How to Write a Persuasive Essay or Paper
It is important to learn to write in a manner that will convince others of your ideas. What are the basic elements of persuasive writing, argumentative essays, and persuasive papers? In this article, I will provide information on two elements of persuasive writing and provide some persuasive writing examples.
A Convincing Rationale
The first element of persuasive writing is providing the reader with a convincing rationale. Many ideas are not suffiiciently convincing because the writer has failed to explain why the ideas are plausible, or has not expressed the reasons for the ideas in a clear manner. Thus, a complete and plausible explanation should be provide for an idea. Also, one or more specific examples of the idea should be presented.
Convincing Evidence
It is not enough to merely present a convincing rationale. Some ideas may sound very convincing but are not supported by scientific evidence. Sometimes research findings are surprising and conflict with conventional wisdom. Thus, we cannot rely on only how convincing ideas sound. We must also have supporting scientific evidence. Providing convincing scientific evidence is the best way to make an idea more cogent or persuasive.
Not all scientific evidence is equally convincing. Case studies are not very convincing. Providing information on one person does not allow us to make general conclusions about how other people may behave. Other people may behave in a different manner in the same situation. Also, we cannot make causal conclusions from case studies because we cannot rule out alternative explanations for the behaviors. Correlational research allows us to make predictions. Correlational research reflects how variables are associated. However, two variables can be associated without there being any causal relationship. If A and B are found to be correlated, it could mean that A caused B, B caused A, or some third variable caused both A and B without there being any causal relationship. Thus, correlational research is not very convincing evidence with respect to ideas reflecting causal relationships. The best evidence for ideas reflecting causal relationships is experimental research involving the random assignment to conditions. This kind of research can allow us to make casual conclusions.
Persuasive Writing Examples
One of the best ways to provide a convincing rationale is to provide a specific example that reflects the idea. This is reflected in the example below on pages 23 and 24 in my book, Finding Meaning (3rd ed.):
We may desire to express ourselves
in an integrated manner in which all aspects of our
personality are reflected in our behavior. We may
experience considerable distress when we cannot
express certain important aspects of our personality in
our behavior.
Consider the following example. Imagine that
you have a research position in which you perform
statistical analyses on data. The job allows you to
express the analytical, but not artistic, side to your
personality. You are dissatisfied with the job. You
wish you could find a job that allowed you to express
both your analytical and artistic abilities. While having
lunch with a friend, you discuss your dissatisfaction.
Your friend, who works for a book publisher, suggests
that you apply for a job in which you design covers for
technical books. Your friend provides you with the
name of the person to talk to at the publishing
company. The person is very impressed with your
artistic ability, and offers you a job designing covers for
technical books. You greatly enjoy this new job
because it allows you to combine your analytical and
artistic abilities.
Ideas also can be made more convincing by provide credible evidence. This is reflected in the example below (concerning an experiment) on page 39 in my book, Finding Meaning (3rd ed.):
Thinking of things you are grateful for may foster
a sense of connectedness and closeness. In one
study, people who were asked to write down things
they were thankful or grateful for felt more connected
with others than people who were not asked to write
down these things (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).
References
Bell, B. (2007). Finding Meaning (3rd. ed.). Portland, OR:
Blue Fox Communcations.