Persuasive essays writing guide: preparing a diagram of your ideas

This is a common practice for every writer to outline his essay first before he actually starts writing his paper. In case of persuasive essays it becomes more important as you want to move in an order and not miss any vital point that can help you win over the reader.

Why draw diagrams?

Do you know that humans are better visual learners? The images are easier to relate to and interpret then reading a whole lot of paragraph. Moreover while you are outlining your essay you can do it in a diagram shape that will help save your time.

Complexity of the diagram

This entirely depends upon your subject. It is not necessary that your diagram must only have two or three over lapping circles and squares. It can be as complex as a spider web and as simple as a chain of ideas. The complexity of the diagram is not what matters, what actually matters is how clearer and easier it is for you to understand and elaborate.

Write down your thesis

Create a clear and bold thesis statement for your persuasive essay that clearly indicates your stance for the rest of the topic. Once you have developed your thesis you can then break it into parts and create your diagram. You can do this by assigning a box to each part and then sub dividing these blocks as per number of ideas.

List down supporting ideas and examples

Supporting ideas and examples are an essential part of a persuasive essay. Without these your essay will have no value and meaning to it. They act as a back bone for your persuasive essay. List down all the supporting ideas for the topic and also list key counter arguments for the opposite view of the topic.

Draw the diagram

Now is your time to draw the diagram. Firstly create two blocks “for” and “against” the topic separately. Now add branches to your blocks stating the supporting ideas under “for” block and counter arguments under “against” block. You don’t have to write the whole idea, just write one word in a box.

In the same way make small circles for examples and link them where they should be linked. While drawing your diagram keep in mind that nothing over laps as this is a two-way essay. The sides are complete opposites of each other so they must not overlap in any scenario.