Persuasive Essay Example: Is It Better to Give Than to Receive?

Persuasive essay is an essay that aims at convincing the readers to consider and possibly accept the author’s viewpoint on a debatable issue. Examples of debatable issues are abortion, immigration, gun control, legalization of marijuana, affirmative action, money in politics, and much more.

The writer’s task is to bring in strong arguments and persuade the readers of the correctness of his/her position, as well as refute the opposing points of view. Therefore, if you intend to write a convincing persuasive essay, you should prepare beforehand and equip yourself with the most powerful arguments. The best way to do this is to follow these simple steps:

Steps to Writing a Persuasive Essay

1. Identify your stand on a given controversial issue. Prior to staring working on an essay, identify what position you are going to support. Do not simply go with what is easier to prove; it is crucial that the writer actually agrees with the chosen stand and is not trying to fake the support of marijuana legalization when in reality he/she is against it.

2. Conduct a thorough research on the issue to get more information that will help you develop a strong argument for your position. It is essential for a writer to study both sides of the issue in order to figure out how to beat counterarguments. Read books, search for information online (but use only reputable sources), ask what your friends and relatives think.

3. Master the three ways of persuasion. Know that you can convince your readers to support your position in the essay using three different methods. First, you can use reasons backed by facts to speak in your favor. Secondly, you can support your position by touching on your readers’ emotions and feelings. Thirdly, you can quote respected members of your society who have supported your point of view to argue for your position. These three methods are ethos, pathos, and logos, and you must master them to write a convincing persuasive essay.

The Writing Process

The process of writing any essay starts with developing an outline. Below you can find a persuasive essay outline example for a 5-paragraph persuasive essay that is based on it.

Topic: Is it Better to Give than to Receive?

Introduction

• Start the essay with strong statements.
• Thesis statement: When one takes into consideration the feeling of those who give, one realizes that giving is much better than receiving.

Body:

Paragraph1

• Discussion of a scientific study that found that giving is better than receiving.

Paragraph 2

• Discussion of Dalai Lama’s preference of giving to receiving.

Paragraph 3

• Analysis of Martin Luther’s choice of giving to receiving.

Conclusion

• Summary of the key points that support giving instead of receiving.
• A statement that is urging people to start practicing giving more than receiving.

Persuasive Essay Example Middle School

Having developed an outline, you can use it as your guide and actually write an essay. Below is an example of a persuasive essay based on the outline discussed above. The persuasive essay sample below includes a persuasive essay introduction example; a persuasive essay body example, and a persuasive essay conclusion example. You should read it and focus on the tone used by the writer to see how persuasive essays differ from other essay types.

Is it Better to Give than to Receive?

Holiday season is a magical time with exchanging presents being one of our favorite traditions. Very often receiving gifts makes people believe that receiving is much better than giving, which is not true. It is because during the receipt of presents people only consider the feelings of those who receive and usually ignore the feelings of those who give. However, the reality is that givers generally feel happier and more satisfied than takers.

A study done by Liz Dunn, a social psychologist, found that people were happier not when they were helped, but when they helped others. 600 Americans from all social classes participated in the study. The researcher gave them money to spend during the research process. The researcher found that the participants who gave away to other people were happier than those participants who spent the money on themselves. This study shows that giving brings a lot of joy and happiness to people. Even the poor are happier when they help others, not when they help themselves.

Additionally, Dalai Lama, one of the most famous transcendental leaders of our time, claims that giving is much better than receiving. He argues for giving by claiming that having or owning material things does not bring happiness into life. One only gets contentment when one shows deep and genuine concern for others. In fact, he stresses that those who focus on themselves develop negative emotions that prevent them from being happy. Therefore, people should genuinely care for others to be truly happy. They can only do this by giving.

Finally, Martin Luther King Junior, one of the most influential civil rights activist of the 20th century, noted that nobody can achieve personal greatness without giving. He claimed that unless people become selfless and altruistic, they will never grow. King meant that people must give readily in order to reach real success.

Giving/Generosity is an important value in life. It helps people experience happiness, achieve greatness, and get satisfaction in life. Surely, giving is better than receiving.

Seek Help from Professional Writers

The 5-paragraph persuasive essay example above is a good example of a persuasive essay written by a professional writer for middle school. You can also obtain a persuasive essay example for kids and another persuasive essay example for 4th, 5th, 6th-grade students by consulting professional writers. They can help you solve any problem you have with writing a persuasive essay or any other paper.