How to Write a Persuasive Essay

Read the topic carefully. Often you will be assigned a specific topic to write a persuasive essay. It is important that you read the requirements of the assignment carefully and thoroughly.

• Look for cue words that indicate whether you need to write a simple persuasive essay or an argumentative essay. For example, if there are words like “personal experience” or “personal observation” in the text, you will know that you can use that to support your argument. ^[1]
• On the other hand, words like “defend” or “reflect” imply that you should write argumentative essays, which often require objective and less personal evidence.
• If you are not sure what to write, ask your instructor.

Spend a lot of time writing. If possible, take the time to draft something that interests you. An essay written in a hurry can hardly convince anyone. Give yourself time to brainstorm, write, and edit your essay.

• Try to get to work as soon as possible. That way, if something unexpected happens like a computer failure, you still have enough time to complete the essay.

Consider the rhetorical situation. Every article has its rhetorical situation, consisting of five basic elements: the text (here, your essay), the author (you), the audience, the purpose of the message, and the context. . ^[2]

• Try applying equilibrium theory to a rhetorical situation. Accordingly, you will look at the facts, definition (meaning or nature of the problem), quality (problem importance) and resolution (problem action plan).
• To look at events, try asking: What happened? What events are known to everyone? How did this problem start? What can one do to change the situation?
• As for the definition, ask: What is the essence of this problem? What kind of problem is this? Which category or category would this issue be most relevant to?
• When looking at quality, ask: Who does this issue affect? How serious is it? What can happen if it is not resolved?
• To consider a workaround, you should ask yourself: Should someone take action? Who needs to act and what should they do?

Consider the reader. There are arguments that convince one person but not another. For that reason, it is important that you think about the audience your essay is aimed at. Obviously your teacher will be your main audience, but you should also think about who your essay is going to convince. ^[3]

• For example, when protesting unhealthy school lunches, you can take very different approaches, depending on who you want to convince. If targeting school administrators, you should raise the issue of how student receptivity is related to healthy food. If you are targeting parents of students, you can mention the health of their children and the cost of treating illnesses caused by inappropriate eating. And if you want to “launch a movement” among students, you can make an appeal based on your personal opinion.

Choose a topic that interests you. Because persuasive essays are primarily about emotions, you should choose to write about something on which you have a solid point of view. Choose a topic that resonates with you and can be argued convincingly.

Find a topic with depth or complexity. You may have an endless passion for pizza, but writing an interesting essay about it is not easy. A topic that interests you but has more depth – such as animal cruelty or government spending policy – will be the subject of more compelling content.

Consider opposing points of view when thinking about the essay. If you think it’s hard to find counter-arguments for your chosen topic, your opinion probably isn’t controversial enough to make a convincing essay. Conversely, if there are too many sharp arguments against your opinion, you may have chosen a subject that is easily rebutted.

Make sure your essay has a strong stand. A well-written persuasive essay will weigh the objections and make the reader see that yours is more reasonable. Choose a topic for which you have prepared your objections. (As a result, topics such as religion are often not a good idea for a persuasive essay, as you will hardly be able to convince people to renounce their religious beliefs.)

Focus limit. Usually, your essay will be relatively short; It can be 5 paragraphs or several pages, but you need to narrow your focus to get the most out of the topic. For example, an essay intended to convince the reader that war is wrong is unlikely to succeed because the subject matter is so large. If you pick up a smaller aspect of that topic – for example, “drone strikes are wrong” – you will have more time to delve into the evidence.

Write a thesis statement. A thesis statement is a statement that presents your opinion or argument in clear language, usually at the end of the opening paragraph. With a persuasive essay, it’s crucial that you state your thesis in clear, easy-to-understand writing that lets the reader know exactly what your essay is about. ^[4]

• The thesis statement will also introduce the layout of the essay. Do not list ideas in this order but then present them in another order.
• For example, a thesis statement might look like this: Prepared foods are cheap but not good for students. It is important for schools to provide hot and healthy meals, even if the cost is higher. School lunches can make a huge difference to a student’s life, and the lack of healthy meals can be detrimental to them.”
• Note that this thesis statement is not a three-part thesis. You don’t have to state every sub-point to include in your essay (unless you’re asked or given to do so). You need to convey exactly what you are going to argue about.

Look for evidence. Once you have chosen a topic, you need to prepare carefully before writing the essay. This means you need to think about why you hold that position and select the most convincing evidence. This is also the time when you should look for counter-arguments that can refute your point of view.

• A mind map can help you in this step. Let’s start with the central subject and draw a box around it. Next is to arrange other ideas in smaller bubbles around. Connect the bubbles to complete the diagram and identify relationships between ideas. ^[5]
• You don’t have to implement the whole idea in this step yet. The most important thing here is to come up with ideas.

Research if necessary. Once you’ve connected ideas, you may find that some ideas require research to solidify them. Do this before writing your essay to smooth out the writing process.

• For example, in your persuasion essay about healthy school lunches, you might suggest that fresh and natural foods taste better. This is a personal opinion and no proof is required. However, if you want to argue that raw foods have more vitamins and nutrients than processed foods, you will need to cite a reliable source to support that argument.
• If you go to the library, ask the librarian there! They are an extremely helpful resource to help you find reputable materials.