Awesome Ideas for a Persuasive Essay!

Persuasive essays, believe it or not, can actually be quite fun to right! A persuasive essay is a lot like an argumentative essay, except it's a bit gentler. A persuasive essay tries to convince a person to adopt this or that view, but doesn't attempt to destroy and tear down opposing views. Instead, it tries to nudge people towards a certain belief. Like an argumentative essay, you'll usually be graded on how good your argument is, rather than your prose.

Anyways, when picking a persuasive essay topic, it's usually best to pick something that you are passionate about. By picking something you care about, you'll most likely have an already formed argument in your head, even if you've never really written it out or thought about it in depth. We've outlined 20 topics for you to consider. When you see a specific name for a team or person, you can go ahead and insert your own favorite team or person! And remember, you can argue for or against any point we present, or any point you pick on your own!

1. Police should have to have a warrant to search cell phones
2. Dogs are better than cats
3. Advertisers focus too much on beauty
4. Extremely skinny models send a bad message
5. High schools should offer specialized degrees instead of general diplomas
6. American Universities should shift away from liberal arts and towards specialization
7. Too much degree and knowledge specialization will curtail creativity
8. The war on drugs can't be won so drugs should be legalized
9. Pistols should be outlawed because they result in too many deaths
10. Gun rights should be completely unrestricted
11. Every American should be required to learn a foreign language in school
12. English should be America's official language
13. College football is better than pro football
14. Junk foods should face a “sin” tax
15. College tuition should be free
16. Obtaining an associates degree should now be mandatory
17. Soda cans should have a deposit on them
18. The Miami Heat are the best basketball team of all time
19. Tom Izzo is the best college basketball coach currently coaching
20. Daniel Day Lewis is the greatest actor ever

As you can see, there are many different choices. Don't take this list as definitive, and instead see if any of our ideas inspire ideas of your own. For example, maybe you don't care much about American football but prefer European football. Hey, there's a great topic, “European football is better than American football!” or vice versa.