What Is a Case Study?

A case study is a subcategory of research design which investigates problems and offers solutions. Case studies can range from academic research studies to corporate promotional tools trying to sell an idea—their scope is quite vast.

What Is the Difference Between a Research Paper and a Case Study?

While research papers turn the reader’s attention to a certain problem, case studies go even further. Case study guidelines require students to pay attention to details, examining issues closely and in-depth using different research methods. For example, case studies may be used to examine court cases if you study Law, or a patient’s health history if you study Medicine.

Case studies involve a lot of storytelling – they usually examine particular cases for a person or a group of people. This method of research is very helpful, as it is very practical and can give a lot of hands-on information. Most commonly, the length of the case study is about 500-900 words, which is much less than the length of an average research paper.

The structure of a case study is very similar to storytelling. It has a protagonist or main character, which in your case is actually a problem you are trying to solve. You can use the system of 3 Acts in your story. It should have an introduction, rising action, a climax where transformation occurs, falling action, and a solution.

Here is a rough formula for you to use in your case study:
Problem (Act I): > Solution (Act II) > Result (Act III) > Conclusion.

Types of Case Studies

The purpose of a case study is to provide detailed reports on an event, an institution, a place, a person, or pretty much anything. There are a few common types of case study, but the type depends on the topic. The following are the most common domains where case studies are needed:

• Historical case studies are great to learn from. Historical events have a multitude of source info offering different perspectives. There are always modern parallels where these perspectives can be applied, compared, and thoroughly analyzed.
• Problem-oriented case studies are usually used for solving problems. These are often assigned as theoretical situations where you need to immerse yourself in the situation to examine it. Imagine you’re working for a startup and you’ve just noticed a significant flaw in your product’s design. Before taking it to senior manager, you want to study the issue in detail and provide solutions. On a greater scale, problem-oriented case studies are a vital part of relevant socio-economic discussions.
• Cumulative case studies collect information and offer comparisons. In business, case studies are often used to tell people about the value of a product.
• Critical case studies explore the causes and effects of a certain case.
• Illustrative case studies describe certain events, investigating outcomes and lessons learned.

Case Study Format

The case study format is typically made up of eight parts:

1. Executive Summary. Explain what you will examine in the case study. Write an overview of the field you’re researching. Make a thesis statement and sum up the results of your observation in a maximum of 2 sentences.
2. Background. Provide background information and the most relevant facts. Isolate the issues.
3. Case Evaluation. Isolate the sections of the study you want to focus on. In it, explain why something is working or is not working.
4. Proposed Solutions. Offer realistic ways to solve what isn’t working or how to improve its current condition. Explain why these solutions work by offering testable evidence.
5. Conclusion. Summarize the main points from the case evaluations and proposed solutions. 6. Recommendations. Talk about the strategy that you should choose. Explain why this choice is the most appropriate.
6. Implementation. Explain how to put the strategy into action.
7. References. Provide all the citations.

How to Write a Case Study

Setting Up the Research

When writing a case study, remember that research should always come first. Reading many different sources and analyzing other points of view will help you come up with more creative solutions. Including all of the necessary research, writing a case study may take some time. The research process involves doing the following:

• Define your objective. Explain the reason why you’re presenting your subject. Figure out where you will feature your case study; whether it is written, on video, shown as an infographic, streamed as a podcast, etc.
• Determine who will be the right candidate for your case study. Get permission, quotes, and other features that will make your case study effective. Get in touch with your candidate to see if they approve of being part of your work. Study that candidate’s situation and note down what caused it.
• Identify which various consequences could result from the situation. Follow these guidelines on how to start a case study: surf the net to find some general information you might find useful.
• Make a list of credible sources and examine them. Seek out important facts and highlight problems. Always write down your ideas and make sure to brainstorm.
• Focus on several key issues – why they exist, and how they impact your research subject. Think of several unique solutions. Draw from class discussions, readings, and personal experience. When writing a case study, focus on the best solution and explore it in depth. After having all your research in place, writing a case study will be easy. You may first want to check the rubric and criteria of your assignment for the correct case study structure.

