Persuasive essays are something that is crucial in the lives of any student. Whether you are being asked to write a persuasive essay during your first year of high school or during your final year of college, it is essential to know what is expected from a persuasive essay, how to format a persuasive essay, and even how to find the best persuasive essay examples for free.
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What is a persuasive essay?

A persuasive essay is a genre of academic writing thatโs used to convince people of something. The name reflects that to be successful, this type of essay needs to achieve the aim of persuasion. This usually involves making logical arguments and supporting these with evidence. In this sense, one can say that the aim of a persuasive essay is not just about proving the thesis or presenting information but affecting peopleโs perceptions and encouraging them to take some action.
Persuasive Essay Templates
“Persuasive Essay Templates” are pre-designed frameworks that provide a structured and organized approach to crafting persuasive essays. These templates serve as valuable tools for students, writers, or anyone aiming to construct compelling arguments and convince readers of a particular viewpoint or opinion.
Persuasive essays are written with the intention of persuading the audience to adopt a specific perspective, take a certain course of action, or change their beliefs. Persuasive essay templates offer a clear and logical structure to effectively present arguments, evidence, and counterarguments in a coherent manner.
Persuasive essay templates typically include sections for an introduction that captures the reader’s attention, a thesis statement that clearly states the writer’s position, body paragraphs that present supporting arguments with evidence and examples, and a conclusion that reinforces the main points and encourages the desired response from the reader.
Essential Elements of a Persuasive Essay
In part, we are going to discuss some important elements that will help you write an effective persuasive essay:
Introduction and thesis statement
The introduction tells your reader about the topic you intend to write about, including why itโs important. You also state your thesis, which is the main idea that you intend to prove in your essay, through clear supporting arguments.
In this section, you can also include an outline or diagram of your paper that helps readers understand what they can expect from the rest of your essay. This will help them follow along with your points easily while reading it.
Supporting facts
These are details included in your paper to back up your arguments. They can be statistics or quotes from experts or other authoritative figures in the field related to your topic. In order to make these facts more convincing, include sources such as books or journal articles where they come from so that readers know they arenโt just fabricated ideas on your part.
Proof for your arguments
The main element of a persuasive essay is proof. Itโs the evidence you use to support your argument. This can be a quotation, statistic, or other information proving your point.
The second element of a persuasive essay is the counter-argument. In this sense, you present a different point of view and show why itโs not as strong as yours. If you donโt have enough arguments to support your idea, try to find some information about it in books or on the Internet.
Writing a conclusion
The conclusion of a persuasive essay should summarize what has been said in the body paragraphs and explain why readers should accept your perspective on the issue at hand. It should also include a call to action that urges readers to take some action based on what theyโve read so far in the essay.
Choosing a topic for your essay
You need not be limited to your own personal experience or knowledge when choosing topics for persuasive essays; several other sources can help you write better essays. You can use real-life situations as subjects or even events that happened in history or use them as examples of how other people have written successful persuasive essays. In fact, if there is an event that happened in history that has affected many peopleโs lives positively or negatively, then it would make an excellent subject for an argumentative essay example because it shows how different people think about specific issues and how they react differently towards them.
- 1. Pick something that interests you โ If it is something that interests you, then chances are that other people will be interested as well. You can use this as an advantage when presenting your point of view regarding the given issue or concern.
- 2. Choose something relevant โ When picking out topics for essays, make sure that it is relevant to the current situation or time period of our world today; this way, there will be some connection between what is happening now and what could happen later.
If you are not sure on how to choose a topic for your persuasive essay example, here are some tips:
How To Write a Persuasive Essay
In this section, I will address the persuasive essay paragraphs one by one and touch on the things to be considered while writing the relevant paragraph. Let’s start with the introductory paragraph…
Persuasive Essay Introductory Paragraph
The most important point here is to grab the reader’s attention. You need to have a striking sentence so that the reader finds the article attractive. If necessary, it is also useful to provide preliminary information on the subject.
