A
persuasive essay aims to overly persuade the reader to support the writer’s
point of view. The topic is very important and could make a big difference
between getting a really good grade and an unexceptional grade. The topic you
choose needs to be interesting enough to capture the reader’s attention and to
maintain it. In this case, the reader is your professor. Avoid choosing a topic
that is so basic to your professor because he/she ends up feeling like they can
already predict what you want to talk about or how you are going to base your
argument. Remember, they have a lot of essays to go through; you, therefore,
need to make your essay unique so that it stands out from the rest.
Tips for
Selecting Topics for Your Persuasive Essay
1. Choose a topic that interests you
This is
very important. Choosing a topic that you love gives you the motivation you
require for beginning and completing the assignment. It is possible for your
professor to see the emotions you poured into an essay and tell the difference
between a student who wrote passionately and a student who simply did the
assignment out of obligation. Of course, in any case, the passionate student
will be awarded a really good grade.
You
should also pick a topic that appeals to the reader’s emotion. It should be an
issue that interests people and forces them to pick a side. Controversial
topics are the best for this situation. Just be careful to pick a topic that
has not been discussed too much so that you don’t lose the reader’s interest.
2. Pick a topic you are familiar with
You
should pick a topic that you know something about and one whose background
information is familiar to you. This does not significantly mean that you have
to know all the information, make sure you have a clue about what you will be
working on. Avoid choosing a topic which is new to you because you will end up
having a load of work to do trying to make sure that you cover all angles from
the very beginning. Working on a familiar topic gives you a head start when you
need to research therefore saving you some precious time.
3. Choose a topic which is specific
Select a
topic that can easily be narrowed to something specific. A broad topic will
have too much to cover. This might make you lose focus of what it is you are
writing about and giving too much unnecessary information to the reader. The
reader, in this cases your professor, then ends up getting bored because your
essay does not have the specific argument to present. The topic you choose should
be narrowed down to a clear and specific statement.
4. Choose a topic that is deep
There is
nothing quite frustrating than picking a topic and then realizing halfway into
the research process, that it does not have enough material to help you come up
with a strong argument. Before settling on a topic, ensure that it has enough
sources to help you come up with a strong argument. A good persuasive essay
always has evidence to back up the claims made by the writer. In order to
convince the reader to view things from your perspective, you should be able to
give them solid evidence to prove that your viewpoint is the most logical.
5. Choose a topic that is arguable
Choose a
topic that is debatable. That is, you should be able to pick a side and successfully
provide evidence to back your claims up. You should be able to offer
counterarguments to show the reader that your views are correct. If the topic
you pick does not offer the audience the opportunity to decide which side makes
more sense to them, then you should probably avoid it.
6. The topic should be appropriate
As stated
earlier, you should pick a topic that is controversial; however, you need to
make sure that the topic is appropriate. Some topics are not appropriate for
school essays since they are too sensitive. You might end up insulting your
professor without knowing.
7. The topic should be on current matters
Choose to
write your persuasive essay based on a current issue. It should be based on
current trends. Ensure to provide enough background information for the reader
so that they don’t get lost. Do not assume that they know everything. This
could cost you are a really good grade. You can check current newspapers or try
watching the news to figure out which matters are affecting the world at that
current moment.
8. The topic should address the problem and
give a solution
The topic
that you choose to work on should state the problem to the reader and offer a
solution. A good persuasive essay sheds light on the problem at hand, shows the
reader the effects of the problem and how it affects their daily lives. Along
with that, the essay should offer a solution to the problem and include
evidence to clearly show the reader how their lives will be affected by the
solution.
The topic
is just a contributor to a good persuasive essay. There are very many factors
that you should put into consideration when you are writing your essay so that
you can attain a really good grade, for example, thorough research is necessary
to come up with a winning essay. The strength of your thesis statement and how
you choose to structure your essay so that it can support and build on the
thesis statement is also extremely important in convincing your professor to
award you a good grade.
The
soundest way to master the art of writing persuasive essays is a lot of
practice. You should also look for samples of really good persuasive essays so
that you can get an idea of how you are required to write yours. There’s no
shortcut to this. Ask your professor to give you some hints on what you should
improve in your essays and learn from your own mistakes. If you make these
little efforts, you are guaranteed to see a lot of improvements in the next
persuasive essay you will be writing.
Just a
recap:
1. Choose a topic that interests you
2. Pick a topic you are familiar with
3. Choose a topic which is specific
4. Choose a topic that is deep
5. Choose a topic that is arguable
6. The topic should be appropriate
7. The topic should be on current matters
8. The topic should address the problem and
give a solution
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