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How to Brainstorm for an Essay

Once you get going on a paper, you can often get into a groove and churn out the bulk of it fairly quickly. But choosing or brainstorming a topic for a paper—especially one with an open-ended prompt—can often be a challenge.

You’ve probably been told to brainstorm ideas for papers since you were in elementary school. Even though you might feel like “brainstorming” is an ineffective method for actually figuring out what to write about, it really works. Everyone thinks through ideas differently, but here are some tips to help you brainstorm more effectively regardless of what learning style works best for you:

Tip #1: Set an end goal for yourself

Develop a goal for your brainstorm. Don’t worry—you can go into brainstorming without knowing exactly what you want to write about, but you should  have an idea of what you hope to gain from your brainstorming session. Do you want to develop a list of potential topics? Do you want to come up with ideas to support an argument? Have some idea about what you want to get out of brainstorming so that you can make more effective use of your time.

Tip #2: Write down all ideas

Sure, some of your ideas will be better than others, but you should write all of them down for you to look back on later. Starting with bad or infeasible ideas might seem counterintuitive, but one idea usually leads to another one. Make a list that includes all of your initial thoughts, and then you can go back through and pick out the best one later. Passing judgment on ideas in this first stage will just slow you down.

Tip #3: Think about what interests you most

Students usually write better essays when they’re exploring subjects that they have some personal interest in. If a professor gives you an open-ended prompt, take it as an opportunity to delve further into a topic you find more interesting. When trying to find a focus for your papers, think back on coursework that you found engaging or that raised further questions for you.

Tip #4: Consider what you want the reader to get from your paper

Do you want to write an engaging piece? A thought-provoking one? An informative one? Think about the end goal of your writing while you go through the initial brainstorming process. Although this might seem counterproductive, considering what you want readers to get out of your writing can help you come up with a focus that both satisfies your readers and satisfies you as a writer.

 Tip #5: Try freewriting

Write for five minutes on a topic of your choice that you think could  be worth pursuing—your idea doesn’t have to be fully fleshed out. This can help you figure out whether it’s worth putting more time into an idea or if it doesn’t really have any weight to it. If you find that you don’t have much to say about a particular topic, you can switch subjects halfway through writing, but this can be a good way to get your creative juices flowing.

Tip #6: Draw a map of your ideas

While some students might prefer the more traditional list methods, for more visual learners, sketching out a word map of ideas may be a useful method for brainstorming. Write the main idea in a circle in the center of your page. Then, write smaller, related ideas in bubbles further from the center of the page and connect them to your initial idea using lines. This is a good way to break down big ideas and to figure out whether they are worth writing about.

 Tip #7: Enlist the help of others

Sometimes it can be difficult coming up with paper topics on your own, and family and friends can prove to be valuable resources when developing ideas. Feel free to brainstorm with another person (or in a group). Many hands make light work—and some students work best when thinking through ideas out loud—so don’t be afraid to ask others for advice when trying to come up with a paper topic.

Tip #8: Find the perfect brainstorming spot

Believe it or not, location can make a BIG difference when you’re trying to come up with a paper topic. Working while watching TV is never a good idea, but you might want to listen to music while doing work, or you might prefer to sit in a quiet study location. Think about where you work best, and pick a spot where you feel that you can be productive.

Tip #9: Play word games to help generate ideas

Whether you hate playing word games or think they’re a ton of fun, you might want to try your hand at a quick round of Words With Friends or a game of Scrabble. These games can help get your brain working, and sometimes ideas can be triggered by words you see. Get a friend to play an old-fashioned board game with you, or try your hand at a mobile app if you’re in a time crunch.

Tip #10: Take a break to let ideas sink in

Brainstorming is a great way to get all of your initial thoughts out there, but sometimes you need a bit more time to process all of those ideas. Stand up and stretch—or even take a walk around the block—and then look back on your list of ideas to see if you have any new thoughts on them.

For many students, the most difficult process of paper writing is simply coming up with an idea about what to write on. Don’t be afraid to get all of your ideas out there through brainstorming, and remember that all ideas are valid. Take the time necessary to sort through all of your ideas, using whatever method works best for you, and then get to writing—but don’t be afraid to go back to the drawing board if a new inspiration strikes.

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Brainstorming

What this handout is about.

This handout discusses techniques that will help you start writing a paper and continue writing through the challenges of the revising process. Brainstorming can help you choose a topic, develop an approach to a topic, or deepen your understanding of the topic’s potential.

Introduction

If you consciously take advantage of your natural thinking processes by gathering your brain’s energies into a “storm,” you can transform these energies into written words or diagrams that will lead to lively, vibrant writing. Below you will find a brief discussion of what brainstorming is, why you might brainstorm, and suggestions for how you might brainstorm.

Whether you are starting with too much information or not enough, brainstorming can help you to put a new writing task in motion or revive a project that hasn’t reached completion. Let’s take a look at each case:

When you’ve got nothing: You might need a storm to approach when you feel “blank” about the topic, devoid of inspiration, full of anxiety about the topic, or just too tired to craft an orderly outline. In this case, brainstorming stirs up the dust, whips some air into our stilled pools of thought, and gets the breeze of inspiration moving again.

When you’ve got too much: There are times when you have too much chaos in your brain and need to bring in some conscious order. In this case, brainstorming forces the mental chaos and random thoughts to rain out onto the page, giving you some concrete words or schemas that you can then arrange according to their logical relations.

Brainstorming techniques

What follows are great ideas on how to brainstorm—ideas from professional writers, novice writers, people who would rather avoid writing, and people who spend a lot of time brainstorming about…well, how to brainstorm.

Try out several of these options and challenge yourself to vary the techniques you rely on; some techniques might suit a particular writer, academic discipline, or assignment better than others. If the technique you try first doesn’t seem to help you, move right along and try some others.

Freewriting

When you freewrite, you let your thoughts flow as they will, putting pen to paper and writing down whatever comes into your mind. You don’t judge the quality of what you write and you don’t worry about style or any surface-level issues, like spelling, grammar, or punctuation. If you can’t think of what to say, you write that down—really. The advantage of this technique is that you free up your internal critic and allow yourself to write things you might not write if you were being too self-conscious.

When you freewrite you can set a time limit (“I’ll write for 15 minutes!”) and even use a kitchen timer or alarm clock or you can set a space limit (“I’ll write until I fill four full notebook pages, no matter what tries to interrupt me!”) and just write until you reach that goal. You might do this on the computer or on paper, and you can even try it with your eyes shut or the monitor off, which encourages speed and freedom of thought.

The crucial point is that you keep on writing even if you believe you are saying nothing. Word must follow word, no matter the relevance. Your freewriting might even look like this:

“This paper is supposed to be on the politics of tobacco production but even though I went to all the lectures and read the book I can’t think of what to say and I’ve felt this way for four minutes now and I have 11 minutes left and I wonder if I’ll keep thinking nothing during every minute but I’m not sure if it matters that I am babbling and I don’t know what else to say about this topic and it is rainy today and I never noticed the number of cracks in that wall before and those cracks remind me of the walls in my grandfather’s study and he smoked and he farmed and I wonder why he didn’t farm tobacco…”

When you’re done with your set number of minutes or have reached your page goal, read back over the text. Yes, there will be a lot of filler and unusable thoughts but there also will be little gems, discoveries, and insights. When you find these gems, highlight them or cut and paste them into your draft or onto an “ideas” sheet so you can use them in your paper. Even if you don’t find any diamonds in there, you will have either quieted some of the noisy chaos or greased the writing gears so that you can now face the assigned paper topic.

Break down the topic into levels

Once you have a course assignment in front of you, you might brainstorm:

• the general topic, like “The relationship between tropical fruits and colonial powers”
• a specific subtopic or required question, like “How did the availability of multiple tropical fruits influence competition amongst colonial powers trading from the larger Caribbean islands during the 19th century?”
• a single term or phrase that you sense you’re overusing in the paper. For example: If you see that you’ve written “increased the competition” about a dozen times in your “tropical fruits” paper, you could brainstorm variations on the phrase itself or on each of the main terms: “increased” and “competition.”

Listing/bulleting

In this technique you jot down lists of words or phrases under a particular topic. You can base your list on:

• the general topic
• one or more words from your particular thesis claim
• a word or idea that is the complete opposite of your original word or idea.

For example, if your general assignment is to write about the changes in inventions over time, and your specific thesis claims that “the 20th century presented a large number of inventions to advance US society by improving upon the status of 19th-century society,” you could brainstorm two different lists to ensure you are covering the topic thoroughly and that your thesis will be easy to prove.

The first list might be based on your thesis; you would jot down as many 20th-century inventions as you could, as long as you know of their positive effects on society. The second list might be based on the opposite claim, and you would instead jot down inventions that you associate with a decline in that society’s quality. You could do the same two lists for 19th-century inventions and then compare the evidence from all four lists.

Using multiple lists will help you to gather more perspective on the topic and ensure that, sure enough, your thesis is solid as a rock, or, …uh oh, your thesis is full of holes and you’d better alter your claim to one you can prove.

3 perspectives

Looking at something from different perspectives helps you see it more completely—or at least in a completely different way, sort of like laying on the floor makes your desk look very different to you. To use this strategy, answer the questions for each of the three perspectives, then look for interesting relationships or mismatches you can explore:

• Describe it: Describe your subject in detail. What is your topic? What are its components? What are its interesting and distinguishing features? What are its puzzles? Distinguish your subject from those that are similar to it. How is your subject unlike others?
• Trace it: What is the history of your subject? How has it changed over time? Why? What are the significant events that have influenced your subject?
• Map it: What is your subject related to? What is it influenced by? How? What does it influence? How? Who has a stake in your topic? Why? What fields do you draw on for the study of your subject? Why? How has your subject been approached by others? How is their work related to yours?

Cubing enables you to consider your topic from six different directions; just as a cube is six-sided, your cubing brainstorming will result in six “sides” or approaches to the topic. Take a sheet of paper, consider your topic, and respond to these six commands:

• Describe it.
• Compare it.
• Associate it.
• Analyze it.
• Argue for and against it.

Look over what you’ve written. Do any of the responses suggest anything new about your topic? What interactions do you notice among the “sides”? That is, do you see patterns repeating, or a theme emerging that you could use to approach the topic or draft a thesis? Does one side seem particularly fruitful in getting your brain moving? Could that one side help you draft your thesis statement? Use this technique in a way that serves your topic. It should, at least, give you a broader awareness of the topic’s complexities, if not a sharper focus on what you will do with it.

In this technique, complete the following sentence:

____________________ is/was/are/were like _____________________.

In the first blank put one of the terms or concepts your paper centers on. Then try to brainstorm as many answers as possible for the second blank, writing them down as you come up with them.

After you have produced a list of options, look over your ideas. What kinds of ideas come forward? What patterns or associations do you find?

Clustering/mapping/webbing:

The general idea:

This technique has three (or more) different names, according to how you describe the activity itself or what the end product looks like. In short, you will write a lot of different terms and phrases onto a sheet of paper in a random fashion and later go back to link the words together into a sort of “map” or “web” that forms groups from the separate parts. Allow yourself to start with chaos. After the chaos subsides, you will be able to create some order out of it.

To really let yourself go in this brainstorming technique, use a large piece of paper or tape two pieces together. You could also use a blackboard if you are working with a group of people. This big vertical space allows all members room to “storm” at the same time, but you might have to copy down the results onto paper later. If you don’t have big paper at the moment, don’t worry. You can do this on an 8 ½ by 11 as well. Watch our short videos on webbing , drawing relationships , and color coding for demonstrations.

How to do it:

• Take your sheet(s) of paper and write your main topic in the center, using a word or two or three.
• Moving out from the center and filling in the open space any way you are driven to fill it, start to write down, fast, as many related concepts or terms as you can associate with the central topic. Jot them quickly, move into another space, jot some more down, move to another blank, and just keep moving around and jotting. If you run out of similar concepts, jot down opposites, jot down things that are only slightly related, or jot down your grandpa’s name, but try to keep moving and associating. Don’t worry about the (lack of) sense of what you write, for you can chose to keep or toss out these ideas when the activity is over.
• Once the storm has subsided and you are faced with a hail of terms and phrases, you can start to cluster. Circle terms that seem related and then draw a line connecting the circles. Find some more and circle them and draw more lines to connect them with what you think is closely related. When you run out of terms that associate, start with another term. Look for concepts and terms that might relate to that term. Circle them and then link them with a connecting line. Continue this process until you have found all the associated terms. Some of the terms might end up uncircled, but these “loners” can also be useful to you. (Note: You can use different colored pens/pencils/chalk for this part, if you like. If that’s not possible, try to vary the kind of line you use to encircle the topics; use a wavy line, a straight line, a dashed line, a dotted line, a zigzaggy line, etc. in order to see what goes with what.)
• There! When you stand back and survey your work, you should see a set of clusters, or a big web, or a sort of map: hence the names for this activity. At this point you can start to form conclusions about how to approach your topic. There are about as many possible results to this activity as there are stars in the night sky, so what you do from here will depend on your particular results. Let’s take an example or two in order to illustrate how you might form some logical relationships between the clusters and loners you’ve decided to keep. At the end of the day, what you do with the particular “map” or “cluster set” or “web” that you produce depends on what you need. What does this map or web tell you to do? Explore an option or two and get your draft going!

Relationship between the parts

In this technique, begin by writing the following pairs of terms on opposite margins of one sheet of paper:

Looking over these four groups of pairs, start to fill in your ideas below each heading. Keep going down through as many levels as you can. Now, look at the various parts that comprise the parts of your whole concept. What sorts of conclusions can you draw according to the patterns, or lack of patterns, that you see? For a related strategy, watch our short video on drawing relationships .

Journalistic questions

In this technique you would use the “big six” questions that journalists rely on to thoroughly research a story. The six are: Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How?. Write each question word on a sheet of paper, leaving space between them. Then, write out some sentences or phrases in answer, as they fit your particular topic. You might also record yourself or use speech-to-text if you’d rather talk out your ideas.

Now look over your batch of responses. Do you see that you have more to say about one or two of the questions? Or, are your answers for each question pretty well balanced in depth and content? Was there one question that you had absolutely no answer for? How might this awareness help you to decide how to frame your thesis claim or to organize your paper? Or, how might it reveal what you must work on further, doing library research or interviews or further note-taking?

For example, if your answers reveal that you know a lot more about “where” and “why” something happened than you know about “what” and “when,” how could you use this lack of balance to direct your research or to shape your paper? How might you organize your paper so that it emphasizes the known versus the unknown aspects of evidence in the field of study? What else might you do with your results?

Thinking outside the box

Even when you are writing within a particular academic discipline, you can take advantage of your semesters of experience in other courses from other departments. Let’s say you are writing a paper for an English course. You could ask yourself, “Hmmm, if I were writing about this very same topic in a biology course or using this term in a history course, how might I see or understand it differently? Are there varying definitions for this concept within, say, philosophy or physics, that might encourage me to think about this term from a new, richer point of view?”

For example, when discussing “culture” in your English, communications, or cultural studies course, you could incorporate the definition of “culture” that is frequently used in the biological sciences. Remember those little Petri dishes from your lab experiments in high school? Those dishes are used to “culture” substances for bacterial growth and analysis, right? How might it help you write your paper if you thought of “culture” as a medium upon which certain things will grow, will develop in new ways or will even flourish beyond expectations, but upon which the growth of other things might be retarded, significantly altered, or stopped altogether?

Using charts or shapes

If you are more visually inclined, you might create charts, graphs, or tables in lieu of word lists or phrases as you try to shape or explore an idea. You could use the same phrases or words that are central to your topic and try different ways to arrange them spatially, say in a graph, on a grid, or in a table or chart. You might even try the trusty old flow chart. The important thing here is to get out of the realm of words alone and see how different spatial representations might help you see the relationships among your ideas. If you can’t imagine the shape of a chart at first, just put down the words on the page and then draw lines between or around them. Or think of a shape. Do your ideas most easily form a triangle? square? umbrella? Can you put some ideas in parallel formation? In a line?

Consider purpose and audience

Think about the parts of communication involved in any writing or speaking act: purpose and audience.

What is your purpose?

What are you trying to do? What verb captures your intent? Are you trying to inform? Convince? Describe? Each purpose will lead you to a different set of information and help you shape material to include and exclude in a draft. Write about why you are writing this draft in this form. For more tips on figuring out the purpose of your assignment, see our handout on understanding assignments .

Who is your audience?

Who are you communicating with beyond the grader? What does that audience need to know? What do they already know? What information does that audience need first, second, third? Write about who you are writing to and what they need. For more on audience, see our  handout on audience .

Dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias

When all else fails…this is a tried and true method, loved for centuries by writers of all stripe. Visit the library reference areas or stop by the Writing Center to browse various dictionaries, thesauruses (or other guide books and reference texts), encyclopedias or surf their online counterparts. Sometimes these basic steps are the best ones. It is almost guaranteed that you’ll learn several things you did not know.

If you’re looking at a hard copy reference, turn to your most important terms and see what sort of variety you find in the definitions. The obscure or archaic definition might help you to appreciate the term’s breadth or realize how much its meaning has changed as the language changed. Could that realization be built into your paper somehow?

If you go to online sources, use their own search functions to find your key terms and see what suggestions they offer. For example, if you plug “good” into a thesaurus search, you will be given 14 different entries. Whew! If you were analyzing the film Good Will Hunting, imagine how you could enrich your paper by addressed the six or seven ways that “good” could be interpreted according to how the scenes, lighting, editing, music, etc., emphasized various aspects of “good.”

An encyclopedia is sometimes a valuable resource if you need to clarify facts, get quick background, or get a broader context for an event or item. If you are stuck because you have a vague sense of a seemingly important issue, do a quick check with this reference and you may be able to move forward with your ideas.

Armed with a full quiver of brainstorming techniques and facing sheets of jotted ideas, bulleted subtopics, or spidery webs relating to your paper, what do you do now?

