essay writing as another kind of art

How To Select A Good Topic For A Persuasive Essay

Students often have trouble when they need to choose topics for their persuasive essays. When the topic is assigned, every student can start writing an essay, but it might take lots of time and effort if you have to select a good topic for a persuasive essay by yourself. However, the simple guidelines described below can help you select a good topic:

  1. Select a topic that interests you, rather than try to find the most challenging or popular one.
  2. If you do not really care about the subject, you will not be able to produce a high quality paper. Your persuasive essay should change your readers’ minds, and therefore it is hardly possible to do so without feeling passionate about a chosen topic.

  3. Avoid topics that will tempt you to summarize ideas rather than to analyze or persuade.
  4. Your topic should not lead to a simple summary. Instead, you should select a narrow topic that can lead to a solid thesis statement.

  5. Choose a topic that can be revealed within the scope of your paper.
  6. You cannot adequately cover too broad a topic or one that requires complicated research. Such topics often lead to an overgeneralization and a weak conclusion. A good strategy is to write about one incident or case that you can analyze in detail and clearly state your position. You should stay realistic and understand that you will not be able to write about everything you want in a short persuasive essay.

  7. Check whether you have enough material to compose strong arguments.
  8. If you want to persuade your audience, you should carefully choose your arguments. A lack of material can lead to weak arguments, so you will not support your main idea and end up with a descriptive essay rather than a persuasive one.

  9. Revise your topic while you are writing your essay.
  10. When you start working on your essay, you might realize that it does not work out. If this is the case, you should not be afraid of changing the topic. Usually, students revise their topics after their papers are ready, and many of them specify their topics.

  11. Make your topic sound positive.
  12. Persuasive essays should keep a positive attitude, which is often more effective than trying to outline the negative aspects of the subject. If you decide to explain your position on a negative angle, you will probably find that your audience will be more resistant to changing their opinions. Therefore, you will have to try hard in order to make your paper persuasive.



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