convince an audience of something, the communicator needs to balance the three elements of the rhetorical triangle to achieve the best results.
Those three elements are ethos , logos , and pathos .
Ethos relates to credibility and trustworthiness. How can you, as the writer, demonstrate your credibility as a source of information to your audience?
How will you show them you are worthy of their trust?
![what are the components of persuasive essay How to make your essay credible](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/How-do-you-make-an-essay-credible.png)
- You show you’ve done your research: you understand the issue, both sides
- You show respect for the opposing side: if you disrespect your audience, they won’t respect you or your ideas
Logos relates to logic. How will you convince your audience that your arguments and ideas are reasonable?
![what are the components of persuasive essay How to use logic in essays](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/How-do-you-use-logic-in-essays.png)
You provide facts or other supporting evidence to support your claims.
That evidence may take the form of studies or expert input or reasonable examples or a combination of all of those things, depending on the specific requirements of your assignment.
Remember: if you use someone else’s ideas or words in your essay, you need to give them credit.
ProWritingAid's Plagiarism Checker checks your work against over a billion web-pages, published works, and academic papers so you can be sure of its originality.
Find out more about ProWritingAid’s Plagiarism checks.
Pathos relates to emotion. Audiences are people and people are emotional beings. We respond to emotional prompts. How will you engage your audience with your arguments on an emotional level?
![what are the components of persuasive essay How to use emotion in essays](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/How-do-you-use-emotion-in-essays.png)
- You make strategic word choices : words have denotations (dictionary meanings) and also connotations, or emotional values. Use words whose connotations will help prompt the feelings you want your audience to experience.
- You use emotionally engaging examples to support your claims or make a point, prompting your audience to be moved by your discussion.
Be mindful as you lean into elements of the triangle. Too much pathos and your audience might end up feeling manipulated, roll their eyes and move on.
An “all logos” approach will leave your essay dry and without a sense of voice; it will probably bore your audience rather than make them care.
Once you’ve got your essay planned, start writing! Don’t worry about perfection, just get your ideas out of your head and off your list and into a rough essay format.
After you’ve written your draft, evaluate your work. What works and what doesn’t? For help with evaluating and revising your work, check out this ProWritingAid post on manuscript revision .
After you’ve evaluated your draft, revise it. Repeat that process as many times as you need to make your work the best it can be.
When you’re satisfied with the content and structure of the essay, take it through the editing process .
Grammatical or sentence-level errors can distract your audience or even detract from the ethos—the authority—of your work.
You don’t have to edit alone! ProWritingAid’s Realtime Report will find errors and make suggestions for improvements.
You can even use it on emails to your professors:
![what are the components of persuasive essay ProWritingAid's Realtime Report](https://marketing.prowritingaid.com/email-to-professor-realtime.png)
Try ProWritingAid with a free account.
How Can I Improve My Persuasion Skills?
You can develop your powers of persuasion every day just by observing what’s around you.
- How is that advertisement working to convince you to buy a product?
- How is a political candidate arguing for you to vote for them?
- How do you “argue” with friends about what to do over the weekend, or convince your boss to give you a raise?
- How are your parents working to convince you to follow a certain academic or career path?
As you observe these arguments in action, evaluate them. Why are they effective or why do they fail?
How could an argument be strengthened with more (or less) emphasis on ethos, logos, and pathos?
Every argument is an opportunity to learn! Observe them, evaluate them, and use them to perfect your own powers of persuasion.
![what are the components of persuasive essay what are the components of persuasive essay](https://cdn.prowritingaid.com/website/2.5.62553/images/cms/blog/grammar.png)
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Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.
Allison Bressmer
Allison Bressmer is a professor of freshman composition and critical reading at a community college and a freelance writer. If she isn’t writing or teaching, you’ll likely find her reading a book or listening to a podcast while happily sipping a semi-sweet iced tea or happy-houring with friends. She lives in New York with her family. Connect at linkedin.com/in/allisonbressmer.
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Writing a Persuasive Essay
Persuasive essays convince readers to accept a certain perspective. Writing a persuasive essay therefore entails making an argument that will appeal to readers, so they believe what you say has merit. This act of appealing to readers is the art of persuasion, also known as rhetoric. In classical rhetoric, persuasion involves appealing to readers using ethos, pathos, and logos.
In this tutorial, we refer to the sample persuasive draft and final paper written by fictional student Maggie Durham.
THE ART OF PERSUASION
Ethos refers to establishing yourself as a credible source of information. To convince an audience of anything, they must first trust you are being earnest and ethical. One strategy to do this is to write a balanced discussion with relevant and reliable research that supports your claims. Reliable research would include quoting or paraphrasing experts, first-hand witnesses, or authorities. Properly citing your sources, so your readers can also retrieve them, is another factor in establishing a reliable ethos. When writing for academic purposes, expressing your argument using unbiased language and a neutral tone will also indicate you are arguing fairly and with consideration of others having differing views.
When you appeal to your readers’ emotions, you are using pathos. This appeal is common in advertising that convinces consumers they lack something and buying a certain product or service will fulfill that lack. Emotional appeals are subtler in academic writing; they serve to engage a reader in the argument and inspire a change of heart or motivate readers toward a course of action. The examples you use, how you define terms, any comparisons you draw, as well as the language choices you use can draw readers in and impact their willingness to go along with your ideas.
Consider that one purpose of persuasion is to appeal to those who do not already agree with you, so it will be important to show that you understand other points of view. You will also want to avoid derogatory or insulting descriptions or remarks about the opposition. You wouldn’t want to offend the very readers you want to persuade.
Establishing an appeal of logos is to write a sound argument, one that readers can follow and understand. To do this, the facts and evidence you use should be relevant, representative, and reliable, and the writing as a whole should be well organized, developed, and edited.
STEPS FOR WRITING PERSUASIVELY
Step one: determine the topic.
The first step in writing a persuasive essay is to establish the topic. The best topic is one that interests you. You can generate ideas for a topic by prewriting, such as by brainstorming whatever comes to mind, recording in grocery-list fashion your thoughts, or freewriting in complete sentences what you know or think about topics of interest.
Whatever topic you choose, it needs to be:
- Interesting : The topic should appeal both to you and to your intended readers.
- Researchable : A body of knowledge should already exist on the topic.
- Nonfiction : The information about the topic should be factual, not based on personal opinions or conspiracy theories.
- Important : Your reader should think the topic is relevant to them or worthy of being explored and discussed.
Our sample student Maggie Durham has selected the topic of educational technology. We will use Maggie’s sample persuasive draft and final paper as we discuss the steps for writing a persuasive essay.
Step Two: Pose a Research Question
Once you have a topic, the next step is to develop a research question along with related questions that delve further into the first question. If you do not know what to ask, start with one of the question words: What? Who? Where? When? Why? and How? The research question helps you focus or narrow the scope of your topic by identifying a problem, controversy, or aspect of the topic that is worth exploration and discussion. Some general questions about a topic would be the following:
- Who is affected by this problem and how?
- Have previous efforts or polices been made to address this problem? – What are they?
- Why hasn’t this problem been solved already?
For Maggie’s topic of educational technology, potential issues or controversies range from data privacy to digital literacy to the impact of technology on learning, which is what Maggie is interested in. Maggie’s local school district has low literacy rates, so Maggie wants to know the following:
- Are there advantages and/or disadvantages of technology within primary and secondary education?
- Which types of technology are considered the best in terms of quality and endurance?
- What types of technology and/or programs do students like using and why?
- Do teachers know how to use certain technologies with curriculum design, instruction, and/or assessment?
Step Three: Draft a Thesis
A thesis is a claim that asserts your main argument about the topic. As you conduct your research and draft your paper, you may discover information that changes your mind about your thesis, so at this point in writing, the thesis is tentative. Still, it is an important step in narrowing your focus for research and writing.
The thesis should
1. be a complete sentence,
2. identify the topic, and
3. make a specific claim about that topic.
In a persuasive paper, the thesis is a claim that someone should believe or do something. For example, a persuasive thesis might assert that something is effective or ineffective. It might state that a policy should be changed or a plan should be implemented. Or a persuasive thesis might be a plea for people to change their minds about a particular issue.
Once you have figured out your research question, your thesis is simply the answer. Maggie’s thesis is “Schools should supply technology aids to all students to increase student learning and literacy rates.” Her next step is to find evidence to support her claim.
Step Four: Research
Once you have a topic, research question, and thesis, you are ready to conduct research. To find sources that would be appropriate for an academic persuasive essay, begin your search in the library. The Purdue Global Library has a number of tutorials on conducting research, choosing search teams, types of sources, and how to evaluate information to determine its reliability and usefulness. Remember that the research you use will not only provide content to prove your claim and develop your essay, but it will also help to establish your credibility as a reliable source (ethos), create a logical framework for your argument (logos), and appeal to your readers emotionally (pathos).
Step Five: Plan Your Argument; Make an Outline
Once you have located quality source information—facts, examples, definitions, knowledge, and other information that answers your research question(s), you’ll want to create an outline to organize it. The example outline below illustrates a logical organizational plan for writing a persuasive essay. The example outline begins with an introduction that presents the topic, explains the issue, and asserts the position (the thesis). The body then provides the reasoning for the position and addresses the opposing viewpoints that some readers may hold. In your paper, you could modify this organization and address the opposing viewpoints first and then give the reasoning for your viewpoints, or you can alternate and give one opposing viewpoint then counter that with your viewpoint and then give another opposing viewpoint and counter that with your viewpoint.
The outline below also considers the alternatives to the position—certainly, there are other ways to think about or address the issue or situation. Considering the alternatives can be done in conjunction with looking at the opposing viewpoints. You do not always have to disagree with other opinions, either. You can acknowledge that another solution could work or another belief is valid. However, at the end of the body section, you will want to stand by your original position and prove that in light of all the opposing viewpoints and other perspectives, your position has the most merit.
Sample Outline of a Persuasive Argument
- 1. Introduction: Tell them what you will tell them.
- a. Present an interesting fact or description to make the topic clear and capture the reader’s attention.
- b. Define and narrow the topic using facts or descriptions to illustrate what the situation or issue is (and that is it important).
- c. Assert the claim (thesis) that something should be believed or done about the issue. (Some writers also briefly state the reasons behind this claim in the thesis as Maggie does in her paper when she claims that schools should supply tablets to students to increase learning , engagement, and literacy rates ).
- 2. Body: Tell them.
- a. Defend the claim with logical reasons and practical examples based on research.
- b. Anticipate objections to the claim and refute or accommodate them with research.
- c. Consider alternate positions or solutions using examples from research.
- d. Present a final point based on research that supports your claim in light of the objections and alternatives considered.