Take the next step and start to write your first draft, or fill in those gaps you’ve been brainstorming about to complete your “almost ready” paper. If you’re a fan of outlining, prepare one that incorporates as much of your brainstorming data as seems logical to you. If you’re not a fan, don’t make one. Instead, start to write out some larger chunks (large groups of sentences or full paragraphs) to expand upon your smaller clusters and phrases. Keep building from there into larger sections of your paper. You don’t have to start at the beginning of the draft. Start writing the section that comes together most easily. You can always go back to write the introduction later.

We also have helpful handouts on some of the next steps in your writing process, such as reorganizing drafts and argument .

Remember, once you’ve begun the paper, you can stop and try another brainstorming technique whenever you feel stuck. Keep the energy moving and try several techniques to find what suits you or the particular project you are working on.

How can technology help?

Need some help brainstorming? Different digital tools can help with a variety of brainstorming strategies:

Look for a text editor that has a focus mode or that is designed to promote free writing (for examples, check out FocusWriter, OmmWriter, WriteRoom, Writer the Internet Typewriter, or Cold Turkey). Eliminating visual distractions on your screen can help you free write for designated periods of time. By eliminating visual distractions on your screen, these tools help you focus on free writing for designated periods of time. If you use Microsoft Word, you might even try “Focus Mode” under the “View” tab.

Clustering/mapping. Websites and applications like Mindomo , TheBrain , and Miro allow you to create concept maps and graphic organizers. These applications often include the following features:

• Connect links, embed documents and media, and integrate notes in your concept maps
• Access your maps across devices
• Search across maps for keywords
• Convert maps into checklists and outlines
• Export maps to other file formats

Testimonials

Check out what other students and writers have tried!

Papers as Puzzles : A UNC student demonstrates a brainstorming strategy for getting started on a paper.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Allen, Roberta, and Marcia Mascolini. 1997. The Process of Writing: Composing Through Critical Thinking . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Cameron, Julia. 2002. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity . New York: Putnam.

Goldberg, Natalie. 2005. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within , rev. ed. Boston: Shambhala.

Rosen, Leonard J. and Laurence Behrens. 2003. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook , 5th ed. New York: Longman.

University of Richmond. n.d. “Main Page.” Writer’s Web. Accessed June 14, 2019. http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Home / News / Academic Writing Tip: 8 Brainstorming Techniques

Academic Writing Tip: 8 Brainstorming Techniques

So, you’ve read and re-read the academic writing assignment that you received from your professor, and now you’re staring at a blank page.

Does your mind feel as blank as the page? Are you Frozen by fear? Rubbing your eyes with exhaustion?

Whether you’re writing an essay for a community college in Boston, Massachusetts or a university in New England, USA, you need to start somewhere. Brainstorming means you use your imagination and prior knowledge to collect thoughts. After gathering a great quantity of ideas, you select the highest quality ideas.

Filling that empty white document can feel like leaping into unknown icy water. Brainstorming is the way to warm up for a deep dive into the EAP topic.

Brainstorming begins with simple questions. What do you know about the topic? What do you want to learn about the topic?

As you brainstorm, you journey farther down the academic writing quest. How do you narrow down a topic into a thesis? How do you gather the examples and evidence necessary for an academic essay?

Here are EAP brainstorming strategies to jumpstart the engine of your creativity.

Brainstorming tip #1: Freewriting

Do you have no ideas? Or the opposite problem—too many ideas?

Freewriting means what it sounds like—you’re free to write whatever comes to mind. The point is not to make it perfect—not even necessarily to make it good—but just to put thoughts on paper—no rules, no revising. You can even write about how you don’t know what to write about.

The only limit you should set for yourself is that you write for a specific period of time—let’s say 30 minutes—or for a specific number of pages—let’s say 2 pages. Non-stop activity gets the juices flowing, and a concrete goal gives you satisfaction. Here’s an example of freewriting:

This essay is supposed to be about the Boston Tea Party but I don’t know anything about US history except that the American Revolution happened a long time ago (when???) somewhere in Massachusetts or maybe I’m wrong. I can’t think of anything else to say and now the clock says two minutes, I’ll keep babbling anyway. Boston, MA, politics, tea. My grandmother used to make tea when I stopped by after my English courses. But that’s not useful for this essay. Or maybe there’s a connection. Hmmm… I remember the professor talked about the taxes in the New English states (colonies?) and my grandmother used to complain about paying high taxes at the market and…

Freewriting stimulates your brain the same way physical exercise wakes up your mind.

Brainstorming tip #2: Making a Cube

Draw a cube in your notebook. Each of the six sides has a task:

Side 1: Describe the topic.

Side 2: Compare the topic.

Side 3: Connect the topic.

Side 4: Classify the topic.

Side 5: Argue for or against the topic.

Side 6: Personalize the topic.

Instead of those 6 tasks, you could replace those verbs with other academic tasks: apply, analyze, question, connect, define, classify, associate, or explain cause and effect—whichever inspire ideas.

Imagine your topic is attending university in the U.S. Next to each point on the cube, you would write words and phrases inspired by the verb at hand:

Side 1: Describe: Exciting, difficult, expensive, growing opportunities, expensive, valuable.

Side 2: Compare: Different from my country. USA = more essay writing, dorms with roommates, critical thinking, fewer standardized exams and lectures, smaller classes.

Side 3: Connect: student visa policies, US immigration law, IELTS, TOEFL iBT, travel restrictions from covid-19, globalization means more English at work.

Side 4: Classify: community colleges (Holyoke, Greenfield), state universities (UMASS Boston), private ivy league (Harvard) graduate schools, MBA, BA, MFA programs.  

Side 5: Argue for : opens doors, better jobs, international workplace, investment in future, social networking, broadens horizons.

Side 6: Personalize: my cousin > engineering degree, MIT internship, campus resources help with culture shock (which worries me.) IELTS stresses me out!!!!  Way to avoid?

This brainy approach works if you like approaching topics from different angles.

Brainstorming tip #3: Clustering

When you cluster, you draw bubbles and connect words and concepts associated with the topic—anything that comes to mind.

This visual method works when you have a lot of random thoughts and you are trying to “see” connections.

Brainstorming tip #4: Bulleting

With this technique, you make bulleted lists with concepts, terms, and ideas. This can help you narrow down from the first list to a second list. The list on the left contains general bullet points, while the list on the right expands on a single bullet to delve deeper.

This method works great if you’re an orderly person who likes making lists.

Brainstorming tip #5: Venn Diagram

  The famous Venn diagram technique works well for brainstorming differences and similarities between two topics. You draw two intersecting circles and write the qualities they share in the middle where the circles intersect and the qualities that are unique in the left and right spaces. For example, let’s say you’re brainstorming differences and similarities between two cities in Massachusetts, Boston and Northampton.

This famous brainstorming method is used in the academic and business worlds because it so clearly shows differences and similarities.

To analyze relationships among three topics, you can make a Venn diagram with three circles. The 3-circle helps visualize and understand complex connections. You brainstorm three basic questions. Which qualities are unique to each? Which traits do any two topics have in common? Which similarities are shared by all three topics?

Brainstorming tip #6: Tree diagram

The tree diagram begins with a central idea that branches off into categories or supporting ideas.

Imagine you’re brainstorming different types of schools in US higher education.

Tree diagrams are perfect for brainstorming classification essays. You could also draw tree diagrams to brainstorm effects, starting with a cause at the top and branching off into increasingly specific downstream effects. Pretty cool, huh?

Brainstorming tip #7: Journalist Dice

Dice aren’t just toys for games and gambling–they can be a tool for writing. Rolling journalist dice is a stimulating way to flesh out narrative essays. Each side of the die corresponds to one of the 6 question words. To make the game fun, roll a die, and write down one answer the question every time you roll. Roll at least a dozen times to write down a variety of details and ideas.

In addition to building a narrative essay, this brainstorming technique can help you develop a compelling story for your college application essay. For the tired and uninspired writer, the game element of rolling dice makes the writing process more engaging and enjoyable. 

Brainstorming tip #8: T diagram

This method works well if you like thinking in terms of opposites.  Can you say “On the one hand” and “On the other hand”? 

What’s next in the writing process?

After your fast and furious brainstorm, the next step is to create an outline. When you outline, you pick your best and brightest ideas. Then you begin organizing them into a coherent, linear argument. You select and sort supporting points, evidence, examples, and elaboration. To learn more about outlining, click here for the next article in our academic writing series. 

The best way to improve your writing is to join an academic or business English course . With guidance from an expert instructor and feedback from a community of peers, you can master the art of academic writing.

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• What is the difference between social and academic English, Part 2
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• Academic Writing Tip: Making an Outline

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The Writing Process

Making expository writing less stressful, more efficient, and more enlightening, search form, you are here.

• Step 1: Generate Ideas

Brainstorming

"It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to always be right by having no ideas at all." —Edward de Bono

Most people have been taught how to brainstorm, but review these instructions to make sure you understand all aspects of it.

• Don't write in complete sentences, just words and phrases, and don't worry about grammar or even spelling;
• Again, do NOT judge or skip any idea, no matter how silly or crazy it may initially seem; you can decide later which ones are useful and which are not, but if you judge now, you may miss a great idea or connection;
• Do this for 15, 20, or (if you're on a roll) even 30 minutes--basically until you think you have enough material to start organizing or, if needed, doing research.

Below is a sample brainstorm for an argument/research paper on the need for a defense shield around the earth:

Photo: "Brainstorm" ©2007 Jonathan Aguila

How to Write a Persuasive Essay (This Convinced My Professor!)

Table of contents

Meredith Sell

You can make your essay more persuasive by getting straight to the point.

In fact, that's exactly what we did here, and that's just the first tip of this guide. Throughout this guide, we share the steps needed to prove an argument and create a persuasive essay.

This AI tool helps you improve your essay > This AI tool helps you improve your essay >

Key takeaways: - Proven process to make any argument persuasive - 5-step process to structure arguments - How to use AI to formulate and optimize your essay

Why is being persuasive so difficult?

"Write an essay that persuades the reader of your opinion on a topic of your choice."

You might be staring at an assignment description just like this 👆from your professor. Your computer is open to a blank document, the cursor blinking impatiently. Do I even have opinions?

The persuasive essay can be one of the most intimidating academic papers to write: not only do you need to identify a narrow topic and research it, but you also have to come up with a position on that topic that you can back up with research while simultaneously addressing different viewpoints.

That’s a big ask. And let’s be real: most opinion pieces in major news publications don’t fulfill these requirements.

The upside? By researching and writing your own opinion, you can learn how to better formulate not only an argument but the actual positions you decide to hold. 

Here, we break down exactly how to write a persuasive essay. We’ll start by taking a step that’s key for every piece of writing—defining the terms.

What Is a Persuasive Essay?

A persuasive essay is exactly what it sounds like: an essay that persuades . Over the course of several paragraphs or pages, you’ll use researched facts and logic to convince the reader of your opinion on a particular topic and discredit opposing opinions.

While you’ll spend some time explaining the topic or issue in question, most of your essay will flesh out your viewpoint and the evidence that supports it.

The 5 Must-Have Steps of a Persuasive Essay

If you’re intimidated by the idea of writing an argument, use this list to break your process into manageable chunks. Tackle researching and writing one element at a time, and then revise your essay so that it flows smoothly and coherently with every component in the optimal place.

1. A topic or issue to argue

This is probably the hardest step. You need to identify a topic or issue that is narrow enough to cover in the length of your piece—and is also arguable from more than one position. Your topic must call for an opinion , and not be a simple fact .

It might be helpful to walk through this process:

• Identify a random topic
• Ask a question about the topic that involves a value claim or analysis to answer
• Answer the question

That answer is your opinion.

Let’s consider some examples, from silly to serious:

Topic: Dolphins and mermaids

Question: In a mythical match, who would win: a dolphin or a mermaid?

Answer/Opinion: The mermaid would win in a match against a dolphin.

Topic: Autumn

Question: Which has a better fall: New England or Colorado?

Answer/Opinion: Fall is better in New England than Colorado.

Topic: Electric transportation options

Question: Would it be better for an urban dweller to buy an electric bike or an electric car?

Answer/Opinion: An electric bike is a better investment than an electric car.

Your turn: Walk through the three-step process described above to identify your topic and your tentative opinion. You may want to start by brainstorming a list of topics you find interesting and then going use the three-step process to find the opinion that would make the best essay topic.

2. An unequivocal thesis statement

If you walked through our three-step process above, you already have some semblance of a thesis—but don’t get attached too soon! 

A solid essay thesis is best developed through the research process. You shouldn’t land on an opinion before you know the facts. So press pause. Take a step back. And dive into your research.

You’ll want to learn:

• The basic facts of your topic. How long does fall last in New England vs. Colorado? What trees do they have? What colors do those trees turn?
• The facts specifically relevant to your question. Is there any science on how the varying colors of fall influence human brains and moods?
• What experts or other noteworthy and valid sources say about the question you’re considering. Has a well-known arborist waxed eloquent on the beauty of New England falls?

As you learn the different viewpoints people have on your topic, pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of existing arguments. Is anyone arguing the perspective you’re leaning toward? Do you find their arguments convincing? What do you find unsatisfying about the various arguments? 

Allow the research process to change your mind and/or refine your thinking on the topic. Your opinion may change entirely or become more specific based on what you learn.

Once you’ve done enough research to feel confident in your understanding of the topic and your opinion on it, craft your thesis. 

Your thesis statement should be clear and concise. It should directly state your viewpoint on the topic, as well as the basic case for your thesis.

Thesis 1: In a mythical match, the mermaid would overcome the dolphin due to one distinct advantage: her ability to breathe underwater.

Thesis 2: The full spectrum of color displayed on New England hillsides is just one reason why fall in the northeast is better than in Colorado.

Thesis 3: In addition to not adding to vehicle traffic, electric bikes are a better investment than electric cars because they’re cheaper and require less energy to accomplish the same function of getting the rider from point A to point B.

Your turn: Dive into the research process with a radar up for the arguments your sources are making about your topic. What are the most convincing cases? Should you stick with your initial opinion or change it up? Write your fleshed-out thesis statement.

3. Evidence to back up your thesis

This is a typical place for everyone from undergrads to politicians to get stuck, but the good news is, if you developed your thesis from research, you already have a good bit of evidence to make your case.

Go back through your research notes and compile a list of every …

… or other piece of information that supports your thesis. 

This info can come from research studies you found in scholarly journals, government publications, news sources, encyclopedias, or other credible sources (as long as they fit your professor’s standards).

As you put this list together, watch for any gaps or weak points. Are you missing information on how electric cars versus electric bicycles charge or how long their batteries last? Did you verify that dolphins are, in fact, mammals and can’t breathe underwater like totally-real-and-not-at-all-fake 😉mermaids can? Track down that information.

Next, organize your list. Group the entries so that similar or closely related information is together, and as you do that, start thinking through how to articulate the individual arguments to support your case. 

Depending on the length of your essay, each argument may get only a paragraph or two of space. As you think through those specific arguments, consider what order to put them in. You’ll probably want to start with the simplest argument and work up to more complicated ones so that the arguments can build on each other. 

Your turn: Organize your evidence and write a rough draft of your arguments. Play around with the order to find the most compelling way to argue your case.

4. Rebuttals to disprove opposing theses

You can’t just present the evidence to support your case and totally ignore other viewpoints. To persuade your readers, you’ll need to address any opposing ideas they may hold about your topic. 

You probably found some holes in the opposing views during your research process. Now’s your chance to expose those holes. 

Take some time (and space) to: describe the opposing views and show why those views don’t hold up. You can accomplish this using both logic and facts.

Is a perspective based on a faulty assumption or misconception of the truth? Shoot it down by providing the facts that disprove the opinion.

Is another opinion drawn from bad or unsound reasoning? Show how that argument falls apart.

Some cases may truly be only a matter of opinion, but you still need to articulate why you don’t find the opposing perspective convincing.

Yes, a dolphin might be stronger than a mermaid, but as a mammal, the dolphin must continually return to the surface for air. A mermaid can breathe both underwater and above water, which gives her a distinct advantage in this mythical battle.

While the Rocky Mountain views are stunning, their limited colors—yellow from aspen trees and green from various evergreens—leaves the autumn-lover less than thrilled. The rich reds and oranges and yellows of the New England fall are more satisfying and awe-inspiring.

But what about longer trips that go beyond the city center into the suburbs and beyond? An electric bike wouldn’t be great for those excursions. Wouldn’t an electric car be the better choice then? 

Certainly, an electric car would be better in these cases than a gas-powered car, but if most of a person’s trips are in their hyper-local area, the electric bicycle is a more environmentally friendly option for those day-to-day outings. That person could then participate in a carshare or use public transit, a ride-sharing app, or even a gas-powered car for longer trips—and still use less energy overall than if they drove an electric car for hyper-local and longer area trips.

Your turn: Organize your rebuttal research and write a draft of each one.

5. A convincing conclusion

You have your arguments and rebuttals. You’ve proven your thesis is rock-solid. Now all you have to do is sum up your overall case and give your final word on the subject. 

Don’t repeat everything you’ve already said. Instead, your conclusion should logically draw from the arguments you’ve made to show how they coherently prove your thesis. You’re pulling everything together and zooming back out with a better understanding of the what and why of your thesis. 

A dolphin may never encounter a mermaid in the wild, but if it were to happen, we know how we’d place our bets. Long hair and fish tail, for the win.

For those of us who relish 50-degree days, sharp air, and the vibrant colors of fall, New England offers a season that’s cozier, longer-lasting, and more aesthetically pleasing than “colorful” Colorado. A leaf-peeper’s paradise.

When most of your trips from day to day are within five miles, the more energy-efficient—and yes, cost-efficient—choice is undoubtedly the electric bike. So strap on your helmet, fire up your pedals, and two-wheel away to your next destination with full confidence that you made the right decision for your wallet and the environment.

