If you are not fond of formality in essays, a persuasive essay is something you are going to like. This writing assignment will make your reader take your position into account. A persuasive essay presupposes that you use different techniques to prove your arguments. There is no place for cold facts or statistics in this essay type.
Persuasive essays are somehow similar to argumentative essays. In both, you need to protect and prove your point by presenting some piece of supporting material. Yet, an argumentative essay is more academic, full of numbers and facts. As for the persuasive essay, you must convince the readers using your personal beliefs. Your words substitute the facts when you are preparing the paper.
Persuasive writing types
There are three persuasive writing types. These are the appeals to reason, emotion, and also character. You may better know these as Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. See below what every appeal means:
Logos — an appeal to reason
The part where you introduce an appeal to logos presents cold facts and weighty proof to make a reader take your side. All the arguments you are presenting in this part should have a strong backup. You may use various means here, starting from graphics and substantial numbers and up to charts. People believe statistical data as these are the results of some research you should do.
Pathos — an appeal to emotion
Pathos is about sharing your personal beliefs and positions based on how you perceive the subject matter. Considering that it is easier for most readers to sentimentalize, pathos is the most accessible type of persuasive essay. Often, students use pathos for such topics that presuppose human morals.
To better understand how it works, think about the following examples:
donation for homeless people and animals;
bureaucratism at the workplace;
death punishment ambiguousness, etc.
Ethos — appeal to character
The appeal to character presupposes some elements of personal and argumentative essays. For such an article, you should show a specific personality as a character who has certain traits and virtues to reach readers’ attention. The idea is to describe the character using available information so that your readers can judge if he or she is worth believing or not.
Writing techniques to master your essay
Students can choose among several writing techniques while working on their persuasive essay. Following a specific model, it is easier to maintain the structure of your work. The following methods will come in handy for diverse writing tasks as well. Here are some of these:
Storytelling
Stories are more effective when you want to communicate a specific message. The thing is that stories are exciting, and you can hold the readers’ attention longer by telling something coherent and compelling. A short story within the text can entertain readers and relax them. The idea is to find the right place where you can settle a piece of a story.
Repetition
Repetition is powerful. When you have a central point, you would like to remind about it from time to time — this is what people call repetition. Think about the way commercials work: you see some annoying commercial every day several times. Eventually, you will likely want that new peanut butter chocolate bar, even though you are not into sweet stuff that much. By repeating some points, you have more chances to convince the reader of what you believe.
A call to action
As you can, there are two parallels with advertising already. A call to action is a technique that you may notice on the TV or in magazines. Talking about a written assignment, a call to action is placed in the final sentences of the text. Writers use it to ask a reader to take measures, do something regarding the subject matter. For instance, you write about waste sorting, then the call to action will invite readers to separate their garbage starting from this moment.
Dealing with dissent
It is easy to ignore whatever does not correspond to your position and world perception. In your essay, however, you should take into consideration every opinion. Moreover, the paper must be honest regarding the existing arguments even if you cannot stand these. Your task is to make sure that you have enough evidence to blind any opposing view.
The art of convincing can help you to gain over any reader. Knowing your audience, it is easier to decide what technique to use and what appeal can be the most effective.
Persuasive Essay Examples
Persuasive Essay on Positive Thinking
Persuasive Communication
Persuasive essay against smoking for teens
Writing steps for your persuasive essay
While there are more than five steps, for sure, the following points you will see are generalized and comprise the most critical moments you need to cover. These are the steps with hints to make the writing process less challenging:
Prewriting tips and tricks for your essay
First of all, these are not the magical tips that will give you a definitive text. However, if used wisely, these will make the whole process much more manageable. Note that the start is essential: if you do it right, you will see how easy it can be to complete your persuasive writing. Here are some points to consider:
Decide on your position. Define several aspects you care about. Now filter them based on their current importance. Also, decide on your stand that you will defend in the paper.
Who are your readers? Think about your audience and whether you and your reader have the same views on the subject matter.
Carry out your research. As you understand, persuasive essays rely greatly on facts and solid evidence. For that reason, you cannot underrate the stage when you need to find some reliable material. There should be several reputable sources. If needed and you have an opportunity, you can even consult with specialists. Additionally, do not forget about the counterargument, as you must be aware of different angles of the issue.
Pick the most compelling evidence. You will need several undeniable pieces of evidence.
Organize your essay using the outline
The structural correctness will ensure the cohesiveness of your text. You may try to work without the outline; however, it is a failure, apriori. Thus, save your time and create a plan. Using a structure, you will highlight the texts’ parts, note the arguments, and attach the proof to every claim you make.
