Persuasive Essay Examples

If you are already looking for persuasive essay examples online, you probably have a somewhat vague idea on how to start writing. Good news then! Below, we offer your three persuasive essay examples college students will definitely appreciate, along with the writing tips and explanations.

Persuasive essay example #1: Why Lie

Today, it is quite clear that effective communication is one of the most important and valuable aspects of a social relationship, regardless of whether this relationship is personal, business, or even a medical one. Medicine, in particular, is one of the spheres that “is changing in a way that puts a premium on communication skills” (Back et al. 2009). It is highly important to maintain an honest and open relationship in any social sphere, as honesty is one of the primary methods towards achieving genuinely constructive communication.

The basics of effective communication strategy presuppose facing any problem in a problem-oriented manner instead of a person-oriented one. It is impossible to argue that the majority of lies, especially the so-called ‘white lies’ we come across every day, occur when people are afraid of offending or hurting another person. However, a ‘white lie’ approach can never be regarded as a constructive solution, as in most cases it has but a temporary effect. Therefore, it is crucial to learn to approach any problem with a strong focus on solving it. To do so, it is first of all essential to formulate a problem and try to find effective means of solving it. Medicine, in particular, is a field where patients can be unaware of challenges faced by them, which is why in serious cases it is crucial to be as tactful, yet honest, as possible, bearing in mind that “few things are more corrosive to trust on which good patient-physician relationships depend than dishonesty” (Gunderman 2001)”.

The need to be honest, even if a doctor knows the news he is about to deliver might have a devastating effect on a patient, leads us to another aspect of effective communication strategy, which is congruence. Congruency in effective communication presupposes that both people are equally involved in communication, and both are sympathetic to a problem they are willing to solve.  Adhering to this simple rule will not only make honesty and openness possible, it will as well establish a strong bond between a doctor and a patient, which in its turn, will lead to “greater patient satisfaction” (Dacre et al. 2004) and make a “significant difference to patient health outcomes” (Dacre et al. 2004).

Thus, with a proper approach and some basic knowledge of effective communication principles, it is possible to escape awkward situations and maintain an honest relationship in any social sphere.  

Quick analysis

This is a great persuasive essay example for high school level — in school, it would definitely get you an A+. But, if you are writing for college level, there is definitely room for improvement. Let’s start with the strong points and see how this paper can be improved.

Essay strong points

• Thesis statement: in this paper, the writer makes one’s potion on the subject pretty clear. Plus, a  thesis statement is placed in the final paragraph of an introduction, which is a must in academic writing.
• Paragraph topic sentences: note how each body paragraph starts with a topic sentence that makes it pretty clear which aspect will be analyzed in this part.

Essay weak points

• Total number of paragraphs: this essay has a total of four paragraphs, which is somewhat uncommon for a short essay. Just one more body paragraph with an additional point would make this paper way better.  
• Conclusion: this part seems rushed through. While a student does restate his thesis, he does not highlight any findings (info analyzed in body paragraphs).  

Persuasive essay sample #2

Limitation of Guns as a Way to Reduce Killing

The necessity to reduce homicide rate and criminal activity remains an acute problem in most countries all around the globe. The suggestion to introduce more stringent gun control laws as a way to reduce killing remains a highly controversial theory, though. Still, it is possible to state that introduction of strict gun control policies will definitely reduce murder rates in the long run, provided these laws are promulgated all around the country and are properly enforced by executive bodies.

Gun control policies and their potential effect on the homicide rate own their attention in the media to several high profile incidents involving mass killings. While non-existence of guns is definitely out of the question, introduction of strict control policies is the most logical solution to the mentioned above problem.

Opponents of gun control policies argue that guns have no effect on crime rate since criminals would find an opportunity to commit a crime regardless of currently existing gun control policies. Nevertheless, “even if guns don’t cause crime, they cause greater likelihood of injury or death when they are used in crime” (Jacobs, Burger 13). A vivid example here would be a robbery attempt. If a potential victim possesses a gun, defense attempt might lead to highly unpredictable results both for the criminal and his victim. In other words, most crime scenes (burglary, robbery) might not turn into homicide scenes, provided guns are easily available.