3 Quick Tips for Writing a Strong Argument

Once you have a draft to work with, use these tips to refine your argument and make sure you’re not losing readers for avoidable reasons.

1. Choose your words thoughtfully.

If you want to win people over to your side, don’t write in a way that shuts your opponents down. Avoid making abrasive or offensive statements. Instead, use a measured, reasonable tone. Appeal to shared values, and let your facts and logic do the hard work of changing people’s minds.

Choose words with AI

You can use AI to turn your general point into a readable argument. Then, you can paraphrase each sentence and choose between competing arguments generated by the AI, until your argument is well-articulated and concise.

2. Prioritize accuracy (and avoid fallacies).

Make sure the facts you use are actually factual. You don’t want to build your argument on false or disproven information. Use the most recent, respected research. Make sure you don’t misconstrue study findings. And when you’re building your case, avoid logical fallacies that undercut your argument.

A few common fallacies to watch out for:

• Strawman: Misrepresenting or oversimplifying an opposing argument to make it easier to refute.
• Appeal to ignorance: Arguing that a certain claim must be true because it hasn’t been proven false.
• Bandwagon: Assumes that if a group of people, experts, etc., agree with a claim, it must be true.
• Hasty generalization: Using a few examples, rather than substantial evidence, to make a sweeping claim.
• Appeal to authority: Overly relying on opinions of people who have authority of some kind.

The strongest arguments rely on trustworthy information and sound logic.

Research and add citations with AI

We recently wrote a three part piece on researching using AI, so be sure to check it out . Going through an organized process of researching and noting your sources correctly will make sure your written text is more accurate.

3. Persuasive essay structure

If you’re building a house, you start with the foundation and go from there. It’s the same with an argument. You want to build from the ground up: provide necessary background information, then your thesis. Then, start with the simplest part of your argument and build up in terms of complexity and the aspect of your thesis that the argument is tackling.

A consistent, internal logic will make it easier for the reader to follow your argument. Plus, you’ll avoid confusing your reader and you won’t be unnecessarily redundant.

The essay structure usually includes the following parts:

• Intro - Hook, Background information, Thesis statement
• Topic sentence #1 , with supporting facts or stats
• Concluding sentence
• Topic sentence #2 , with supporting facts or stats
• Concluding sentence Topic sentence #3 , with supporting facts or stats
• Conclusion - Thesis and main points restated, call to action, thought provoking ending

Are You Ready to Write?

Persuasive essays are a great way to hone your research, writing, and critical thinking skills. Approach this assignment well, and you’ll learn how to form opinions based on information (not just ideas) and make arguments that—if they don’t change minds—at least win readers’ respect. ‍

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Welcome to Student Learning Te Taiako

Step 2: brainstorming and creating an argument.

After understanding the assignment question and criteria, the next step in the writing process is to brainstorm ideas. This will lead to the creation of your argument (i.e. your thesis). This stage usually begins with looking at the assignment question and writing down any of your ideas related to the topic.

There are different ways of brainstorming. Some people like to lay out connections in a mindmap or draw a storyboard or a chart. Others might find it helpful to brain spill (write everything they know about the topic for 2-5minutes) and then pull out ideas. After the initial brainstorming, you can usually plan an argument and group your raw ideas into main ideas to support this argument.

Below is an activity for brainstorming a sample question which asks you to argue for or against a global language. This can be a helpful way to brainstorm when you need to compare or contrast different points of views to create your argument. In this activity, many reasons for and against having a global language have been brainstormed for you. Drag each idea under the appropriate perspective.

Once you have brainstormed and categorised the ideas for your essay question, you will begin to see your argument form. For example, in the above brainstorming activity, you will notice that there are more ideas against creating a global language than there are for having a global language (hint, hint). This forms the basis of your argument, that there should NOT be a global language. This becomes your thesis statement and the ideas you brainstormed become reasons to support your argument.

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Course: college admissions   >   unit 4.

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• Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes

Brainstorming tips for your college essay

• How formal should the tone of your college essay be?
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• Sample essay 2 with admissions feedback
• Student story: Admissions essay about a formative experience
• Student story: Admissions essay about personal identity
• Student story: Admissions essay about community impact
• Student story: Admissions essay about a past mistake
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How to Write a Persuasive Essay: Tips and Tricks

Allison Bressmer

Most composition classes you’ll take will teach the art of persuasive writing. That’s a good thing.

Knowing where you stand on issues and knowing how to argue for or against something is a skill that will serve you well both inside and outside of the classroom.

Persuasion is the art of using logic to prompt audiences to change their mind or take action , and is generally seen as accomplishing that goal by appealing to emotions and feelings.

A persuasive essay is one that attempts to get a reader to agree with your perspective.

Ready for some tips on how to produce a well-written, well-rounded, well-structured persuasive essay? Just say yes. I don’t want to have to write another essay to convince you!

How Do I Write a Persuasive Essay?

What are some good topics for a persuasive essay, how do i identify an audience for my persuasive essay, how do you create an effective persuasive essay, how should i edit my persuasive essay.

Your persuasive essay needs to have the three components required of any essay: the introduction , body , and conclusion .

That is essay structure. However, there is flexibility in that structure.

There is no rule (unless the assignment has specific rules) for how many paragraphs any of those sections need.

Although the components should be proportional; the body paragraphs will comprise most of your persuasive essay.

How Do I Start a Persuasive Essay?

As with any essay introduction, this paragraph is where you grab your audience’s attention, provide context for the topic of discussion, and present your thesis statement.

TIP 1: Some writers find it easier to write their introductions last. As long as you have your working thesis, this is a perfectly acceptable approach. From that thesis, you can plan your body paragraphs and then go back and write your introduction.

TIP 2: Avoid “announcing” your thesis. Don’t include statements like this:

• “In my essay I will show why extinct animals should (not) be regenerated.”
• “The purpose of my essay is to argue that extinct animals should (not) be regenerated.”

Announcements take away from the originality, authority, and sophistication of your writing.

Instead, write a convincing thesis statement that answers the question "so what?" Why is the topic important, what do you think about it, and why do you think that? Be specific.

How Many Paragraphs Should a Persuasive Essay Have?

This body of your persuasive essay is the section in which you develop the arguments that support your thesis. Consider these questions as you plan this section of your essay:

• What arguments support your thesis?
• What is the best order for your arguments?
• What evidence do you have?
• Will you address the opposing argument to your own?
• How can you conclude convincingly?

TIP: Brainstorm and do your research before you decide which arguments you’ll focus on in your discussion. Make a list of possibilities and go with the ones that are strongest, that you can discuss with the most confidence, and that help you balance your rhetorical triangle .

What Should I Put in the Conclusion of a Persuasive Essay?

The conclusion is your “mic-drop” moment. Think about how you can leave your audience with a strong final comment.

And while a conclusion often re-emphasizes the main points of a discussion, it shouldn’t simply repeat them.

TIP 1: Be careful not to introduce a new argument in the conclusion—there’s no time to develop it now that you’ve reached the end of your discussion!

TIP 2 : As with your thesis, avoid announcing your conclusion. Don’t start your conclusion with “in conclusion” or “to conclude” or “to end my essay” type statements. Your audience should be able to see that you are bringing the discussion to a close without those overused, less sophisticated signals.

If your instructor has assigned you a topic, then you’ve already got your issue; you’ll just have to determine where you stand on the issue. Where you stand on your topic is your position on that topic.

Your position will ultimately become the thesis of your persuasive essay: the statement the rest of the essay argues for and supports, intending to convince your audience to consider your point of view.

If you have to choose your own topic, use these guidelines to help you make your selection:

• Choose an issue you truly care about
• Choose an issue that is actually debatable

Simple “tastes” (likes and dislikes) can’t really be argued. No matter how many ways someone tries to convince me that milk chocolate rules, I just won’t agree.

It’s dark chocolate or nothing as far as my tastes are concerned.

Similarly, you can’t convince a person to “like” one film more than another in an essay.

You could argue that one movie has superior qualities than another: cinematography, acting, directing, etc. but you can’t convince a person that the film really appeals to them.

Once you’ve selected your issue, determine your position just as you would for an assigned topic. That position will ultimately become your thesis.

Until you’ve finalized your work, consider your thesis a “working thesis.”

This means that your statement represents your position, but you might change its phrasing or structure for that final version.

When you’re writing an essay for a class, it can seem strange to identify an audience—isn’t the audience the instructor?

Your instructor will read and evaluate your essay, and may be part of your greater audience, but you shouldn’t just write for your teacher.

Think about who your intended audience is.

For an argument essay, think of your audience as the people who disagree with you—the people who need convincing.

That population could be quite broad, for example, if you’re arguing a political issue, or narrow, if you’re trying to convince your parents to extend your curfew.

Once you’ve got a sense of your audience, it’s time to consult with Aristotle. Aristotle’s teaching on persuasion has shaped communication since about 330 BC. Apparently, it works.

Aristotle taught that in order to convince an audience of something, the communicator needs to balance the three elements of the rhetorical triangle to achieve the best results.

Those three elements are ethos , logos , and pathos .

Ethos relates to credibility and trustworthiness. How can you, as the writer, demonstrate your credibility as a source of information to your audience?

How will you show them you are worthy of their trust?

• You show you’ve done your research: you understand the issue, both sides
• You show respect for the opposing side: if you disrespect your audience, they won’t respect you or your ideas

Logos relates to logic. How will you convince your audience that your arguments and ideas are reasonable?

You provide facts or other supporting evidence to support your claims.

That evidence may take the form of studies or expert input or reasonable examples or a combination of all of those things, depending on the specific requirements of your assignment.

Remember: if you use someone else’s ideas or words in your essay, you need to give them credit.

ProWritingAid's Plagiarism Checker checks your work against over a billion web-pages, published works, and academic papers so you can be sure of its originality.

Find out more about ProWritingAid’s Plagiarism checks.

Pathos relates to emotion. Audiences are people and people are emotional beings. We respond to emotional prompts. How will you engage your audience with your arguments on an emotional level?

• You make strategic word choices : words have denotations (dictionary meanings) and also connotations, or emotional values. Use words whose connotations will help prompt the feelings you want your audience to experience.
• You use emotionally engaging examples to support your claims or make a point, prompting your audience to be moved by your discussion.

Be mindful as you lean into elements of the triangle. Too much pathos and your audience might end up feeling manipulated, roll their eyes and move on.

An “all logos” approach will leave your essay dry and without a sense of voice; it will probably bore your audience rather than make them care.

Once you’ve got your essay planned, start writing! Don’t worry about perfection, just get your ideas out of your head and off your list and into a rough essay format.

After you’ve written your draft, evaluate your work. What works and what doesn’t? For help with evaluating and revising your work, check out this ProWritingAid post on manuscript revision .

After you’ve evaluated your draft, revise it. Repeat that process as many times as you need to make your work the best it can be.

When you’re satisfied with the content and structure of the essay, take it through the editing process .

Grammatical or sentence-level errors can distract your audience or even detract from the ethos—the authority—of your work.

You don’t have to edit alone! ProWritingAid’s Realtime Report will find errors and make suggestions for improvements.

You can even use it on emails to your professors:

Try ProWritingAid with a free account.

How Can I Improve My Persuasion Skills?

You can develop your powers of persuasion every day just by observing what’s around you.

• How is that advertisement working to convince you to buy a product?
• How is a political candidate arguing for you to vote for them?
• How do you “argue” with friends about what to do over the weekend, or convince your boss to give you a raise?
• How are your parents working to convince you to follow a certain academic or career path?

As you observe these arguments in action, evaluate them. Why are they effective or why do they fail?

How could an argument be strengthened with more (or less) emphasis on ethos, logos, and pathos?

Every argument is an opportunity to learn! Observe them, evaluate them, and use them to perfect your own powers of persuasion.

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Allison Bressmer is a professor of freshman composition and critical reading at a community college and a freelance writer. If she isn’t writing or teaching, you’ll likely find her reading a book or listening to a podcast while happily sipping a semi-sweet iced tea or happy-houring with friends. She lives in New York with her family. Connect at linkedin.com/in/allisonbressmer.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, brainstorming ideas for a persuasive essay.

I've got to write a persuasive essay for my English class, and I'm struggling to come up with a topic. Can anyone share their go-to topics or methods that help them with brainstorming ideas?

I understand that selecting a topic for your persuasive essay can be challenging. Here are some methods and tips to help you brainstorm:

1. Consider issues or current events: Browse through the latest news articles, editorials, and popular debates to find current, relevant controversies. Topics related to technology, politics, social causes, environment, and education are usually rich resources for persuasive essays.

2. Reflect on personal experiences: Think about aspects of your personal life that have sparked your interest or led to taking a firm stance. This could be experiences at school, your community, or relationships with people around you. Writing on something that has real-world significance to you can make your essay more authentic and persuasive.

3. Take a contrarian approach: Consider selecting a topic that most people agree upon and attempt to argue the opposite. This method can be an excellent exercise in critical thinking and help you come up with a unique angle for your essay.

4. Freewriting: Set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes and write without stopping. Jot down whatever comes to your mind, including random topics, opinions, or viewpoints. Once the timer stops, review what you've written and identify any patterns or potential essay topics.

5. Mind mapping: Write down a central theme or subject, then draw branches with sub-topics that stem from the main theme. This visual tool enables you to delve into different subjects and explore various aspects related to a central idea.

Some potential persuasive essay topics to consider:

- Should schools have mandatory uniforms?

- Do social media platforms have a responsibility to combat misinformation?

- Should college be free for everyone?

- The benefits and drawbacks of implementing a universal basic income.

- The importance of mental health resources in schools and workplaces.

Remember to choose a topic that genuinely interests you and can elicit a strong response. This enthusiasm will naturally lead to more persuasive writing and a more enjoyable writing process. Good luck!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

Persuasive Essay Writing

How to Write a Persuasive Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide

13 min read

Published on: Jan 3, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 29, 2024

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It's the night before the essay is due, and you haven't even started. Your mind is blank, and you have no idea what words will persuade your teacher. 

The good news is that some tips and tricks can make the process of writing a persuasive essay much easier.

In this blog, we'll break down the components of a persuasive essay and provide helpful tips and examples along the way. By the end, you should have all the guidelines to create a winning essay that will persuade your readers to see things your way.

Let's take a closer look at all these steps.

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What is a Persuasive Essay?

A persuasive essay presents logical arguments with emotional appeal.

Typically, persuasive essays begin with a question that the writer spends the essay arguing in favor of or opposition to. 

For example: should kids be allowed to play video games on weekdays? 

The writer would then spend the rest of the essay backing up their claim with reasons and evidence. 

Persuasive essays often include counterarguments. These arguments oppose the writer's position. 

By including counterarguments, persuasive essays become more interesting. They also force the writer to think critically about their position.

For example, an opponent of the previous argument might say that playing video games leads to poor grades. 

The original writer could deny this claim by pointing to studies that show no correlation between bad grades and playing video games.

The best persuasive essays are well-researched and use data to support their claims. 

However, persuasive essays are not just about logic. They also need to include emotional appeal. 

After all, people are more likely to be persuaded by an argument that speaks to their feelings. 

Elements of a Persuasive Essay 

When a persuasive essay is a task, you must keep these three greek terms in mind. They are:

• Ethos (appeal to ethics) 
• Pathos (appeal to emotion)
• Logos (appeal to logic)

A good essay will use all of these elements to convince the reader that the argument presented is valid. 

Let's take a closer look at each one.

Ethos - the Credibility Element 

The persuasive power of ethos lies in the character or credibility of the person making the argument. 

For an argument to be persuasive, the person presenting it must be someone that the audience trusts. 

This could be because they are an expert on the subject or because they have first-hand experience with it. Either way, ethos establishes the speaker's credibility and makes the audience more likely to trust what they have to say.

Pathos -the Emotional Element 

While ethos deals with the character of the person making the argument, pathos has to do with the audience's emotions. A persuasive argument will tap into the audience's emotions and use them to sway their opinion.

This could be done through stories or anecdotes that evoke an emotional response or by using language that stirs certain feelings.

Logos - the Logical Element 

The final element of persuasion is logos, which appeals to logic. A persuasive argument will use sound reasoning and evidence to convince the audience that it is valid. This could be done through data or using persuasive techniques like cause and effect.

Using all these elements of a persuasive essay can make your argument much more effective. 

How To Write a Persuasive Essay

Writing persuasive essays can be challenging, but they don't have to be.

With the following simple steps, you can quickly turn an ordinary essay into one that will make a lasting impression. 

Tough Essay Due? Hire a Writer!

How To Start a Persuasive Essay 

Here is a complete guide on how to start a persuasive essay. Follow them to compose a perfect essay every time. 

Brainstorm All Possible Angles 

The first step in writing a persuasive essay is brainstorming. You need to develop an angle for your essay that will make it unique and interesting. 

For example, let's say you're writing about the death penalty. A lot has been said on this topic, so it might be hard to find an angle that hasn't been covered already. 

But if you think about it, there are many different ways to approach the issue. 

Maybe you could write about the personal experiences of someone affected by the death penalty. Or maybe you could write about the economic costs of the death penalty. 

There are many possibilities here - it's all about thinking creatively.

Select Your Topic

Once you've brainstormed a few ideas, it's time to choose your topic. Pick the angle you think will most effectively persuade your reader. 

Once you've chosen your topic, it's time to research. Use statistics, expert opinions, and real-life examples to support your position. 

Choose Your Side

Now that you've researched, it's time to take a side in the debate. Remember, you must take a strong stance on one side of the issue. 

After deciding your stance, research and support it with evidence.

Appeal to Human Emotions 

One of the most effective ways to persuade someone is by appealing to their emotions. 

After all, we're not robots - we're human beings and always make decisions based on our feelings. 

Make your reader feel something, whether it's anger, sadness, empathy, or even amusement. You'll be well on convincing them of your point of view. 