The Rubric

Although your instructor might be looking at slightly different criteria, every case study rubric essentially has the same standards. Your professor will want you to exhibit 8 different outcomes:

1. Correctly identify the concepts, theories, and practices in the discipline.
2. Identify the relevant theories and principles associated with the particular study.
3. Evaluate legal and ethical principles and apply them to your decision-making.
4. Recognize the global importance and contribution of your case.
5. Construct a coherent summary and explanation of the study.
6. Demonstrate analytical and critical-thinking skills.
7. Explain the interrelationships between the environment and nature.
8. Integrate theory and practice of the discipline within the analysis.

Case Study Outline

Let’s look at the structure of an outline based on the issue of the alcoholic addiction of 30 people.

Introduction

• Statement of the issue: Alcoholism is a disease rather than a weakness of character.
• Presentation of the problem: Alcoholism is affecting more than 14 million people in the USA, which makes it the third most common mental illness there.
• Explanation of the terms: In the past, alcoholism was commonly referred to as alcohol dependence or alcohol addiction. Alcoholism is now the more severe stage of this addiction in the disorder spectrum.
• Hypotheses: Drinking in excess can lead to the use of other drugs.
• Importance of your story: How the information you present can help people with their addictions.

Body

• Background of the story: Include an explanation of why you chose this topic.
• Presentation of analysis and data: Describe the criteria for choosing 30 candidates, the structure of the interview, and the outcomes.
• Strong argument 1: ex. X% of candidates dealing with anxiety and depression…
• Strong argument 2: ex. X amount of people started drinking by their mid-teens.
• Strong argument 3: ex. X% of respondents’ parents had issues with alcohol.

Conclusion

• Concluding statement: I have researched if alcoholism is a disease and found out that…
• Recommendations: Ways and actions for preventing alcohol use.

Writing a Case Study Draft

After you’ve done your case study research and written the outline, it’s time to focus on the draft. In a draft, you have to develop and write your case study by using: the data which you collected throughout the research, interviews, and the analysis processes that were undertaken. Follow these rules for the draft:

• Your draft should contain at least 4 sections: an introduction; a body where you should include background information, an explanation of why you decided to do this case study, and a presentation of your main findings; a conclusion where you present data; and references.
• In the introduction, you should set the pace very clearly. You can even raise a question or quote someone you interviewed in the research phase. It must provide adequate background information on the topic. The background may include analyses of previous studies on your topic. Include the aim of your case here as well. Think of it as a thesis statement. The aim must describe the purpose of your work—presenting the issues that you want to tackle. Include background information, such as photos or videos you used when doing the research.
• Describe your unique research process, whether it was through interviews, observations, academic journals, etc. The next point includes providing the results of your research. Tell the audience what you found out. Why is this important, and what could be learned from it? Discuss the real implications of the problem and its significance in the world.
• Include quotes and data (such as findings, percentages, and awards). This will add a personal touch and better credibility to the case you present. Explain what results you find during your interviews in regards to the problem and how it developed. Also, write about solutions which have already been proposed by other people who have already written about this case.
• At the end of your case study, you should offer possible solutions, but don’t worry about solving them yourself.

Use Data to Illustrate Key Points in Your Case Study

Even though your case study is a story, it should be based on evidence. Use as much data as possible to illustrate your point. Without the right data, your case study may appear weak and the readers may not be able to relate to your issue as much as they should. Let’s see the examples from essay writer online:

Try to include as many credible sources as possible. You may have terms or sources that could be hard for other cultures to understand. If this is the case, you should include them in the appendix or Notes for the Instructor or Professor.

Finalizing the Draft: Checklist

After you finish drafting your case study, polish it up by answering these “ask yourself” questions and think about how to end your case study:

• Check that you follow the correct case study format, also in regards to text formatting.
• Check that your work is consistent with its referencing and citation style.
• Micro-editing — check for grammar and spelling issues.
• Macro-editing — does “the big picture” come across to the reader? Is there enough raw data, such as real-life examples or personal experiences? Have you made your data collection process completely transparent? Does your analysis provide a clear conclusion, allowing for further research and practice?

Problems to avoid:

• Overgeneralization – Do not go into further research that deviates from the main problem.
• Failure to Document Limitations – Just as you have to clearly state the limitations of a general research study, you must describe the specific limitations inherent in the subject of analysis.
• Failure to Extrapolate All Possible Implications – Just as you don’t want to over-generalize from your case study findings, you also have to be thorough in the consideration of all possible outcomes or recommendations derived from your findings.