- 3. Conclusion: Tell them what you told them.
- a. Recap the main points to reinforce the importance of the issue.
- b. Restate the thesis in new wording to reinforce your position.
- c. Make a final remark to leave a lasting impression, so the reader will want to continue this conversation and ideally adopt the belief or take the action you are advocating.
In Maggie’s draft, she introduced the topic with facts about school ratings in Texas and then narrowed the topic using the example of her local school district’s literacy rates. She then claimed the district should provide each student a tablet in order to increase learning (and thus, literacy rates).
Maggie defends her claim with a series of examples from research that proved how access to tablets, technology-integrated curriculums, and “flipped classrooms” have improved literacy rates in other districts. She anticipates objections to her proposal due to the high cost of technology and counter argues this with expert opinions and examples that show partnerships with businesses, personalized curriculums that technology makes possible, and teacher training can balance the costs. Maggie included an alternative solution of having students check out tablets from the library, but her research showed that this still left students needing Wi-Fi at home while her proposal would include a plan for students to access Wi-Fi.
Maggie concluded her argument by pointing out the cost of not helping the students in this way and restated her thesis reaffirming the benefits, and then left the reader with a memorable quote.
Click here to see Maggie’s draft with feedback from her instructor and a peer. Sample Persuasive Draft
Feedback, Revision, and Editing
After you write a draft of your persuasive essay, the next step is to have a peer, instructor, or tutor read it and provide feedback. Without reader feedback, you cannot fully know how your readers will react to your argument. Reader feedback is meant to be constructive. Use it to better understand your readers and craft your argument to more appropriately appeal to them.
Maggie received valuable feedback on her draft from her instructor and classmate. They pointed to where her thesis needed to be even more specific, to paragraphs where a different organization would make her argument more convincing, to parts of the paper that lacked examples, sentences that needed revision and editing for greater clarity, and APA formatting that needed to be edited.
Maggie also took a critical look at her paper and looked back at her writing process. One technique she found helpful was to read her paper aloud because it let her know where her wording and organization were not clear. She did this several times as she revised and again as she edited and refined her paper for sentence level clarity and concision.
In the end, Maggie produced a convincing persuasive essay and effective argument that would appeal to readers who are also interested in the way technology can impact and improve student learning, an important topic in 2014 when this paper was written and still relevant today.
Click here to see Maggie’s final draft after revising and editing. Sample Persuasive Revised
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How to Write a Persuasive Essay (This Convinced My Professor!)
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Meredith Sell
You can make your essay more persuasive by getting straight to the point.
In fact, that's exactly what we did here, and that's just the first tip of this guide. Throughout this guide, we share the steps needed to prove an argument and create a persuasive essay.
This AI tool helps you improve your essay > This AI tool helps you improve your essay >
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Key takeaways: - Proven process to make any argument persuasive - 5-step process to structure arguments - How to use AI to formulate and optimize your essay
Why is being persuasive so difficult?
"Write an essay that persuades the reader of your opinion on a topic of your choice."
You might be staring at an assignment description just like this 👆from your professor. Your computer is open to a blank document, the cursor blinking impatiently. Do I even have opinions?
The persuasive essay can be one of the most intimidating academic papers to write: not only do you need to identify a narrow topic and research it, but you also have to come up with a position on that topic that you can back up with research while simultaneously addressing different viewpoints.
That’s a big ask. And let’s be real: most opinion pieces in major news publications don’t fulfill these requirements.
The upside? By researching and writing your own opinion, you can learn how to better formulate not only an argument but the actual positions you decide to hold.
Here, we break down exactly how to write a persuasive essay. We’ll start by taking a step that’s key for every piece of writing—defining the terms.
What Is a Persuasive Essay?
A persuasive essay is exactly what it sounds like: an essay that persuades . Over the course of several paragraphs or pages, you’ll use researched facts and logic to convince the reader of your opinion on a particular topic and discredit opposing opinions.
While you’ll spend some time explaining the topic or issue in question, most of your essay will flesh out your viewpoint and the evidence that supports it.
The 5 Must-Have Steps of a Persuasive Essay
If you’re intimidated by the idea of writing an argument, use this list to break your process into manageable chunks. Tackle researching and writing one element at a time, and then revise your essay so that it flows smoothly and coherently with every component in the optimal place.
1. A topic or issue to argue
This is probably the hardest step. You need to identify a topic or issue that is narrow enough to cover in the length of your piece—and is also arguable from more than one position. Your topic must call for an opinion , and not be a simple fact .
It might be helpful to walk through this process:
- Identify a random topic
- Ask a question about the topic that involves a value claim or analysis to answer
- Answer the question
That answer is your opinion.
Let’s consider some examples, from silly to serious:
Topic: Dolphins and mermaids
Question: In a mythical match, who would win: a dolphin or a mermaid?
Answer/Opinion: The mermaid would win in a match against a dolphin.
Topic: Autumn
Question: Which has a better fall: New England or Colorado?
Answer/Opinion: Fall is better in New England than Colorado.
Topic: Electric transportation options
Question: Would it be better for an urban dweller to buy an electric bike or an electric car?
Answer/Opinion: An electric bike is a better investment than an electric car.
Your turn: Walk through the three-step process described above to identify your topic and your tentative opinion. You may want to start by brainstorming a list of topics you find interesting and then going use the three-step process to find the opinion that would make the best essay topic.
2. An unequivocal thesis statement
If you walked through our three-step process above, you already have some semblance of a thesis—but don’t get attached too soon!
A solid essay thesis is best developed through the research process. You shouldn’t land on an opinion before you know the facts. So press pause. Take a step back. And dive into your research.
You’ll want to learn:
- The basic facts of your topic. How long does fall last in New England vs. Colorado? What trees do they have? What colors do those trees turn?
- The facts specifically relevant to your question. Is there any science on how the varying colors of fall influence human brains and moods?
- What experts or other noteworthy and valid sources say about the question you’re considering. Has a well-known arborist waxed eloquent on the beauty of New England falls?
As you learn the different viewpoints people have on your topic, pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of existing arguments. Is anyone arguing the perspective you’re leaning toward? Do you find their arguments convincing? What do you find unsatisfying about the various arguments?
Allow the research process to change your mind and/or refine your thinking on the topic. Your opinion may change entirely or become more specific based on what you learn.
Once you’ve done enough research to feel confident in your understanding of the topic and your opinion on it, craft your thesis.
Your thesis statement should be clear and concise. It should directly state your viewpoint on the topic, as well as the basic case for your thesis.
Thesis 1: In a mythical match, the mermaid would overcome the dolphin due to one distinct advantage: her ability to breathe underwater.
Thesis 2: The full spectrum of color displayed on New England hillsides is just one reason why fall in the northeast is better than in Colorado.
Thesis 3: In addition to not adding to vehicle traffic, electric bikes are a better investment than electric cars because they’re cheaper and require less energy to accomplish the same function of getting the rider from point A to point B.
Your turn: Dive into the research process with a radar up for the arguments your sources are making about your topic. What are the most convincing cases? Should you stick with your initial opinion or change it up? Write your fleshed-out thesis statement.
3. Evidence to back up your thesis
This is a typical place for everyone from undergrads to politicians to get stuck, but the good news is, if you developed your thesis from research, you already have a good bit of evidence to make your case.
Go back through your research notes and compile a list of every …
… or other piece of information that supports your thesis.
This info can come from research studies you found in scholarly journals, government publications, news sources, encyclopedias, or other credible sources (as long as they fit your professor’s standards).
As you put this list together, watch for any gaps or weak points. Are you missing information on how electric cars versus electric bicycles charge or how long their batteries last? Did you verify that dolphins are, in fact, mammals and can’t breathe underwater like totally-real-and-not-at-all-fake 😉mermaids can? Track down that information.
Next, organize your list. Group the entries so that similar or closely related information is together, and as you do that, start thinking through how to articulate the individual arguments to support your case.
Depending on the length of your essay, each argument may get only a paragraph or two of space. As you think through those specific arguments, consider what order to put them in. You’ll probably want to start with the simplest argument and work up to more complicated ones so that the arguments can build on each other.
Your turn: Organize your evidence and write a rough draft of your arguments. Play around with the order to find the most compelling way to argue your case.
4. Rebuttals to disprove opposing theses
You can’t just present the evidence to support your case and totally ignore other viewpoints. To persuade your readers, you’ll need to address any opposing ideas they may hold about your topic.
You probably found some holes in the opposing views during your research process. Now’s your chance to expose those holes.
Take some time (and space) to: describe the opposing views and show why those views don’t hold up. You can accomplish this using both logic and facts.
Is a perspective based on a faulty assumption or misconception of the truth? Shoot it down by providing the facts that disprove the opinion.
Is another opinion drawn from bad or unsound reasoning? Show how that argument falls apart.
Some cases may truly be only a matter of opinion, but you still need to articulate why you don’t find the opposing perspective convincing.
Yes, a dolphin might be stronger than a mermaid, but as a mammal, the dolphin must continually return to the surface for air. A mermaid can breathe both underwater and above water, which gives her a distinct advantage in this mythical battle.
While the Rocky Mountain views are stunning, their limited colors—yellow from aspen trees and green from various evergreens—leaves the autumn-lover less than thrilled. The rich reds and oranges and yellows of the New England fall are more satisfying and awe-inspiring.
But what about longer trips that go beyond the city center into the suburbs and beyond? An electric bike wouldn’t be great for those excursions. Wouldn’t an electric car be the better choice then?
Certainly, an electric car would be better in these cases than a gas-powered car, but if most of a person’s trips are in their hyper-local area, the electric bicycle is a more environmentally friendly option for those day-to-day outings. That person could then participate in a carshare or use public transit, a ride-sharing app, or even a gas-powered car for longer trips—and still use less energy overall than if they drove an electric car for hyper-local and longer area trips.
Your turn: Organize your rebuttal research and write a draft of each one.
5. A convincing conclusion
You have your arguments and rebuttals. You’ve proven your thesis is rock-solid. Now all you have to do is sum up your overall case and give your final word on the subject.
Don’t repeat everything you’ve already said. Instead, your conclusion should logically draw from the arguments you’ve made to show how they coherently prove your thesis. You’re pulling everything together and zooming back out with a better understanding of the what and why of your thesis.
A dolphin may never encounter a mermaid in the wild, but if it were to happen, we know how we’d place our bets. Long hair and fish tail, for the win.
For those of us who relish 50-degree days, sharp air, and the vibrant colors of fall, New England offers a season that’s cozier, longer-lasting, and more aesthetically pleasing than “colorful” Colorado. A leaf-peeper’s paradise.