Anticipate Possible Objections.

Of course, not everyone will agree, and that's okay! 

The important thing is that you anticipate some of those objections and address them head-on in your essay. 

This shows that you take your reader's objections seriously and are confident in your position. 

Organize Your Evidence 

Once you have all of your evidence collected, it's time to start organizing it into an outline for your essay.  

Organizing your essay is a key step in the writing process. It helps you keep track of all the evidence you've gathered and structure your argument in an organized way.

What Are The Steps To Write Your Persuasive Essay?

Now that you have your topic essay outline, it's time to move on to the actual writing.

Here are the steps you need to take:

Step 1: Create a Compelling Introduction

You want to hook your readers with a great opening for your persuasive essay, so they'll want to keep reading.

Here are 3 tips for writing an attention-grabbing introduction for your next essay.

• Use a strong hook statement

Your hook statement should immediately draw the reader in and make them want to learn more. 

A good hook statement will vary depending on whether you're writing for an academic or more casual audience. 

Still, some good options include a quote, an interesting statistic, or a rhetorical question.

• Make sure your thesis statement is clear and concise

Your thesis statement is the main argument of your essay, so it needs to be stated clearly and concisely in your introduction.

 A good thesis statement will be specific and limit the scope of your argument so that it can be fully addressed in the body of your paper.

• Use a transition

Transitions are important in writing for academic and non-academic audiences because they help guide the reader through your argument. 

A good transition will introduce the main point of your next paragraph while still maintaining the connection to the previous one.

Step 2: Write The Body Paragraphs

Here is a formula for structuring your body paragraphs in a persuasive essay. 

This formula will ensure that each body paragraph is packed with evidence and examples while still being concise and easy to read.

• The Topic Sentence

Every body paragraph should start with a topic sentence. A topic sentence is a key sentence that sums up the paragraph's main point. 

It should be clear, concise, and direct. 

For example, if you were writing a paragraph about the importance of exercise, your topic sentence might be this:

"Regular exercise is essential for good physical and mental health."

See how that sentence gives a clear overview of what the rest of the paragraph will be about.

• Relevant Supporting Sentences

Once your topic sentence is down, it's time to fill the rest of the paragraph with relevant supporting sentences. 

These sentences should provide evidence to support the claims made in the topic sentence. 

For the exercise example, we might use sentences like this:

"Exercise has been shown to improve heart health, reduce stress levels, and boost brain power."

"A sedentary lifestyle has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, and type II diabetes."

See how each sentence ties back to the paragraph's main point. That's what you want your supporting sentences to do.

• Closing Sentence

Last but not least, every body paragraph should end with a closing (or transition) sentence. This sentence should briefly summarize the main points of the paragraph and introduce the next point that will be discussed in the following paragraph. 

For the exercise example, the closing sentence might look like this:

"So, as you can see, there are many compelling reasons to make exercise a regular part of your routine."

How to End a Persuasive Essay

The end of your essay is just as important as the introduction. You must leave your readers with a lasting impression and ensure your argument convinces them. 

To do this, you'll want to craft a persuasive conclusion that ties together all the points you have made in the essay.

Here is a video explaining the body paragraphs in a persuasive essay. Check it out for more information. 

Step 1: Write a Persuasive Conclusion

Here are a few tips to help make sure your persuasive essay conclusion is as effective and persuasive as possible. 

• Restate Your Thesis

Begin your essay conclusion by restating the thesis statement you began within your introduction. Doing so will remind readers of what you set out to prove and provide a sense of closure.

• Summarize Your Arguments

 You can also use your conclusion to summarize the main points of your argument. This will help readers recall the evidence you presented and reinforce why it supports your thesis. 

• Offer a Call to Action

Lastly, don't forget to include a call to action in your essay conclusion. This can be anything from a persuasive plea to a persuasive suggestion. 

Step 2:  Polish Up Your Essay

After you’re done with the essay, take a few minutes to read through it. Ensure that your persuasive points and evidence are clear, concise, and persuasive. 

Also, double-check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Ensure that all of your persuasive points are properly explained and make sense to the reader. 

If you’re not confident in your persuasive writing skills, you can enlist a friend or family member to read through it and provide feedback.

You can follow a proofreading checklist after completing your essay to ensure you are on track.

By following these steps, you’ll end up with a persuasive essay that will impress anyone who reads it!

Format Of A Persuasive Essay 

Once you have your persuasive essay topic, it's time to craft an essay structure. Crafting the perfect persuasive essay format is essential for ensuring your paper has maximum persuasive power.

Here are some tips for formatting an effective persuasive essay.

• Increase the Readability of Your Text 

Ensure that you have adhered to all the paragraphing requirements of your instructor. 

Double-check that your margins are set properly. A margin of 1 inch (2.5 cm) on all sides is the standard for most written documents.

This makes it easier for readers to focus and extract important information quickly.

• Use Easy-to-Read Font

Choose a font that is easy to read and professional. Stay away from script fonts or anything too fancy or difficult to read. Stick with basic fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, and Calibri.

• Keep a Defined Alignment

Align your persuasive essay to the left margin. This makes it easier for readers to follow along with your argument without having to do too much extra scrolling. 

By following these simple tips, you'll be able to craft the perfect persuasive essay format.

Persuasive Essay Examples

Here are some examples of persuasive essays that can help you get the gist of essay writing.

Persuasive essay on the preservation of nature

Persuasive essay examples pdf

Example of a persuasive essay about covid-19

Check out some more  persuasive essay examples  here for more inspiration.

Good Persuasive Essay Topics

The right persuasive essay topics can make or break your essay. Here are a few examples of persuasive essay topics that can help you. 

• Should the government increase taxes on sugary foods to reduce obesity? 
• Do standardized tests accurately measure student intelligence and aptitude? 
• Should studying a foreign language be mandatory in schools? 
• Should all high school students complete community service hours before graduating? 
• Are video games affecting the concentration and cognitive development of children? 
• Should genetically modified foods be labeled as such in stores? 
• Are the current copyright laws protecting artists and content creators enough? 
• Should college tuition be reduced for all students? 
• Is the use of animals in medical research ethical? 
• Should the use of drones be regulated by the government? 
• Should college athletes receive payment for their performance? 
• Should students be allowed to have cell phones in school? 
• Is drug testing in schools an effective way to prevent substance abuse? 
• Does social media promote a healthy lifestyle or contribute to cyber bullying? 
• Should the voting age be lowered to 16? 

If you’re stuck with choosing topics, these are great  persuasive essay topics  to get you started! 

Pick one of these and craft an essay that will leave your readers thinking. 

Tips to Write a Compelling Persuasive Essay

Here are a few tips and tricks to help you make a lasting impression on your reader:

Pick A Topic You're Passionate About

First, you need to choose a topic you're passionate about. It will be easier to write about the topic if you care about the essay. 

This will make it easier to develop persuasive arguments, and you'll be more motivated to do research.

Research Your Topic Thoroughly

After picking a persuasive essay topic, you need thorough research. This will help you gain a better understanding of the issue, which in turn will make your essay stronger. This will also ensure that you fully grasp all counterarguments on your topic.

Know Your Audience

Knowing your audience before writing is important. Are you writing to your classmates? Your teacher? The general public? Once you know your audience, you can tailor your argument to them. 

Knowing your audience will help determine the tone and approach of your essay.

Hook The Reader's Attention

The first few sentences of your essay are crucial - they must grab the reader's attention and make them want to keep reading. 

One way to do this is by starting with a shocking statistic or an interesting story. The reader will be instantly hooked and will be enticed to read more.

Research Both Sides 

A good persuasive essay will consider both sides of an issue and present a well-rounded view. This means researching both sides of the argument before taking a stance. 

Make sure to consider all the evidence before making up your mind - otherwise, your argument won't be as strong as it could be.

Ask Rhetorical Questions

Rhetorical questions are not meant to be answered but rather to make the reader think about the issue. 

For example, "How can we expect our children to succeed in school if they don't have enough resources?" 

Questions like this can help engage readers and get them thinking about solutions rather than just complaining about problems.

Emphasize Your Point

It's important to reiterate your main points throughout the essay so that readers don't forget what they are supposed to argue for or against by the time they reach the end of the paper.

Persuasive essays can be difficult to write, but following simple tips can help make the process easier. 

In this blog, we've outlined the components of a persuasive essay and provided some tips on how to write one. We also shared examples of persuasive essays that scored high marks on standardized tests. 

If you are looking for an essay writing service , look no further than CollegeEssay.org! Our experienced essay writer can provide the assistance you need to produce an essay that meets the highest standards.

Let our persuasive essay writer handle the hard work and get you started on your path to success.

Try our AI essay writer and elevate your writing to new heights today!

Frequently Asked Questions About Persuasive Essays

How long should a persuasive essay be.

Generally speaking, persuasive essays should be between 500-750 words. However, the length of your essay will depend on the instructions given by your teacher or professor.

What Techniques Are Used In Persuasive Essays?

Persuasive techniques include facts and statistics, emotion and logic, personal stories, analogies and metaphors, pathos, ethos, and logos.

How Do I Make My Persuasive Essay More Convincing?

To make your essay more convincing, cite reliable sources, use persuasive language, and provide strong evidence and arguments.

How Is Persuasive Writing Different From Argumentative Writing?

The main difference between persuasive and argumentative writing is that persuasive writing seeks to convince or persuade the reader. On the other hand, argumentative writing seeks to debate an issue.

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How to Begin a Persuasive Essay

Last Updated: January 31, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 335,670 times.

The goal of a persuasive essay is to convince your readers of a certain perspective on a topic. To do this, you'll have to get them hooked with a well-crafted, engaging introductory section that leads into a developed thesis statement. The best opening, however, will depend on the issue at hand, the argument you are trying to make about it, and the audience you are trying to persuade. Before you can write an amazing introduction, you need to do some initial research so that you can tailor your introduction to the needs of the essay, your argument, and your audience.

Brainstorming and Outlining Introduction Ideas

• For example, if you want to write about juvenile crime, choose a narrow section of it, such as the practice of trying juveniles as adults in certain cases.
• Try to choose a topic that’s really interesting to you. It will make the essay much more fun to write!
• The subject of your essay might be predetermined if, for example, you’re writing an essay for class or are sending it to a senator or a newspaper about a certain topic.

• Ask yourself what is at stake regarding the issue you are researching. Why does the issue matter and why should others care? Once you can identify that, it will be easier to frame your argument.
• For example, if your topic is factory farming, your angle could be that factory farming releases large amounts of methane gas, which contribute to climate change and the global epidemic of unpredictable and increasingly violent weather. You could frame it as both an environmental and a public safety issue.

• Use scholarly search engines such as Google Scholar, EBSCO, or JSTOR, rather than regular searches, and try to use trustworthy sites like news agencies and .edu URLs.

• You’ll be hinting at your evidence in your introductory paragraph, so it’s important that you know what it is before you start writing.
• A piece of evidence that appeals to the reader’s ethics is one that comes from a trustworthy source. For example, if you’re writing an essay on the use of euthanasia, you could cite works or quotations from doctors or end-of-life caregivers who have direct experience working with it.
• In a paper persuading people to decrease their water use, a piece of evidence that appeals to your sense of logic could be something like, “Using more water not only wastes more of this resource, but also increases your utilities bill.”
• In a paper persuading people to adopt animals from the shelter, you could use an emotional appeal like, “Milo, a golden retriever puppy, was found on the side of the road when he was just 4 weeks old. If he’s not adopted soon from his overcrowded shelter, he’ll have to be put down.”

• For example, if you started with the angle that capital punishment should be illegal worldwide, you could expand that into a thesis like, “Capital punishment should be banned all over the world for humanitarian reasons alone, but also because of its lack of efficacy as a crime deterrent.”

• Your paper can go longer than this, but try not to go any shorter, since you won’t be able to include all of the evidence you’ll need.
• You can organize your outline with Roman numerals, regular numbers, or bullet points—whatever feels most comfortable to you.

Crafting Your Hook

• For example, in a paper persuading people to support prison reform, you could start off with something like, “The United States has the largest prison population in the entire world. The country that comes closest, China, has a prison population that is a full 25% lower.” [3] X Research source
• To introduce a paper about capital punishment, you could use a quote like, “When discussing capital punishment, two quotes are often brought up: ‘an eye for an eye,’ and ‘an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
• If you use one of these approaches, remember to include a brief, 1-sentence explanation of why you’re including it. Don’t just start off with a quote or statistic, then jump straight into your background information.

• For example, in a paper on reforming the juvenile justice system, you could say something like, “Joseph Creedwell was only 14 years old when he was first sent to a juvenile detention facility. His crime? Stealing a pack of gum from the convenience store across from his school.”
• If you’re using a personal anecdote, first make sure that this format is appropriate for first-person narration. If it’s an essay for a class, ask your teacher.

• For example, in an essay about conserving water use, you could say something like, “Even before science showed just how necessary water was for human survival, people understood the crucial importance, and even sanctity, of this resource.”
• Try to avoid cliches like "Since the beginning of time," or "The dictionary defines _____ as..."

• For example, in an essay on animal protection, you could write, “Many people know that animal species are going extinct, but have you ever wondered exactly how many species have died out since you’ve been born?”

• In an essay against the use of euthanasia, for example, you could write, for example, “According to its supporters, euthanasia is a merciful and painless way to end a life that is no longer wanted, and they have a point.”

Introducing Your Topic and Thesis

• For example, in an essay against capital punishment, you could say something like, “Capital punishment directly affects a very small percentage of the population, but its ripple effects—the effects on the person’s family and friends, on the people who read about it and hear of it—are much larger. In an even greater sense, capital punishment is a statement about the society we live in.”

• For example, in a persuasive essay on gun control, you could write, “Gun control laws have a long and fraught history in the United States, and understanding the nature of their back-and-forth growth and decline is crucial for understanding the current state of weapons law.”
• Depending on your paper, your background information could take up anywhere from 2-3 sentences to a whole paragraph.

• For example, in an essay persuading people to oppose a new park project, you could write, “As much as a new park benefits a city’s residents, natural green space is vital to the environmental life of a community. Besides serving as an interesting insight into what the area was like before development, it provides crucial habitat for native plants and animals that may otherwise turn to residential space and face endangerment in urban an environment.”

• For example, in an essay supporting the use of euthanasia, you could write, “Nowhere is the efficacy of euthanasia more visible than in the cases of patients with painful, terminal diseases.” This kind of sentence could either go at the end of your introduction paragraph or at the beginning of the first body paragraph.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

• For example, in an essay against drunk driving, it’s fine to use an eye-catching statistic, like, “Every 2 minutes, one person is injured in a drunk driving crash.” But avoid analyzing that statistic with something like, “It’s likely that everyone knows at least one person affected by a drunk driving incident, meaning that the issue has wide-ranging consequences. In many places, one effect is a growing numbness towards the issue at all. Police officers report that...” [10] X Research source

• For example, avoid writing something like, “I am going to prove to you that…” or “This essay will show that…” These kinds of phrases are typically jarring and unnecessary.

• For example, a fact you picked up about bee flight patterns might be interesting, but isn’t relevant to a paper on why the world needs to protect its bee population.
• You may also want to leave out “book report” information, such as the full title, author, or year of publication of a book you’re writing your persuasive essay about, unless that information is for a specific purpose. You’ll be able to cite your sources in full in your bibliography or works cited page.

• For example, in an essay about vegetarianism, avoid saying something like, “People have killed and eaten animals since the beginning of time.” While this may be true, it’s not catching the reader’s attention or adding anything to the essay that they didn’t already know.

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• It’s OK if your introduction isn’t perfect just yet. Write out the rest of your essay, then go back to revise and polish when you’re in a fresh state of mind. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/introductions/
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baxDMu_1M0c&feature=youtu.be&t=1m19s
• ↑ https://www.georgebrown.ca/uploadedFiles/TLC/_documents/Hooks%20and%20Attention%20Grabbers.pdf
• ↑ https://education.seattlepi.com/write-good-argumentative-essay-introduction-1484.html
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baxDMu_1M0c&feature=youtu.be&t=1m44s
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baxDMu_1M0c&feature=youtu.be&t=1m59s
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baxDMu_1M0c&feature=youtu.be&t=41s
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baxDMu_1M0c&feature=youtu.be&t=47s
• ↑ https://www.madd.org/statistics/

About this article

To begin a persuasive essay, start with a hook to catch the reader’s attention, such as a startling statistic, a question, or an intriguing anecdote. Next, briefly explain why they should care about the topic and provide some background information to help them feel comfortable with it. Then, present your thesis statement, which is a short, concise explanation of your perspective and why it’s the right one. Lastly, hint at your opening pieces of evidence before going on to your first paragraph! For tips on how to organize your essay and avoid common errors, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Persuasive Essay

Connecting With Readers on an Emotional Level Takes Skill and Careful Planning

• Writing Essays
• Writing Research Papers
• English Grammar
• M.A., English Literature, California State University - Sacramento
• B.A., English, California State University - Sacramento

When writing a persuasive essay, the author's goal is to sway the reader to share his or her opinion. It can be more difficult than  making an argument , which involves using facts to prove a point. A successful persuasive essay will reach the reader on an emotional level, much the way a well-spoken politician does. Persuasive speakers aren't necessarily trying to convert the reader or listener to completely change their minds, but rather to consider an idea or a focus in a different way. While it's important to use credible arguments supported by facts, the persuasive writer wants to convince the reader or listener that his or her argument is not simply correct, but convincing as well.

The are several different ways to choose a topic for your persuasive essay . Your teacher may give you a prompt or a choice of several prompts. Or you may have to come up with a topic, based on your own experience or the texts you've been studying. If you do have some choice in the topic selection, it's helpful if you select one that interests you and about which you already feel strongly.

Another key factor to consider before you begin writing is the audience. If you're trying to persuade a roomful of teachers that homework is bad, for instance, you'll use a different set of arguments than you would if the audience was made up of high school students or parents.

