How to write a Proper persuasive essay

Writers of persuasive essays must persuade readers to accept their proposition.

Few words in the English language have been so often confused, misused, misunderstood and juxtaposed as "convince" and "persuade." So it's no surprise that when teachers assign a persuasive essay, they must explain that to convince someone is to solidify an underlying wish, tendency or opinion. To persuade someone is to change someone's stance from a previous position. One or both may lead to action, depending on the circumstance. In real-life terms, imagine two guests at your front door, ready to depart. Deep down, guest No. 1 would prefer to stay while guest No. 2 really wants to leave. You wage the same heartfelt appeal for them to stay for another hour and they both agree. Your persuasive words were effective because you convinced guest No. 1 and persuaded guest No. 2. The latter is more difficult to accomplish, especially in a written format like an essay, but can be achieved with a laser focus on structure and organization.

Instructions

1. Ensure that your students have found a worthwhile and "writable" topic, for a persuasive essay is very much like an argumentative essay in that it assumes that some readers will disagree with the ideas. A poor persuasive essay, for example, would assert that "People should exercise and watch what they eat if they want to lose weight." As this is conventional wisdom, it falls flat of the standard for a gripping persuasive essay. In other words, what's the point of contention?

2. Determine that students feel confident about the position they will take in the persuasive essay. An unsure or equivocating writer will never be able to persuade a reader of his views; the insecurity will surface in the writing. The tone of the essay should be equally confident, but not arrogant or condescending and definitely not pushy or bullying. Some of the most effective persuasive essays, in fact, rely on humor and informality to make their point. The "right" approach depends on the skills and competence of the writer and, to some extent, the topic itself.

3. Introduce a basic outline/structure for the persuasive essay to follow. As with all forms of writing, some parts of this essay format may be expanded or tweaked. The most important thing to remember is that good persuasive writing depends on supporting ideas, sound reasoning, detail and description. Still, some basic components must be present: the writer's proposition; support for the proposition (which may span several paragraphs); anticipation of objections and/or opposing views; the writer's response to them; and the conclusion.

4. 

   A confident writer need not baby nor bully his reader with her proposition; her tone is calm, confident and even-handed.

   Direct students to follow this outline, being sure to integrate both intellectual appeals (those which appeal to a reader's sensibilities) and emotional appeals (those which appeal to a reader's heart) as they build support for their proposition. Students may very well find themselves conceding to some opposing views; after all, this is what honest, reasonable people do. But in the end, students must reinforce their support for the proposition. In the conclusion -- never an easy component to write -- students might best leave a lasting impression on their readers by issuing a call to action.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure that your students proofread and edit their work. And, if there is time, have them exchange essays with their classmates. The goal here is to find "holes" in either the proposition or the supporting paragraphs that the writer can "plug" with reason and logic.

References

• "The New St. Martin's Handbook"; Andrea Lunsford and Robert Connors; 1999.
• "Writing Arguments"; John Ramage, John Bean and June Johnson; 2001.