When most of your trips from day to day are within five miles, the more energy-efficient—and yes, cost-efficient—choice is undoubtedly the electric bike. So strap on your helmet, fire up your pedals, and two-wheel away to your next destination with full confidence that you made the right decision for your wallet and the environment.
3 Quick Tips for Writing a Strong Argument
Once you have a draft to work with, use these tips to refine your argument and make sure you’re not losing readers for avoidable reasons.
1. Choose your words thoughtfully.
If you want to win people over to your side, don’t write in a way that shuts your opponents down. Avoid making abrasive or offensive statements. Instead, use a measured, reasonable tone. Appeal to shared values, and let your facts and logic do the hard work of changing people’s minds.
Choose words with AI
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You can use AI to turn your general point into a readable argument. Then, you can paraphrase each sentence and choose between competing arguments generated by the AI, until your argument is well-articulated and concise.
2. Prioritize accuracy (and avoid fallacies).
Make sure the facts you use are actually factual. You don’t want to build your argument on false or disproven information. Use the most recent, respected research. Make sure you don’t misconstrue study findings. And when you’re building your case, avoid logical fallacies that undercut your argument.
A few common fallacies to watch out for:
- Strawman: Misrepresenting or oversimplifying an opposing argument to make it easier to refute.
- Appeal to ignorance: Arguing that a certain claim must be true because it hasn’t been proven false.
- Bandwagon: Assumes that if a group of people, experts, etc., agree with a claim, it must be true.
- Hasty generalization: Using a few examples, rather than substantial evidence, to make a sweeping claim.
- Appeal to authority: Overly relying on opinions of people who have authority of some kind.
The strongest arguments rely on trustworthy information and sound logic.
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We recently wrote a three part piece on researching using AI, so be sure to check it out . Going through an organized process of researching and noting your sources correctly will make sure your written text is more accurate.
3. Persuasive essay structure
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If you’re building a house, you start with the foundation and go from there. It’s the same with an argument. You want to build from the ground up: provide necessary background information, then your thesis. Then, start with the simplest part of your argument and build up in terms of complexity and the aspect of your thesis that the argument is tackling.
A consistent, internal logic will make it easier for the reader to follow your argument. Plus, you’ll avoid confusing your reader and you won’t be unnecessarily redundant.
The essay structure usually includes the following parts:
- Intro - Hook, Background information, Thesis statement
- Topic sentence #1 , with supporting facts or stats
- Concluding sentence
- Topic sentence #2 , with supporting facts or stats
- Concluding sentence Topic sentence #3 , with supporting facts or stats
- Conclusion - Thesis and main points restated, call to action, thought provoking ending
Are You Ready to Write?
Persuasive essays are a great way to hone your research, writing, and critical thinking skills. Approach this assignment well, and you’ll learn how to form opinions based on information (not just ideas) and make arguments that—if they don’t change minds—at least win readers’ respect.
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Persuasive Essay Writing
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How to Write a Persuasive Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide
13 min read
Published on: Jan 3, 2023
Last updated on: Jan 29, 2024
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It's the night before the essay is due, and you haven't even started. Your mind is blank, and you have no idea what words will persuade your teacher.
The good news is that some tips and tricks can make the process of writing a persuasive essay much easier.
In this blog, we'll break down the components of a persuasive essay and provide helpful tips and examples along the way. By the end, you should have all the guidelines to create a winning essay that will persuade your readers to see things your way.
Let's take a closer look at all these steps.
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What is a Persuasive Essay?
A persuasive essay presents logical arguments with emotional appeal.
Typically, persuasive essays begin with a question that the writer spends the essay arguing in favor of or opposition to.
For example: should kids be allowed to play video games on weekdays?
The writer would then spend the rest of the essay backing up their claim with reasons and evidence.
Persuasive essays often include counterarguments. These arguments oppose the writer's position.
By including counterarguments, persuasive essays become more interesting. They also force the writer to think critically about their position.
For example, an opponent of the previous argument might say that playing video games leads to poor grades.
The original writer could deny this claim by pointing to studies that show no correlation between bad grades and playing video games.
The best persuasive essays are well-researched and use data to support their claims.
However, persuasive essays are not just about logic. They also need to include emotional appeal.
After all, people are more likely to be persuaded by an argument that speaks to their feelings.
Elements of a Persuasive Essay
When a persuasive essay is a task, you must keep these three greek terms in mind. They are:
- Ethos (appeal to ethics)
- Pathos (appeal to emotion)
- Logos (appeal to logic)
A good essay will use all of these elements to convince the reader that the argument presented is valid.
Let's take a closer look at each one.
Ethos - the Credibility Element
The persuasive power of ethos lies in the character or credibility of the person making the argument.
For an argument to be persuasive, the person presenting it must be someone that the audience trusts.
This could be because they are an expert on the subject or because they have first-hand experience with it. Either way, ethos establishes the speaker's credibility and makes the audience more likely to trust what they have to say.
Pathos -the Emotional Element
While ethos deals with the character of the person making the argument, pathos has to do with the audience's emotions. A persuasive argument will tap into the audience's emotions and use them to sway their opinion.
This could be done through stories or anecdotes that evoke an emotional response or by using language that stirs certain feelings.
Logos - the Logical Element
The final element of persuasion is logos, which appeals to logic. A persuasive argument will use sound reasoning and evidence to convince the audience that it is valid. This could be done through data or using persuasive techniques like cause and effect.
Using all these elements of a persuasive essay can make your argument much more effective.
How To Write a Persuasive Essay
Writing persuasive essays can be challenging, but they don't have to be.
With the following simple steps, you can quickly turn an ordinary essay into one that will make a lasting impression.
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How To Start a Persuasive Essay
Here is a complete guide on how to start a persuasive essay. Follow them to compose a perfect essay every time.
Brainstorm All Possible Angles
The first step in writing a persuasive essay is brainstorming. You need to develop an angle for your essay that will make it unique and interesting.
For example, let's say you're writing about the death penalty. A lot has been said on this topic, so it might be hard to find an angle that hasn't been covered already.
But if you think about it, there are many different ways to approach the issue.
Maybe you could write about the personal experiences of someone affected by the death penalty. Or maybe you could write about the economic costs of the death penalty.
There are many possibilities here - it's all about thinking creatively.
Select Your Topic
Once you've brainstormed a few ideas, it's time to choose your topic. Pick the angle you think will most effectively persuade your reader.
Once you've chosen your topic, it's time to research. Use statistics, expert opinions, and real-life examples to support your position.
Choose Your Side
Now that you've researched, it's time to take a side in the debate. Remember, you must take a strong stance on one side of the issue.
After deciding your stance, research and support it with evidence.
Appeal to Human Emotions
One of the most effective ways to persuade someone is by appealing to their emotions.
After all, we're not robots - we're human beings and always make decisions based on our feelings.
Make your reader feel something, whether it's anger, sadness, empathy, or even amusement. You'll be well on convincing them of your point of view.
Anticipate Possible Objections.
Of course, not everyone will agree, and that's okay!
The important thing is that you anticipate some of those objections and address them head-on in your essay.
This shows that you take your reader's objections seriously and are confident in your position.
Organize Your Evidence
Once you have all of your evidence collected, it's time to start organizing it into an outline for your essay.
Organizing your essay is a key step in the writing process. It helps you keep track of all the evidence you've gathered and structure your argument in an organized way.
What Are The Steps To Write Your Persuasive Essay?
Now that you have your topic essay outline, it's time to move on to the actual writing.
Here are the steps you need to take:
Step 1: Create a Compelling Introduction
You want to hook your readers with a great opening for your persuasive essay, so they'll want to keep reading.
Here are 3 tips for writing an attention-grabbing introduction for your next essay.
- Use a strong hook statement
Your hook statement should immediately draw the reader in and make them want to learn more.
A good hook statement will vary depending on whether you're writing for an academic or more casual audience.
Still, some good options include a quote, an interesting statistic, or a rhetorical question.
- Make sure your thesis statement is clear and concise
Your thesis statement is the main argument of your essay, so it needs to be stated clearly and concisely in your introduction.
A good thesis statement will be specific and limit the scope of your argument so that it can be fully addressed in the body of your paper.
- Use a transition
Transitions are important in writing for academic and non-academic audiences because they help guide the reader through your argument.
A good transition will introduce the main point of your next paragraph while still maintaining the connection to the previous one.
Step 2: Write The Body Paragraphs
Here is a formula for structuring your body paragraphs in a persuasive essay.
This formula will ensure that each body paragraph is packed with evidence and examples while still being concise and easy to read.
- The Topic Sentence
Every body paragraph should start with a topic sentence. A topic sentence is a key sentence that sums up the paragraph's main point.
It should be clear, concise, and direct.
For example, if you were writing a paragraph about the importance of exercise, your topic sentence might be this:
"Regular exercise is essential for good physical and mental health."
See how that sentence gives a clear overview of what the rest of the paragraph will be about.
- Relevant Supporting Sentences
Once your topic sentence is down, it's time to fill the rest of the paragraph with relevant supporting sentences.
These sentences should provide evidence to support the claims made in the topic sentence.
For the exercise example, we might use sentences like this:
"Exercise has been shown to improve heart health, reduce stress levels, and boost brain power."
"A sedentary lifestyle has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, and type II diabetes."
See how each sentence ties back to the paragraph's main point. That's what you want your supporting sentences to do.
- Closing Sentence
Last but not least, every body paragraph should end with a closing (or transition) sentence. This sentence should briefly summarize the main points of the paragraph and introduce the next point that will be discussed in the following paragraph.
For the exercise example, the closing sentence might look like this:
"So, as you can see, there are many compelling reasons to make exercise a regular part of your routine."
How to End a Persuasive Essay
The end of your essay is just as important as the introduction. You must leave your readers with a lasting impression and ensure your argument convinces them.
To do this, you'll want to craft a persuasive conclusion that ties together all the points you have made in the essay.
Here is a video explaining the body paragraphs in a persuasive essay. Check it out for more information.
Step 1: Write a Persuasive Conclusion
Here are a few tips to help make sure your persuasive essay conclusion is as effective and persuasive as possible.
- Restate Your Thesis
Begin your essay conclusion by restating the thesis statement you began within your introduction. Doing so will remind readers of what you set out to prove and provide a sense of closure.
- Summarize Your Arguments
You can also use your conclusion to summarize the main points of your argument. This will help readers recall the evidence you presented and reinforce why it supports your thesis.
- Offer a Call to Action
Lastly, don't forget to include a call to action in your essay conclusion. This can be anything from a persuasive plea to a persuasive suggestion.
Step 2: Polish Up Your Essay
After youâre done with the essay, take a few minutes to read through it. Ensure that your persuasive points and evidence are clear, concise, and persuasive.