“Great Expectations” Summary

“Great Expectations” is a story about the life of a simple little boy, who lives through a poor childhood and into a rich adulthood, learning many lessons throughout this process. The book begins with the protagonist introducing himself:

Pip is an honest and simple man, but he doesn’t find a place for himself in society. Even money and the rich gentleman’s life didn’t make him happy. Towards the end of the book, Pip will realize that his expectations and desires misled him and ruined his life: he loved a woman (Estella) who couldn’t return his feelings, and he was grateful to another woman (Miss Havisham) for becoming wealthy when in fact Miss Havisham did nothing for Pip and only encouraged Estella to hurt him even more. But for now, it is all in the distant future as the story is about to unfold.

One day, while visiting his parents’ grave, Pip meets an escaped convict and risks his own safety to bring him food and a saw to take off the shackles.

After a while, Pip gets invited to visit the house of Miss Havisham—also referred to as “Satis House” in the book. Miss Havisham is a wealthy and peculiar woman. Ever since some man robbed her and then fled on the day of their supposed marriage, she became lost, dull, and constantly unsatisfied with everything. She continued to wear her wedding dress and preserved everything in her dilapidated home the exact way it had been set up for the planned wedding. Miss Havisham invited Pip to her house because she wanted to find a companion for her foster daughter Estella.

Estella is an orphan brought up by Miss Havisham to despise and loathe all males that come near her: “Break their hearts my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy!” (Chapter XII)—this is one of the most famous quotes from “Great Expectations”. Estella was a beautiful girl brought up to be a lady, but her heart was cold and her morals were wicked. She humiliated Pip from the first time she was asked to play with him: “With this boy? Why, he is a common laboring boy!” (Chapter VIII) and has used every opportunity ever since to demonstrate how much she is better than him.

Pip comes to like Estella, but the more time he spends with her, the more he starts to hate himself – his low status, his simple clothes, his blacksmithing apprenticeship that made his face dirty and his hands coarse (and was paid for by Miss Havisham). From the time he met Estella, for Pip great expectations were to be a gentleman and be admired by this polished girl and her mother. One day Pip finds out that somebody has hit his sister so hard that her brain gets badly damaged. Next to the place where she was attacked, people found broken shackles. Later, another orphan, Biddy, comes to live with Pip to take care of Mrs. Joe. Pip describes Biddy as a very ordinary girl:

Pip is warned not to try to guess or find out who his benefactor is—such was the condition of acquiring the inheritance.

Pip is happy: he remains convinced that his secret benefactor is Miss Havisham, which he interprets to mean that she is likely preparing him to be a suitable husband for Estella. The boy gets new fancy clothes, people start to treat him differently, he moves to London, where he shares an apartment with Herbert Pocket, Bentley Drummle, and Startop, and he takes classes to become a real gentleman. Pip makes quick progress and is soon able to behave just like other high-class people. While connecting with prestigious British society, Pip grows more and more ashamed of his past. The boy actively tries to avoid Joe when he comes to visit, but when the news of his sister’s death comes, Pip visits her funeral and begins to feel sorry for being so distant with Joe and Biddy. Pip continues to spend time with Estella when they are both in London; he loves her, but the only feeling she exhibits towards him is contempt and cruelty. After a while, Estella develops a relationship with Pip’s friend Bentley Drummle (which was more of a relationship with his money and status, to be precise), and they get married.

At the same time, an encounter from the past re-introduces itself – the convict Pip met in the graveyard years ago whose name is Abel Magwitch. It turns out Magwitch was the secret benefactor that made Pip rich – after the incident in the graveyard he had escaped to Australia, made a fortune there, and asked Jaggers to take care of the boy as a sign of gratitude. Magwitch is a complex character who had gotten into trouble because of bad company and then got set up by a cunning companion of his. His character exemplifies how inhumane laws and unjust rules set by a cynic society, lead to the gradual degradation of a man. Magwitch tells Pip that he is being followed by another convict, his ex-partner, Compeyson, who was notorious for many illegal deals:

By listening to his life story, the reader understands that Magwitch is the real father of Estella (her mother is Mr. Jaggers’ housekeeper), and Compeyson is the man who fooled Miss Havisham so many years ago.

