In academic writing, students will surely encounter persuasive essay writing on a regular basis. The primary purpose of writing persuasive papers is to encourage readers to accept your standpoint and make sure they perceive it as the most accurate one. In persuasive writing, students should pertain to the solid evidential support and logic reasoning. However, in many cases, appealing to emotions also takes place.
How to Write Persuasive Papers
Take a minute. Think what side you would like to choose referring to the given topic. If you have any doubts regarding the chosen side and think that there might be many refuting/opposing ideas, you should think about another topic. Persuasive essays should be based on profound ideas and you are not allowed to be doubtful in your claims.
Identify your audience. It is important to know what your possible readers will be while choosing your arguments. At the same time, you should be prepared to discuss both sides of the issue. The biggest part of your essay should take an analysis of your personal opinions. However, you will have to dedicate at least one paragraph to the discussion of opposing ideas.
While writing a persuasive essay, you will spend more time on researching the topic. Persuasive papers must have clear argumentation, and you will have to read much in order to get good ideas for your essay. Your evidence should be convincing and compelling. You are welcome to attend your college library to find some research ideas in the printed sources or you can surf the net, but focus on credible websites only.
Then you will have to determine the organization of your paper. At first, you should create an essay outline that will help you include all relevant ideas. In your essay plan, make sure you outline the key evidence as well. A good persuasive essay should not only entail relevant supporting details, but also proper explanation of your examples. Do not simply present a direct quote, but analyze it and discuss why it is relevant to the topic. Whenever you introduce ideas of others, do not forget to present an in-text citation. If not, your teacher will blame you for plagiarism and stealing opinions without giving credit to the original source. Do not include too many direct quotes in your essay. There should be no more than 1-2 examples per paragraph.
The Structure of a Persuasive Essay
Introduction
According to a persuasive essay definition, an introductory paragraph should be dedicated to the discussion of the general overview of the problem. It should give a hint of what will be explored in the main body. Each introductory paragraph should end with a thesis statement.
Main Body
The body of your persuasive paper should include 2-4 paragraphs, no more. Every paragraph should begin with a topic sentence. Remember to create a refuting paragraph before your conclusion.
Conclusion
You should simply reword your thesis statement and prove your side one more time. However, do not present any new ideas or arguments. You should simply sum up what has been said before.
