Introduction to Academic Essays & Persuasive Essay

Week 8: Handout

Writing well is an essential skill to succeed in university studies as well as to meet various
communication needs of professional life. Writing is a powerful process that helps one to
formulate their thoughts and opinions and communicate them to others. Being a competent and
confident writer helps you identify your thoughts leading to your sharing of those thoughts and
ideas with others and convincing them. Most of the writing you do in university is in the format of
paragraphs and essays. You have learned how to write academic paragraphs, and now you will
learn to organize and develop effective academic essays. In the ENG101 course, our main
learning focus will be on writing persuasive essays.

What is an Academic Essay?

An academic essay is a short composition expressing one central idea and consisting of several
paragraphs. Each body paragraph of an academic essay introduces a new major idea to
support the central idea. The main purpose of an essay is to explore an idea and reflect upon it.
An essayist usually intends to express or to inform, entertain, or to persuade. Formal essays
often have an earnest, intended purpose of stimulating thought and persuading readers to agree
or at least consider a point of view.*

Relationship between the paragraph

and the essay
As you learned in previous lessons, a
paragraph is a group of sentences
about one topic and has three main
parts: the topic sentence, the body
(supporting sentences), and the
concluding sentence; similarly, an essay
is a group of paragraphs about one
topic and also has three main parts: the
introduction, the body, and the
conclusion.

The diagram shows that a paragraph

and an essay have the same basic plan;
an essay is just a comprehensive,
concise, focused and structured
write-up on a single topic composed of
several paragraphs.

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Structure of an Academic Essay:

● The introduction is the first paragraph of the essay. It introduces the topic of the
essay and arouses the reader's interest. There are several ways to write an
introductory paragraph.
● The body of the essay is made up of one or more paragraphs. Each of these
paragraphs has a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and sometimes a
concluding sentence. Each of the body paragraphs supports the thesis
statement.
● The conclusion is the last paragraph of the essay. It does three things:

❖ It signals the end of the essay.

❖ It summarizes the main points.
❖ It leaves the reader with the writer's final thoughts on the subject.

Common Elements/Features of Academic Essays:

Apart from having a common basic structure, academic essays also share some
common features that include:
● Formal structure
● Thesis Statement
● Supporting paragraphs as the body of the essay
● Topic sentence in each supporting paragraph
● Adequate development of the paragraphs with relevant supporting details
● Unity and Coherence maintained all through the essay
● A clear and appropriate Concluding paragraph

Some common types of essays:

Throughout your academic life you will be assigned with different types of writing
assignments as an integral part of your course work. The type and nature of your
academic writing tasks will vary from course to course depending on the requirement of
specific subjects and disciplines of your study. However, from a general perspective
academic essays can be categorized into the following genre:
● Descriptive Essays
● Narrative Essays
● Process Essays
● Cause and Effect Essays
● Comparison and Contrast Essays
● Argumentative Essays
● Persuasive Essays

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 Persuasive Essay

Among the different types of academic essays, in the ENG101 course, you will learn to
write effective persuasive essays which is one of the most common essay types in
college and university students’ academic careers.

What is a Persuasive Essay?

A persuasive essay is a type of essay that allows the writer to express his/her own
opinion or point of view on a debatable idea or topic. It requires the writer to establish
his/her point-of-view with logical reasoning and strong supporting evidence so that it
becomes valid, convincing, and acceptable to the readers.

Why should we learn to write a Persuasive Essay?

Persuasive Essay is a significant type of academic essay which mirrors the discourse of
scholarly, academic debates. Nearly all scholarly writing makes an argument. That is
because its purpose is to create and share new knowledge so it can be debated to
confirm, dis-confirm, or improve it. This argument takes place mostly in journals and
scholarly books and at conferences. It is called the scholarly conversation, and it is the
conversation that moves forward to what we humans know.

Structure of a Persuasive Essay:

Persuasive Essay is structured around the evidence and reasons the writer presents to
prove and support the opinion or claim. Each supporting paragraph develops one main
idea to support the claim expressed in the thesis statement of the introduction.

Generally a persuasive essay is a five-paragraph essay which includes the following

parts:
1. An introductory paragraph with a grabber or attention getter, related
connecting sentences, and a Thesis Statement.

2. Three body paragraphs with reasonings and evidential support. The reasons are
the logic why the writer agrees or disagrees with a topic whereas the evidence is the
concrete examples of the reasons. In academic writings, commonly used evidence
includes: expert opinion , facts and statistics, personal experiences, others’

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 experience, brief stories or anecdotes , research studies, writer’s own analysis,
interviews etc.

3. A clear and complete concluding paragraph which includes the restatement of

thesis or summaries of the main supporting points and a final note or Clincher.

Figure 2: Structure of Persuasive Essay

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Sample of a Persuasive Essay

Essay Topic: COVID 19 Pandemic : A blessing in disguise or a curse?

