Persuasive Essay Topics

A persuasive essay is like presenting your case to a judge and jury. You are the attorney presenting the facts and you are trying to get them to view things your way from your perspective. As a writer, you are staking your ground and taking a position on the issue or topic at hand. In short, you are either for or against something and your essay helps prove your argument to readers. Your essay should win the audience over and convince them to take your side. While some students may think this is going to be a difficult task, there are things around us every day that use a form or persuasion.

How to Be Convincing with Your Essay Writing: Choosing the Right Topic

Writing an essay includes presenting solid details about your topic. With persuasive essay topics you need to be selective with your option. Think about your interests and things you feel strongly about. You do not want your emotions to come through your writing, but you should be able to select a topic you can present well with persuasion and clear evidence. When you write your essay your argument will be the main idea or thesis you will prove. Have this aspect in mind when selecting your topic. You need to choose something you will feel comfortable providing sufficient evidence for that will convince readers to your side.

Think about a car dealer. They will sell you a vehicle using special features and a great price. They will use unique selling points to persuade you to purchase a vehicle. The same concept is true with your topic. Can you sell your topic to your audience enough to make them buy it? Newspaper editorials, online ads, and blog articles are additional samples of persuasion as they work to convince people to purchase or try something. When you choose your topic you need to demonstrate your level of understanding. You need to show why your opinion is best and why the opposing side is not.

How Thinking about the Writing Process Will Help You with Your Topic Selection

There are different things to consider when choosing your topic. You may have an idea of what you want to write. It can be something controversial or argumentative. You can think about the prewriting process which is your planning stage for your essay. This means you will work toward creating an outline for your proposed topic. You will choose your position, understand your audience perspective, conduct research, and identify convincing elements for evidence. If you are able to detail these elements with your topic idea you may be on your way to constructing a strong persuasive essay.

Your outline will help you understand what your topic needs in order to be persuasive. This includes creating a hook, giving an overview of your argument, a thesis statement that explains your position, body paragraphs that each highlight convincing evidence with supporting information, and a paragraph that details the opposing view by refuting significant points. Your conclusion reinforces supporting details of your thesis.

Sample Persuasive Essay Topics to Help You Get Started

Sample topics can give inspiration to help you create an original topic. Consider the following ideas:

1. Should gay couples be allowed to adopt?
2. Should boys and girls attend separate schools?
3. Should the government do more to decrease poverty?
4. Has globalization caused more problems for society?
5. Does healthy eating really help you live longer?