Learning to persuade people is one of those skills that every person should master to a certain degree. Things easily become even more challenging for students who must learn how to write a persuasive essay to make their research work meaningful and persuade others. This guide helps you understand how to work with your persuasive essay’s structure, outline, formatting, and tone. We shall focus on the best ways to start and provide several examples in this guide’s final part.
What is persuasive essay writing?
As the title implies, a persuasive essay is a type of paper you may get as a high school, college, or university student that has to persuade a certain target audience. The purpose here is to satisfy your readers and make them follow your opinion, take on things, or an argument being presented. As a rule, every persuasive essay format assignment will require strict writing techniques, which is also the case with persuasive writing. As a writer, you must identify the objectives of your paper and defend them the best way you can. To write a persuasive essay, focus on the facts and arguments that convince others based on a particular idea or subject. It can be achieved with the help of various persuasive narration techniques. Much like argumentative essay writing, it may sound a bit complex, yet it all comes down to how well you know the subject and your level of confidence.
Starting with the introduction, where you talk about the subject’s relevance to the thesis statement, the key is to grab your readers’ attention and direct them in a particular direction. Therefore, the best way to persuade others is to provide clear illustrations and examples your readers can connect with. To write a persuasive essay, approach real-life situations, specific events, different beliefs, and more as you appeal to your target audience. This guide will help you to learn the best ways to achieve that and narrow things down before you start to write. Regardless of what subject you choose or work with a given prompt, writing a persuasive essay is most important to outline the facts and the reasons that should help your audience believe you and share your thoughts in the short or the long run.
Basic persuasive essay structure and outline rules
It is barely possible to write a persuasive essay if you do not take the time to learn about the basic essay outline and the parts that must be included. In the majority of cases, you will have to deal with the following four parts:
Introduction;
It is where your persuasive essay work starts. You must structure it in a special way to capture your audience and stir some interest. Therefore, the use of a hook sentence is necessary! Also known as the introductory statement, it can be a specific fact or an assumption you make. It should reflect the main thought of your essay but remain concise to a point. To write a persuasive essay introduction, use some tricks to capture both your topic and the main argument. Your introduction should provide basic background information about the problem or an issue in question by offering descriptions that lead to your thesis statement. It should be valid and reflect your confidence to inspire your readers to read.
Body paragraphs;
Each paragraph should represent just one idea and start with a strong topic sentence. This way, you can structure your ideas well using three to five body paragraphs to write a persuasive essay. Each idea should be presented clearly and contain at least one reference or statistical data. It must be credible and easy to check, so you must think twice before placing some quote or a direct reference. Don’t leave them “as is” as you shape your persuasive essay structure because your analysis should result in an explanatory persuasion. Starting with an opening topic sentence, think about explaining unknown terms and the use of terminology that you may have to use.
Speaking of persuasive writing techniques used to write a persuasive essay, you may implement repetitions, rhetorical and hypothetical questions, emotional highlighting, and allegories to contrast things. Use analogies and practical examples to help readers see why you think this way. Doing so will also increase your chances of sounding credible and clear. At the same time, try to avoid wordiness as you learn how to write a persuasive essay, as readability and accessibility often help to persuade skeptics.
Counter-arguments paragraph;
It is usually included in every persuasive essay assignment right before the conclusion paragraph. It is where you discuss and showcase opposing opinions. For example, you say that video games lead to outbursts of violence among middle school kids, yet your opponents think they are totally harmless. In such a paragraph, you talk about beliefs different from yours. It will help your readers to see why your argument is more valid as you compare and contrast things.
Conclusion;
It is where you highlight all the critical points of your persuasive essay. The final part should be structured in a special way to make a lasting impression as you use all the elements of a persuasive essay paper. Do not introduce any new ideas here, but try to make a call to action and explain why thinking the way you do is important and how it helps. Learning to write persuasive essays and add practical implementation to make things more vivid. If anything, make a clear stand once again to confirm your opinion.
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How to start a persuasive essay correctly?
Before you start, you must research your subject well to be able to tell what counter-arguments and debate subjects will be there as you submit your assignment. The more you know your topic, the better! You have to develop a strong hook sentence to write a good persuasive essay, as it will make your point vivid immediately. Your final aim is to help your readers share the same idea and trust what you state. Persuasive writing is all about convincing and ensuring you sound confident.
