Running head: PERSUASIVE ESSAY Page |1

Persuasive Essay Topics

Your name

Subject and Section

December 2, 2018
PERSUASIVE ESSAY Page |2

In some cases, essay writing is strategically built to effectively persuade a reader. A

persuasive essay is an artful way of convincing your audience to communicate your ideas or

point of views that are compelling, logical and insightful about the subject that you are writing.

But where do you start on how to write a persuasive essay? A good persuasive essay usually has

a strong statement that states the purpose of the entire paper which can be proven with evidence

often in one or two sentences and is not a simple statement of fact. This statement is called a

thesis statement. A thesis statement is usually done after narrowing down specific persuasive

essay topics of choice and conducting some preliminary background research on relevant sources

of each persuasive essay topic.

What is a Thesis Statement?

A thesis statement is the sentence where you state your view on the topic. Thesis

statements are important component of a persuasive essay that presents the main idea of the

paper. Additionally, the thesis statement establishes before the reader the argument, evaluation,

and the specific point of view concerning a topic that a paper will claim and elaborate. The

definition of thesis statement and its structure came from the modern version of what Aristotle

called “statement of the issue,” as it is crucial to the success of any persuasive influence of

different subject matter especially on how to make a thesis statement. A good thesis statement is

fundamental in turning normal essay topics into good persuasive essay topics.

How to write a good thesis statement?

A good thesis statement can be formulated if you first view it as three parts: the context,

the subject and the claim. Consider this sample thesis statement: “The American government

today must impose penalty to those who engage in music and movie piracy.”
PERSUASIVE ESSAY Page |3

Start by narrowing the subject of the thesis statement. The subject part of the thesis

statement is the person, thing or idea that the paper is all about. It is the topic of discussion of the

paper. The subject draws the attention and focuses the writer and the reader to the specific issue

that the essay is all about. In the sample thesis statement, the “music and movie piracy” will

serve as the subject.

Next, write the context part of the statement. The context part of a thesis statement points

the papers general area of discussion or standpoint. It can be viewed of as the circumstance that

outlines the setting of the statement or idea. In the sample thesis statement, the “The American

government today” will serve as the context.

Lastly, write the claim part. The claim part of the thesis statement is the point of view or

the evaluation of the subject. It summarizes the ideas and understandings of the writer and gives

consistence to the supplementary statements of the entire essay. In the sample thesis statement,

the” must impose penalty to those who engage” will serve as the claim. In making the claim part,

one technique that you may do is to frame a set of questions. The answer to these set of

questions will become the basis of the claim part of the thesis statement. The questions should

only be “what” or “how” questions. For example, “what should the role of the American

government in regulating music and movie piracy?” or “How does the American government

regulate music and movie piracy?” The answers to these questions may be, “enforce a penalty to

those who break the piracy laws.”