There should be no less than six paragraphs in your essay. Here is an approximate outline for you to get the idea:
The introduction. Use a hook to captivate the readers’ attention from the beginning; present a short overview of your issue, and close the paragraph with a solid thesis statement. Your thesis will explain your position.
Main body. The body paragraphs have a similar structure: there must be a claim per each paragraph, explanation, and sufficient proof from a reliable source.
A paragraph with an opposing view. The section with a counterargument is a part of the main body. Here, you should describe the major points of the opposite view and refute these.
Conclusion. The final paragraph will sum up everything you mention in the body part and correlate the arguments with a paraphrased thesis statement.
Think about Statement
Arguable thesis means that it can be argued. It must either state or refute an argument about your topic.To be debateable, a thesis must have some possibility of being true.However, the thesis should not be universally accepted as true. Instead, it should be something that people can disagree with.A thesis can be both an observation or an opinion.
observation + opinion (the "why") = thesis
Seeing if your thesis creates a powerful antithesis is an excellent approach to determine how strong it is.
Common thesis pitfalls:
A thesis in the form of a fragment.
A thesis that is overly broad.
A thesis that is phrased as a question. (The thesis is usually derived from the solution to the question.)
Extraneous information is included in a thesis.
A thesis that begins with the words "I believe" or "In my opinion."
The draft
Your draft is a raw version of the essay. Here are some moments to consider while writing it:
The hook should fit into the topic. You can ask a rhetorical question, provide a famous quote of a respected figure, etc.
The thesis statement should give a clear understanding of your position.
One paragraph of the main body cannot have two claims — only one argument per paragraph. As for evidence, there must be convincing facts; you can add some personal experiences here as well.
Consider mixing the techniques if it seems to be appropriate for the topic.
If there are some terms in your work, explain these. You cannot know whether your audience is aware of their meaning. You have been working for a while with the sources and understand them, but your readers may not.
Note that revisions are essential at the stage of a draft. Here are the things to do when revising your draft:
Do you use the words and facts that present your firm position? Do you have enough trustworthy evidence?
What about your hook? Can it make a reader want to go on reading?
Are the body paragraphs following the structural requirements?
Do you refute the opposing claims effectively?
Does the conclusion include all your arguments and restate the thesis statement.
If you see that something is missing or some parts require changes, it is high time to fix your draft.
Editing the essay
After you have fixed your essay’s structural moments and revised the content, you can proceed with the revision. The spelling, sentence construction, grammar, and punctuation — are the things to check by default. You should pay attention to the author’s voice and style in general, see whether vocabulary corresponds to the subject matter.
The final version of your essay
The most enjoyable part of the entire journey is when you, finally, can write the variant of your essay that will reach the reader. At this point, you can reread the work to experience how it sounds. Do not forget to keep the notes you used within the process and ask for extended feedback if it was the first time when you wrote this type of essay.
List of Persuasive Essay Topics
Should soda be offered in school cafeterias?
Should schools teach abstinence-only education?
Why should schools teach financial literacy?
Do all students need to go to college?
Should students take a gap year after high school?
Do all students need to learn a foreign language?
Is online or homeschool an effective way to learn?
Should standardized tests determine whether or not you go on to another grade level?
Should all students be required to participate in the arts?
Should a college education be free?
Is it better to have year-round school with shorter breaks throughout the year?
Should class rank be abolished in schools?
Should students be taught sex education in school?
Should students be able to attend public universities for free?
What’s the most effective way to change the behavior of school bullies?
Are the SAT and ACT accurate ways to measure intelligence?
Should students be able to learn sign language instead of a foreign language?
Do the benefits of Greek life at colleges outweigh the negatives?
Should students be allowed to have phones at school?
What’s the most interesting subject to learn?
Should homework be required?
Does your school handle bullying well?
Are dress codes a good idea for schools?
Is the school day too long?
Should students get to choose what they study?
What school rule would you change?
Is it a good idea for friends to sit together in class?
Euthanasia should be illegal
Exotic pets are a significant danger to their owners
Today I am going to inform you about the bad aspects of testing of nuclear weapons. To begin with, nuclear weapons represent humankind's ultimate confrontation with the natural environment that sustains us. The purpose of these weapons is wholesale destruction on a massive scale, which affects most forms of life. No other single human creation has such potential for harm! It must be forefended without losing any time! The threat to life posed by nuclear weapons that the International Court…...
In Mock Trial in order to win the round each team must be persuasive. For us, who are the attorney's for the case we must use persuasive techniques in order to win the argument and ultimately win the round. The most effective technique that we use is to be clear and make a sound argument. The argument has to have no holes in it because if it does have holes in the case than it would be torn down by…...