Once you have the topic and have considered the audience, there are a few steps to prepare yourself before you begin writing your persuasive essay:

• Brainstorm.  Use whatever method of brainstorming works best for you. Write down your thoughts about the topic. Make sure you know where you stand on the issue. You can even try asking yourself some questions. Ideally, you'll try to ask yourself questions that could be used to refute your argument, or that could convince a reader of the opposite point of view. If you don't think of the opposing point of view, chances are your instructor or a member of your audience will.
• Investigate.  Talk to classmates, friends, and teachers about the topic. What do they think about it? The responses that you get from these people will give you a preview of how they would respond to your opinion. Talking out your ideas, and testing your opinions, is a good way to collect evidence. Try making your arguments out loud. Do you sound shrill and angry, or determined and self-assured? What you say is as important as how you say it.
• Think.  It may seem obvious, but you really have to think about how you are going to persuade your audience. Use a calm, reasoning tone. While persuasive essay writing is at its most basic an exercise in emotion, try not to choose words that are belittling to the opposing viewpoint, or that rely on insults. Explain to your reader why, despite the other side of the argument, your viewpoint is the "right," most logical one.
• Find examples.  There are many writers and speakers who offer compelling, persuasive arguments. Martin Luther King Jr.'s " I Have a Dream " speech is widely cited as one of the most persuasive arguments in American rhetoric. Eleanor Roosevelt's " The Struggle for Human Rights " is another example of a skilled writer trying to persuade an audience. But be careful: While you can emulate a certain writer's style, be careful not to stray too far into imitation. Be sure the words you're choosing are your own, not words that sound like they've come from a thesaurus (or worse, that they're someone else's words entirely).
• Organize.  In any paper that you write you should make sure that your points are well-organized and that your supporting ideas are clear, concise, and to the point. In persuasive writing, though, it is especially important that you use specific examples to illustrate your main points. Don't give your reader the impression that you are not educated on the issues related to your topic. Choose your words carefully.
• Stick to the script.  The best essays follow a simple set of rules: First, tell your reader what you're going to tell them. Then, tell them. Then, tell them what you've told them. Have a strong, concise thesis statement before you get past the second paragraph, because this is the clue to the reader or listener to sit up and pay attention.
• Review and revise.  If you know you're going to have more than one opportunity to present your essay, learn from the audience or reader feedback, and continue to try to improve your work. A good argument can become a great one if properly fine-tuned.
• How to Write and Structure a Persuasive Speech
• Persuasion and Rhetorical Definition
• Persuasive Writing: For and Against
• How to Write a Good Thesis Statement
• Ethos, Logos, Pathos for Persuasion
• Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay
• What Is Expository Writing?
• 5 Steps to Writing a Position Paper
• How to Write a Narrative Essay or Speech
• Convince Me: A Persuasive Writing Activity
• Writing Prompt (Composition)
• 49 Opinion Writing Prompts for Students
• What Is a Rhetorical Device? Definition, List, Examples
• 100 Persuasive Essay Topics
• Impromptu Speech Activities
• 6 Steps to Writing the Perfect Personal Essay

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A Comprehensive Guide to Writing an Effective Persuasive Essay

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Imagine being able to sway opinions, influence decisions, and convince others with the power of words.

That’s what good persuasive writing can help you achieve! Persuasive essays provide you an opportunity to express your opinions, convince your readers, inspire action, and make a lasting impact. 

So how can you write a great persuasive essay? 

If you're eager to learn the art of persuasive writing, you're in the right place. In this guide, we’ll dive into the step-by-step writing process that can help you. You’ll also get example essays and tips that will make your persuasive writing stand out. 

Let’s dive in!

• 1. What is a Persuasive Essay?
• 2. The 3 Elements of Persuasion
• 3. How to Write a Persuasive Essay
• 4. Persuasive Essay Structure
• 5. Persuasive Essay Examples
• 6. Persuasive Essay Topics
• 7. Tips for Writing Stand-Out Persuasive Essays

What is a Persuasive Essay?

A persuasive essay is a form of writing that aims to convince its audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take a specific course of action. 

The writer takes a clear position on an issue and attempts to convince the readers through different persuasive techniques, such as evidence and anecdotes. The point is to resonate with the readers emotionally AND logically on a specific issue. 

It's like being a lawyer in a courtroom, making a compelling argument to sway the jury (your readers) to your side. The goal of a persuasive essay can vary, from changing the readers’ opinion on a controversial topic to inspiring them to support a cause or take action on an issue.

What’s the Difference Between Persuasive & Argumentative Essays?

Persuasive and argumentative essays are often confused with each other, but they have distinct differences in terms of their purpose and approach. 

Here are the main differences between persuasive vs. argumentative essays:

The 3 Elements of Persuasion

Before we get into the writing steps, we must understand the basic elements of persuasion. These elements, known as "ethos," "pathos," and "logos," are fundamental to crafting a persuasive essay that resonates with your audience and effectively conveys your message.

• Ethos: Building Credibility and Trust

Ethos, derived from the Greek word for "character," focuses on establishing your credibility as a writer and gaining the trust of your readers. It involves establishing one's authority, expertise, and reliability in the eyes of the audience. In a persuasive essay, ethos is often established through:

• Demonstrating expertise on the subject matter.
• Citing credible sources and references.
• Maintaining a respectful and professional tone.
• Acknowledging and addressing opposing viewpoints.

These steps can help you gain the trust of your readers. Ethos provides them a reason to trust you and listen to your arguments.

• Pathos: Stirring Emotions and Empathy

Pathos is the emotional appeal aimed at evoking specific emotions or empathy from the audience. It seeks to connect with readers on a personal and emotional level. In a persuasive essay, pathos can be incorporated by:

• Using vivid and emotionally charged language.
• Sharing compelling anecdotes or stories.
• Appealing to the values and beliefs of the audience.
• Highlighting the human or emotional impact of the topic.

The emotional aspect is essential to good persuasive writing. Still, it should be used in moderation to be effective. 

• Logos: Employing Logic and Reasoning

Logos appeals to the reader's sense of logic and reason. It involves presenting a well-structured, logical argument supported by evidence. In a persuasive essay, logos is evident through:

• Presenting clear and well-structured arguments.
• Providing factual evidence, statistics, and research findings.
• Using logical reasoning and deductive or inductive arguments.
• Addressing and refuting counterarguments effectively.

When used together, these three elements can be effective tools for persuasion. By utilizing all three elements, the speaker increases the chances of influencing their audience. You can read more about ethos, pathos, and logos to understand them better and ensure their correct usage in your writing. 

Here is a video you can watch about the three persuasive techniques:

How to Write a Persuasive Essay

Persuasive essays are very common, especially for students. However, they are challenging to write if you don’t know where to start. Here are the steps that can help make your writing process easier.

Step 1: Select an Interesting Topic & Define Your Position

Choosing a topic is the most crucial part. Your topic should be engaging and debatable, in which you can clearly define your position. Here are some tips for selecting a topic:

• Identify Your Interests: You should consider something that is interesting to you too, as this will make it easier and enjoyable for you to write about it. 
• Consider Your Audience: Think about who your target audience is. Your topic should resonate with them and be relevant to their interests, concerns, or beliefs.
• Define Your Position: Clearly define your stance or position on your potential topics. Ask yourself: What do I want to persuade my audience to believe or do regarding this topic? What are the key points or arguments I will use to support my position? 
• Avoid Overly Broad or Narrow Topics: Ensure that your topic is neither too broad nor too narrow. An overly broad topic may lack focus, while an overly narrow one may not provide enough material for a persuasive argument.

Step 2: Research & Gather Evidence

Gather credible sources, statistics, facts, and evidence to support your argument. Conducting thorough research uncovers the themes, arguments, and discussions about your topic, helping you find the best arguments you need.

While collecting information, take detailed notes so you can cite sources later. You also have to evaluate the evidence and priotize those points that can better support your position.

Step 3: Make an Outline

Now that you’ve gathered your main points, you need to organize them in a logical structure. Outline the structure of your essay with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Here are the main points you should include in your first outline: 

• Thesis Statement: State the main thesis of your essay. presents your main argument. It should clearly mention your position on the topic and how you are going to argue for it.
• Body Paragraphs: The body paragraph outline should contain the topic sentence and supporting points. Mention clear and concise topic sentences that introduce the main point of each paragraph.
• Supporting Evidence: Also add supporting evidence, examples, statistics, or quotes for each paragraph that bolster your argument. Ensure each piece of evidence is relevant and directly supports your point.
• Conclusion: If your persuasive essay aims to prompt a specific action or response from the reader, include a call to action in your outline. Clearly state what you want your audience to think or do after reading your essay.

See this outline format below to understand better:

Persuasive Essay Outline Format

Want to learn more about making an outline? Check out our complete guide to crafting a persuasive essay outline . 

Step 4: Write Your First Draft

With a solid outline in place, it's time to start crafting your persuasive essay's first draft. Follow these guidelines to write your initial draft effectively:

• Follow the Outline: Refer to your outline as your roadmap. Begin by writing the introduction, followed by the body paragraphs, addressing each point in the order outlined. Finish with the conclusion.
• Write Freely: In the first draft, focus on getting your ideas down on paper without worrying too much about perfection. Don't be overly concerned about grammar, spelling, or word choice at this stage; you can edit and refine later.
• Maintain a Consistent Tone: Maintain a tone that aligns with your persuasive goals, whether it's authoritative, passionate, or empathetic. Consistency in tone will help your argument come across convincingly.
• Support with Evidence: As you develop your arguments in the body paragraphs, ensure that each point is supported with strong evidence, examples, statistics, or quotes from credible sources.
• Address Counterarguments: Incorporate responses to potential counterarguments where relevant, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of the issue and reinforcing your position.
• Be Concise and Clear: Write concisely, expressing your ideas clearly and avoiding unnecessary jargon or complexity. The clarity of your arguments is crucial for persuading your audience.

Step 5: Proofread & Revise

Once you've completed the first draft, take a break to gain some distance from your work. When you return, begin the revision process. Focus on refining your arguments, improving clarity, and ensuring that your essay flows logically.

• Proofread: Carefully proofread your first draft for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Improve the essay format and clarity wherever possible. 
• Seek Feedback: Share your first draft with peers, teachers, or writing tutors to obtain feedback on the persuasiveness, clarity, and overall effectiveness of your essay. Use this feedback to make necessary improvements.
• Polish Your Draft: After incorporating feedback and revising accordingly, refine your essay to its final form. Ensure that it aligns with your outline and effectively conveys your persuasive message.
• Cite Sources: Remember to include proper citations for all sources used within your essay. Follow the citation style specified by your instructor or guidelines.

Persuasive Essay Structure

A well-structured persuasive essay is essential to effectively convey your argument and persuade your audience. The structure typically consists of three main parts: the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. 

A persuasive essay should be at least five paragraphs long. With one introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, the number of body paragraphs can extend based on your topic.

Introduction

The essay introduction serves as the gateway to your persuasive essay. Its primary purpose is to grab the reader's attention, provide context for your argument, and present your thesis statement—the core of your persuasive message. Here's how to craft an engaging introduction:

• Hook: Start with a compelling hook—a catchy phrase, a thought-provoking question, a surprising statistic, or a relevant anecdote that draws the reader in and piques their interest.
• Background Information: Offer a brief overview of the topic to provide context and ensure that your readers understand the issue at hand. Keep this section concise and relevant.
• Thesis Statement: Conclude your introduction with a clear and concise thesis statement . This statement should clearly state your position on the topic and preview the main points you'll be discussing in the body of your essay.

Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs form the core of your persuasive essay, where you present your point of view and build your case. Here's how to structure and write effective body paragraphs:

• Topic Sentence: Start each body paragraph with a topic sentence that introduces the main point or argument of that paragraph.
• Supporting Evidence: Follow the topic sentence with relevant evidence, examples, statistics, quotes, or facts that support your argument. Ensure that your evidence is credible and directly relates to your point.
• Analysis: After presenting your evidence, analyze it thoroughly. Explain how the evidence supports your thesis and persuades the reader. Discuss the implications and significance of the evidence.
• Transition: Use transition sentences at the end of each body paragraph to link it to the next one. These transitions ensure that your essay flows smoothly, maintaining coherence.

The conclusion is where you bring your persuasive essay to a close, summarizing your main points, restating your thesis, and leaving a lasting impression. Follow these guidelines for an effective conclusion:

• Summarize Main Points: Begin by summarizing the key points you've made in the body of your essay. Concisely restate the main arguments you presented.
• Restate Thesis: Reiterate your thesis statement in slightly different words. Emphasize the central message of your essay.
• Closing Statement: End your conclusion with a thought-provoking or memorable closing statement. This statement should leave a lasting impact on the reader, encouraging them to reflect on your argument.
• Avoid New Information: Do not introduce new information or arguments in the conclusion. It should provide a sense of closure rather than introducing new ideas.

Persuasive Essay Format

After writing the complete essay according to the structure above, you need to ensure correct formatting. Formatting ensures that your essay is readable and presentable.

There are several standardized formatting styles used in writing, such as APA and MLA . If you are writing a persuasive essay as an assignment, always ask your instructor about their preferred format. 

Meanwhile, you should format your essay according to these common guidelines:

• Font Style:       Times New Roman.
• Font Size:        12pt 
• Line Spacing:   Double-spaced.
• Alignment:       Left Alignment
• Indent:              First-Line indent

Persuasive Essay Examples

Studying persuasive essay examples can be immensely helpful in understanding how to craft a compelling and effective persuasive essay.

Check out these sample essays below:

Persuasive Essay on Social Media (PDF)

Persuasive Essay Samples (PDF)

Persuasive Essay on Abortions (PDF)

Persuasive Essay Sample - Death Penalty

Persuasive Essay on the Preservation of Nature

Want more examples? We’ve got you covered! Head to our persuasive essay examples blog to find persuasive papers on various topics.

Persuasive Essay Topics

Selecting an engaging and relevant topic is the first step in crafting a persuasive essay. Here are a few persuasive essay prompts and ideas to spark your inspiration:

• Advocate for the reduction of single-use plastics to combat plastic pollution.
• Argue for the inclusion of financial literacy education in high school curricula.
• Argue for responsible usage and regulations to combat negative influence of social media.
• Persuade readers of the benefits of universal healthcare.
• Take a stance on the importance of online privacy and stronger data protection laws.
• Argue for electoral reform, such as ranked-choice voting, to improve the fairness and effectiveness of elections.
• Convince your audience of the benefits of supporting local businesses and shopping locally.
• Make a case for stricter penalties against human trafficking.
• Argue for increased public funding for the arts to support creativity and cultural enrichment.
• Argue for or against the use of artificial intelligence and automation in the workplace.

Need more ideas? Check out our compilation of 200+ persuasive essay topics and find the best topic.

Tips for Writing Stand-Out Persuasive Essays

Now that you know the writing steps and have read some examples, you are able to write a good persuasive essay. However, you can make it even better with the following tips and techniques:

• Clarity and Conciseness: Write in a clear and concise way. Avoid jargon or overly complex language to make your message easily understandable.
• Use Persuasive Techniques: Employ persuasive language and rhetoric techniques, such as ethos, pathos, and logos, to appeal to your audience's emotions, ethics, and logic. Use powerful verbs, descriptive adjectives, and vivid metaphors to make your writing engaging.
• Tell a Compelling Story: Use storytelling techniques to illustrate your points. Engaging narratives can make your arguments more relatable and memorable.
• Provide Real-Life Examples: Support your arguments with concrete, real-life examples and case studies. Personal anecdotes or case stories can be particularly persuasive.
• Address the Reader Directly: Use the second-person point of view (you) to address the reader directly, making your essay more engaging and relatable.
• Maintain a Confident Tone: Maintain a confident and assertive tone throughout your essay. Confidence in your message can persuade readers to adopt your viewpoint.
• Provide Solutions: Suggest practical solutions or actions that can be taken to address the issue you're discussing. Offering a path forward can be persuasive.

To conclude,

From understanding the fundamentals of persuasion to learning the writing steps, you now know how to craft an essay that engages and compels your audience to accept your position. Additionally, with the help of our examples and tips, you can make your arguments even stronger.

With this knowledge and techniques, you're now ready to embark on your persuasive writing endeavors. So start writing persuasive papers without hesitation and inspire others to see the world through your lens.  

Moreover, if you need further writing help, consider using our persuasive essay writing service which is equipped with a team of seasoned writers ready to offer their expertise. Our writing professionals are committed to crafting essays that are insightful, well-researched, and impactful - tailored to your specific needs!

So get our essay help now for guaranteed results!

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Caleb S. has been providing writing services for over five years and has a Masters degree from Oxford University. He is an expert in his craft and takes great pride in helping students achieve their academic goals. Caleb is a dedicated professional who always puts his clients first.

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Where to Begin? 6 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises

←8 Do’s and Don’ts for Crafting Your College Essay

Creating the First Draft of Your College Application Essay →

The Common App publishes a list of 7 prompts each year. They ultimately ask for similar types of responses, regardless of slight alterations year-to-year. The Common App prompts provide you with a forum to write about yourself, using whatever anecdote or vehicle you wish in order to communicate something profound and genuine about yourself to adcoms.

If this feat seems daunting or spellbindingly vague to you, you are not alone. For virtually every student applying to college, the moment when you sit down to draft your personal statement is likely the first—and may end up being the only—time in your life when you are pushed to describe your entire identity succinctly and eloquently. So, where to begin?

As with any writing assignment, the best way to approach the personal essay is to brainstorm what it is you want the entire essay to communicate about you to the adcom that will be considering you for admission. Read on for 4 surprising brainstorming exercises that will lead you to an effective personal statement strategy.

1. Consider the four core questions.

When writing your personal statement, there are four questions that your essay should answer:

• “Who am I?”
• “Why am I here?”
• “What is unique about me?”
• “What matters to me?”

