Writing Persuasive Papers & Essays

Whether you are writing a persuasive essay, book report, research paper, or term paper your persuasive paper will usually follow similar guidelines. In a persuasive paper, you will need to take a position either for or against an issue. If you can choose your own topic, you should choose an issue that you are passionate about. It may be fun to argue the side against your own personal views. Once you have a topic and position, you are ready to start writing your paper.

Follow this outline when writing your persuasive paper:

Introduction – Get the reader’s attention quickly, give any necessary background, and state your position.

Arguments – State an argument for your position and elaborate to back up this argument. Include two or three supporting arguments.

Rebuttal – Provide a rebuttal to any opposing positions, especially if the reader is likely to have this view.

Conclusion – Summarize your arguments and reasoning. Restate your thesis statement.

You may want to have a call to action at the end of your paper. For example, if you are writing to persuade someone one way or the other on a topic such as abortion, you may want to encourage the audience to write its elected officials.

By Sarah Princeton
MonsterPapers.com