A few years ago I was in India during Christmas. I was there along with my two cousins and a common friend. Since it was our first visit to this country, we had made elaborate plans to capture as much as we could as far as the tourist destinations were concerned. All the major bookings, which included our stay in hotels and the tickets of our different flights and trains, in order to move from one place to another within…...
MotivationPersuasion
Save Time On Research and
Writing
Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper.
Imagine a world where anyone, even the curably ill or depressed, is easily assisted in suicide. Where someone else decides when you’re life is no longer worth living. Where it is a societal expectation to die rather than receive long-term care. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the world that awaits us if we legalise euthanasia. Euthanasia, or assisted suicide, is defined as the practice or act of ending the life of a terminally ill person, usually by lethal injection. Though…...
What associations do you have with the phrase Academic Persuasive Research? Some students imagine the complicated task that cannot be done by themselves. Other high school students haven’t heard about this type of paper that is why they cannot make any assumptions. If you belong to one of these two groups, join us and find out more about writing a persuasive essay and top persuasive topics. Let’s get started. Common knowledge is that before speaking about the possible issues that…...
To an audience of people who have different views on hunting. For the purpose of sharing: Both sides of why hunting should be allowed and not allowed. Introduction Save the animals or eat them? We dont want to eat bugs bunny. But we want to eat cows and chickens raised on farms. Do we see animals as prizes? do we see them as uses such as clothes, jewlery, and other accessories? Or do we see them as just beautiful part…...
Attention-getter: Whenever I look out from my window at home, nothing but memories come back to me. The house three doors down was the unsuspecting target of the foul balls we would hit when we use to play home run derby. Or my basketball hoop which held many world championships between me being the bulls and my friends being that year’s runner up. In the park across the street, I ended up blackmailing my neighbor, who was a few years…...
Homework has actually been a normal part of the everyday academic activities of trainees across several knowing organizations. It is not a concealed reality that a good deal of examining the found out abilities and knowledge of students are assessed through homework. Thus, it is of utmost significance for both teachers and trainees alike to treat research not only with a substantial length of time and attention but also with a certain amount of vital thinking. But although there are…...
For various reasons I believe that energy drinks should have an age limit on them. Some people may disagree with me for they think that they are just a strong caffeine drink that will keep them awake during the day. However, I believe that energy drinks can cause very bad behavior. Also, they can cause not only bad behavior, but they can be a lead to a big risk to the consumer’s health and safety. Finally, the most important reason…...
INTRODUCTION I. We’ve all have probably had an energy drink at some point II. CNN Study shows 50% students, drink one to four a month III. Many don’t pay attention or know short and long term effects IV. The concept of downing energy drinks among college students V. Thesis: Today I am here to persuade you to not drink energy drinks VI. Overview Problems ED pose, The cause of those problems, and solutions VII. Transition: Now lets take a look…...
Introduction A child and his mother are driving home from picking the son up from a school event in their local area. A drunken driver crosses the line, entering into the mother’s lane head on. The driver and mother survive but the child dies on scene. This is your wife and son. The drunken driver had two beers; just enough to impair his vision and slow down his motor skills. Should alcohol, a form of drug, be legal like it…...
Imagine a day when you will no longer be able to drive your vehicle to work or anywhere you would like to go. This could be a possible outcome due to the fact that over the years, thousands of cars have been manufactured and most of them run and depend on fossil fuels. Today these fossil fuels are potentially in danger of running out due to the use of them in the vehicles we travel in every day. Currently cars…...
While in high school classes all day, teachers talk about the same math, science, and numerous other subjects, but they always seem to either through sex education or not talk about it at all. Sex education should be taken a step further in high school today. Many teenagers are no aware nor are they educated about sex. Sex education should be a part of more high school curriculum. While in high school sex education is not really a big topic,…...
Who is John Proctor? Is he is a hero, a villain, a conqueror? Some may think he is craven, but others may credit him with great fortitude. This brave man was one of many who died for what he believed in. Although many people tried to persuade him to do otherwise, he stood his ground and died an innocent man. John had many reasons for choosing what he did. At first he was going to confess to save his life…...
Senior residents need to be under strict retesting in order to keep driving benefits. In the United States individuals over the age of 65 are thought about to fall under the classification of seniors as this is accepted as the basic retirement age. Lots of instances of senior resident included accidents arised from increased confusion, slower response times, reduced peripheral vision, minimized motor skills and slower cognizance of harmful situations. A recorded number of events have led to death as…...