Also, double-check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Ensure that all of your persuasive points are properly explained and make sense to the reader.
If youâre not confident in your persuasive writing skills, you can enlist a friend or family member to read through it and provide feedback.
You can follow a proofreading checklist after completing your essay to ensure you are on track.
By following these steps, youâll end up with a persuasive essay that will impress anyone who reads it!
Format Of A Persuasive Essay
Once you have your persuasive essay topic, it's time to craft an essay structure. Crafting the perfect persuasive essay format is essential for ensuring your paper has maximum persuasive power.
Here are some tips for formatting an effective persuasive essay.
- Increase the Readability of Your Text
Ensure that you have adhered to all the paragraphing requirements of your instructor.
Double-check that your margins are set properly. A margin of 1 inch (2.5 cm) on all sides is the standard for most written documents.
This makes it easier for readers to focus and extract important information quickly.
- Use Easy-to-Read Font
Choose a font that is easy to read and professional. Stay away from script fonts or anything too fancy or difficult to read. Stick with basic fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, and Calibri.
- Keep a Defined Alignment
Align your persuasive essay to the left margin. This makes it easier for readers to follow along with your argument without having to do too much extra scrolling.
By following these simple tips, you'll be able to craft the perfect persuasive essay format.
Persuasive Essay Examples
Here are some examples of persuasive essays that can help you get the gist of essay writing.
Persuasive essay on the preservation of nature
Persuasive essay examples pdf
Example of a persuasive essay about covid-19
Check out some more persuasive essay examples here for more inspiration.
Good Persuasive Essay Topics
The right persuasive essay topics can make or break your essay. Here are a few examples of persuasive essay topics that can help you.
- Should the government increase taxes on sugary foods to reduce obesity?
- Do standardized tests accurately measure student intelligence and aptitude?
- Should studying a foreign language be mandatory in schools?
- Should all high school students complete community service hours before graduating?
- Are video games affecting the concentration and cognitive development of children?
- Should genetically modified foods be labeled as such in stores?
- Are the current copyright laws protecting artists and content creators enough?
- Should college tuition be reduced for all students?
- Is the use of animals in medical research ethical?
- Should the use of drones be regulated by the government?
- Should college athletes receive payment for their performance?
- Should students be allowed to have cell phones in school?
- Is drug testing in schools an effective way to prevent substance abuse?
- Does social media promote a healthy lifestyle or contribute to cyber bullying?
- Should the voting age be lowered to 16?
If youâre stuck with choosing topics, these are great persuasive essay topics to get you started!
Pick one of these and craft an essay that will leave your readers thinking.
Tips to Write a Compelling Persuasive Essay
Here are a few tips and tricks to help you make a lasting impression on your reader:
Pick A Topic You're Passionate About
First, you need to choose a topic you're passionate about. It will be easier to write about the topic if you care about the essay.
This will make it easier to develop persuasive arguments, and you'll be more motivated to do research.
Research Your Topic Thoroughly
After picking a persuasive essay topic, you need thorough research. This will help you gain a better understanding of the issue, which in turn will make your essay stronger. This will also ensure that you fully grasp all counterarguments on your topic.
Know Your Audience
Knowing your audience before writing is important. Are you writing to your classmates? Your teacher? The general public? Once you know your audience, you can tailor your argument to them.
Knowing your audience will help determine the tone and approach of your essay.
Hook The Reader's Attention
The first few sentences of your essay are crucial - they must grab the reader's attention and make them want to keep reading.
One way to do this is by starting with a shocking statistic or an interesting story. The reader will be instantly hooked and will be enticed to read more.
Research Both Sides
A good persuasive essay will consider both sides of an issue and present a well-rounded view. This means researching both sides of the argument before taking a stance.
Make sure to consider all the evidence before making up your mind - otherwise, your argument won't be as strong as it could be.
Ask Rhetorical Questions
Rhetorical questions are not meant to be answered but rather to make the reader think about the issue.
For example, "How can we expect our children to succeed in school if they don't have enough resources?"
Questions like this can help engage readers and get them thinking about solutions rather than just complaining about problems.
Emphasize Your Point
It's important to reiterate your main points throughout the essay so that readers don't forget what they are supposed to argue for or against by the time they reach the end of the paper.
Persuasive essays can be difficult to write, but following simple tips can help make the process easier.
In this blog, we've outlined the components of a persuasive essay and provided some tips on how to write one. We also shared examples of persuasive essays that scored high marks on standardized tests.
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Let our persuasive essay writer handle the hard work and get you started on your path to success.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Persuasive Essays
How long should a persuasive essay be.
Generally speaking, persuasive essays should be between 500-750 words. However, the length of your essay will depend on the instructions given by your teacher or professor.
What Techniques Are Used In Persuasive Essays?
Persuasive techniques include facts and statistics, emotion and logic, personal stories, analogies and metaphors, pathos, ethos, and logos.
How Do I Make My Persuasive Essay More Convincing?
To make your essay more convincing, cite reliable sources, use persuasive language, and provide strong evidence and arguments.
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How Is Persuasive Writing Different From Argumentative Writing?
The main difference between persuasive and argumentative writing is that persuasive writing seeks to convince or persuade the reader. On the other hand, argumentative writing seeks to debate an issue.
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10.9 Persuasion
Learning objectives.
- Determine the purpose and structure of persuasion in writing.
- Identify bias in writing.
- Assess various rhetorical devices.
- Distinguish between fact and opinion.
- Understand the importance of visuals to strengthen arguments.
- Write a persuasive essay.
The Purpose of Persuasive Writing
The purpose of persuasion in writing is to convince, motivate, or move readers toward a certain point of view, or opinion. The act of trying to persuade automatically implies more than one opinion on the subject can be argued.
The idea of an argument often conjures up images of two people yelling and screaming in anger. In writing, however, an argument is very different. An argument is a reasoned opinion supported and explained by evidence. To argue in writing is to advance knowledge and ideas in a positive way. Written arguments often fail when they employ ranting rather than reasoning.
Most of us feel inclined to try to win the arguments we engage in. On some level, we all want to be right, and we want others to see the error of their ways. More times than not, however, arguments in which both sides try to win end up producing losers all around. The more productive approach is to persuade your audience to consider your opinion as a valid one, not simply the right one.
The Structure of a Persuasive Essay
The following five features make up the structure of a persuasive essay:
- Introduction and thesis
- Opposing and qualifying ideas
- Strong evidence in support of claim
- Style and tone of language
- A compelling conclusion
Creating an Introduction and Thesis
The persuasive essay begins with an engaging introduction that presents the general topic. The thesis typically appears somewhere in the introduction and states the writer’s point of view.
Avoid forming a thesis based on a negative claim. For example, “The hourly minimum wage is not high enough for the average worker to live on.” This is probably a true statement, but persuasive arguments should make a positive case. That is, the thesis statement should focus on how the hourly minimum wage is low or insufficient.
Acknowledging Opposing Ideas and Limits to Your Argument
Because an argument implies differing points of view on the subject, you must be sure to acknowledge those opposing ideas. Avoiding ideas that conflict with your own gives the reader the impression that you may be uncertain, fearful, or unaware of opposing ideas. Thus it is essential that you not only address counterarguments but also do so respectfully.
Try to address opposing arguments earlier rather than later in your essay. Rhetorically speaking, ordering your positive arguments last allows you to better address ideas that conflict with your own, so you can spend the rest of the essay countering those arguments. This way, you leave your reader thinking about your argument rather than someone else’s. You have the last word.
Acknowledging points of view different from your own also has the effect of fostering more credibility between you and the audience. They know from the outset that you are aware of opposing ideas and that you are not afraid to give them space.
It is also helpful to establish the limits of your argument and what you are trying to accomplish. In effect, you are conceding early on that your argument is not the ultimate authority on a given topic. Such humility can go a long way toward earning credibility and trust with an audience. Audience members will know from the beginning that you are a reasonable writer, and audience members will trust your argument as a result. For example, in the following concessionary statement, the writer advocates for stricter gun control laws, but she admits it will not solve all of our problems with crime:
Although tougher gun control laws are a powerful first step in decreasing violence in our streets, such legislation alone cannot end these problems since guns are not the only problem we face.
Such a concession will be welcome by those who might disagree with this writer’s argument in the first place. To effectively persuade their readers, writers need to be modest in their goals and humble in their approach to get readers to listen to the ideas. See Table 10.5 “Phrases of Concession” for some useful phrases of concession.
Table 10.5 Phrases of Concession
although | granted that |
of course | still |
though | yet |
Try to form a thesis for each of the following topics. Remember the more specific your thesis, the better.
- Foreign policy
- Television and advertising
- Stereotypes and prejudice
- Gender roles and the workplace
- Driving and cell phones
Collaboration
Please share with a classmate and compare your answers. Choose the thesis statement that most interests you and discuss why.
Bias in Writing
Everyone has various biases on any number of topics. For example, you might have a bias toward wearing black instead of brightly colored clothes or wearing jeans rather than formal wear. You might have a bias toward working at night rather than in the morning, or working by deadlines rather than getting tasks done in advance. These examples identify minor biases, of course, but they still indicate preferences and opinions.
Handling bias in writing and in daily life can be a useful skill. It will allow you to articulate your own points of view while also defending yourself against unreasonable points of view. The ideal in persuasive writing is to let your reader know your bias, but do not let that bias blind you to the primary components of good argumentation: sound, thoughtful evidence and a respectful and reasonable address of opposing sides.
The strength of a personal bias is that it can motivate you to construct a strong argument. If you are invested in the topic, you are more likely to care about the piece of writing. Similarly, the more you care, the more time and effort you are apt to put forth and the better the final product will be.
The weakness of bias is when the bias begins to take over the essay—when, for example, you neglect opposing ideas, exaggerate your points, or repeatedly insert yourself ahead of the subject by using I too often. Being aware of all three of these pitfalls will help you avoid them.
The Use of I in Writing
The use of I in writing is often a topic of debate, and the acceptance of its usage varies from instructor to instructor. It is difficult to predict the preferences for all your present and future instructors, but consider the effects it can potentially have on your writing.
Be mindful of the use of I in your writing because it can make your argument sound overly biased. There are two primary reasons:
- Excessive repetition of any word will eventually catch the reader’s attention—and usually not in a good way. The use of I is no different.
- The insertion of I into a sentence alters not only the way a sentence might sound but also the composition of the sentence itself. I is often the subject of a sentence. If the subject of the essay is supposed to be, say, smoking, then by inserting yourself into the sentence, you are effectively displacing the subject of the essay into a secondary position. In the following example, the subject of the sentence is underlined:
Smoking is bad.