Pip develops a plan to help Magwitch escape the country and Compeyson drowns in the pursuit of trying to catch Magwitch. Magwitch gets hurt and gets caught. He then gets sent to prison where he dies from his wounds. Pip had stopped taking Magwitch’s money some time ago, and now it has all gone to the benefit of the state anyway. Pip has accumulated debt and gets in trouble for being unable to repay it. When Pip’s health declines, Joe comes to take care of him and even pays off his debts. After recovering, Pip joins his friend Herbert, and Herbert’s wife Clara, to work at the Clarriner’s office in Cairo (Egypt)—Pip was the one to secure Herbert a position with the company back when he had money.

Great Expectations Themes and Motives

Social class is a very important determinant of one’s position in the book. Both Estella and Pip were orphans, but the girl was brought up to praise her status and humiliate everybody who didn’t share the same status as her. Estella is a victim of class inequality, she is taught to despise people and even things:

The young boy doesn’t strive for real self-improvement, he wants to have the image, the looks, and the respect—all of the superficial things.

Integrity and reputation: Being honest and sincere wasn’t worth much in those times. The characters were doing all the wrong things, but nobody stopped them. For example, Miss Havisham gladly accepts Pip’s gratitude even though she knows she isn’t the benefactor who paid for his lavish life in London. She later admits that she pretended to be the one who gave Pip money just to irritate her family.

Parents in the book are nothing more than empty vessels – they are absent from the lives of most characters, and those who assume parental duties do not perform them well. For example: “My sister… had established a great reputation with herself and the neighbors because she had brought me up “by hand” (Chapter II). Parents were supposed to put Pip in school, teach him to respect himself, and value others, but nobody was there to take care of him. Taking into account that Dickens wrote many children’s stories, you would assume that in “Great Expectations”, the author would try to discover the roots and causes of many childhood miseries and broken kids’ lives.

Justice is not evident, but an important theme in this book. What is “Great Expectations about? – It’s simply about getting what one deserves. The plot is unfair, that’s true. But the characters’ wishes and actions are also quite shallow and unjust. In the end, each of them has the opportunity to turn their life around, but choose to behave the way society expects them to.

Generosity: Pip didn’t experience much kindness or generosity in his life. The only person who treated him with respect was his sister’s husband Joe Gargery, whom he later starts to avoid once Pip becomes a gentleman. Magwitch makes Pip a gentleman to repay the “generosity” the boy demonstrated out of mere fear for his life; and Pip doesn’t even appreciate Magwitch’s generosity. The boy really enjoyed the thought that Miss Havisham believed in him and sponsored him to become a gentleman. So when the young man finds out that she hadn’t actually invested in his education, and thus didn’t plan for Estella to marry him, Pip panics:

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What is a Persuasive Essay?

A persuasive essay is a common type of writing task assigned to students in school, college, and university throughout the course of their education.
According to the definition, a persuasive (also referred to as argumentative) essay is a type of academic paper that implies using valid facts, clear logic, and reasoning to convince readers of the validity of an author’s viewpoint.

Why do you need to master this type of writing? From an academic perspective, mastering the art of persuasive writing is vital to be able to handle such tasks at school or college and maintain good performance. At the same time, this skill also has real-life value. Thus, learning how to write a persuasive essay teaches students how to develop their own viewpoints on a given subject matter and how to use arguments to prove its correctness. This type of writing also helps in acquiring vital life skills such as critical thinking, reasoning, logic, and persuasion.

How to Write a Persuasive Essay?

Here are some key persuasive writing prompts to keep in mind while working on such tasks:

• Choose an engaging topic. Choosing a relevant, manageable, and interesting topic can be hard, but it is one of the most vital steps in making your essay successful or unsuccessful (if it is not engaging).
• Take a clear position on a given topic. Writing a persuasive essay requires choosing a specific side you are going to advocate for in your paper.
• Know your audience. Since the main purpose of this form of writing is to persuade readers, it is vital to know the audience you are writing for and understand their perspective—to create an effective paper.
• Do thorough research to identify the arguments you can use in your essay. Then, prioritize arguments according to their validity and value.
• Use the most convincing and logical evidence.
• Make it engaging. Use a catchy hook in the introduction to grab your readers’ attention, and try your best to keep them interested through the whole piece.
• Keep it clear and straight to the point.

Difference Between a Persuasive Speech and a Persuasive Essay

• Another common form of persuasive writing is persuasive speech. This form of writing can also be assigned within an academic course. However, it is also widely used in the professional world, for example, when presenting a new idea to investors with the goal of persuading them to invest their money in a project.
• Is writing a persuasive speech any different from writing an essay? To begin with, writing an essay and a speech are two completely different experiences. Even though the ultimate goal is the same, to convince the audience of something, the steps of writing, style, tone of voice, and techniques used by the author can be quite different.