These questions are important because they help bring awareness to the kind of person you are and touch on things such as your personality traits, your journey throughout high school, the interests and skills that make you unique, and what’s important to you. Colleges want to understand how you became who you are, and where you’re going (successful alumni reflect well on their school, after all!).

2. Try freeform writing.

To help answer these questions and start brainstorming, freeform writing is a good place to start. Begin by writing down 3-5 aspects of your personality or experiences and spend some time constructing narratives out of these different combinations.

This process of getting some ideas on paper and seeing how they can relate to each other can help you better identify a prompt that works for you. For example, you might note that you enjoy tutoring students in STEM, and are now working with a local school to create a Women in STEM initiative in your school district. You may also have tried previous initiatives that failed. These experiences could be constructed and applied to a number of Common App prompts. You could address a specific identity or interest you have associated with STEM, discuss what you learned from your failed initiatives, explore how you challenged the lack of women in STEM programs in your school district, envision solving for the lack of women involved in the science and mathematics fields, etc.

3. Make a list of opinions you firmly hold and explain them.

This exercise requires you to think about aspects of your identity that you have actively chosen. While exercise #4 asks you to consider what parts of your identity you have struggled to overcome, this exercise asks you to consider what aspects of your identity you are most proud of—those opinions that you hold because you chose to believe in something specific of your own accord.

This is an important brainstorming exercise because it should get you thinking about things you are passionate about. Ultimately, you will want to write your personal statement about something that defines you, gets you excited, and can exhibit your ability to think and speak for yourself. So now, before you start writing, make a list of the things that you care about most, and explain why you feel that way about them.

This list can include everything from your political affiliation to your stance on McDonald’s decision in the past year to serve breakfast for longer. The point of this exercise is that there is no right or wrong way of going about it, no topic that is more worthwhile than any other so long as you are passionate about it.

4. Make a list of your character flaws.

While the ultimate goal of the personal essay is to present yourself in as positive a light as possible to adcoms, the challenge is to do so in a way that is realistic and genuine. To do this, you’ll need to do some serious thinking about what types of character flaws accompany your best traits.

There are two main reasons why we suggest that students not shy away from talking about their own shortcomings as well as their achievements. The first reason is quite simple: a personal statement that paints a picture of its writer as perfect and without flaws will come across as dishonest and unrealistic. Obviously, you want to avoid this at all costs. Second, and even more important, if you are able to write a personal statement that acknowledges your flaws and recognizes that you are imperfect, it will reflect positively on you and vouch for your maturity.

If it feels counterintuitive or scary to dwell on anything other than successes, do not fret: that is the expected reaction to this advice. But if done correctly, acknowledging that you are not perfect can add genuineness to any personal essay. So, how to discuss character flaws? There are several ways to go about this.

One way is to discuss a character flaw that you have always struggled with and worked to improve upon throughout your life. In this scenario, discussing flaws can help introduce a discussion about growth or maturation and give your personal statement a nice narrative arc. Yet another way to discuss your character flaws is to acknowledge how certain struggles or personal shortcomings have shaped your identity, allowing you to go into more detail about the ways in which you were able to better yourself by identifying a flaw in yourself and being willing to fix it.

The thinking here is that students have no difficulty remembering all of the accomplishments, productive experiences, and glowing achievements that they want to include in their personal statements. After all, it is easy to write about these things. It is much harder to force yourself to think about aspects of your identity that rankle, and to think about how these things have shaped you.

5. Reflect on your choices and why you made them.

Another brainstorming exercise that can help you think of a topic is to reflect on what choices you’ve made and why. Once you come up with a list, it will be easier to see what you value and the direction in which you can take your essay.

Think about some of these questions to get the juices flowing:

• Why are they my best friend?
• Under what circumstances did we become friends?
• When did we last fight?
• If I had to spend 10 days doing the same exercise or physical activity, what would I choose? Why?
• Say I had to pick one food, and my three closest friends or family members could only eat that food for one week. What would that food be and why?
• Say I had to start a business selling something, and I would achieve the average level of success (financially, socially, etc) within that business, what would I choose to do?
• What movie would I want to take the place of a character in and which character would I want to play? Why?
• What class or teacher did I like most, and why? What class or teacher did I dislike most, and why?
• If I had to choose between singing, doing standup comedy, or dancing in front of 18,000 people, what would I choose? Why?

6. Make a list of anecdotes, childhood memories, or stories about yourself. Then choose one and make it your “vehicle.”

Finally, you should conclude your brainstorming session by searching for a vehicle: an anecdote that you can use to frame your personal statement.

You can use anecdotes in your personal statement in a number of ways. Some students choose to open with one, others close with one, and still others will use two or three anecdotes in order to add color and rhetorical flair to the points they are trying to make about themselves. The best types of anecdotes are the ones that tell the most about you or give insight into your character.

When we help students write their personal statements, we usually begin by brainstorming a few potential anecdotes to use in your essay. But if you are wondering what the point is of using an anecdote— Why use one at all when I could save words and just talk about myself ?—it’s useful to first understand why telling a story or two makes your personal statement stronger.

Ultimately, you will want your personal statement to communicate something about your character and personality that is unique and appealing to schools. When an adcom reads your personal statement, they are looking to hear about you in general, they are looking to learn something unique or special about you (so they can differentiate you from other applicants), and they are also looking for evidence that you would be a valuable addition to their community. But the fact of the matter is that these are fairly broad and vague directives to write about if you don’t have something specific to focus on.

This is where the anecdotes come in to save the day! They help instigate a conversation about yourself, your personality, your identity, and your character while also giving you something concrete to talk about. This is why we call it a “vehicle”—it can exist in its own right, but it carries with it important information about you as well.

Now that you know what the purpose of this vehicle is, it should be a little easier to brainstorm the anecdote(s) that you choose to frame your personal statement with. If you are not yet sure what to write about in your personal statement, you can start brainstorming anecdotes from your childhood, from favorite family stories to fond memories, from hilarious vacation mishaps to particularly tender moments. Do your parents have favorite stories to tell about you? Write those into your list as well.

Once you have a collection of stories to work with, you may begin to see certain patterns forming. Perhaps all of your favorite stories take place in the same setting—a vacation home that meant a lot to you or in the classroom of your favorite teacher. Maybe, you will realize that all of your fondest memories involve a certain activity or hobby of yours. Or, alternatively, you may notice that one story from your childhood mirrors or foreshadows a like, dislike, or accomplishment that would come to fruition later in your life.

If you already know what you want to say about yourself, you can come at the same exercise from another angle: try to think of several anecdotes that could be potential vehicles for the message about yourself that you want to transmit. If you want to illustrate that you love to learn, try to think pointedly about where that love comes from or what you have done that proves this. In this case, remember that any given anecdote can reveal more than one thing about you.

It is hard to imagine all of the possible personal statements that could come out of this brainstorming session, but it is almost certain that this exercise will help you come up with several concrete points to make about yourself and provide you with a tangible way to say those things.

Final Thoughts

If after doing these six brainstorming exercises, you still don’t feel ready to write your personal statement, fear not! Writing a personal essay is daunting and won’t be done in three steps, or even three days! 

For more guidance, check out these blog posts:

How to Write a Personal Statement That Wows Colleges

How to Come Up With an Idea for a Personal Statement

How to Write the Common App Essays

Mastering the Personal Statement

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 perfect persuasive essay topics for any assignment.

General Education

Do you need to write a persuasive essay but aren’t sure what topic to focus on? Were you thrilled when your teacher said you could write about whatever you wanted but are now overwhelmed by the possibilities? We’re here to help!

Read on for a list of 113 top-notch persuasive essay topics, organized into ten categories. To help get you started, we also discuss what a persuasive essay is, how to choose a great topic, and what tips to keep in mind as you write your persuasive essay.

What Is a Persuasive Essay?

In a persuasive essay, you attempt to convince readers to agree with your point of view on an argument. For example, an essay analyzing changes in Italian art during the Renaissance wouldn’t be a persuasive essay, because there’s no argument, but an essay where you argue that Italian art reached its peak during the Renaissance would be a persuasive essay because you’re trying to get your audience to agree with your viewpoint.

Persuasive and argumentative essays both try to convince readers to agree with the author, but the two essay types have key differences. Argumentative essays show a more balanced view of the issue and discuss both sides. Persuasive essays focus more heavily on the side the author agrees with. They also often include more of the author’s opinion than argumentative essays, which tend to use only facts and data to support their argument.

All persuasive essays have the following:

• Introduction: Introduces the topic, explains why it’s important, and ends with the thesis.
• Thesis: A sentence that sums up what the essay be discussing and what your stance on the issue is.
• Reasons you believe your side of the argument: Why do you support the side you do? Typically each main point will have its own body paragraph.
• Evidence supporting your argument: Facts or examples to back up your main points. Even though your opinion is allowed in persuasive essays more than most other essays, having concrete examples will make a stronger argument than relying on your opinion alone.
• Conclusion: Restatement of thesis, summary of main points, and a recap of why the issue is important.

What Makes a Good Persuasive Essay Topic?

Theoretically, you could write a persuasive essay about any subject under the sun, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Certain topics are easier to write a strong persuasive essay on, and below are tips to follow when deciding what you should write about.

It’s a Topic You Care About

Obviously, it’s possible to write an essay about a topic you find completely boring. You’ve probably done it! However, if possible, it’s always better to choose a topic that you care about and are interested in. When this is the case, you’ll find doing the research more enjoyable, writing the essay easier, and your writing will likely be better because you’ll be more passionate about and informed on the topic.

You Have Enough Evidence to Support Your Argument

Just being passionate about a subject isn’t enough to make it a good persuasive essay topic, though. You need to make sure your argument is complex enough to have at least two potential sides to root for, and you need to be able to back up your side with evidence and examples. Even though persuasive essays allow your opinion to feature more than many other essays, you still need concrete evidence to back up your claims, or you’ll end up with a weak essay.

For example, you may passionately believe that mint chocolate chip ice cream is the best ice cream flavor (I agree!), but could you really write an entire essay on this? What would be your reasons for believing mint chocolate chip is the best (besides the fact that it’s delicious)? How would you support your belief? Have enough studies been done on preferred ice cream flavors to support an entire essay? When choosing a persuasive essay idea, you want to find the right balance between something you care about (so you can write well on it) and something the rest of the world cares about (so you can reference evidence to strengthen your position).

It’s a Manageable Topic

Bigger isn’t always better, especially with essay topics. While it may seem like a great idea to choose a huge, complex topic to write about, you’ll likely struggle to sift through all the information and different sides of the issue and winnow them down to one streamlined essay. For example, choosing to write an essay about how WWII impacted American life more than WWI wouldn’t be a great idea because you’d need to analyze all the impacts of both the wars in numerous areas of American life. It’d be a huge undertaking. A better idea would be to choose one impact on American life the wars had (such as changes in female employment) and focus on that. Doing so will make researching and writing your persuasive essay much more feasible.

List of 113 Good Persuasive Essay Topics

Below are over 100 persuasive essay ideas, organized into ten categories. When you find an idea that piques your interest, you’ll choose one side of it to argue for in your essay. For example, if you choose the topic, “should fracking be legal?” you’d decide whether you believe fracking should be legal or illegal, then you’d write an essay arguing all the reasons why your audience should agree with you.

Arts/Culture

• Should students be required to learn an instrument in school?
• Did the end of Game of Thrones fit with the rest of the series?
• Can music be an effective way to treat mental illness?
• With e-readers so popular, have libraries become obsolete?
• Are the Harry Potter books more popular than they deserve to be?
• Should music with offensive language come with a warning label?
• What’s the best way for museums to get more people to visit?
• Should students be able to substitute an art or music class for a PE class in school?
• Are the Kardashians good or bad role models for young people?
• Should people in higher income brackets pay more taxes?
• Should all high school students be required to take a class on financial literacy?
• Is it possible to achieve the American dream, or is it only a myth?
• Is it better to spend a summer as an unpaid intern at a prestigious company or as a paid worker at a local store/restaurant?
• Should the United States impose more or fewer tariffs?
• Should college graduates have their student loans forgiven?
• Should restaurants eliminate tipping and raise staff wages instead?
• Should students learn cursive writing in school?
• Which is more important: PE class or music class?
• 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?
• Does doing homework actually help students learn more?
• Why do students in many other countries score higher than American students on math exams?
• Should parents/teachers be able to ban certain books from schools?
• What’s the best way to reduce cheating in school?
• Should colleges take a student’s race into account when making admissions decisions?
• Should there be limits to free speech?
• Should students be required to perform community service to graduate high school?
• Should convicted felons who have completed their sentence be allowed to vote?
• Should gun ownership be more tightly regulated?
• Should recycling be made mandatory?
• Should employers be required to offer paid leave to new parents?
• Are there any circumstances where torture should be allowed?
• Should children under the age of 18 be able to get plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons?
• Should white supremacy groups be allowed to hold rallies in public places?
• Does making abortion illegal make women more or less safe?
• Does foreign aid actually help developing countries?
• Are there times a person’s freedom of speech should be curtailed?
• Should people over a certain age not be allowed to adopt children?

Government/Politics

• Should the minimum voting age be raised/lowered/kept the same?
• Should Puerto Rico be granted statehood?
• Should the United States build a border wall with Mexico?
• Who should be the next person printed on American banknotes?
• Should the United States’ military budget be reduced?
• Did China’s one child policy have overall positive or negative impacts on the country?
• Should DREAMers be granted US citizenship?
• Is national security more important than individual privacy?
• What responsibility does the government have to help homeless people?
• Should the electoral college be abolished?
• Should the US increase or decrease the number of refugees it allows in each year?
• Should privately-run prisons be abolished?
• Who was the most/least effective US president?
• Will Brexit end up helping or harming the UK?

• What’s the best way to reduce the spread of Ebola?
• Is the Keto diet a safe and effective way to lose weight?
• Should the FDA regulate vitamins and supplements more strictly?
• Should public schools require all students who attend to be vaccinated?
• Is eating genetically modified food safe?
• What’s the best way to make health insurance more affordable?
• What’s the best way to lower the teen pregnancy rate?
• Should recreational marijuana be legalized nationwide?
• Should birth control pills be available without a prescription?
• Should pregnant women be forbidden from buying cigarettes and alcohol?
• Why has anxiety increased in adolescents?
• Are low-carb or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• What caused the destruction of the USS Maine?
• Was King Arthur a mythical legend or actual Dark Ages king?
• Was the US justified in dropping atomic bombs during WWII?
• What was the primary cause of the Rwandan genocide?
• What happened to the settlers of the Roanoke colony?
• Was disagreement over slavery the primary cause of the US Civil War?
• What has caused the numerous disappearances in the Bermuda triangle?
• Should nuclear power be banned?
• Is scientific testing on animals necessary?
• Do zoos help or harm animals?
• Should scientists be allowed to clone humans?
• Should animals in circuses be banned?
• Should fracking be legal?
• Should people be allowed to keep exotic animals as pets?
• What’s the best way to reduce illegal poaching in Africa?
• What is the best way to reduce the impact of global warming?
• Should euthanasia be legalized?
• Is there legitimate evidence of extraterrestrial life?
• Should people be banned from owning aggressive dog breeds?
• Should the United States devote more money towards space exploration?
• Should the government subsidize renewable forms of energy?
• Is solar energy worth the cost?
• Should stem cells be used in medicine?
• Is it right for the US to leave the Paris Climate Agreement?
• Should athletes who fail a drug test receive a lifetime ban from the sport?
• Should college athletes receive a salary?
• Should the NFL do more to prevent concussions in players?
• Do PE classes help students stay in shape?
• Should horse racing be banned?
• Should cheerleading be considered a sport?
• Should children younger than 18 be allowed to play tackle football?
• Are the costs of hosting an Olympic Games worth it?
• Can online schools be as effective as traditional schools?
• Do violent video games encourage players to be violent in real life?
• Should facial recognition technology be banned?
• Does excessive social media use lead to depression/anxiety?
• Has the rise of translation technology made knowing multiple languages obsolete?
• Was Steve Jobs a visionary or just a great marketer?
• Should social media be banned for children younger than a certain age?
• Which 21st-century invention has had the largest impact on society?
• Are ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft good or bad for society?
• Should Facebook have done more to protect the privacy of its users?
• Will technology end up increasing or decreasing inequality worldwide?

Tips for Writing a Strong Persuasive Essay

After you’ve chosen the perfect topic for your persuasive essay, your work isn’t over. Follow the three tips below to create a top-notch essay.

Do Your Research

Your argument will fall apart if you don’t fully understand the issue you’re discussing or you overlook an important piece of it. Readers won’t be convinced by someone who doesn’t know the subject, and you likely won’t persuade any of them to begin supporting your viewpoint. Before you begin writing a single word of your essay, research your topic thoroughly. Study different sources, learn about the different sides of the argument, ask anyone who’s an expert on the topic what their opinion is, etc. You might be tempted to start writing right away, but by doing your research, you’ll make the writing process much easier when the time comes.

Make Your Thesis Perfect

Your thesis is the most important sentence in your persuasive essay. Just by reading that single sentence, your audience should know exactly what topic you’ll be discussing and where you stand on the issue. You want your thesis to be crystal clear and to accurately set up the rest of your essay. Asking classmates or your teacher to look it over before you begin writing the rest of your essay can be a big help if you’re not entirely confident in your thesis.

Consider the Other Side

You’ll spend most of your essay focusing on your side of the argument since that’s what you want readers to come away believing. However, don’t think that means you can ignore other sides of the issue. In your essay, be sure to discuss the other side’s argument, as well as why you believe this view is weak or untrue. Researching all the different viewpoints and including them in your essay will increase the quality of your writing by making your essay more complete and nuanced.