I think smoking is bad.
In the first sentence, the rightful subject, smoking , is in the subject position in the sentence. In the second sentence, the insertion of I and think replaces smoking as the subject, which draws attention to I and away from the topic that is supposed to be discussed. Remember to keep the message (the subject) and the messenger (the writer) separate.
Developing Sound Arguments
Does my essay contain the following elements?
- An engaging introduction
- A reasonable, specific thesis that is able to be supported by evidence
- A varied range of evidence from credible sources
- Respectful acknowledgement and explanation of opposing ideas
- A style and tone of language that is appropriate for the subject and audience
- Acknowledgement of the argument’s limits
- A conclusion that will adequately summarize the essay and reinforce the thesis
Fact and Opinion
Facts are statements that can be definitely proven using objective data. The statement that is a fact is absolutely valid. In other words, the statement can be pronounced as true or false. For example, 2 + 2 = 4. This expression identifies a true statement, or a fact, because it can be proved with objective data.
Opinions are personal views, or judgments. An opinion is what an individual believes about a particular subject. However, an opinion in argumentation must have legitimate backing; adequate evidence and credibility should support the opinion. Consider the credibility of expert opinions. Experts in a given field have the knowledge and credentials to make their opinion meaningful to a larger audience.
For example, you seek the opinion of your dentist when it comes to the health of your gums, and you seek the opinion of your mechanic when it comes to the maintenance of your car. Both have knowledge and credentials in those respective fields, which is why their opinions matter to you. But the authority of your dentist may be greatly diminished should he or she offer an opinion about your car, and vice versa.
In writing, you want to strike a balance between credible facts and authoritative opinions. Relying on one or the other will likely lose more of your audience than it gains.
The word prove is frequently used in the discussion of persuasive writing. Writers may claim that one piece of evidence or another proves the argument, but proving an argument is often not possible. No evidence proves a debatable topic one way or the other; that is why the topic is debatable. Facts can be proved, but opinions can only be supported, explained, and persuaded.
On a separate sheet of paper, take three of the theses you formed in Note 10.94 “Exercise 1” , and list the types of evidence you might use in support of that thesis.
Using the evidence you provided in support of the three theses in Note 10.100 “Exercise 2” , come up with at least one counterargument to each. Then write a concession statement, expressing the limits to each of your three arguments.
Using Visual Elements to Strengthen Arguments
Adding visual elements to a persuasive argument can often strengthen its persuasive effect. There are two main types of visual elements: quantitative visuals and qualitative visuals.
Quantitative visuals present data graphically. They allow the audience to see statistics spatially. The purpose of using quantitative visuals is to make logical appeals to the audience. For example, sometimes it is easier to understand the disparity in certain statistics if you can see how the disparity looks graphically. Bar graphs, pie charts, Venn diagrams, histograms, and line graphs are all ways of presenting quantitative data in spatial dimensions.
Qualitative visuals present images that appeal to the audience’s emotions. Photographs and pictorial images are examples of qualitative visuals. Such images often try to convey a story, and seeing an actual example can carry more power than hearing or reading about the example. For example, one image of a child suffering from malnutrition will likely have more of an emotional impact than pages dedicated to describing that same condition in writing.
Writing at Work
When making a business presentation, you typically have limited time to get across your idea. Providing visual elements for your audience can be an effective timesaving tool. Quantitative visuals in business presentations serve the same purpose as they do in persuasive writing. They should make logical appeals by showing numerical data in a spatial design. Quantitative visuals should be pictures that might appeal to your audience’s emotions. You will find that many of the rhetorical devices used in writing are the same ones used in the workplace. For more information about visuals in presentations, see Chapter 14 “Creating Presentations: Sharing Your Ideas” .
Writing a Persuasive Essay
Choose a topic that you feel passionate about. If your instructor requires you to write about a specific topic, approach the subject from an angle that interests you. Begin your essay with an engaging introduction. Your thesis should typically appear somewhere in your introduction.
Start by acknowledging and explaining points of view that may conflict with your own to build credibility and trust with your audience. Also state the limits of your argument. This too helps you sound more reasonable and honest to those who may naturally be inclined to disagree with your view. By respectfully acknowledging opposing arguments and conceding limitations to your own view, you set a measured and responsible tone for the essay.
Make your appeals in support of your thesis by using sound, credible evidence. Use a balance of facts and opinions from a wide range of sources, such as scientific studies, expert testimony, statistics, and personal anecdotes. Each piece of evidence should be fully explained and clearly stated.
Make sure that your style and tone are appropriate for your subject and audience. Tailor your language and word choice to these two factors, while still being true to your own voice.
Finally, write a conclusion that effectively summarizes the main argument and reinforces your thesis. See Chapter 15 “Readings: Examples of Essays” to read a sample persuasive essay.
Choose one of the topics you have been working on throughout this section. Use the thesis, evidence, opposing argument, and concessionary statement as the basis for writing a full persuasive essay. Be sure to include an engaging introduction, clear explanations of all the evidence you present, and a strong conclusion.
Key Takeaways
- The purpose of persuasion in writing is to convince or move readers toward a certain point of view, or opinion.
- An argument is a reasoned opinion supported and explained by evidence. To argue, in writing, is to advance knowledge and ideas in a positive way.
- A thesis that expresses the opinion of the writer in more specific terms is better than one that is vague.
- It is essential that you not only address counterarguments but also do so respectfully.
- It is also helpful to establish the limits of your argument and what you are trying to accomplish through a concession statement.
- To persuade a skeptical audience, you will need to use a wide range of evidence. Scientific studies, opinions from experts, historical precedent, statistics, personal anecdotes, and current events are all types of evidence that you might use in explaining your point.
- Make sure that your word choice and writing style is appropriate for both your subject and your audience.
- You should let your reader know your bias, but do not let that bias blind you to the primary components of good argumentation: sound, thoughtful evidence and respectfully and reasonably addressing opposing ideas.
- You should be mindful of the use of I in your writing because it can make your argument sound more biased than it needs to.
- Facts are statements that can be proven using objective data.
- Opinions are personal views, or judgments, that cannot be proven.
- In writing, you want to strike a balance between credible facts and authoritative opinions.
- Quantitative visuals present data graphically. The purpose of using quantitative visuals is to make logical appeals to the audience.
- Qualitative visuals present images that appeal to the audience’s emotions.
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A Comprehensive Guide on How to Write a Persuasive Essay
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A persuasive essay is a potent literary tool designed to sway the reader's opinion and evoke a response. Unlike other types of essays , the primary goal here is not merely to inform or entertain but to persuade. In this guide, we'll explore what exactly a persuasive essay is, delve into its main components, and provide practical tips on how to write a persuasive essay that leaves a lasting impression.
What is a Persuasive Essay?
At its core, a persuasive essay aims to convince the reader to adopt a particular viewpoint or take a specific action. It's an artful blend of logical reasoning and emotional appeal, carefully crafted to sway opinions and inspire action. Whether addressing a controversial social issue, advocating for a change in policy, or expressing an individual opinion, the persuasive essay is a vehicle for influencing minds.
How to Write a Persuasive Essay: The Main Components
1. Introduction: Capturing Attention and Stating the Thesis The introduction serves as the gateway to your persuasive essay. Begin by grabbing the reader's attention with a compelling hook—an anecdote, a surprising fact, or a thought-provoking question. After capturing their interest, clearly state your thesis, which should encapsulate the main argument you'll be advocating throughout the essay. Make sure it's concise, focused, and sets the stage for what follows.
2. Body Paragraphs: Building the Argument The body of your persuasive essay is where you present your case in detail. Each paragraph should focus on a single point that supports your thesis. Begin with a topic sentence that introduces the main idea of the paragraph, followed by supporting evidence, examples, and logical reasoning. Be sure to anticipate counterarguments and address them in a respectful manner. This not only strengthens your position but also demonstrates a thorough understanding of the topic.
3. Ethos, Pathos, and Logos: The Triad of Persuasion A persuasive essay is most effective when it appeals to the audience's emotions, ethics, and logic. Ethos involves establishing credibility and showcasing your expertise or authority on the subject. Pathos appeals to the reader's emotions, invoking empathy or stirring passions. Logos relies on logical reasoning, presenting evidence and sound arguments to support your claims. Striking a balance between these three elements ensures a well-rounded and convincing essay.
4. Counterarguments and Rebuttal: Strengthening Your Position Acknowledge opposing viewpoints to demonstrate fairness and open-mindedness. Addressing counterarguments head-on not only strengthens your position but also shows that you've thoroughly considered different perspectives. Craft a persuasive rebuttal by presenting additional evidence or showcasing flaws in the opposing argument. This not only reinforces your stance but also reinforces your credibility as a thoughtful and informed writer.
5. Conclusion: Leaving a Lasting Impression End your essay with a powerful conclusion that backs your thesis and leaves a lasting impression. Summarise the key points from the body paragraphs and restate your thesis in a compelling way. Avoid introducing new information in the conclusion; instead, focus on leaving the reader with a clear understanding of your perspective and a sense of urgency or importance regarding your argument.
Writing a Persuasive Essay: Practical Tips
Know Your Audience: Tailor Your Approach Understanding your audience is crucial when crafting a persuasive essay. Consider their values, beliefs, and potential biases. Tailor your language and arguments to resonate with your target audience, making your persuasive efforts more effective.
Thorough Research: The Foundation of Persuasion Before diving into writing, conduct thorough research on your chosen topic. Familiarise yourself with relevant facts, statistics, and expert opinions. A well-researched essay not only strengthens your argument but also enhances your credibility as a writer.
Craft a Strong Thesis Statement: The Heart of Your Essay Your thesis statement is the focal point of your persuasive essay. Ensure it is clear, concise, and debatable. A strong thesis sets the tone for the entire essay and provides a roadmap for both the writer and the reader.
Use Persuasive Language: Engage and Convince Choose your words carefully to create a persuasive impact. Employ strong, vivid language that evokes emotion and captivates the reader. Be mindful of your tone, striking a balance between confidence and humility.
Revise and Edit: Polish Your Persuasive Gem The final step in crafting a persuasive essay is thorough revision and editing. Review your essay for clarity, coherence, and consistency. Check for grammatical errors, ensure a smooth flow of ideas, and confirm that your arguments are well-supported by evidence.
The refinement of your work is just as crucial as its creation. Let our team of skilled editors meticulously edit and proofread your essay , providing valuable insights to elevate your writing to its highest potential.