Title of Essay: COVID-19 pandemic is a curse

“2020 was the year we all regressed back to the 1800’s and became fearful of killer
viruses.”― Steven Magee. It all started when the first human case of COVID-19 was
reported by officials in Wuhan City, China, in December 2019, and later on 11 March
2020 when WHO declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic. It is believed to have a
close connection to bat coronavirus which is yet to be proved. As the COVID-19
spread throughout the world, it forced country leaders to enforce lockdown which
automatically led to multiple problems that changed the very notion of normal human
living. Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic is a curse because the virus is collapsing
the world's economy, threatening the lives of all living beings, and increasing violence
across the globe.

To begin with, we have seen a massive fall in the world's economy due to this
COVID-19 pandemic curse as it is limiting international trading and increasing
unemployment. Because of the outbreak of this virus, the import, export, and supply
of goods among countries have totally stopped (Tahir & Sohaib, 2020). As reported by
Parez and Devnath (2020), more than 1100 factories in Bangladesh suffered canceled
orders worth $3.17 billion as of April 2020, affecting 2.27 million workers. The
scenario of economic loss is the same for almost every country. What is most
alarming is that people are losing their jobs and the rate of unemployment is on the
rise. According to Jones (2020), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that
in the United States in June 2020, the proportion of people out of work has hit 10.4%
signaling an end to a decade of expansion for one of the world's largest economies.
This is how this curse of a pandemic is severely impacting the world economy by
causing a halt in trades and businesses and by making millions of people
unemployed.

The second reason why I believe COVID-19 is a curse of 2020 is that it has taken
many lives and caused a massive surge in plastic pollution. Since the day COVID-19
was found in Wuhan, people have been dying every day. WHO records a total of
1,382,106 deaths worldwide as of 23 November 2020. For many patients who have
survived, the virus increases the risk of long-term health problems by damaging the
lungs, heart, and brain. Furthermore, to fight against the virus we humans are making
plastic-made masks and PPE which is increasing plastic production and plastic
pollution. The rise of plastic pollution might be the reason for the extinction of many
animals and creatures. According to the Environment and Social Development
Organization (ESDO), Bangladesh alone has generated around 14,500 tons of PPE
and other hazardous plastic wastes in March 2020. These plastic-made products and
their wastes are usually dumped into the ocean and other water bodies which leads to
a marked depletion of oxygen available to mammals and various fishes causing them

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to die in their natural habitat. Thus, I think Covid-19 is a curse as it is threatening the
lives of humans and causing harm to animals with immense plastic pollution.

Lastly, the increase in violence during this pandemic is one major reason why
COVID-19 can only be termed as a curse. Since the virus was found in China in
December 2019, discrimination and domestic violence have been rising all over the
world. Many parts of the world have seen increasing ignorance and misinformation for
racist and xenophobic attacks against people who appear to be East Asian. For
instance, Shadwell (2020) reports that a Singaporean student in London was
assaulted after he reacted to passersby, who were making comments about his race
and the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Moreover, having to maintain social distancing
during periods of lockdown also be a contributing factor to domestic violence.
Children, women, married couples have been unable to associate with friends and
relatives and engage in outdoor activities in recent months which has increased
conflicts between them or with other family members. Rates of femicide, intentional
killing of females on account of gender, has increased drastically. According to Valera
(2020), the average rate of femicide for a 21 day period in the UK has doubled,
compared to that of the past 11 years. This shows that minorities are facing violent
attacks during the Covid-19 pandemic.

To sum up, because of the fall of the world economy, loss of precious lifeforms, and
the rapid increase in violence, we can say that the COVID-19 pandemic is a curse.
However, there is still hope for us if we can work together to revive our economical
situation by introducing alternatives like online investments and entrepreneurship and
thereby, save ourselves from rescission. Additionally, people all around the world
should maintain the rules of hygiene to prevent infection and should use eco-friendly
alternatives of plastic products made of Platinum silicon or Beeswax coated masks,
etc in order to save the environment from further damage. Lastly, state-level initiatives
can be taken to minimise domestic abuse cases, and online counseling services can
be promoted to help women and children recover from the trauma of domestic
violence. Even though 2020 is a cursed year where life is filled with the fear of a killer
virus, there is no denying the fact that by ensuring the mentioned measures above,
we can hope to minimize the damage and devastation of this curse and get back to
our normal lives.

Understanding the steps in developing a persuasive essay:

Having read the sample persuasive essay above, it is time to understand the steps that
a writer needs to go through to compose a well-written essay. As you know, persuasive
essay topics are debatable topics; they must have adequate space for people with
different opinions to agree and disagree. From this perspective, one precondition to
writing an interesting and engaging persuasive essay is to craft a contemporary,
interesting and controversial essay topic. Now, let us note how you can narrow down a
general or broad topic into a precise and focused debatable topic.

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To explore the entire process of narrowing down, let us take the sample essay topic
“COVID 19 Pandemic : A blessing in disguise or a curse?” as an example and note how
the topic has been narrowed down.