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Here are the key differences between a persuasive speech and a persuasive essay:

• Audience. Obviously, by writing a speech you intend to communicate with a live audience, meanwhile, an essay addresses a reading audience.
• Tone. Due to the difference in audience, the tone of these two persuasive pieces is also different. A speech aims to generate a strong emotional effect. To create it, authors often use a particular diction full of grave, hopeful, or uplifting tones. An essay also relies on evoking emotions; however, in this case, a writer will fulfill this goal with the help of making the right points.
• Format. Most essays follow a standard format: introduction, body, and conclusion. A speech also generally follows the same structure. However, often speechwriters draw a separate conclusion from every point made in the body to ensure that the audience is on the same page with the speaker.
• Presentation. A speech gives a speaker a wider range of tools to use during a presentation. Thus, when writing a speech, you can expect a speaker to further strengthen its effect with the help of eye contact, body language, intonation, gestures, etc. On the contrary, when writing an essay, the whole effect a piece makes depends on the word choice and the way you use them.

Components of a Persuasive Essay

Here we have compelled an extensive list of good persuasive essay topics divided into popular categories to help you get started with your paper.
A persuasive essay should be well-organized and follow a clear and logical structure. As a rule, the length of this essay is between 5-6 paragraphs. What are the components of a persuasive essay? This type of work follows the standard essay structure – that is, a catchy intro; the main body which includes the main ideas, with arguments to support them; and a logical conclusion. Now, let’s look at each of the three components closer:

• Introduction: An introduction is the opening paragraph of an essay. It is the first thing that gets presented to readers’ eyes, which is why it has to be clear and attention-grabbing. To drive readers’ attention, an introduction should contain a hook – an intriguing fact, statement, or argument. Also, an introductory paragraph has to contain a strong thesis statement that reflects the main idea that you will be examining in the next part.
• Body: An essay’s main body is its heart. As a rule, it consists of 3-4 paragraphs. Each paragraph reflects a specific point and provides supporting evidence for it.
• Conclusion: The closing part of your essay is used to sum up the key ideas discussed in its main body and connects them to the thesis statement in the introduction. In persuasive writing, the conclusion is used to strengthen the persuasive effect of the whole piece.

Persuasive Essay Topics

So, you were assigned to write a persuasive essay, where should you start? The first step in preparation for writing is the choice of a topic. A lot depends on this step. If you manage to pick a good topic, the writing process will be much simpler and you will also have higher chances to get a really good grade. At the same time, if a topic is not relevant or engaging enough, it can ruin everything.

Although having freedom of choice is seemingly a good thing, many students feel rather confused about which persuasive topics are good ones. If you are wondering how to pick a good subject, here are the main criteria that define good persuasive topics:

• The topic is engaging. A great topic should not only be interesting for your audience, but for you as well. If you find something you are interested in, the writing process will become more pleasant and less stressful to research.
• You have an opinion about it. In order to persuade readers of something, you need to define your position first. Thus, it is vital to pick a persuasive topic you have an opinion about.
• It is controversial. Obviously there should be two sides of the argument in order to have something to convince your audience about. Thus, you need to pick a topic you can examine both sides of.
• The topic is manageable. Finally, a perfect persuasive topic is one for which there are enough arguments to provide. Therefore, before you stop on a specific topic, be sure to conduct enough research to see if you can find sufficient supporting evidence for your ideas.

Following these tips, you can generate brilliant persuasive speech topics for college and school with ease. Need some extra prompts to get started? In the list below, we have included some of the most relevant and interesting persuasive speech topics—divided into categories:

Persuasive Essay Topics for Kids

1. I Should Be Allowed to Go to Bed Later
2. I Should Be Allowed to Have a Pet
3. I Should Be Allowed to Eat Sweets Every Day
4. Dogs Are Better Pets than Cats
5. Superheroes Are Real
6. Vegetables Should Not Be Eaten Regularly
7. I Should Be Allowed to Stay Home Alone
8. I Should Be Allowed to Watch TV as Much as I Want
9. I Should Be Allowed to Play Video Games as Much as I Want
10. My Allowance Should be Bigger