Senior Citizens And Their ProblemsTrafficTransport
Advertising plays an important role in our diverse, media-saturated world. It surrounds our everyday lives. It is in everything we do, whether we are looking for a number in the phone directory, taking a ride down a road, or watching TV. According to Jamie Beckett’s article in San Francisco Chronicle, “The average U. S. adult is bombarded by 255 advertisements every day--100 on TV, 60 in magazines, 50 on the radio, and 45 in newspapers” (Beckett). More recently, Advertising Age…...
Rhetoric is the usage of words to persuade when writing or speaking. This was frequently used in William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Julius Caesar”, specifically in act 1 scene 2 by Cassius. By using his powers of manipulation with argumentation and persuasion, Cassius then tries to convince Brutus, a fellow Roman, to join in the conspiracy against Julius Caesar. Doing so, Cassius uses the rhetorical forms of pathos, logos, and the usage of rhetorical questions. One of the techniques used by Cassius…...
I. “If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.” These are wise words spoken by Benjamin Franklin, whom we all know for his roles in American History as a writer, scientist and politician. II. In this quote, Benjamin Franklin speaks of how to persuade. But why would it be important to know how to persuade? III. I always have to ask my child to pick up his toys after he done playing with them and my…...
Should children be given sex education in schools, or should this be the responsibility of the parents? Thesis Statement: Sex, as serious and important to discuss, is still a very uncomfortable topic for teenagers to discuss; this speech will persuade the audience that sometimes, some things are best discussed at the comfort of a child’s home rather than the company of others. Sex is an important part of life. Whether or not we choose to go for it right away…...
I.Attention-getter: “School ownership is our goal.” Who on earth would want to have full control over a school and its students? The military would and that quote comes directly from United States Army Recruiting Program Handbook. II.Relevance: As I speak, the military is thinking of ways to stop you from getting your degree and they’re trying to prevent your younger siblings and friends from even starting. III.Ethos: After seeing a number of my young friends lured into this situation, I…...
Students under the age of seventeen have a curfew of 10 pm Sunday through Thursday and 12 am on Friday and Saturday. The curfew ensures that all students should have no business in a public place or out on the streets late at night. There are obviously some valid reasons why this is enforced and I am completely in favor of this decision. Many dangerous kinds of people come out late at night to see if they can get kids…...
Ladies and Gentlemen all protocol observed, I would like to tell you the facts behind the reason why I am against prayers in public schools. Prayer in public schools should no be allowed since it is inconsiderate of the different religions that are represented in the school. Public schools host people from all religions since they are cheaper hence affordable. When the prayers are done they are biased against the religion with minor representation in the school hence it is…...
Prayer And Its MeaningPrayer In SchoolReligionSchool
When attempting to encourage in charge it is essential to state the facts and make certain to examine the validity of these facts that will be provided before it is advanced. Remember to estimate your reliable sources, as you may be asked about where your information arrived from. Analyze the persuasive efficiency in terms of its logo designs, pathos, and ethos, if relevant, on what you are trying to persuade your manager on. Usage data and data that are current…...
1. What is the difference between an informative speech and a persuasive speech? Why is speaking to persuade more challenging than speaking to inform? Informative speech is designed to convey knowledge of and understanding and persuasive speech is to either reinforce or changing people’s beliefs or actions. Persuasive speech is more challenging than informative because there are different points of view on the topic your discussing since it is that touch on your listeners’ basic attitudes, values, and beliefs, therefore…...
A GMO is an organism whose hereditary makeup is changed by human beings. A genetically customized organism (GMO) is a plant, animal or microbe whose genetic code has been altered, subtracted, or added (either from the very same types or a various species) in order to offer it attributes that it does not have usually. A GMO is created when DNA from one organism is combined with another organism's DNA to make one molecule. Scientists do this by cutting and…...
Are you tired and having trouble paying attention in class? Focusing on tasks at hand? Or just completely being overall unproductive? The average college student is deprived at least two full hours asleep each night according to “College Tidbits” a website designed to promote healthy lifestyles and productivity in daily college life. These results were pooled from multiple surveys done over hundreds of campuses throughout the United States. Today, I hope to persuade you to fight the statistics and get…...
Hunting ought to be forbidden since it is all too simple for hunters to abuse guidelines. First of all, there is no other way to be particular whether or not hunters abide by limits established in regards to the quantity of animals they are allowed to eliminate, and where they are allowed to hunt. Every event in a searching expedition can not be kept an eye on and for that reason hunters are basically "permitted" to do as they please.…...