Summary: Persuasive Essay Ideas

Good persuasive essay topics can be difficult to come up with, but in this guide we’ve created a list of 113 excellent essay topics for you to browse. The best persuasive essay ideas will be those that you are interested in, have enough evidence to support your argument, and aren’t too complicated to be summarized in an essay.

After you’ve chosen your essay topic, keep these three tips in mind when you begin writing:

• Do your research
• Make your thesis perfect
• Consider the other side

What's Next?

Need ideas for a research paper topic as well? Our guide to research paper topics has over 100 topics in ten categories so you can be sure to find the perfect topic for you.

Thinking about taking an AP English class? Read our guide on AP English classes to learn whether you should take AP English Language or AP English Literature (or both!)

Deciding between the SAT or ACT? Find out for sure which you will do the best on . Also read a detailed comparison between the two tests .

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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10 Tips for a Persuasive Presentation

Powerful presentation is persuasion. here's how to elevate your impact..

Posted May 11, 2024 | Reviewed by Ray Parker

• Presentations aim to effect change. It's essential to be clear about what change you want to see.
• Powerful presenters embrace and extend empathy to seek first to understand their audience.
• Substance and style both matter to create an audience-informed communication experience.
• Persuasive presentations are relevant, reasoned, real, and resonant.

How many of us realize that giving a presentation or making a speech is all about persuasion , influence, and emotional intelligence ? Impactful presenters understand the power of empathy to understand and engage their audience, the efficiency and kindness of having a clear objective and message, and the importance of substance and style—all as a way to connect in a way that engages and inspires.

Much has been written on the power and behavioral science of persuasion, not least by expert Robert Cialdini. His bestselling book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion explains seven research-based universal principles of influence .

From my experience as a leadership coach working with thousands of people worldwide, I have compiled a list of ten essentials to elevate our presentation.

1. Maintain an "other" focus. What do you know about your audience and how can you find out more? Ask yourself what kind of a speaker will appeal to your audience, what arguments are likely to resonate with them, and what feelings you want to inspire so the audience will positively respond to your ask.

If your audience is predominantly data-driven, you may want to use more evidence-based arguments. If the audience is mixed, a combination of data, authority, and storytelling may be more appropriate. Extend Daniel Goleman’s three types of empathy to gather intelligence , understand your audience, and tailor your intervention to connect more profoundly.

2. Determine a specific objective. Presentations aim to effect change in some way. What change do you want to see in your audience?

For instance, gaining their approval for a certain investment, soliciting their buy-in for a change, or creating a sense of enthusiasm for an idea or initiative. The purpose of a presentation is to bring about change so make sure you are clear on what kind of change you want to bring about.

3. Design a grabber. Our attention spans have shrunk as we have more and more competing demands on our attention . If you want to get someone’s attention, you need to grab it at the outset and try and hold on.

You can do this in several different ways. Throw out a question that demands a response from the audience. Give a surprising fact or statistic, or quote from a well-known figure. Tell a story or an anecdote. A good grabber captures the attention of everyone there and makes them focus on what you have to say.

4. Crystalize your message and construct your arguments. Your message is the heart of your speech. Craft a brief phrase that clearly defines your proposal in 10-12 words—for example, “This post is about crafting presentations that inspire and engage others to elevate their presentations.”

Make it memorable by choosing inspiring words, symbols, catchy expressions, something that will remain in the audience's mind. As Brené Brown says: “Clear is kind,” and a clear message provides a path to develop your ideas.

When you have a clear and concise message, it helps you formulate your arguments. Think of developing your arguments using the rule of three —three compelling arguments to convince but not overwhelm your audience.

5. Prepare a call to action. Remember, we want to change our audience in some way, so we need to make our ask clearly and concretely. Consider your call to action in terms of what you want your audience to think/feel/do:

• Think: “I want you to think about how you can improve your presentations.”
• Feel: “I want you to feel enthusiastic and motivated so that you can elevate your power to persuade.”
• Do: “I want you to try out some of these tips and tools for yourself.”

6. Craft a memorable closing. Close the speech in an elegant and memorable way. We need people to remember what we've told them, so prepare it well.

This is not the time to improvise. Try to connect your closing to your opening grabber, which makes the presentation more memorable. Good preparation means preparing everything to the very end—finish well.

7. Plan your delivery. A dynamic speaker draws listeners in by using vocal variety (tone, intonation, speed, volume, pace, pauses, silence) and body language (posture, gestures, expression, and movement) to highlight important points and hold the audience’s attention. Be intentional: How will you use your voice and your body to emphasize a thought or idea? Think about it: If you increased the time you spent on style or delivery by 20 percent, what would it mean for the impact you make?

8. Think about how you will engage your audience. You want the audience to feel considered throughout. Include pauses so they can process what’s being said; connect with individuals throughout the room and make deliberate eye contact while speaking, especially when delivering key points. Read and respond to the audience by changing how you deliver as you go based on the audience’s nonverbal communication .

9. Rehearse and practice. Practice is one of the most crucial elements of presenting—and probably the most neglected one. If this is new to you, start by reading your presentation in front of a mirror to get comfortable speaking your presentation.

Next, video yourself and watch out for nervous or distracting habits to eliminate them and identify any areas where you can improve your delivery. If you are feeling brave, practice in front of an audience and ask for feedback.

10. Prepare your success rituals and mantra. Public speaking and/or stage fright can feel debilitating for some. Have your calm-down ritual prepared and ready to go before you start your presentation. This might be a certain gesture, a power pose, breathwork, or a mantra.

Try this tip: Identify three adjectives to describe how you would like to show up during this presentation. This sets an intention and helps focus our cognitive and emotional resources on success.

Powerful presenters embrace and extend empathy to seek first to understand their audience. They use this intelligence to carefully make choices about substance and style to create an audience-informed communication experience that feels relevant, reasoned, real, and resonant and creates a pathway for change.

Palena Neale, Ph.D. , is a women’s leadership coach, lecturer, and founder of unabridged, a boutique leadership development practice.

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வற்புறுத்தும் கட்டுரை எழுதுவது எப்படி?

• ஸ்மோடின் ஆசிரியர் குழு
• புதுப்பித்தது: 5 மே, 2024

முதல் பார்வையில், வற்புறுத்தும் கட்டுரையை உருவாக்குவது பூங்காவில் நடப்பது போல் தோன்றலாம். நீங்கள் ஒரு நிலைப்பாட்டை தேர்வு செய்து, ஆதாரங்களை சேகரித்து, உங்கள் பார்வையாளர்களுக்கு வழங்குகிறீர்கள். ஆனால் அது உண்மையில் அவ்வளவு எளிமையானதா?

எந்தவொரு மாணவரும் அல்லது ஆசிரியரும் அறிந்தது போல, ஒவ்வொரு தூண்டுதலான கட்டுரையும் நேராக A அல்ல. உங்கள் வாதம் குறைபாடுள்ளது அல்லது நம்பத்தகாதது என்ற கருத்தைப் பெறுவதற்காக மட்டுமே உயர் தரத்தை எதிர்பார்த்து உங்கள் வேலையைச் சமர்ப்பித்திருந்தால், அது கொண்டு வரக்கூடிய விரக்தியை நீங்கள் அறிவீர்கள்.

உண்மை என்னவென்றால், ஒரு வற்புறுத்தும் வாதத்தை உருவாக்குவதற்கு உண்மைகளை முன்வைப்பதை விட அதிகம் தேவைப்படுகிறது. உங்கள் வாசகர்களின் தர்க்கத்திற்கு நீங்கள் மேல்முறையீடு செய்ய வேண்டும் உணர்வுகளை . உங்கள் கதை அர்த்தமுள்ளதாக இருக்க வேண்டும், படிக்க சுவாரஸ்யமாகவும், தனித்துவமாகவும் இருக்க வேண்டும்.

இன்று, உங்கள் வற்புறுத்தும் கட்டுரைகளை அடுத்த கட்டத்திற்கு கொண்டு செல்வதற்கான ஆறு எளிய வழிகளை நாங்கள் காண்போம், இதன் மூலம் நீங்கள் வீட்டிற்கு கொண்டு வரலாம். எந்த நீங்கள் விரும்பும் தரம்.

1. செயல்முறையை அவசரப்படுத்த வேண்டாம்

உனக்கு அதை பற்றி தெரியுமா ஒவ்வொரு வார்த்தையும் வெளியிடப்பட்ட உள்ளடக்கம் பல திருத்தங்களுக்கு உட்பட்டதா? கட்டுரைகள், வலைப்பதிவுகள், புத்தகங்கள், பருவ இதழ்கள் மற்றும் கட்டுரைகளுக்கு இது பொருந்தும்.

ஒரு கல்வி அமைப்பில், பல மாணவர்கள் தரவரிசைக் குவியலுக்குச் செல்லும் ஒன்று அல்லது இரண்டு வரைவுகள் மட்டுமே முக்கியமானவை என்று கருதுகின்றனர், ஆனால் அது அப்படியல்ல.

நல்ல எழுத்தை சரியாகப் பெறுவதற்கு பல திருத்தங்கள் தேவை. உங்கள் வற்புறுத்தும் கட்டுரை மற்றவற்றிலிருந்து தனித்து நிற்க வேண்டுமெனில், தரவரிசைக்கு சமர்ப்பிக்கும் முன் குறைந்தபட்சம் ஒரு வரைவையாவது எழுதுவது நல்லது.

அதிர்ஷ்டவசமாக, உயர்தர கட்டுரையை உருவாக்குவது ஒருபோதும் எளிதாக இருந்ததில்லை. போன்ற கருவிகள் ஸ்மோடின் கட்டுரை எழுத்தாளர் ஒரு சில சிறிய வார்த்தைகள் மூலம் உள்ளடக்கத்தை உருவாக்க உங்களுக்கு உதவ முடியும்.

பல AI கருவிகளைப் போலல்லாமல், ஸ்மோடின் செயல்முறையின் முழுமையான கட்டுப்பாட்டை உங்களுக்கு வழங்குகிறது. உங்கள் ஆசிரியர் அல்லது பேராசிரியரைப் படிப்பதில் மகிழ்ச்சியைத் தரும் தெளிவான ஓட்டத்துடன் ஈர்க்கக்கூடிய கட்டுரையை உங்களால் உருவாக்க முடியும்.

மென்பொருளின் AI-இயங்கும் வழிமுறைகள் கூகுள் ஸ்காலர் மற்றும் பிற தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட ஆதாரங்களில் இருந்து துல்லியமான குறிப்புகளை உருவாக்குகின்றன.

உங்கள் மேசையில் உட்கார்ந்து, விரக்தியில் இருந்து உங்கள் தலைமுடியை வெளியே இழுப்பதற்குப் பதிலாக, ஸ்மோடின் நம்பிக்கையுடன் கட்டுரை எழுதும் செயல்முறையின் மூலம் உங்களை வழிநடத்தட்டும்.

2. உங்கள் பார்வையாளர்களை அறிந்து கொள்ளுங்கள்

கட்டுரை எழுதுவதில் ஒரு முக்கியமான மற்றும் அடிக்கடி குறைத்து மதிப்பிடப்பட்ட அம்சம் உங்கள் பார்வையாளர்களைப் புரிந்துகொள்வது. இதன் பொருள் உங்கள் வாசகர்கள் யார் என்பதை அறிந்துகொள்வது மற்றும் அவர்களின் முக்கிய உணர்ச்சிகளை எதிரொலிக்கும் வகையில் உங்கள் எழுத்தை வடிவமைக்க வேண்டும்.

உதாரணமாக, நீங்கள் ஒரு வரலாற்று வகுப்பிற்கு கட்டுரை எழுதும் மாணவராக இருந்தால், உங்கள் பார்வையாளர்கள் எளிமையானவர்கள்: அது உங்கள் பேராசிரியர்.

இதேபோல், நீங்கள் ஒரு அறிவார்ந்த பத்திரிகை அல்லது வெளியீட்டிற்காக ஒரு கட்டுரை எழுதுகிறீர்கள் என்று வைத்துக்கொள்வோம். அப்படியானால், கட்டுரையை வெளியிடுவதற்கு ஒப்புதல் அளித்தவர்களும், பொதுவில் பகிரப்பட்டவுடன் இறுதியில் அதைப் பார்க்கும் வாசகர்களும் உங்கள் பார்வையாளர்களில் அடங்குவர்.

பலர் தங்கள் முக்கிய பார்வையாளர்களைப் படிக்காததால் கட்டுரை எழுதுவதில் தோல்வியடைகிறார்கள். 

உங்கள் வாசகர்கள் மனிதர்கள் என்பதை நீங்கள் நினைவில் கொள்ள வேண்டும், மேலும் எல்லா மனிதர்களுக்கும் சில சார்புகளும் விருப்பங்களும் உள்ளன.

இந்த சார்புகள் மற்றும் விருப்பங்களைப் புரிந்துகொள்வது உங்கள் வாசகரின் ஆர்வங்கள் மற்றும் நம்பிக்கைகளுக்கு நேரடியாக ஈர்க்கும் வகையில் உங்கள் கட்டுரையை வடிவமைக்க உதவும்.

Do எல்லாம் உங்கள் பார்வையாளர்களைப் படிக்க முடியும். அவர்களின் தலையில் நுழைந்து, அவர்கள் எப்படி நினைக்கிறார்கள் என்பதைக் கண்டுபிடிக்கவும், பின்னர் அவர்களின் முக்கிய உணர்ச்சிகளை ஈர்க்க இந்த அறிவைப் பயன்படுத்தவும்.

பொருட்கள் அல்லது சேவைகளை விற்கும் போது அவர்களின் வாசகர்களின் உணர்ச்சிகளைப் புரிந்து கொள்வதற்காக தொழில்முறை நகல் எழுத்தாளர்கள் பெரும் பணத்தைப் பெறுகிறார்கள். நீங்கள் பண அர்த்தத்தில் எதையும் "விற்காமல்" இருக்கலாம், ஆனால் விரும்பிய முடிவை அடைய உங்கள் எழுத்தை விற்கிறீர்கள்.

ஒரு வெற்றிகரமான கட்டுரை எழுத்தாளராக மாற, விற்பனையாளரைப் போல சிந்திக்கத் தொடங்குங்கள். எது உங்கள் வாசகரை ஈர்க்கும்? யாரும் எழுதாததை நீங்கள் என்ன எழுத முடியும்?

நீங்கள் அதைக் கண்டறிந்ததும், நீங்கள் ஏற்கனவே பாதி வேலையை முடித்துவிட்டீர்கள்.

3. வற்புறுத்தலின் முறைகளைப் புரிந்து கொள்ளுங்கள்

இப்போது உங்கள் பார்வையாளர்களை நீங்கள் முழுமையாகப் புரிந்து கொண்டீர்கள், அடுத்த கட்டம் ஒரு அழுத்தமான வாதத்தை உருவாக்குவது. இங்கே, பகுத்தறிவின் மூன்று வடிவங்களைப் புரிந்துகொள்ள சிறிது நேரம் ஒதுக்குங்கள்.

Ethos என்பது ஒரு எழுத்தாளராக உங்கள் நம்பகத்தன்மை அல்லது தன்மையை நிறுவுவதைக் குறிக்கிறது. உங்கள் பார்வையாளர்களை திறம்பட சம்மதிக்க வைக்க, வாசகர்(கள்) உங்களை நம்பகமானவராகவும், உங்கள் தலைப்பைப் பற்றி அறிந்தவராகவும் பார்க்க வேண்டும்.

விஷயத்தைப் பற்றிய உறுதியான புரிதலையும், அதில் தேர்ச்சி பெறுவதற்கு நீங்கள் நேரத்தையும் முயற்சியையும் செலவிட்டுள்ளீர்கள் என்பதை நிரூபித்தல்.

இரக்கக் குணத்தை

மறுபுறம், பாத்தோஸ் உங்கள் வாசகர்களின் உணர்ச்சிகளை ஈர்க்கிறது. உங்கள் வாசகர்களுக்கு அவர்களின் முன்னோக்கு அல்லது முடிவெடுக்கும் செயல்முறையை பாதிக்கச் செய்வதே இதன் நோக்கம்.

மாணவர்களைப் பொறுத்தவரை, இது தலைப்பின் உணர்ச்சிகரமான உள்நோக்கங்களைத் தட்டுவது அல்லது ஆசிரியர் அல்லது பேராசிரியரை ஈடுபடுத்துவதற்கு சில சார்புகளைக் கோருவதைக் குறிக்கலாம்.

லோகோக்கள்

இதன் பொருள் உங்கள் கட்டுரையை தர்க்கரீதியான அர்த்தமுள்ள வகையில் கட்டமைத்தல் மற்றும் புள்ளிவிவரங்கள், உண்மைச் சான்றுகள் மற்றும் உங்கள் கூற்றுகளை காப்புப் பிரதி எடுக்க சரியான காரணங்களைப் பயன்படுத்துதல். அனைத்து வாதங்களும் வலுவான, பகுத்தறிவு அடித்தளத்தைக் கொண்டிருக்க வேண்டும்.

ஒரு வற்புறுத்தும் கட்டுரையை திறம்பட எழுத, நீங்கள் வேண்டும் நெறிமுறைகள், பாத்தோஸ் மற்றும் லோகோக்களை இணைக்கவும்.

ஆசிரியர்கள், பேராசிரியர்கள், ஆசிரியர்கள் மற்றும் மறுஆய்வு வாரிய உறுப்பினர்கள் படிக்க நூற்றுக்கணக்கான கட்டுரைகள் உள்ளன என்பதை நினைவில் கொள்க. தனித்து நிற்க அனைத்து பொத்தான்களையும் அழுத்தும் ஒரு விரிவான வாதத்தை நீங்கள் உருவாக்க வேண்டும்.

உங்கள் வரவிருக்கும் கட்டுரையில் A ஐப் பெற நீங்கள் ஆசைப்பட்டால், அதைப் பயன்படுத்தவும் ஸ்மோடினின் AI கிரேடர் உங்கள் கட்டுரை அல்லது கட்டுரையில் தனிப்பட்ட கருத்துக்களைப் பெற.

