What is a Persuasive Essay?
A persuasive essay is a type of writing that tries to convince the reader to agree with the writer’s perspective or take a specific action. In this article we look to highlight the important points teachers should show students what they need to write a an impressive persuasive essay!
In a persuasive essay, the goal is to present a clear argument supported by evidence, logical reasoning, and sometimes emotional appeals to make their case compelling and credible. Persuasive essays are commonly used to discuss social issues, express opinions, or advocate for change, helping students develop strong argumentative and critical thinking skills.
The five important points students need in order to write a good persuasive essay are:
- Purpose
- Thesis statement
- Audience
- Arguments
- Transition words
Persuasive Essay Writing Guide
Our Persuasive Essay Writing Guide is designed to support teachers in helping students master the art of persuasive writing. With step-by-step guidance, clear examples, and practical tips, this resource breaks down each stage of essay development—from brainstorming and structuring arguments to using evidence and crafting powerful conclusions.
Teachers can view the contents of this guide by clicking on the following link to visit our TpT store access our Persuasive Essay Writing Guide.
This guide helps students build confidence in expressing their opinions thoughtfully and effectively, making persuasive writing accessible and engaging in any classroom. Perfect for teaching essential critical thinking and writing skills!
Let’s now look at how each of these points will help develop the paragraphs students need to write their essays.
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What is the Purpose of a Persuasive Essay?
Simply put, a persuasive essay is one in which you attempt to get the reader to agree with your point of view. You create an argument and a counter-argument, however your argument must be stronger than the counter-argument.
Persuasive Essay Writing Video
This video highlights the points we discuss below.
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We will now look at the five points mentioned earlier in full detail, along with examples of what NOT to do when writing your essay.
The Five Points to Writing A Persuasive Essay
We hope after reading through these points teachers will find it easier to teach students how to write persuasive essays moving forward!
I. Purpose
What is the purpose of a persuasive essay? It is a way to convince others of your opinion.
Therefore, before students begin to brainstorm for their writing, they need to decide their reason for writing.
They should ask themselves the following question; What am I trying to convince others to believe, think, or do?
With their purpose in mind now students can go ahead with writing their thesis statement.
II. Thesis Statement
A thesis statement is the focus point of the entire essay. Students must be convinced of what they are saying, in order to convince others to hear them.
Tell students that a good thesis statement is a short and easy to understand sentence that clearly gives their opinion on a topic and what they think should be done.
The rest of the essay will be what supports their thesis statement.
III. The Audience
But before students begin writing the rest of their essay, they must first think about the audience that needs to hear their essay and be convinced.
They don’t have to mention the audience by name.
Instead, it should be clear in their topic choices and writing style who the intended audience is going to be.
IV. The Arguments
The arguments students make will be the “body” paragraphs of their essay and support their thesis statement by giving more details.
In a four paragraph essay, they will have two body paragraphs since the other two will be for their introduction and conclusion of the essay.
Of the two body paragraphs, the first one will be to list their two arguments. The second will provide more detailed examples as to the arguments, and will also contain a counter-argument.
However, they will show why the counter- argument is weaker than the main argument.
In a five paragraph essay, students will have three body paragraphs since again, the other two will be for the introduction and conclusion of the essay.
As to the three body paragraphs, the first two will be to list the three arguments. The third will provide more detailed examples as to the arguments, and will also contain the weaker counter-argument.
V. Transition Words
Transition words are very important in writing, since they help move the writing along, and makes it easier for the reader to follow the path along which the writer began their journey.
In other words, they help to link arguments together.
Here is a list of common transition words used in writing essays.
Now that we have covered the important points to consider when writing persuasive essays, let’s look at what not to do.
What NOT to Write in Your Essay
In the slides below, students will find what NOT to do when writing their essays.
So remember not to make these simple mistakes to keep the writing clear and easy to understand.
A Sample Approach to Essay Writing
Below is a sample approach to having students start their essay as they consider the important points mentioned in this article.
We hope these sample essay approaches will help your students in writing persuasive essays that provide them success in school and in taking tests of English such the TOEFL iBT or IELTS.
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Final Thoughts…
Every thing that I have shared with you in this article, I have used myself in my university days. My writing skills have helped me find success in school, and when traveling around the world, writing down the knowledge I hope to always share with others.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and found it useful for building good writing skills that will help with your educational goals in learning for years to come!
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