Finally, what you need to do is a sentence called a thesis statement, which expresses what you will touch on in the rest of the article. In this way, the persuasive essay introductory paragraph can be presented briefly and clearly. Although it may seem like three sentences, if the correct phrases are chosen, you can get an introductory paragraph that is five sentences long.
Persuasive Essay Development Paragraphs
I will not write the individual development paragraphs because the outline of all the development paragraphs is the same. Namely, remember you wrote a thesis statement at the end of the introductory paragraph to express your opinion? Here, it is helpful to put forward three arguments in that sentence. In each development paragraph, you will consider the argument you put forward.
Topic Sentence: Persuasive essay development paragraphs begin with a sentence called a topic sentence. The topic sentence is the summary of the paragraph. When the reader reads the first sentence of the development paragraph, he should be able to say, “So that’s the subject of this paragraph and such.” Of course, the topic sentence should be one of the three arguments you put forward in the last sentence of the intro paragraph ๐ What you talk about in the thesis statement should be different; what you write in the topic sentence should not be different ๐
Addressing the Opposite View: In this section, you need to address the opposing view. Because in the continuation, you will refute the thesis of the opposing view, and you will make the finishing shot.
Refuting the Opposition: Right after, you will sneakily crush the opposition you have given to refute it.
Death Strike: In the final part, you must put the final point and end the discussion.
Persuasive Essay Dispute Paragraph (Optional)
My personal opinion is that if you are not experienced enough, do not mess with this paragraph at all.You can screw up everything by mistake :)) Some people start to defend the opinion of the reader instead of their own, because when they enter here, they get better. If I were a reader, I would give it to the person who missed it.But if you say, “there is a word limit, I have to write something; there is nothing to do,” or “I know what I am doing,” then continue reading.Because when this paragraph is written correctly, it will increase the quality of the article. And it will make the reader say, “the author is not empty; he also has knowledge about the opposing view.”
Contrasting Perspective: State the opposing view in the first part of the paragraph.
Your Own Argument: Of course, you have to write something in response to the opposing view you put forward. It wouldn’t be dry like that.In this section, you have to express the falsity of the opposing view with your own words. Remember, You don’t prove that two times two is four. You write your personal thoughts. So there is no right or wrong. There is no question of convincing the reader or not.
Elaboration: At the end of the paragraph, you will elaborate on your own idea. With examples, if possible… Remember that sentences without examples are often left in the air!
FAQs
What is a persuasive essay?
A persuasive essay is a type of essay that attempts to persuade the reader to adopt a certain point of view or take a particular action.
What is the purpose of a persuasive essay?
The purpose is to argue a specific position on a topic and convince the reader through evidence and logic that the position is valid or beneficial.
How do you write a persuasive essay?
To write a persuasive essay, you should start with a clear thesis statement, research and gather evidence to support your argument, organize your points logically, and use persuasive techniques to convince your readers.
What are the elements of a persuasive essay?
Key elements include a clear thesis statement, a strong introduction, well-organized arguments, supporting evidence, counterarguments, and a convincing conclusion.
What is the structure of a persuasive essay?
The structure typically consists of an introduction, body paragraphs (each containing a different point or argument), counterarguments, and a conclusion.
How do you choose a topic for a persuasive essay?
Choose a topic that you are passionate about, is debatable, and has enough evidence to support your argument.
What are some techniques used in persuasive writing?
Techniques include the use of rhetoric, emotional appeals, logical reasoning, evidence-based arguments, and addressing counterarguments.
How do you conclude a persuasive essay?
Summarize the key points, restate your thesis in a new way, and leave the reader with something to think about or a call to action.
How is a persuasive essay different from an argumentative essay?
While both aim to convince the reader, a persuasive essay relies more on emotional appeal whereas an argumentative essay employs logic and evidence.
What should be avoided in a persuasive essay?
Avoid weak evidence, ignoring counterarguments, being overly emotional, or straying from your thesis.