Steps to narrowing down a broad topic into a precise and focused debatable topic:

1. First, decide on a topic of your interest. Make sure that the topic you decide is a
recent and not a cliche topic. To a huge extent, the readers’ interest and the
potential of the write-up will depend on your ability to consider the topic from a
diverse perspective and narrow down the topic from an entirely or at least
relatively new angle.
One widely used approach to consider a topic from diverse perspectives and
narrow it down is to guide ourselves with ‘WH’ questions. Asking ‘WH’ questions
on the topic contributes to stimulating our thoughts, exploring our existing ideas
as well as unfolding new avenues and fresh angles on the topic.
Now let us take the example of “COVID-19” as our broad topic and note how with
the help of the Who, What, Where, When technique we can narrow it down into
a debatable topic.

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Do we have any positive impact of COVID-19 ? What positive impact do we have? or,
COVID 19 Pandemic : A blessing in disguise or a curse?

Points to be considered to narrow down a topic:

❖ A Narrow down topic has to be either a statement or a question.

❖ It must not be a fact.
❖ It must have adequate space for people with different opinions to agree
and disagree.
❖ It should not be a cliche.
❖ It must not be a religiously sentimental issue.
❖ It should neither be too narrowed nor be too general or wide.

2. Once you determine your topic, the next step is to study and collect relevant
information on the topic. Having adequate ideas on the topic, you can brainstorm
your reasons for both sides and evaluate which reasons are stronger and can be
supported with proper evidence. Based on your stronger reasons, you determine
your stand and position.

Take a look at the sample brainstorming on the topic ‘COVID 19 Pandemic : A

blessing in disguise or a curse?’ below and note how the writer has jotted down
the reasons both for agreement and disagreement.

COVID 19 Pandemic : A blessing in disguise or a curse?

For
1. lowered levels of pollution
2. development in the e-commerce
sector
3.heightened public awareness on
hygiene practice
Against
1.the virus is collapsing the world's
economy
2. threatening the lives of all living
beings
3.increasing violence across the globe.

After you complete your brainstorming and determine the strongest reasons, you
are ready to decide your stand or position. However, do remember that a
sensible writer is never whimsical in deciding the stand. Since the art of
persuasive writing depends on the ability to present the argument convincingly

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 with strong reasons and valid evidence, writers determine their stand or position
considering the strength of the reasons.

After you determine your position or stand, you are ready to formulate your
tentative thesis statement. In a persuasive essay, a thesis statement is a
sentence where the writer declares his/her stand or position very clearly and
precisely without any ambiguity. For example; in the sample essay the last
sentence of the first paragraph (i.e. Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic is a
curse because the virus is collapsing the world's economy, threatening the
lives of all living beings, and increasing violence across the globe.) is the
thesis statement. Note that in the thesis statement the writer made his/her stand
or opinion absolutely clear by writing “... the COVID-19 pandemic is a curse…”
In addition to articulating the stand clearly, the writer has also provided a preview
of the reasons (i.e “...because the virus is collapsing the world's economy,
threatening the lives of all living beings, and increasing violence across the
globe.”).

To learn more about thesis statements click here.

References:

“Academic Writing from Paragraph to Essay”, (2nd ed). (2005). Oxford: Macmillan.

Dietsch, B. M. (Ed.). (2003). Reading and responding to essays. In Reasoning and Writing Well
(Third Edition). McGraw-Hill Education - Europe.
Retrieved from:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/essay_writing/expository_
essays.html

“Introduction to Academic Writing”, (2nd ed.). (1996). The Longman Academic Writing Series
-Addison Wesley Publishing Company.

Kemper, D., Sebranek, P., & Meyer, V. (2003). All write: A student handbook for writing and
learning. Wilmington, MA: Write Source.

Langan, J. (Ed.). (2000). English Skills with Readings. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Luengo, A. E. (1996). Canadian writer's companion. Scarborough, Ont.: Prentice Hall Ginn
Canada.

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Robitaille, J. & Connelly, R. (2007). Writer’s Resources: From Paragraph to Essay (2nd Ed.).
Boston: Thomson Higher Education.

References for the sample essay:

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/the-toll-of-coronavirus-on-our-exports-1588607346
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51706225
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3612943
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/teen-pleads-guilty-punching-singaporean-22503292
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/when-lockdown-is-not-actually-safer-intimate-partner-violen
ce-during-covid-19-2020070720529#:~:text=The%20UK%20has%20reported%20femicide,three
%20months%20of%20the%20year.
https://esdo.org/esdos-online-press-briefing-on-hazardous-plastic-waste-generation-in-a-month-
during-covid-19-pandemic/
https://theprint.in/world/for-bangladeshs-garment-workers-it-doesnt-pay-to-dress-up-the-world-a
nymore/405711/
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/06/08/covid-19-to-plunge-global-econo
my-into-worst-recession-since-world-war-ii
"COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns
Hopkins University (JHU)". ArcGIS. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 8 September 2020.

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