persuasive essay writing techniques

persuasive essay writing techniques

Techniques for Persuasive Essay Writing

1. Introduction

So what is a persuasive essay? The primary purpose of a persuasive essay is to convince readers. The writer wants to prove his point. What you’ve just read is a perfect example of a persuasive essay. The first step in writing an effective persuasive essay is to read as much as you can on the subject and/or take as much information as possible from the form of surveys, data, articles, etc. After you have gained all the knowledge possible, it’s time to put all that information onto a piece of paper. The readers of your essay need to imagine the scenarios from your words. Making a diagram or plan can be useful when putting your ideas down on the essay. It helps think out the structure, guideline, and framework you could follow. Next, we move onto making “drafts”. This could go from a simple copy of the piece with loads of crossings out and edits or could be put into a word document where the essay could be edited and expanded on. Always remember to have good sentence structure and correct grammar and spelling. You could have an award-winning essay on a certain subject, but if it is littered with spelling mistakes and bad sentence structure, then the reader or teacher will find it hard to take your essay seriously. Do not hide information also, as this could weaken your argument. It is certainly worth getting a second opinion on your essay. A good way of doing this is getting someone else writing the same essay, then compare and contrast. This also adds competition. Finally, reread your piece and make sure it is easy to understand and get the point across. This is the most important step when writing a persuasive essay.

2. Developing a Strong Thesis Statement

A discussion on how to generate a strong thesis statement is in order. A thesis is the heart of your essay; it is your point. If you’re not sure how to formulate a point about your subject, this is where you start. A thesis will not only tell your reader what the general subject is, but it will also provide a roadmap for the rest of your paper. A strong thesis will outline the big picture of your essay: the major points you are going to make, illustrating the significance of your topic and the expectations that your findings will present. Your thesis should set your direction and guide you to the conclusion of your task. Creating a strong thesis, you have to ask yourself what your key point is. What do you want the general idea of your essay to be? Once you’ve answered that, ask yourself some of the significance of our mentioning in the above paragraph. An effective method of this is to make an ideas map. A thesis will generally come at the end of your introductory paragraph. At this point in your writing, you should have a general idea of what your key points are and have researched the topic enough to articulate it. The thesis will sum up the general idea of these key points and illustrate why exactly it is important. For example, let’s say you are writing an essay on comedy in Shakespeare’s plays. Your key points are your interpretations of certain plays and what exactly we can learn from them. Your thesis should identify what those plays are, what we can learn, and why it is important.

3. Supporting Arguments with Evidence

Evidence gives an essay persuasive power because it supports a point and makes your reader say “Yes, that makes sense.” When you back up your point with evidence (especially when writing an argumentative or persuasive essay), you make a statement your reader can believe in. This makes the essay more interesting and not so one-sided. It is also what makes the reader begin to think about the writer’s points, and it opens the mind to the writer’s true meaning. The best ways to support your arguments is to make sure that your evidence is relevant, adequate, and from reliable sources. If your evidence is irrelevant, it will weaken your position, and your reader will not understand the point you are trying to make. If your evidence is not enough, it lets the reader off the hook too easily; you don’t want that, do you? (Of course not) If your evidence comes from an unreliable source, then it will weaken your position because the reader will not trust the source of the information. So, relevant, adequate, reliable. R.A.R. the roaring lions make the essay intriguing. Ha ha. Get it – LIONS. Ok, moving on…

4. Addressing Counterarguments

If you effectively address counterarguments, you make a more persuasive case. You anticipate reasons your reader might reject your argument and present your case in such a way that it would be difficult to do so. If you do not succeed in addressing those counterarguments, it is likely that your essay will have holes in the logic, or that some readers will feel your argument is too one-sided. You always want to err on the side of showing that you have thoroughly analyzed your topic, and that you have weighed all sides, rather than to give the impression you slanted evidence to support a predetermined conclusion. Showing that you are aware of differing opinions will demonstrate to your reader that you are basing your argument on a great deal of thought, and this will lend your case more credibility. There are several ways you can address counterarguments. One method is to discuss the issue from multiple sides. By devoting at least one paragraph to contrasting views, you can help the reader see the issue in a more nuanced way. Often once the reader sees the depth of the issue, it is easy for them to see that despite differing opinions on it, your case still holds together. Another method is to show how your argument holds more weight when compared to alternative options. This is often a more comprehensive way of addressing counterarguments, as it involves either showing there is no realistic alternative to your case, or showing how your case is more advantageous on the whole. A third way is to simply dismiss counterarguments with evidence and reasoning. Though this is often the least subtle way of addressing counterarguments, and though it can risk making your paper appear one-sided, it is sometimes the most effective way because it is easy to demonstrate from there that the counterarguments were not well founded. This method is generally best paired with direct refutation of your argument.

5. Conclusion and Call to Action

The conclusion is the last paragraph in the persuasive essay. A good conclusion will not only restate the main points of the argument, it will bring something new to the table and end with strength and resolution. It’s been compellingly argued that readers and viewers in the 21st century are becoming increasingly desensitized to human suffering and atrocities shown through the media. The key to reversing this trend is in the hands of the American public and, most importantly, in the hands of the media itself. By becoming more informed about global crises, by involving themselves and their peers in global events, and by being aware of what the media is showing them, perhaps it can be said that the present and future generations will no longer be “Lost.” This conclusion gives a strong sense of closure and resolution between the argument presented and the general human condition. By iterating the thesis in a new way at the end of the essay, the writer has the chance to take the reader to a higher plane, perhaps even change minds.