Writing a Persuasive Essay: A Skill That Goes Beyond Academia
Mastering the art of persuasion through essay writing is a valuable skill that extends beyond academia. Whether advocating for social change or expressing a personal viewpoint, a persuasive essay equips you to articulate your ideas effectively and influence others. By understanding the main components and following practical tips, you can confidently navigate the terrain of persuasive writing, leaving a lasting impact on your readers.
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All About Persuasive Essay Writing
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Writing a persuasive essay requires expressing your viewpoint and convincing readers of its rightfulness. Many struggle with completing this type of written assignment because of a lack of proper writing skills, the inability to express a point of view clearly, or follow the paper outline.
Many useful sources on the Internet can help students master their skills and get writing assistance. To create an effective persuasive essay that appeals to readers’ emotions, you must follow special writing tips. Read the article and find out persuasive techniques to compile an excellent essay.
Definition of a Persuasive Essay
A persuasive essay is a type of academic writing where an author uses logic and arguments to convince readers that their point of view is legitimate. Besides, a writer can appeal to feelings and emotions to persuade the audience to take their side.
The primary evidence is your personal opinion and thoughts. And then, you support your solid evidence with research, facts, examples, quotes, and statistics.
Persuasive essays are also called argumentative essays due to arguments and supporting facts. However, we should differentiate between these two types of essays. In persuasive essays, it’s required to represent opposite opinions and choose one side. Convince readers that you are right using supporting arguments.
On the contrary, when writing an argumentative essay, you should describe all arguments and counterarguments objectively, leaving the freedom of choice to the reader.
Three Components of a Persuasive Essay
A professional persuasive essay consists of three main elements: ethos, pathos, and logos. They were introduced by Aristotle and are known as modes of persuasion. These essential persuasion constituents will help you build an engaging and effective persuasive essay that influences readers’ opinions. Let’s take a closer look at these three persuasion elements:
- Ethos is used to persuade the reader of the author’s credibility and knowledge. This element of argument establishes the good moral character of the writer. It is a helpful tool for presenting your viewpoint since people are more likely to trust a knowledgeable and experienced author.
- Pathos is an act of appealing to an audience’s emotions and feelings to manipulate and persuade. You can connect with readers easily if you evoke specific emotions like anger, joy, or sympathy. It makes persuasive essay writing more compelling and memorable.
- Logos is an appeal to the audience’s logic. A writer tries to persuade readers of the rational validity of the arguments. And for this reason, they use supporting evidence like statistics, quotes, facts, and other logical data elements.
Guide on Writing the Persuasive Essay
Writing a good persuasive essay requires time and effort. Students may come across different guidelines for completing this assignment. Formulate a strong persuasive essay and fully convince your readers by following these simple steps:
Choose a Killer Topic
It would help if you persuaded people of something you believe. So choose a topic that is close to your views and can reflect your opinions the best way. It’d be great if you could find enough supporting materials on your essay subject.
Research Both Sides
Since every argument has a counterargument, you should explore all information about opposite sides. Knowing another view on the issue is crucial and being able to justify your perspective. Analyze many reliable sources to support your argument.
Know Your Audience
Learn the audience you will target with your persuasive writing. This insight can help the writer form proper arguments and tailor language. Try to find what may influence readers and what means are better to use to achieve that.
List Your Reasons
Even though you do not need to present hard evidence in your persuasive essay, it’s crucial to support your personal opinion with logical reasoning. Your writing will be more convincing if you present as many reasons as possible to support your ideas. Knowing the audience, you can make reasons relatable to them.
Plan a Thesis Statement
Drafting a thesis statement helps you make your stance clear to the audience. You can not generate a strong argument without a good thesis in your persuasive writing. Here it would help if you defined what you will persuade readers of and how you can do that.
Appeal to Emotions
If you want people to agree with what you present in the essay, try to evoke certain emotions. This act of appealing to readers’ emotions and feelings is called pathos. You can make the audience angry, relieved, happy, worried, excited, etc. The neutral tone of the persuasive essay is a lost cause.
Include a Strong Call to Action
When you write a persuasive essay, decide what you expect the audience will do after reading it once they take your side and what actions they can take. It depends on the essay topic and can range from signing petitions and donations to supporting your idea in further works.
The Prewriting Stage of a Persuasive Essay Creation
Prewriting is the first stage of the writing process. It helps to plan your essay, organize your resources and ensure you have everything for a good persuasive essay with a coherent argument. During the prewriting stage, you must define your approach, consider your audience, review your research, and create an outline. So let’s learn about these phases more.
- It’s crucial to develop a clear approach to writing a persuasive essay. Think carefully about the issue and decide which side to take. Your working statement can be summarized in one or two sentences. You will focus on it, developing arguments for the essay.
- Before writing the essay, you should know who might read your work. Identifying age, gender, ethnicity, and views on politics and religion is essential to tailor your writing tone. These aspects may highly influence how the audience perceives your viewpoint. If it’s impossible to answer who these readers will be direct, try not to make critical assumptions that can offend some groups.
- A writer should suggest convincing evidence backed by reliable sources for persuasive essay writing. You must find as many relevant sources as possible to select the most compelling ones for your essay. Do not rely on a single source to support your evidence.
- Then it would help if you created an essay outline to make your work well-structured. It will help you generate logical and coherent arguments. Consider that the persuasive essay should have a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Structure of the Persuasive Essay
A clear five-paragraph essay structure will help you effectively present arguments and write a persuasive essay. You create an essay outline for connecting your arguments logically during the prewriting stage.
When you know how to start and finish your work, persuasive essay writing will go smoothly. Remember to support your ideas with strong evidence and refer to counterarguments.
Introduction
The introduction in your persuasive essay writing should be strong and engaging. It should include a hook, background information, definitions of terms, and a clear thesis statement. Make a concluding sentence in your introductory paragraph for smooth transitions to the next paragraphs.
Body Paragraphs
You should write at least three body paragraphs to present reasons for your opinions. Consider supporting your ideas with strong evidence. Each body paragraph in persuasive essays includes a topic sentence, evidence, and analysis. It would be best if you connected paragraphs in a persuasive essay so that they make a big picture.
Opposing View Paragraph
Counterarguments play a huge role in persuasive essays allowing the reader to ensure that the author’s view is right. When you write a persuasive essay, identify the opposing position in your work and respond to it. It’d be great to oppose the counter argument paragraph with evidence and examples. Finally, finish this paragraph by proving that your argument is stronger.
The concluding paragraph in persuasive writing connects all arguments. Here a writer can establish the significance of their persuasive essay writing. Do not introduce anything new but include a call to action and give readers food for thought.
Tips on Essay Editing and Proofreading
Once students write persuasive essays, they need to revise and edit their work carefully. At this stage, you should check everything, starting from spelling, grammar, vocabulary, structure, coherence, logic, and arguments.
When editing your essay, find if the paper answers the assignment question. All resources should be appropriately cited and support each argument of your persuasive essay.
There are plenty of free tools for checking errors in persuasive essays. They are good for detecting typos and grammar mistakes. Free programs provide basic editing features. If you want professional editing assistance, you can pay to check your work on logic and coherence.
But there’s nothing better than a human proofreader who understands all nuances of the language well. You can ask your friends, professor, or an expert editor to check your essay.
What are Effective Persuasive Techniques
You know that ethos, pathos, and logos are three crucial elements of effective persuasive essays. But other techniques can help you convince readers of your arguments’ correctness.
- Choose words carefully, using strong language that can impress the audience. Emotive language, literary devices, wordplay, jokes, quotes, and sayings are great tools for connecting with the reader.
- A clear thesis statement is a key to persuading readers. It must be strong enough and compelling to represent your opinion. Please include it in the essay introduction so that the audience sees what you convince them of.
- Another crucial technique when you write persuasive essays is speaking directly to readers. Address them with “you” and build a tight connection throughout your essay. In such a way, your paper will be more like a conversation, especially when you include questions for moving from one paragraph to another.
If you experience difficulties with persuasive writing, contact us and get high-quality writing assistance from our essay writing service .
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Table of contents
Persuasive Essay
Definition of persuasive essay, why persuasion, difference between a persuasive essay and an argumentative essay, examples of persuasive essay in literature, example #1: our unhealthy obsession and sickness (by frank furedi).
“Governments today do two things that I object to in particular. First they encourage introspection, telling us that unless men examine their testicles, unless we keep a check on our cholesterol level, then we are not being responsible citizens. You are letting down yourself, your wife, your kids, everybody. We are encouraged continually to worry about our health. As a consequence, public health initiatives have become, as far as I can tell, a threat to public health. Secondly, governments promote the value of health seeking. We are meant always to be seeking health for this or that condition. The primary effect of this, I believe, is to make us all feel more ill.”
Example #2: We Are Training Our Kids to Kill (by Dave Grossman)
“Our society needs to be informed about these crimes, but when the images of the young killers are broadcast on television, they become role models. The average preschooler in America watches 27 hours of television a week. The average child gets more one-on-one communication from TV than from all her parents and teachers combined. The ultimate achievement for our children is to get their picture on TV. The solution is simple, and it comes straight out of the sociology literature: The media have every right and responsibility to tell the story , but they must be persuaded not to glorify the killers by presenting their images on TV.”
Example #3: The Real Skinny (by Belinda Luscombe)
“And what do we the people say? Do we rise up and say, ‘I categorically refuse to buy any article of clothing unless the person promoting it weighs more than she did when she wore knee socks?’ Or at least, ‘Where do I send the check for the chicken nuggets?’ Actually, not so much. Mostly, our responses range from ‘I wonder if that would look good on me?’ to ‘I don’t know who that skinny-ass cow is, but I hate her already.’
Function of a Persuasive Essay
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What Are the Parts of a Persuasive Essay?
Every chess master was once a beginner. – Irving Chernev
For every argument, there will always be a counter-argument.
It sort of depends. Are you writing a short response (250-450 words)? Or are you writing a longer, multiple-paragraph paper (500 words or more)? Your answer to this question matters, and your your approach to each type of writing will be different.
However, for the sake of getting you some actionable advice that you can use right away, let’s go through the elements of a short persuasive response . I always preach a frame-writing approach to any essay which means that you should attack your writing in manageable frames or chunks.
In the example that follows, we’re taking a pretty typical persuasive essay topic and breaking it into a hook and a thesis statement (which, more or less, compose the essay’s introduction), a research detail , and interpretation followed a counterargument and some rebuttals (this is the body ) and a closer (conclusion) . If you wanted to break this approach into a formula, it would look like this:
Persuasive Essay = [ H + TS + RD + INT + CA + REB1 + REB2 + C ]
And if you include these parts in your persuasive essay, you’ll do well every time.
So now, let’s take a look at an actual example:
The prompt: .
In a concise, short-response essay (no more than 400 words), take a stand on whether or not you believe public schools should be allowed to require students to wear school uniforms.
