How to Write a Persuasive Essay?

What Is a Persuasive Essay?

Everyone knows that annoying commercial on the radio or TV show explaining why their product is the best and why the competitors’ product is inferior. But what purpose do those commercials serve besides being annoying? Their aim is quite simple. They are trying to persuade people to purchase their product. To persuade is to get someone to do something or think something using arguments and reasoning.

A persuasive essay is a written essay that attempts to get the reader to do or think something. The essay acts in the same way that the commercial does. It gives reasons and examples why someone should do something or think something.

Persuasive essays contain the same basic structure as informative and expository essays do. The following table shows the construction of a persuasive essay.

Persuasive Essay Examples

There are lots of persuasive paper examples and many persuasive arguments. It’s important to remember that there is a clear difference between expository writing and persuasive writing. Expository writing presents information using a thesis, but the author remains unbiased. In a persuasive essay, the author attempts to convince the reader to take a side or take action. The following are some examples of common persuasive essay topics.

• Should schools allow girls to play on boys’ teams?
• Should the government mandate that people get vaccines?
• Is abortion murder?
• Should the death penalty still be used?
• Should a parent be charged with a crime if they fail to get medical help for their sick child?
• Is health care a human right or a privilege?
• Should politicians be allowed to make false statements without punishment?

The following is an example of a persuasive essay introduction about screen time and children’s learning.

So, your child has been in front of a screen for eight hours! (1) Is it time to panic? (2) Many people think it’s important to monitor and enforce children’s time in front of a screen. (3) While kids shouldn’t spend too much time consuming mindless media, there are times when screen time simply doesn’t matter. (4) First off, calculating screen time as a fixed number can cause kids to ditch good content for bad. (5) Secondly, there are several instances where being in front of a screen shouldn’t count as screen time. 

How to Write a Persuasive Essay

Writing a persuasive essay can be done step by step methodically to get the best results. Persuasion is an art, but it also follows specific rules and structure. The following steps will help build the skeleton of a good persuasive essay.

1. Choose the topic – Pick a topic that has good arguments.
2. Research the topic – Find good sources and information so that the arguments are valid and strong.
3. Write the title – A well-written title can begin to get the reader in the right frame of mind. It’s important not to reveal too much, or a reader may choose not to read at all.
4. Hook – The hook is where you get the reader interested in the essay.
5. Outline the points – This is arguably the most important step. Many persuasive topics have tons of points that could be argued, so it’s essential to pick the right arguments to use. It’s important to note that if the goal is to persuade the reader to do something that doesn’t benefit them directly, the writer should include one argument for why it could be suitable for the reader.
6. Write the Body – It’s always easier to write a concise, persuasive essay by first writing the body and the arguments.
7. Write the introduction and concluding paragraphs
8. Devil’s advocate – When an essay is done, it’s still important to make sure the arguments hold up.
9. Revise and edit the essay – Make sure punctuation, spelling, and grammar are all good to go.

How to Start a Persuasive Essay

You can’t persuade if you don’t have a good topic, so choosing a great topic is so important.

Depending on the audience and the writer, the more controversial and polarizing a topic, the better the persuasion can be. The following are some tips about picking good topics for a persuasive essay.

• Don’t pick a topic that most people already agree on – For example, Dogfighting is a Bad Sport is something almost everyone agrees on, so most people don’t need to be convinced.
• Sometimes, the best topics are the ones that have two opposing sides. A topic with two opposite sides is easier to tackle than one with multiple viewpoints.
• Know the audience – Topic choices vary depending on the intended audience and the essay’s author. Topics like abortion and religion are volatile and should transpire when the audience is appropriate.
• Be passionate – If the topic choice is the writer’s, then the writer should have a passion for the argument they are presenting. It also helps if the topic is familiar.

Once the topic is chosen, it’s vital to lay out the argument points before diving into research. If the topic is significant, like climate change, the research will be easier once the main arguments are written. Once the main points are somewhat set, it gives an easier path to finding sources.

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