Therefore, before you start writing, you have to take notes and come up with at least ten sources that can help support your arguments. To make your persuasive essay inspiring, you should back it up with a piece of evidence for every idea. It is also not enough to write a persuasive essay and provide a quote or place a direct citation without proper analysis and an explanation as to why it is correct. In a certain sense, you must prepare for a social or academic debate by standing for what you believe in! Therefore, brainstorm your persuasive essay topic as you plan to start a persuasive essay, and do not forget to narrow things down to avoid being vague!
Step-by-step persuasive essay writing guide
Since your persuasive essay will be unique and your subject will require specific research and analysis, we shall focus on the steps you should use as a checklist.
Step 1: Grammar tricks.
You must use various English grammar constructions as these will help you avoid mixing up your ideas and maintain clarity. It will help to make your ideas understood. As an author wishing to write a persuasive essay correctly, you must express your ideas without making them overly complex. Focus on using an explanatory tone in the introduction and lead your readers to your thesis statement. When you focus on clear grammar that contains no mistakes, it always pays off!
Step 2: The use of senses.
The main trick of the body paragraphs is to engage your audience. The best way to inspire your readers is to use sensorics as you provide descriptions and examples. As you express yourself or hope to write a thesis statement for a persuasive essay, focus on the setting and talk about how you can use something in practice. It helps stir imagination and become a part of what you aim to explain.
Step 3: Stay consistent!
Consistency is crucial as you compose a persuasive essay. Do not contradict yourself, and check things twice. Make sure that your evidence is clear and can be replicated. Keep your arguments supported until the end, and do not jump between ideas. Remember to finish with one idea and then start with another as you learn how to write a persuasive essay.
Step 4: Evidence matters.
It is insufficient to provide an argument that some evidence cannot support. The more examples you provide, the better your persuasive essay will be. Focus on strong evidence only and provide sufficient analysis as you write.
Step 5: Sources and credibility.
Since you may have to use external resources, you should keep them up-to-date and check them for accessibility. The information that you use must be current, as things may have changed since then. Remember to check the authors of the sources to guarantee more credibility. At the same time, when you are ready to write a persuasive paper, research your sources first! Use in-text citations sparingly, and balance them with your analysis, as you have to persuade.
Step 6: Personal experience.
It is necessary to offer a personal insight. It helps to show that you know what you describe and approach personal experience as proof. After all, experience shows that you know the subject well and can provide unique information.
Step 7: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
In simple terms, using ethos means that you talk about morally acceptable behavior and social norms. As you offer arguments, you must approach strong ethics to persuade your target audience. Pathos refers to the emotional part with relevant components, while the logos aspect speaks of logic. As you present your ideas and focus on your paper layout, keep them logical and use creativity.
Persuasive essay formatting tips
The formatting of a persuasive essay format should be based on the writing style, as you must provide citations to support your ideas and arguments. It is where most pre-writing tips come into play, as you must know what to provide before you start writing and shaping your essay paragraphs. Here are some things to consider:
- Your target audience.
- An inspiring topic.
- Subject’s relevance.
- Ideas and arguments.
- Counter-arguments.
Your target audience is the most important aspect that will affect the final format of your persuasive essay. When you know the level of skills and background of your readers, you also understand how to persuade and what information might work. If you know your essay audience is not neutral, you need to write a persuasive essay outline by taking notes. Stir the imagination and inspiration of your readers to help them understand and research the beliefs, ideas, ideologies, and even expectations you discuss.
Most importantly, you must choose a side or explain your stand to explain why you think something is right or believe your arguments are worth following. As you defend your statements, remain focused on the evidence that you have and offer examples. The essay template writing pattern is easy: an introduction ─ source ─ explanation ─ analysis. It will help you to provide a correct balance in each body paragraph. Remember to use transition words as you move from idea to idea.
Helpful persuasive essay examples
Checking persuasive essay samples will help you perfect your writing skills and determine what tone must be used. As you check the links below, take notes and see how an idea has been incorporated. If you need to keep your essay tone neutral for certain positions, it is important to explain why. Here are some examples of persuasive essays.
- Persuasive Essay Samples by Universidad de Murcia.
- Persuasive Essay Examples by EduBirdie (Our academic writing partner).
- Persuasion Writing Samples by Western Technical College.
- Writing a Persuasive Essay by Hamilton College.
Tip: If you cannot find a specific persuasive essay example or need an expert to guide you, reading a reliable essay writing services review for students will be helpful!
Don’t forget to check various persuasive articles in newspapers, scientific magazines, YouTube videos, and more. It is where you can check persuasive examples based on a topic of interest. As you may imagine, people who read newspapers have to trust the author and believe the story, which makes most newspaper sources a great source of how to write persuasively. If you still have questions, feel free to ask and let our academic experts know 24/7!