இந்த வழியில், நீங்கள் உங்கள் கட்டுரையை எடுத்து அதைச் சமர்ப்பிக்கும் முன் அதைத் திருத்தலாம். ஒரு ஆசிரியர் அல்லது பேராசிரியரிடம் மீண்டும் எழுதுவதற்கு கெஞ்சுவதை விட இது சந்தேகத்திற்கு இடமின்றி சிறந்தது.

4. எதிர் வாதங்களை நேரடியாகச் சொல்லுங்கள்

ஒரு நிலையைத் தேர்ந்தெடுத்து அதில் ஒட்டிக்கொள்வது ஒன்றுதான்; எதிர் கருத்துகளை முற்றிலும் புறக்கணிப்பது மற்றொரு விஷயம்.

ஒரு அழுத்தமான வாதத்தை உருவாக்கும் போது, ​​நீங்கள் ஒரு கட்டத்தில் - மாறுபட்ட கருத்துக்கள் மற்றும் கண்ணோட்டங்களைக் குறிப்பிட வேண்டும். இதைச் செய்யத் தவறினால் உங்கள் சொந்த வாதத்தை பலவீனப்படுத்தத்தான் செய்யும். இதை உங்கள் எழுத்தில் திறம்பட இணைக்க சில குறிப்புகள் இங்கே உள்ளன.

எதிர் வாதங்களை அறிந்து கொள்ளுங்கள்

நீங்கள் முதலில் அவற்றை ஆராய்ந்தால் மட்டுமே எதிர் வாதங்களை நீங்கள் தீர்க்க முடியும். உங்கள் நிலையைப் படிப்பதைப் போலவே ஒரு தலைப்பின் எதிர் வாதங்களையும் படிக்கவும்.

நியாயமாக இருங்கள்

எதிர் வாதங்களைப் பற்றி விவாதிக்கும் போது, ​​நீங்கள் புறநிலை மற்றும் சார்பு இல்லாமல் இருக்க வேண்டும். இந்த விஷயங்களை நீங்கள் தவறாக சித்தரித்தால் அல்லது மிகைப்படுத்தினால், உங்கள் நம்பகத்தன்மையை குறைமதிப்பிற்கு உட்படுத்தி, உங்கள் கட்டுரையை பலவீனப்படுத்துவீர்கள்.

மறுப்பு நுட்பங்களைப் பயன்படுத்தவும்

எதிரெதிர் பார்வையை நீங்கள் உரையாற்றியவுடன், தர்க்கரீதியான பகுத்தறிவு, சான்றுகள் மற்றும் பிற வற்புறுத்தும் நுட்பங்களைப் பயன்படுத்தி நீங்கள் அதை மறுக்க வேண்டும். (ஒரு வழக்கறிஞரைப் போல சிந்தியுங்கள்.) இங்கே சில பொதுவான உத்திகள் உள்ளன.

• சான்று அடிப்படையிலான நுட்பங்கள்: எதிர் வாதத்தின் செல்லுபடியை சவால் செய்ய மிகச் சமீபத்திய தரவு அல்லது ஆய்வுகளைப் பயன்படுத்தவும்.
• தர்க்க நுட்பங்கள்: எந்த வாதமும் 100% இல்லை (உங்களுடையது கூட). எதிர் வாதத்தில் உள்ள தவறுகளைக் கண்டறிந்து, முடிவு ஏன் பிழையானது என்பதை விளக்குங்கள்.
• ஒப்பீட்டு நுட்பங்கள்: கடைசியாக, உங்கள் ஆய்வறிக்கையை நேரடியாக ஒப்பிட்டு, உங்கள் பார்வை ஏன் மிகவும் உறுதியானது என்பதை விளக்குங்கள். சரியாகச் செய்தால், இது உங்கள் கட்டுரையின் மிகவும் சரிபார்க்கும் புள்ளியாக இருக்கும்.

உங்கள் ஆய்வறிக்கையில் அனைத்தையும் மீண்டும் இணைக்கவும்

ஒரு தலைப்பை ஆராயும் போது, ​​நீங்கள் புற வாதங்களின் குவியலில் புதைந்திருப்பதைக் காணலாம், அது தலைப்புடன் தொடர்புடையதாக இருக்கலாம் அல்லது இல்லாமல் இருக்கலாம். உங்கள் ஆய்வறிக்கையில் ஒரு வாதத்தையோ எதிர்வாதத்தையோ நேரடியாக இணைக்க முடியாவிட்டால் அதை வெட்டுங்கள்.

ஒப்புக்கொள்ள பயப்பட வேண்டாம்

எதிர் வாதத்தின் வலிமையை ஒப்புக்கொள்வது உங்கள் நம்பகத்தன்மையை மேம்படுத்தும். சலுகைகளைப் பொருட்படுத்தாமல் உங்கள் ஆய்வறிக்கை இன்னும் உள்ளது என்பதைக் காட்டுவதன் மூலம் உங்கள் ஒட்டுமொத்த நிலையை குறைமதிப்பிற்கு உட்படுத்தாமல் ஒரு புள்ளியை நீங்கள் ஒப்புக் கொள்ளலாம்.

நிச்சயமாக, டஜன் கணக்கான கல்விக் கட்டுரைகள் அல்லது கட்டுரைகளைப் பிரிப்பது நேரத்தை எடுத்துக்கொள்ளும். ஆராய்ச்சி செயல்முறையை பெரிதும் விரைவுபடுத்த, நீங்கள் பயன்படுத்தலாம் ஸ்மோடினின் உரை சுருக்கம் உரையின் பெரிய பகுதிகளை பகுப்பாய்வு செய்து அவற்றை மேலும் ஜீரணிக்கக்கூடியதாக சுருக்கவும்.

5. உங்கள் குரலில் எழுதுங்கள் - மேலும் உங்கள் எழுத்தை எப்போதும் சத்தமாகப் படியுங்கள்

ஆடம்பரமான வார்த்தைகள் அல்லது சிக்கலான வாக்கியங்களைப் பயன்படுத்துவதற்கு அதிக நேரத்தை செலவிட வேண்டாம். ஆம், இலக்கணம், தொடரியல் மற்றும் நிறுத்தற்குறி ஆகியவை அவசியம், ஆனால் உங்கள் முக்கிய கவனம் எப்போதும் தெளிவான மற்றும் உண்மையான தொடர்பு இருக்க வேண்டும்.

எப்போதாவது ஒரு சொற்களஞ்சியத்தை ஆலோசிப்பது பெரிய விஷயமல்ல, ஆனால் நீங்கள் தொடர்ந்து இயற்கைக்கு மாறான வார்த்தைகளால் உங்கள் உரையைப் பிசைந்து கொண்டிருந்தால், உங்கள் கட்டுரையின் செய்தியிலிருந்து நீங்கள் விலகி இருக்கலாம்.

உங்கள் கட்டுரையை சத்தமாக வாசிப்பது அதன் ஓட்டத்தை சரிபார்க்க ஒரு சிறந்த வழியாகும். நீங்கள் உங்கள் சொந்த வார்த்தைகளை படித்து தடுமாறினால், ஏதோ தவறு நடக்க வாய்ப்புள்ளது.

நல்ல எழுத்து ஒரு வார்த்தையில் இருந்து அடுத்த வார்த்தைக்கும், ஒரு வாக்கியத்திலிருந்து அடுத்த வாக்கியத்திற்கும், ஒரு பத்தியிலிருந்து அடுத்த பத்திக்கும் தடையின்றி பாய வேண்டும்.

வெறுமனே, நீங்கள் சிறிது நேரம் உங்கள் கட்டுரையில் அமர்ந்திருக்க வேண்டும் - மூன்று நாட்கள் அல்லது ஒரு வாரம் வரை சொல்லுங்கள் - பின்னர் உங்கள் மனம் புத்துணர்ச்சியுடன் திரும்பவும்.

உங்கள் வார்த்தைகளை தெளிவான மனதுடன் படித்து, உங்கள் சொந்த வாதத்தின் தர்க்கத்தை நீங்கள் பின்பற்ற முடியுமா என்று பாருங்கள். அது சரியாக இல்லை என்றால், பயன்படுத்தவும் ஸ்மோடினின் AI மறு எழுத்தாளர்.

இந்தக் கருவி உங்களின் சொந்த எழுத்தை ஆய்வு செய்து, புதியதாக ஒலிக்க அல்லது ஏற்கனவே உள்ள உள்ளடக்கத்தை எடுத்து, முற்றிலும் தனித்துவமாக ஒலிக்க அதைத் திருத்தலாம்.

6. எப்போதும் கல்வி நேர்மையை பேணுங்கள்

இது அநேகமாக சொல்லாமல் போகலாம், ஆனால் உங்கள் எழுத்தில் கல்வி ஒருமைப்பாட்டைப் பராமரிக்க நீங்கள் எப்போதும் உங்களால் முடிந்த அனைத்தையும் செய்ய வேண்டும். நீங்கள் விரும்பும் கடைசி விஷயம், திருட்டு அல்லது AI-உருவாக்கிய உள்ளடக்கத்திற்காக கொடியிடப்பட வேண்டும்.

அதிர்ஷ்டவசமாக, ஸ்மோடின் உதவக்கூடிய இரண்டு பகுதிகள் இவை. நமது AI உள்ளடக்கக் கண்டறிதல் உங்கள் எழுத்தில் AI-உருவாக்கப்பட்ட உள்ளடக்கம் உள்ளதா என்பதை எளிதாகக் கண்டறிய முடியும். அதே நேரத்தில், எங்கள் கருத்துத் திருட்டு சரிபார்ப்பு உங்கள் கட்டுரையில் வெளியிடப்பட்ட கல்விக் கட்டுரைகளில் இருந்து எந்த நேரடி உரையும் இல்லை என்பதை உறுதிப்படுத்த முடியும்.

ஒன்றாக எடுத்துக்கொண்டால், ஸ்மோடினின் AI ஒரு விரிவான கருவித்தொகுப்பை வழங்குகிறது, இது மாணவர்கள் மற்றும் கல்வியாளர்களுக்கு அவர்கள் வற்புறுத்தும் கட்டுரையை எழுதத் தேவையான அனைத்தையும் வழங்குகிறது.

இன்றே ஸ்மோடினை இலவசமாக முயற்சிக்கவும் உங்கள் எழுத்தை மேம்படுத்த வேண்டுமா என்று பார்க்க.

அடிக்கடி கேட்கப்படும் கேள்விகள்

கே: எனது வற்புறுத்தும் கட்டுரைக்கு வலுவான நிலைப்பாட்டை எவ்வாறு தேர்வு செய்வது.

நீங்கள் ஆர்வமாக உள்ள ஒரு தலைப்பைத் தேர்ந்தெடுக்கவும், அதற்குப் போதுமான ஆதாரங்களை நீங்கள் காணலாம். எதிர் தரப்புக்கு எதிராக தெளிவான வாதத்தை அனுமதிக்கும் தலைப்பையும் நீங்கள் தேர்ந்தெடுக்க வேண்டும்.

கே: எனது கட்டுரைக்கான ஆதாரங்களைத் தேட சிறந்த இடங்கள் யாவை?

அறிவார்ந்த பத்திரிகைகள், செய்தி நிறுவனங்கள் அல்லது மரியாதைக்குரிய மற்றும் நன்கு அறியப்பட்ட கல்வி ஆசிரியர்களின் புத்தகங்கள் எப்போதும் தொடங்குவதற்கு ஒரு நல்ல இடம். கல்வி ரீதியாக ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட்ட கட்டுரைகள் மற்றும் தரவைக் கண்டறிய Google Scholar அல்லது JSTOR போன்ற கருவிகளைப் பயன்படுத்தலாம்.

கே: எனது உறுதியான கட்டுரை படிக்க எளிதானது என்பதை நான் எப்படி உறுதியாகக் கூறுவது?

நீங்கள் எப்போதும் தெளிவான மற்றும் ஈர்க்கக்கூடிய எழுத்து நடையைப் பயன்படுத்த விரும்புகிறீர்கள். வெறுமனே, நீங்கள் மற்ற கட்டுரைகளிலிருந்து தனித்து நிற்க உதவும் தனித்துவமான வழியில் எழுத வேண்டும். தர்க்கரீதியான மற்றும் பின்பற்ற எளிதான முறையில் சுவாரஸ்யமான உண்மைகள் அல்லது நிகழ்வுகளை உள்ளடக்கியது மற்றும் வாக்கிய அமைப்பு மற்றும் சொற்களஞ்சியத்தில் பல்வேறு வகைகளைப் பயன்படுத்துவது வாசிப்புத்திறனை மேம்படுத்தும். சும்மா வற்புறுத்தாதே.

கே: எதிர் வாதங்களுக்கு எனது மறுப்பை எவ்வாறு வலுப்படுத்துவது?

எதிர்வாதங்களைப் புரிந்துகொள்வது அவற்றைக் கடப்பதற்கான முதல் படியாகும். ஒரு சிறந்த தீர்வை அல்லது முன்னோக்கை முன்வைக்கும் நன்கு ஆய்வு செய்யப்பட்ட ஆதாரங்களுடன் ஒரு வாதத்திற்கு நீங்கள் பதிலளிக்கும் போது, ​​உங்கள் வழக்கை உறுதிப்படுத்தி, உங்கள் வாசகருக்கு (கள்) மிகவும் கட்டாயமாகவும் நம்பகத்தன்மையுடனும் இருக்கிறீர்கள்.

கே: நான் எழுதத் தொடங்கிய பிறகு எனது ஆய்வறிக்கையை மாற்ற விரும்பினால் என்ன செய்வது?

உங்கள் ஆராய்ச்சியின் போது ஒரு வாதத்திற்கான சிறந்த ஆதாரத்தை நீங்கள் கண்டால், எழுதும் செயல்முறையின் பாதியிலேயே உங்கள் ஆய்வறிக்கையை மறுபரிசீலனை செய்வது மிகவும் நல்லது. இந்த தகவமைவு உங்கள் எழுத்தை நீண்ட காலத்திற்கு வலுப்படுத்தும்.

கே: நான் எவ்வளவு காலம் ஆராய்ச்சிக்கு செலவிட வேண்டும்?

பொதுவாக, அதிக நேரத்தை வீணாக்காமல், தலைப்பைப் புரிந்துகொள்ள உங்களுக்குத் தேவையான நேரத்தைச் செலவிடுங்கள். ஒரு வார்த்தை கூட எழுதாமல் ஆராய்ச்சிக்காக மணிநேரம் அல்லது நாட்களை வீணாக்குவது பொதுவானது. மீண்டும், ஸ்மோடின் போன்ற AI கருவிகள் நடைமுறைப் பணிகளுக்கு உதவுவதோடு மேலும் உற்சாகமான பணிகளுக்கு உங்கள் மனதை விடுவிக்கும்.

கே: வற்புறுத்தும் கட்டுரையை முடிக்க சிறந்த வழி எது?

ஒரு வலுவான முடிவு அதிக வார்த்தைகளால் இல்லாமல் முழுமையாக இருக்க வேண்டும். நீங்கள் முன்வைத்த வாதங்களின் வெளிச்சத்தில் உங்கள் ஆய்வறிக்கையை மறுபரிசீலனை செய்ய விரும்புகிறீர்கள் மற்றும் உங்கள் கட்டுரையின் முக்கிய புள்ளிகளை சுருக்கவும். கடைசி பத்தியில் ஒரு செயலுக்கு அழைப்பு அல்லது சிந்தனையைத் தூண்டும் கேள்வியை விட்டுவிடுவதைக் கவனியுங்கள், அது வாசகருக்கு நீடித்த தாக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்தும்.

நீக்கங்களையும்

வெற்றிகரமான தூண்டுதல் கட்டுரையை எழுதுவது வாதங்கள் மற்றும் உண்மைகளை முன்வைப்பதை விட அதிகம். உங்கள் வாசகரின் தர்க்கம், உணர்ச்சிகள் மற்றும் நெறிமுறை மதிப்புகளை ஈர்க்கும் ஒரு கதையை நீங்கள் கவனமாக வடிவமைக்க வேண்டும்.

Smodin AI போன்ற AI கருவிகளைத் தட்டுவதன் மூலம், நீங்கள் உத்திகளை கோடிட்டுக் காட்டலாம், ஆராய்ச்சி நடத்தலாம் மற்றும் உங்கள் நேரத்தின் சில எளிய தூண்டுதல்கள் மற்றும் நிமிடங்களுடன் எழுதும் செயல்முறையை விரைவுபடுத்தலாம்.

உங்கள் கட்டுரைகள் நெறிப்படுத்தப்பட்டதாகவும், சக்தி வாய்ந்ததாகவும், அதிக ஈடுபாடு கொண்டதாகவும் இருப்பதை உறுதிசெய்ய நீங்கள் நன்கு முயற்சி செய்ய வேண்டும். இந்த வகை எழுத்து கல்வி வாசகர்களிடம் எதிரொலிக்கும் மற்றும் நீங்கள் விரும்பிய தரத்தைப் பெறுவதை உறுதி செய்யும்.

எழுதும் செயல்முறையை ரசிக்க உங்களால் முடிந்த அனைத்தையும் செய்யுங்கள் மற்றும் அதை வேடிக்கையாகக் கற்றுக்கொள்ளுங்கள். இந்த புதிய AI-மேம்படுத்தப்பட்ட தொழில்நுட்ப முன்னேற்றங்கள் உங்கள் விரல் நுனியில் இருப்பதால், கட்டுரை எழுதுவது முன்பை விட அணுகக்கூடியதாக இருக்கும். எந்தவொரு கல்வி அமைப்பிலும் உங்கள் எழுத்து தனித்து நிற்க அவர்களின் வரம்பற்ற சக்தியைத் தட்டவும்!