Writing a Persuasive Essay

 

    1.      Compose your essay with a clear purpose

A persuasive essay is designed to sway the reader to adopt your point of view about a topic. These are good examples of persuasive essay topics you might write about:

• Whether governments should or should not fund embryonic stem cell research.
• Whether love is a virtue or a vice.
• Why Citizen Kane is the best movie of the 20th century.
• Why American citizens should be forced to vote.

    2.      Write your essay as though you are conducting a debate

When you speak in a debate, you introduce your topic, list your evidence and draw a conclusion for the people who are listening. A persuasive essay has a similar structure.

    3.      Collect facts from good sources to justify your opinions

Support your argument with reasoned facts. A well-written essay is great, but a well-argued essay is undeniable.

• In addition to doing research, you can perform empirical experiments including taking surveys, doing interviews or conducting experiments. Survey results or interviews could be great pieces of information to start your essay with.
• Tell a story about the facts. Don't just list the facts; tell a story! For example: "Since the death penalty has been reinstated, more than 140 inmates on death row have been released after evidence proved them innocent. Ask yourself: How would you like to be one of those 140 wrongfully-convicted inmates?"

    4.      Discuss conflicting opinions

Present the other side of your argument and use logic and facts to show why the other side's opinion is either inaccurate or not up-to-date.

• For example: "Some people argue that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to crime. Time after time, evidence has disproved this theory. The death penalty, in fact, does not act as a deterrent to crime: The South accounts for 80% of US executions and has the highest regional murder rate."

    5.      Tie all your ideas together in a gripping conclusion. Be sure to stress your thesis, or what you are arguing for or against, one last time. Use some of the information you have discussed, or a story you've saved, to color your conclusion a little bit.

Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-an-Essay