Did your professor just assign you to write a persuasive essay? Are you clueless and have no idea what is a persuasive essay?
Do you need help crafting a perfect persuasive essay for your assignment? Well, you are at the right place. We are here to provide guidelines, ideas, and tips to write an essay.
As a student, you will be required to know the various types of essays. And understand the differences between them. Learning to write a persuasive essay is invaluable in the long run for different situations.
It will not only help your assignments but also your life outside of high school or university. Additionally, persuasive skills aid you to negotiate with managers, influencing people, or even calming down an agitated child.
But What Is A Persuasive Essay, And How Do You Write It?
A persuasive essay is one of the common types of essay assignments given to students. Essentially, it’s a write-up in which logic and arguments are used in order to persuade/convince readers. Further, the writer must provide solid evidence, facts, and logical reasons, through enough research.
You must first understand the chief principles of persuasive writing to be able to deliver a stellar essay. Your arguments in the essay must be credible, reasonable, and verifiable enough to drive your points home. Furthermore, you will need to appeal to human logic and emotions. The fusion of emotion and logic makes a perfect ingredient for a persuasive essay.
Difference Between An Argumentative Essay And A Persuasive Essay
Argumentative essay: This type of essay presents both the arguments and counter-arguments to the reader, in addition to evidence. There’s stress upon providing lots of credible evidence.
Persuasive essay: The goal of this kind of essay is persuasion. It is less formal than an argumentative essay. Additionally, the writer’s opinion adds weight to the essay. The writer uses emotions, anecdotes, and social validation, besides facts and evidence, to persuade the readers.
Now that you know the difference between argumentative and persuasive essays, let us walk you through the persuasive essay writing steps.
Persuasive Essay Structure
The structure of a persuasive essay is easy to follow, given that you have all your arguments in place. Like other types of essays, persuasive essays also follow the simple three sections structure – introduction, body, and conclusion.
However, in addition to this structure, we will provide you with some guidelines on how to write an essay.
Steps To Writing A Persuasive Essay
Planning is an essential step in writing an essay. And the persuasive essay is no exception. It can be written in four simple steps:
Step 1: Select A Topic And Take A Stand
Choosing the right topic is the initial step in writing an essay. Once you select an issue, you can either argue to support it or oppose it. Thus, it is crucial to decide whether you are supporting or opposing it beforehand.
Step 2: Conduct Rigorous Research
Invest adequate time to research the chosen topic. Gather enough information from multiple sources like academic journals, research articles, books, online journals/articles, academic studies, etc. Make sure to learn about the topic from various viewpoints.
However, ensure that you collect your information from credible sources. If needed, visit a library, and take help from recorded evidence like interviews or documentaries. You can also talk to experts, but ensure it is all authentic.
Once you have enough information, evidence, and facts to back your stand, move on to the next step.
Step 3: Determine The Strongest Evidence.
You may have collected considerable evidence to support your arguments. However, you cannot state everything in the essay you are writing. Therefore, select the most substantial evidence that can provide solid support for your position. Concentrate on that evidence and compose a thesis statement based on that evidence.
Step 4: Start Writing.
You can commence writing an essay since you have everything in place now. The first to write the essay starts by outlining the essay.
Outlining the essay before you start writing is to make sure you do not miss any crucial points.
The outline of a persuasive essay is as follows:
- Introduction: Begin the essay with a strong hook. Include a one-line thesis statement, which is clear and concise at the end of the introduction.
- Body: There is no restriction to the number of paragraphs to be included in the body. However, it is good to have at least three paragraphs. Each section must have a unique topic sentence.
Each section must comprise a unique argument and evidence that supports your claim. Cover all arguments and evidence one by one.
- Conclusion: End the essay with an excellent concluding paragraph, which restates the thesis, and summarizes all points. Give a proper call to action at the end of the article.
Five Essential Elements To Include In A Persuasive Essay
Include the following essential elements while writing the essay to sound credible:
- Clear position
- Effective communication
- Credible arguments
- Clear structure
- Solid conclusion
Persuasive Writing Techniques
Although you now know the persuasive writing format and the steps, you must fine-tune your writing technique. That is because it drives your arguments home and captivates your reader’s mind. By following the techniques provided here, you can get the readers to agree with you readily.
- Use the right tone to add emotion: We know that one can write a sentence in various ways. Therefore, decide which kind of tone will work for your arguments.
- Maintain interest: Do not let your writing bore people. Persuasion doesn’t mean hammering ideas onto the reader but creating interest in their mind during the reading process. Do not let the interest fizzle out.
- Make use of rhetorical questions: Keep your questions in such a way that one cannot answer them with a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Instead, ask questions that make the reader think.
- Start with a hook sentence: We cannot stress this point enough number of times. A hook sentence at the beginning of the essay is a great way to attract more readers. It is no wonder that an article with no proper opening gets rejected, even if the body section is exceptional.
- Start small and build it up: Do not present your last argument at first. Start small, and avoid hitting the nail at once. Start by writing simple points that readers can agree with and gradually build your case and persuade your reader.
- Use short statements: Avoid long and complex sentences. Since short sentences are easy to follow, please make use of it. However, use proper transitional phrases to maintain the flow.
- Write a catchy headline/title: A title/headline must be catchy enough to grab the attention of the reader. Both the title and introductory paragraph has the potential to create buzz among the readers.
- Understand your readers: It is crucial to comprehend your target audience to write in a style that impresses them. Having proper knowledge about your audience can help you greatly to make the right emotional appeal.
- Use Repetition: Similar to rhetoric, repetition is a pivotal key to connecting with your audience. Repetition is necessary to illustrate critical points and display their importance. However, make sure you do not sound redundant.
- Use the correct language: Just like tone, it is essential to pay attention to the language you use. Language has the power to make your writing more persuasive.
These are some persuasive essay techniques that you can follow to convince your reader and make them side with you.
Persuasive Writing Tips
To have more influence over your writers, consider the following below mentioned persuasive essay tricks to better your writing.
- Select a subject that resonates with you and that you are passionate about.
- Research both arguments and counter-arguments so that you know various points of view and present your ideas effectively.
- Emphasize your point by making use of exaggeration to express how important are your arguments.
- Choose a polemical topic, that is, one that is controversial or disputed. A simple routine topic may not work for persuasive writing. Topics on gender issues, politics, animal rights, and climate change may work great.
- Be organized and coherent in your writing. Have integrity in your writing and do not make it hard for the readers to understand your position.
- Have a stimulating solid conclusion. The reader must think about your arguments even after reading the ending. Stimulate your reader with facts, logic, and a proper emotional appeal.
- Write an outstanding introduction and describe the problem and assert your arguments.
- Decide on the position you are going to take before you start writing. Whether you decide to oppose or support a subject must be clear even before composing the thesis statement.
- Your arguments must sound logical, credible, fact-based, and consistent throughout the essay.
- Always proofread and edit your essay once you complete writing. This activity provides an opportunity to check grammar, spelling, and punctuation and re-check arguments once again.
Thus, these are some helpful persuasive essay tips that you can use in writing a persuasive essay. We hope that you now have great clarity on this topic.
Please use the persuasive essay tricks and persuasive essay techniques to ensnare your reader’s minds and hook them to your writing. Follow the writing steps mentioned in this article to write an excellent essay to impress your professor. And fetch excellent marks on your mark sheet.
Also, remember what to avoid while writing this essay just as you recognize what to include. Blend logic and emotion to deliver a stunning piece of writing that creates a lasting impression on your reader. All the best.