However, since only a small percentage of crimes have been committed with unauthorized weapons, it is impossible not to jump to the conclusion that most crimes are committed with legal, authorized guns. Appealing to logic, it is possible to deduce that guns availability on a free market correlates with guns availability on an illegal market.  The limitation of guns leads to the increase in price on the free market, and, consequently, on the illegal market.

The necessity to enforce laws that have been introduced into action is crucial if the authorities want the gun control policies to have an effect. It is as well important to mention that the introduction of strict laws should be promulgated not only in one or several states but on a national level. The fact that weaker jurisdictions actually affect stronger ones is one of the reasons why different researches have difficulty evaluating the effect of more stringent laws.

Quick analysis

A great persuasive essay sample that is based on factual evidence and could definitely get a high grade in college. Let’s see what’s good about this paper, and what could have been done even better.

Essay strong points

• Factual evidence: this essay uses both paraphrases and direct quotations to prove the author’s position.  
• Objectivity: the author stays impartial, which adds credibility to this paper.  

Essay weak points

• Too much attention to opposing arguments: it is a great decision to accept opposing opinions on the subject and refute them with factual evidence. Normally, this gives any paper an unbiased look. However, in case of this essay, the writer draws way too much attention to the opponents’ opinions, which creates an impression that the student tries to justify oneself rather than prove one’s point of view.  

Persuasive essay example #3: Relationship between Technology and Society

The spread of technology and its influence on the society has remained one of the most widely researched topics since the mid-20th century. Despite the obvious benefits of technology that makes our lives easier, it is still possible to point out certain drawbacks. Plenty of technological advances take a toll on a distribution of labor, personal identity, human relations, medical care services and especially on personal privacy.

Industry is one of those areas that has been most influenced by the technology. In particular, technology has a drastic impact on the distribution of human labor. Since 21st-century technology is developing at a rapid pace, more and more technological innovations have to be implemented almost every year. This often leads to job destructions, as quite often employees can be easily replaced by the machines. Most blue-collar workers, especially if they are middle-aged, find it extremely difficult to adjust or find new jobs, as companies substitute expensive-to-train employees with labor-saving machinery or equipment.

While the intrusion of technology into the professional sphere might make the completion of specific tasks easier, the fact that technological advances often deprive people of their jobs results in anxiety (Ohler 1999). Even though blue-collar workers are the first ones influenced by a constantly progressing pace of new technology, the white-collar staff is as well subject to a similar situation. In particular, a life cycle of each product becomes significantly shorter year after year, and IT industry is an obvious example of how new products can become outdated in a blink of an eye.

Next, “unbridled exchange of electronic information” (Garfinkel 2000) becomes one of the most troubling aspects of the 21st century. Even though most technological advances, especially in the digital area, make our lives easier, these benefits lead to the loss of privacy. According to sociological studies conducted in 2000, many people accept the fact that “if we want the convenience of paying for a meal by credit card.., we must accept the routine collection of our purchases and driving habits in a large database over which we have no control” (Garfinkel 2000).

This loss of privacy and the existence of common databases do not only concern our financial transactions that can be easily traced, but also our medical records, which are nowadays stored online. This happens because old technology is constantly being replaced by new, more expansive one. However, even despite these technological advances, patients and doctors face the same diagnostic problems.

Thus, the wide use of technology influences many social aspects of life, including professional, financial, and medical spheres. Human replaceability by the technology results in depressions and other psychological crises. So, it is possible to conclude that despite its usability, technology also has a negative influence on society’s life and personal freedom, influencing a wide range of social and psychological aspects.

Quick analysis

The last of our examples of a persuasive essay, just like the first two, also has its ups and downs. Let’s take a quick look at them.

Essay strong points

• Emotional factor: here, our author makes a seemingly boring topic human, which definitely brings out emotions from his audience.  
• Strong opinion on the subject: it’s quite clear that the writer is confident and has strong views on the subject.

Essay weak points

• Poor logical transitions: a significant drawback of this paper is the lack of logical transitions between body paragraphs — our writer seems to jump from one point to another.

As you already see from the above persuasive essay samples, these types of papers can be very different. Simply put, any paper that proves its point of view can be seen as a persuasive essay. But, if you are still looking for help (your deadline is too urgent, you do not feel that strongly about your assigned subject, etc.), feel free to contact our professional team of writers — they will gladly take this annoying paper off your hands!