The response
Part one: hook + thesis statement.
Hook: Recently, principal McGuire announced her intention to institute a school wide uniform policy at our school. Needless to say, the news has created quite a stir; much of it quite negative. I am with those who oppose this policy.
Thesis Statement: A mandatory dress code at school is quite simply a flagrant violation of young people’s’ civil rights.
- Background is provided in a short hook about principal McGuire. The thesis statement clearly states the essayist’s intentions.
Part Two: Research (proof) + Interpretation (analysis)
Research: Afterall, The First Amendment of our United States Constitution states that “Congress cannot pass laws abridging the freedom of speech.”
- The first research detail flows smoothly from the initial bridge and is short and sweet. It cites the first amendment of the Constitution beginning with the sentence starter* “states that”. The source is not cited because the existence of this document is considered common knowledge.
Interpretation: Our forefathers did not intend to have any American citizen’s right to reasonably express him or herself taken away by anybody at any time, no matter their age. This constitutional protection allows us to speak out against politicians who we disagree with. It allows us to write articles that might be controversial or even offensive to some. And it certainly extends to students who might want to wear some loose-fitting jeans or a punk-rock tee shirt. Expressing one’s style, politics or ideas with one’s choice of clothing is no different than doing so with words spoken aloud or written down on paper.
- At six sentences long, this interpretation is a healthy length. It focuses on other areas where freedom of expression is protected by the 1st amendment, then reasons that choice of clothing at school should be similarly protected. The somewhat animated tone befits a persuasive essay.
Part Three: Counterargument and Rebuttal / Your opposition gets his chance to fight back, and you, of course, return the favor.
Counterargument: Of course, there are those such as more conservative parents and school administrators who think that a school dress code is the key to maintaining law and order and a sense of discipline on campus. These critics of free dress may even cite studies demonstrating that schools that instill dress codes have fewer incidents of crime and graffiti.
- In a persuasive essay, always give some air time to the opposition. Like a tennis match, you sometimes have to let the other guy serve. In this case the opposition happens to be conservative parents and school administrators whose chief concern, of course, is law and order.
Rebuttal 1 and 2 (yes, you get two; it’s your essay): However, these small improvements do not make up for the great damaged caused by violating students’ basic civil rights. Hey, young man, give up a few of your rights and we’ll promise you a peaceful environment. It’s the wrong message to send young people. Besides, it isn’t the students’ responsibility to create law and order on campus. This is the responsibility of the teachers, administrators and, to some degree, parents. If a school can’t keep the peace when students are wearing their own choice of fashion, then perhaps the school itself should look more closely at its own policies and practices, and not at some kid’s sagging blue jeans or Yeezy tee shirt with holes in it.
- Rebuttal 1: The first part of the rebuttal strikes back by first mentioning that any gains caused by a dress code would be very modest, and even insignificant when compared to the damage done. In even suggests that such tactics might be a way of tricking kids.
- Rebuttal 2: Part 2 deflects the responsibility away from kids and back towards adults and schools themselves. Together these two rebuttals effectively take the argument back from the opposition and bring it back to the advantage of the essayist. It is done with respect and confidence.
Part 4: Closer / Let’s conclude
Closer: Undoubtedly, despite the opinions of some misguided critics, forcing students to wear school uniforms if they do not wish to is a crass violation of their basic constitutional rights.
- This closer gives mention to the counterargument with the phrase, “despite the opinions of some misguided critics”. The word “misguided” may be a bit strong, but it does make a point. Overall, this closer helps the response feel finished.
Now it’s your turn. Write using frames, and feel free to use this template to create your own persuasive essay.
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How to Write an Argumentative Essay- Steps with Examples
Being a student and writing essays is not something everybody enjoys, but in my personal opinion as a writer, anyone can find contentment and pleasure in writing, especially when it comes to argumentative essays. While they may seem tricky to navigate, they offer this unique opportunity to express your opinions and make your voice heard. Consider this a growing process—once you overcome the challenges of writing argumentative essays, you will learn the art of agreeing or disagreeing with popular opinions and defending your stance. As far as the essay is concerned, I will show you how to master this process on how to write an argumentative essay.
When is an Argumentative Essay Written?
You will likely be required to write argumentative essays throughout your academic life, from high school to university. These assignments will present opportunities to develop and showcase your critical thinking and persuasive writing skills. Here are some scenarios where you might encounter the need to write argumentative essays:
Academic Assignments
Often assigned in school or college courses to help students develop critical thinking and persuasive writing skills. These assignments encourage students to research thoroughly, form coherent arguments, and present their viewpoints convincingly.
Debates and Discussions
Serve as the basis for presenting and defending viewpoints in academic or competitive settings. Argumentative essays provide a structured way to organize thoughts and evidence, helping participants articulate their arguments effectively during debates.
Opinion Pieces
Commonly used in newspapers, magazines, and online publications to influence public opinion on current issues. These essays allow writers to present their stance on controversial topics, backed by evidence and reasoning, to sway readers' views.
Policy Proposals
Utilized in government and policy-related fields to propose and defend specific policy changes or solutions to societal problems. Argumentative essays in this context present well-researched arguments to persuade policymakers and stakeholders of the necessity and viability of the proposed changes.
Persuasive Speeches
Prepared as a foundation for delivering persuasive speeches. Writing an argumentative essay helps speakers organize their thoughts and evidence logically, providing a solid framework for their oral presentations.
What is the Structure of an Argumentative Essay?
An argumentative essay uses factual evidence and logical support to convince the reader of a particular point of view. Here's a breakdown of the structure and what goes into each part of an argumentative essay:
Basic Argumentative Essay Structure
1.Introduction
Purpose: Introduce the topic, present the thesis, and set up the argument.
Hook: A sentence to grab the reader’s attention.
Background Information: Brief context about the topic.
Thesis Statement: The main argument or claim.
2.Body Paragraphs
Purpose: Present arguments and evidence to support the thesis and refute opposing arguments.
Topic Sentence: Introduces the main idea of the paragraph.
Evidence and Analysis: Present facts, statistics, quotes, or examples to support the argument.
Counterarguments and Rebuttals: Address opposing views and explain why they are invalid or less significant.
3.Conclusion
Purpose: Summarize the arguments, restate the thesis in light of the evidence presented, and offer final thoughts.
Restate Thesis: Reiterate the main argument.
Summarize Key Points: Highlight the main points made in the body paragraphs.
Final Thought: A closing statement that underscores the importance of the topic
How to Write an Argumentative Essay [4 Steps with Examples]
As an experienced writer, I've come to understand the structure of argumentative essays quite well. But what I found truly challenging when I first started was nailing the right approach. Many beginners, myself included at one point, fall into traps like letting personal biases creep in or thinking that being argumentative means being aggressive. Trust me, that's not the case at all!
In this section, I'm going to lay out an effective approach on how to write an argumentative essay step by step for beginners. I'll break it down in a way that I wish someone had done for me when I was starting out. Plus, I'll share some insider tips on tools like WPS Office that I've come to rely on to streamline my writing process. So let's learn how to write an argumentative essay with a few examples.
1.Brainstorming
When I sit down to craft an argumentative essay, my first step is to engage in a comprehensive brainstorming session. This is your opportunity to let your creativity run wild and explore every angle of your topic. Write down every idea that comes to you, whether it supports or opposes your topic. Remember, at this stage, there are no bad ideas.
Now, while there's nothing wrong with the classic pen and paper approach, I've found that using WPS Office takes my brainstorming to a whole new level. It's not just about having a digital notepad; the AI features often toss out ideas that I might never have thought of on my own. It's like having a creative partner who never gets tired! Let me show you how I use it:
Let's say our topic is "Are Electric Cars Better for the Environment?"
Step 1: Open WPS Office and type "@AI" on a blank document to activate WPS AI.
Step 2: Click on the "Brainstorm" option and enter your prompt. Make sure it's detailed and clearly explains what you want. Here's an example of an effective prompt:
"Generate a list of arguments both for and against the idea that electric cars are better for the environment. Consider factors like emissions, manufacturing processes, battery disposal, and energy sources"
Step 3: WPS AI will generate several arguments on both sides. If you want more, simply click "Rewrite”.
Jot down any valuable arguments before hitting "Rewrite", as you might not see the same ones again.
With these arguments in hand, you'll likely find yourself leaning towards one side of the debate. Armed with a variety of points and counterpoints, you'll be well-equipped to write an effective argumentative essay. Remember, a strong argumentative essay is built on a foundation of thorough preparation and diverse ideas.
2.Preparing
Now that we've generated our initial arguments and counterarguments, it's time to dive deeper into research to strengthen our position. Let's continue with our example topic: "Are Electric Cars Better for the Environment?"
Let's continue with our example topic: "Are Electric Cars Better for the Environment?" Our next step is to select the most impactful supporting arguments and conduct in-depth research to substantiate them with solid evidence. Simultaneously, we'll identify the strongest counterarguments and explore ways to address or neutralize them through our research.
All of this might seem a little overwhelming, but with the help of WPS AI, the research phase becomes significantly more manageable. As we gather research papers, we can upload them to WPS Office and quickly gain insights using the AI features.
Here's how to leverage WPS AI for efficient research:
Step 1: Open your research paper PDFs in WPS Office, then click on the WPS AI widget in the top right corner.
Step 2: In the WPS AI panel that appears on the right side of your screen, click "Upload" to add your PDF.
Step 3: Once processed, WPS AI will provide you with key insights from the PDF at a glance.
Step 4: For more specific information, click on the "Inquiry" tab and use the WPS AI chatbot to ask further questions about the PDF contents.
As you conduct your research, begin organizing your findings into an outline. Remember to structure your outline according to the elements we discussed in previous sections. This will ensure your outline contains all the necessary components for an effective argumentative essay.
3.First Drafting
Now that we have our research and outline ready, it's time to start writing our first draft. This is where your essay really starts to take shape. Don't worry about perfection at this stage—the goal is to get your ideas down coherently.
Using the outline we prepared during our research, you'll find it easier to organize your thoughts for your essay. To make things simpler, use WPS Office editing tools. When I write my essay, I always ensure it is properly formatted, giving it a cleaner look and helping me focus better.
Now, simply start your draft on WPS Office with an introduction, followed by a body paragraph, and conclude with a strong summary that reviews your main points and leaves the reader with something to think about.
Once you have your draft ready, make use of WPS Office's AI features, which can help you improve writing, shorten or elongate your paragraphs, and much more. Let's say you've written your first body paragraph, and it's a bit too long. So, let's shorten it with WPS AI:
Step 1: Select the paragraph you want to shorten, then click on the WPS AI icon in the hover menu.
