Persuasive Essay

Purpose: To express your opinion about a topic. To express your opinion about a topic. To convince the reader why you believe a certain way. To convince the reader why you believe a certain way. To change someone’s opinion. To change someone’s opinion. To make the reader aware of a situation. To make the reader aware of a situation. To sell a point. To sell a point.

What does a Persuasive Essay Need? Great opening sentence (topic sentence) Great opening sentence (topic sentence) Strong reasons why the author believes a certain way. Strong reasons why the author believes a certain way. Details and explanations (examples) why the reasons are valid. Details and explanations (examples) why the reasons are valid. Well-written closing statement (conclusion) that gets the reader to remember what you said. Well-written closing statement (conclusion) that gets the reader to remember what you said.

What Does it Look Like?

Topic sentence (fact) Topic sentence (fact) Your opinion (I believe that…). Your opinion (I believe that…). Reasons to support your opinion (Reason #1, #2, ) Reasons to support your opinion (Reason #1, #2, ) Body Paragraphs(including the counter argument)=details and facts that back up your reasons (proof). Body Paragraphs(including the counter argument)=details and facts that back up your reasons (proof). Closing paragraph=make the reader pick a side). Closing paragraph=make the reader pick a side).

Introductory Paragraph Example: If you weighed all the people in the world and added it up, it would be less than the weight of all the ants on the planet. Hard to believe, but in fact very true. I believe we should include ants into our everyday diet. If you have had any experiences with ants, you would realize that they are easy to catch, free, and taste just like chicken.

Body Paragraph #1 Example To catch a group of tasty ants, one just needs to leave some sugar out and let the ants come to them. In fact, all food that has some sugar in it will attract our little mealtime friends. In my opinion, catching ants is much easier than hunting buffalo or even going to the grocery store. Remember, just like home-delivered pizza, ants will come right to your front door!

Body Paragraph #2 Example My critics would say that ants taste horrible and thus shouldn’t be included in our diet. I would argue that with enough seasoning, anything tastes good. Throw some BBQ sauce on those little buggers and they taste great. You can even fry them or make them into a sandwich. In reality, many of the lucky people who now eat their share of daily ants compare the taste to that of chicken.

Body Paragraph #3 Example Since ants are a natural and abundant resource, they’re free! How many things in this world are free? Just think of how much money you could save if you were to add ants to your diet. You could even save enough money to afford extra ketchup, mustard, chocolate, or any other dipping sauce.

Concluding Paragraph Example As you can see, there are many reasons why we should consume more ants. Any way you look at it, they are ripe for the picking. Next time you’re outside messing around, don’t forget to attract those ants; they could be dinner!