Intro: How many of you are currently unemployed, but would like to have some sort of casual employment? Who isn’t set on their future career, but would like to have a better idea? Who likes making money? So what if I told you, I know a way to fulfill all of these desires. The answer is work experience. I believe work experience should be integrated into Australia's curriculum and be a compulsory part of high school. Currently some public schools…...
Specific Purpose: To inform the audience how to make nutritious eating choices when you’re strapped for time and on the move. Central Idea: Packing a lunch, choosing a restaurant and meal wisely, and keeping nutritious snacks available can all provide for nutritious eating habits even with an on the-go college lifestyle. Introduction: I. The average college student is often pressed for time. A. As a student are you typically under a lot of stress? B. Do you often find yourself…...
Organizational Pattern: I.Introduction a.Attention Getter: When I was about seven years old, I made one of the best decisions of my young life, and I didn’t even realize it at the time b.Reason to Listen: Sports are a big part of most of our lives. You don’t want to be stuck being a fan of the wrong team c.Thesis Statement: If you live in Grand Rapids, the Chicago Bears are obviously the best football team to be a fan of…...
“One Car. One After Party. 6 People. 6 Points of View. But only one outcome. ” An incredible plot, relatable characters, and a mystery that keeps you reading ‘till midnight. It is unlike any book I have ever read before. ‘6’ by Karen Tayleur should be read by each and every one of you as it is a fantastic novel for teenagers and deserves to be studied by future grade tens. This novel has everything you could ever want in…...
“Education is a companion which no misfortune can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate, and no despotism can enslave”, a famous quotation from the writer, Joseph Addison. In Filipino sayings, it would be described as something that can never be stolen from you. The K12 system of education is popularly used in the United States, Australia and Canada, it was recently initiated by the Aquino administration to be adapted in the Philippines. Since it denotes prolonging the…...
Books have been known to do many things, including give people hope and wisdom. They are a grand source of information and what's even more noteworthy is the source: the library. A library can be considered a stock of knowledge. And even though the library of UFV is a remarkable work of textbooks, course reserves, research databases, journals and much more, work of fiction should also be introduced as not only are these more intriguing to read, they help students…...
Hello, today I am here to talk to you about the life-threatening consequences smoking can have and why I believe that it should be illegal. Across the world, even in the most deprived areas, millions of people are smoking. Every minute of every day, these smokers, young and old, are paying for cigarettes to feed their deadly craving. It is a well-known fact that smoking can seriously damage your health, not to forget the innocent people who are in the…...
Men and women are not equal. This phrase has been floating around in one way or another for hundreds of years it is only recently that the United States got rid of this long–standing discrimination. There are many obvious and not-so-obvious reasons why women should be considered equal to men. It is a common misconception that men are smarter and more competent than woman. The reason why this misconception is so popular because men have enjoyed rights that women have…...
Introduction Attention Getter: If you want to learn about someone walk a mile in their shoes. What greater way is there to understand another culture's point of view than studying abroad? Studying abroad is a life changing opportunity that benefits not only you but our nation and the world. Central Idea: I am going to tell you how you can during college by studying abroad. Establish Credibility: for the past couple of weeks I have been researching this topic, and…...
Many people can benefit from joining the Military service for a lot of different reasons. Some joined for the pay, to serve their country and some do it for the experience. There are many reason people join the United States Army. Some other reasons to join the Army could be job security, education benefits, health insurance benefits, life insurance benefits and career assessment to name a few. Serving your country for reason personal to you can come with great benefits…...
Why is it that the United States, which is held out to be the greatest country in the world to live in by many and using many different standards, is the only Western country that does not have some form of socialized medicine? One reason is that opponents continue to refer to any universal health care program as just that, socialized medicine. The label alone is enough to prevent many people from supporting such an effort, without looking any deeper…...
Nearly all students do not support school uniforms; however they do not know the benefits in wearing them. Believe it or not, there are a lot more pros than cons when it comes to wearing school uniforms. First off, school uniforms will develop a better teaching and learning environment. They will also save families a good deal of money. And lastly, school uniforms will eliminate a lot of bulling and labeling. A school would be a better place, for teachers…...
The movie "Bowling for Columbine" was made after the shooting in Columbine high school and tries to explore the reasons for America's violent nature. Moore believes that there is one main reason for this, the fact that there are relaxed gun laws in America. Therefore, Moore uses a number of different persuasive techniques in order to try and persuade the viewer to believe that this is the case. He uses certain visuals, music, sequences the scenes in a specific order…...
...Instead we should make smoking illegal, and prevent the new generation even thinking about starting this awful habit. In 2007, smoking in public places, such as bars, restaurants and workplaces, was made illegal in an attempt to protect non-smokers f...
Still don't know where to start with
your assignment?