Step 2: From the list of options, simply click on "Make shorter" to shorten your paragraph.
Step 3: WPS AI will display the shorter version on a small screen. Click on "Replace" to replace the original text with the shorter version.
4.Revising & Proofreading
Congratulations on completing your first draft! However, there is one crucial step remaining: revising and proofreading. Revising and proofreading are where good essays become great essays.
A method I find most effective for revising my essay is reading it aloud. This technique helps in identifying awkward phrasing and run-on sentences that may go unnoticed when reading silently. As you read, ask yourself:
Does my introduction effectively grab the reader's attention and clearly state my thesis?
Do my body paragraphs each focus on a single main idea that supports my thesis?
Have I provided enough evidence to support each of my arguments?
Have I addressed potential counterarguments?
Does my conclusion effectively summarize my main points and leave a lasting impression?
You might find that you need to make some structural changes. For instance, you might realize that your second body paragraph would be more effective if it came first. Don't be afraid to move things around!
Once you have made the necessary changes to your essay, the next step is to ensure it does not have any grammatical errors. For this, I use WPS AI's spell check feature. With just a single click, WPS AI spell check ensures that my essay is complete and ready to be submitted!
Bonus Tips: How to Polish your argumentative Essay with WPS AI
WPS Office is already a premium choice among students, offering all the features needed to write a perfect essay. With WPS Office, students can write better without payment issues, annoying ads, or difficulty navigating the tools. It's a free tool with advanced features, including WPS AI, which supports the entire writing process.
1.Check for Grammar and Spelling:
WPS AI carefully scans your essay for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, ensuring that your writing is polished and professional. This feature not only helps you avoid common errors but also enhances the readability and credibility of your work.
2.Seek Style and Tone Adjustments:
WPS AI offers suggestions to improve the style and tone of your writing, making it more engaging and suitable for your target audience. Whether your essay requires a formal academic tone or a more conversational approach, WPS AI tailors its recommendations to fit your needs, ensuring your writing is coherent and compelling.
Here's an example of WPS AI's 'Improve Writing' feature in action, enhancing the formality and persuasiveness of my body paragraph for the reader.
3.Writing Assistance:
From the initial brainstorming phase to the final touches, WPS AI provides comprehensive writing assistance. It helps you structure your arguments logically, develop clear and concise thesis statements, and refine your conclusions. WPS AI also offers suggestions for enhancing clarity and coherence, making the writing process smoother and more efficient.
With the assistance of WPS AI's 'Continue Writing' feature, we can extend our essays by seamlessly incorporating additional sections that complement the existing content's flow and tone.
FAQs about Writing an Argumentative Essay
1. what’s the difference between an expository essay and an argumentative essay.
An argumentative essay is typically more extensive and requires independent research to establish a unique claim regarding a specific topic. It includes a thesis statement that presents a debatable assertion, which must be supported by objective evidence. In contrast, an expository essay strives for objectivity but does not propose an original argument. Instead, it aims to clarify and explain a topic straightforwardly, such as a process or concept. Generally, expository essays are shorter and do not rely as heavily on research.
2. When do I need to cite sources?
In a college environment, accurately citing sources is vital for essays, research papers, and other academic assignments, but this requirement does not extend to exams or in-class tasks. Proper citations are needed for direct quotes, paraphrased material, and summaries, and it is necessary to provide complete source information in a bibliography or reference list. Following the specified citation style, such as APA or MLA, is essential for maintaining academic integrity. Whenever you utilize information or ideas from another work in college-level writing, proper citation is required to acknowledge the original source.
3. What is an Argumentative essay?
An argumentative essay is a type of writing that asserts a specific stance on a debatable issue, backing it up with reasoning and evidence. The main objective is to convince the reader to accept or seriously consider the author's viewpoint. This essay usually contains a clear thesis statement and develops arguments while addressing opposing views to reinforce its position. Ultimately, it seeks to encourage critical engagement with the topic at hand.
Excel the Art of Persuasion With WPS Office
Argumentative essays are possibly the most thought-provoking when it comes to writing, presenting a higher difficulty level. Despite the challenge on how to write an argumentative essay, they are also the most fun to write, as they allow you to express your opinions in a highly opinionated form. WPS Office strives to enhance your writing experience, and as a writer, I can vouch for this. WPS Office not only offers advanced tools like WPS AI to help refine and improve your writing skills but also provides options to make your work as presentable as you want it to be. Download WPS Office today to experience the difference.
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COMMENTS
A persuasive essay aims to convince the reader of a particular viewpoint or argument by presenting logical and well-supported evidence. The key features of an effective persuasive essay include: Clear Thesis Statement: The essay should start with a clear and concise thesis statement that presents the main argument or position.
Persuasive essays are most closely related to argumentative essays, in that both discuss a serious issue with logical arguments and offer conclusive resolutions. The main difference between a persuasive essay and an argumentative essay is that persuasive essays focus more on personal experience and appeal to emotions, whereas argumentative ...
TIP 1: Be careful not to introduce a new argument in the conclusion—there's no time to develop it now that you've reached the end of your discussion! TIP 2: As with your thesis, avoid announcing your conclusion. Don't start your conclusion with "in conclusion" or "to conclude" or "to end my essay" type statements.
The first step in writing a persuasive essay is choosing a topic and picking a side. If the topic is something you believe in, it will make the entire experience of researching, writing, and arguing your perspective more personal. Choosing a topic that appeals to you on an emotional or sentimental level will make its defense easier.
There are several components of a persuasive essay that are not often seen in other types of essays. The first major component of a persuasive essay is the position, which is the belief of the ...
The thesis should. 1. be a complete sentence, 2. identify the topic, and. 3. make a specific claim about that topic. In a persuasive paper, the thesis is a claim that someone should believe or do something. For example, a persuasive thesis might assert that something is effective or ineffective.
Writing a Persuasive Essay. View in PDF Format. Structure and organization are integral components of an effective persuasive essay. No matter how intelligent the ideas, a paper lacking a strong introduction, well-organized body paragraphs and an insightful conclusion is not an effective paper.
The 5 Must-Have Steps of a Persuasive Essay. If you're intimidated by the idea of writing an argument, use this list to break your process into manageable chunks. Tackle researching and writing one element at a time, and then revise your essay so that it flows smoothly and coherently with every component in the optimal place. 1. A topic or ...
Here are the steps you need to take: Step 1: Create a Compelling Introduction. You want to hook your readers with a great opening for your persuasive essay, so they'll want to keep reading. Here are 3 tips for writing an attention-grabbing introduction for your next essay. Use a strong hook statement.
The last time you wrote a persuasive essay may have been in high school or college, but the skill of writing a strong persuasive argument is always a useful one to have. Persuasive writing begins with a writer forming their own opinion on a topic, which they then attempt to convince their reader of this opinion by walking them through a number of logical and ethical arguments.
The Purpose of Persuasive Writing. The purpose of persuasion in writing is to convince, motivate, or move readers toward a certain point of view, or opinion. The act of trying to persuade automatically implies more than one opinion on the subject can be argued. The idea of an argument often conjures up images of two people yelling and screaming ...
Sample Persuasive Essay. In this student paper, the student makes a persuasive case for the value of technical high schools in Georgia. ... Also note how the outline gives a structure to the paper that helps lead the reader step-by-step through the components of the argument. Student Outline. Elizabeth Lamoureux. Dr. Cox. English 1101 Honors ...
How to Write a Persuasive Essay: The Main Components. 1. Introduction: Capturing Attention and Stating the Thesis. The introduction serves as the gateway to your persuasive essay. Begin by grabbing the reader's attention with a compelling hook—an anecdote, a surprising fact, or a thought-provoking question.
In a persuasive essay, the writer's point of view should be clearly expressed at the beginning of each paragraph in the topic sentence, which should contain the main idea of the paragraph and the writer's controlling idea. 10.2: The Structure of a Persuasive Essay is shared under a license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by ...
Three Components of a Persuasive Essay. A professional persuasive essay consists of three main elements: ethos, pathos, and logos. They were introduced by Aristotle and are known as modes of persuasion. These essential persuasion constituents will help you build an engaging and effective persuasive essay that influences readers' opinions.
The term "persuasive" is an adjective derived from verb "persuade," which means "to convince somebody.". A persuasive essay is full of all the convincing techniques a writer can employ. It presents a situation, and takes a stand - either in its favor, or against it - to prove to readers whether it is beneficial or harmful for them.
The Purpose of Persuasive Writing. The purpose of persuasion in writing is to convince, motivate, or move readers toward a certain point of view, or opinion. The act of trying to persuade automatically implies that more than one opinion on the subject can be argued. The idea of an argument often conjures up images of two people yelling and ...
Know the purpose of your essay. 2. Analyze your audience. Decide if your audience agrees with you, is neutral, or disagrees with your position. 3. Research your topic. A persuasive essay must provide specific and convincing evidence. Often it is necessary to go beyond your own knowledge and experience.
Structure and organization are integral components of an effective persuasive essay. No matter how intelligent the ideas, a paper lacking a strong introduction, well-organized body paragraphs and an insightful conclusion is not an effective paper. The Introduction. Simply enough, the introductory paragraph introduces the argument of your paper.
Rebuttal 1: The first part of the rebuttal strikes back by first mentioning that any gains caused by a dress code would be very modest, and even insignificant when compared to the damage done. In even suggests that such tactics might be a way of tricking kids. Rebuttal 2: Part 2 deflects the responsibility away from kids and back towards adults ...
The persuasive essay begins with an engaging introduction that presents the general topic. The thesis typically appears toward the end of the introduction and states the writer's point of view. tip. Avoid forming a thesis based on a negative claim. For example, "The hourly minimum wage is not high enough for the average worker to live on."
A persuasive essay is a writing piece focused on persuading the readers to believe that the author's argument is correct. Learn more about the persuasive essay, its goals, components, ways to put ...
persuasive; it needs to be the right kind of evidence to support the thesis (with no obvious pieces of evidence overlooked); it needs to be sufficiently concrete for the reader to trust it (e.g. in textual analysis, it often helps to find one or two key or representative passages to quote and focus on); and if summarized, it needs to be
The purpose of persuasion in writing is to convince or move readers toward a certain point of view, or opinion. An argument is a reasoned opinion supported and explained by evidence. To argue, in writing, is to advance knowledge and ideas in a positive way. A thesis that expresses the opinion of the writer in more specific terms is better than ...
Utilized in government and policy-related fields to propose and defend specific policy changes or solutions to societal problems. Argumentative essays in this context present well-researched arguments to persuade policymakers and stakeholders of the necessity and viability of the proposed changes. Persuasive Speeches