Admin by Admin

how to write a persuasive essay
A persuasive essay is a form of academic writing that is built around a central argument. These essays are sometimes called argumentative essays because of this. In this category of composition, the writer aims to persuade the reader to accept his or her point of view through logic, references to research, and by appealing to emotions.

Woman shrugging
JOIN OUR LEARNING HUB
 
✅ AI Essay Writer ✅ AI Detector ✅ Plagchecker ✅ Paraphraser
✅ Summarizer ✅ Citation Generator

Steps for Writing a Persuasive Essay

  1. Decide on the issue you will discuss. It needs to be a topic you have a solid opinion on, and also a topic people can disagree about.
  2. Research the issue to be aware of how to best prove your point. Consider what your possible opponents can object to each point you make.
  3. Make an outline, listing your strongest arguments that will help you prove your point. Look for statistics, factual data, and quotes of famous people to support your arguments.
  4. Write an introduction, stating how debated the issue is and why it is important to reach consensus on the matter. Finish the introduction with a thesis statement, indicating your personal position on the discussed subject.
  5. Argue your point, introducing a new reason or fact in every paragraph. There should be no less than three strong arguments to support your point of view.
  6. Make a conclusion. Here you may express your understanding as to why the matter is so difficult to agree on, but conclude that the position you support is the best possible (or most likely to be true) point of view based on the evidence you provided earlier in the essay.
  7. Thoroughly proofread and edit your essay.

Persuasive Essay Topics

There are limitless opportunities for great topics, since there are many debated issues you can discuss in your persuasive essay. Here are a few examples of topics for your argumentative essay:

  • Should students be allowed to have phones in elementary and high schools?
  • Should students have to wear uniforms?
  • Should college athletes be paid for playing?
  • Should the elderly receive free bus rides?
  • Should state colleges be free to attend?
  • Should all American citizens have to complete a year of community service?
  • Should students be required to take Spanish classes?
  • Should marijuana be legal for medicinal purposes?
  • Should the voting age be lowered to thirteen?
  • Should the driving age be raised to twenty-one?
  • Is a boarding school a reasonable idea for your child?
  • Should there be a division between male and female sports?
  • The death penalty should be abolished in the USA.
  • People should not be allowed to keep guns at home.
  • It is inappropriate to let a gay couple adopt a child of the same gender.
  • The only difference between organic and non-organic food is its cost.
  • If we want to stop the global warming process, we need to stop driving cars.
  • Is wearing school uniforms a sound idea?
  • Children should not be allowed to play computer games.
  • Introducing cell phones to children under the age of fifteen is an imprudent idea.
  • Should all children under the age of 18 have a 10pm curfew?
  • Does the majority of the world population overuse computers?

Key Points to Consider

  1. There are various persuasion techniques that have been proven to be the most effective in an argumentative essay. Three basic persuasion techniques are: appealing to emotions, appealing to facts and evidence, and appealing to logic. Try to combine and mix them to make a stronger point.
  2. Build your argument based on your audience and its qualities. Think of whom you are appealing to, envision your audience’s main characteristics, and build your arguments based on what your audience most values.
  3. An approach to persuasion is when a writer is aware of the point of view of an opposing side, and then argues about its weaknesses. Use parenthetical clauses like however, nevertheless, despite the fact that, on the other hand, and so on to link the two opposing points together.
  4. Combine the main points with minor points that also contribute to the general idea. Start each paragraph with its major point, then go on to explain it, and introduce a minor point closer to the end of the paragraph to support your initial major point.
  5. Using rhetorical questions and appealing to common truths is a sound way to make a point.

Do and Don’t

Do

  • Do prove your points with factual data. Stating something without a factual basis is considered a weak point, so a successful essay should have statistics and quotes that serve as supporting evidence.
  • Do be certain about your position.
  • Do appeal to the emotions of your readers. This can have more of an effect than raw facts.
  • Do make sure to review the points of both sides of the argument before you start making your outline.
  • Do remain tolerant of other people’s opinions, even if you strongly disagree with them.
Don’t

  • Don’t be too flat and determined in trying to prove your point, ignoring counter arguments. Recognizing the fact that a lot of people might not agree with you does not mean that you should expose your argument’s weak side.
  • Don’t choose a topic that you are hesitant about which side to take. You should be solid and steady in what you are trying to prove, otherwise it will be almost impossible to persuade your reader.
  • Don’t try to introduce another argument in the conclusion. The conclusion should be about summarizing and reiterating why your main message is important.
  • Don’t appeal to subjective personal or religious beliefs—this is crossing the line. Try to remain objective and focus on facts.

Common Mistakes When Writing a Persuasive Essay

– Building a whole essay on disproving your opponents’ arguments. You need to introduce your own points as well in order to show an alternative perspective.

– Becoming too aggressive while trying to prove your point only shows weakness. A persuasive essay should be thoroughly based on cold-hearted arguments, even though it may appeal to emotions as well.

– Changing your mind as you develop your arguments. This is why you need to get acquainted with both sides of the issue you are planning to discuss.

– Overloading your essay with facts and arguments without a clear structure or a general, logical idea. This is why you need to make a plan or an outline for your persuasive essay before you start writing it.

Now that you have acquainted yourself with the basic persuasive essay writing tips and rules, you can check out our persuasive and argumentative essay samples to link theory with practice.

Opt out or Contact us anytime. See our Privacy Notice

Follow us on Reddit for more insights and updates.

Comments (0)

Welcome to A*Help comments!

We’re all about debate and discussion at A*Help.

We value the diverse opinions of users, so you may find points of view that you don’t agree with. And that’s cool. However, there are certain things we’re not OK with: attempts to manipulate our data in any way, for example, or the posting of discriminative, offensive, hateful, or disparaging material.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Samples for Writing a Persuasive Essay

A Note Against Transhumanism Essay Sample, Example

By the first quarter of the 21st century, humankind’s evolution has reached its peak; at least this is true for the human brain, as some neuroscientists claim (io9). This means the shape of our bodies, as well as the functions of our organs, and our ment...

Why Students Should Not Wear Uniforms Essay Sample, Example

School uniforms and why students wear them has been a topic of concern and debate for as long as these clothes have been around. Though people who argue that wearing uniforms in educational institutions make people appear all equal...

Login

Register | Lost your password?