Persuasive Essay Topics for Elementary Students

1. Schools Should Cancel Dress Codes
2. Homework Should Be Optional
3. Elementary Students Should Be Allowed to Bring Their Pets to School
4. Students Should Be Allowed to Use Cellphones in School
5. The School Day Should Be Shortened
6. Why School Breaks Need to Be Longer
7. All Classrooms Should Have a TV
8. We Need to Have Longer Summer Holidays
9. Schools Should Have Play Time in Between Classes
10. Every Classroom Should Have a Pet

Persuasive Essay Topics for Middle School

1. The Best Vacation Destinations
2. Does a Home Environment Influence Pupils’ Academic Performances?
3. Should There Be Harsher Punishments for Bullying?
4. Is Less Homework Really a Good Idea?
5. The Pros and Cons of Summer Schooling
6. Field Trips Should Be Organized Every Week
7. The Impact of Violent TV Shows on the Population
8. The Role of Social Media on the Lives of Younger Generations
9. Do Violent Computer Games Hurt Kids?
10. Should Students Be Held in Detention?

What Is a Persuasive Writing

Persuasive writing is a common writing technique taught to students early on in schools. This is an interesting and fun type of writing that strives to create a debate on a given topic. This writing technique challenges students to take a clear stance on a specific topic or cause and use convincing arguments to persuade readers that the author’s position is correct.

What Is a Persuasive Writing

Persuasive writing is a common writing technique taught to students early on in schools. This is an interesting and fun type of writing that strives to create a debate on a given topic. This writing technique challenges students to take a clear stance on a specific topic or cause and use convincing arguments to persuade readers that the author’s position is correct.

Argumentative vs Persuasive Writing

A persuasive essay is often referred to as an argumentative essay. This can create an illusion that these types of works are the same and can cause confusion. However, there is a difference between argumentative and persuasive writing approaches.

Although both writing techniques have the same goal – both papers are based on logic and reasoning to persuade readers of something; however, a persuasive paper also relies on emotions apart from straight facts. When writing a persuasive essay, you operate with convincing arguments, yet, at the same time, you deal with emotions to make the reader feel your well-defined point of view.

You might also be interested in discovering what is an argumentative essay and how to write one.

Persuasive Essay Format

The basic requirements for a persuasive paper are as follows:

• Fonts: Times New Roman or another easy-to-read fonts like Georgia or Arial
• Font Size: 16pt for the headline(s) and 12pt for the rest of the text
• Alignment: justified
• Spacing: double, or in some cases 1.5
• Word count: as a rule, from 500 to 2000 words—check your teacher’s guidelines to learn what word count applies to you

The List of Topics and How to Pick One

When thinking of persuasive essay ideas, it is best to choose a topic with many contrasting opinions. Broad issues such as gun control and abortion rights can spawn novel length essays. These best be avoided unless you’re writing a dissertation.

Say you want to argue in favor of space exploration. It perfectly fits the description of a widely explored contemporary subject. Creating a structure where every body paragraph explores a different planet might be a bit too much. Why not narrow it down and argue in favor of building a base on the moon? This way, you can convince the audience of the benefits of creating a moon base, and giving them a small idea of what can be achieved from space exploration on a larger scale.

Hence, you have persuaded your reader on a small topic connected to a much broader one. This will leave them inspired with plenty of thoughts to feast on, allowing them to dive further into the world of space.

Remember This When Picking a Topic

Persuasive essays are all about the point of view. It is essential to find good topics which you know something about, or topics which you can argue in favor of, or against. The greatest persuasive essays ever written deal with real-life experiences and point the reader towards important social problems most people have ignored. Take Martin Luther King Jr.’s A Letter from Birmingham Jail or Hillary Clinton’s Women’s Rights are Human Rights for example.

Topics for High School

Perhaps the concept of space exploration is long and tedious and makes your stomach turn. Don’t worry — you can come up with plenty of simple persuasive essay topics for high school. Perhaps you have already debated on some of these with your friends:

• Schools should restrict the use of tablets in the classroom, as it distracts students and causes difficulty in learning.
• The Velvet Underground is the most important and influential American rock band of all time.
• Explain why advertisements should be banned from social media.
• Eating meat should be banned within the next five years due to growing concern over the environment.
• Historically, businessmen in positions of power is a bad idea.

Topics for College

Persuasive essay topics for college get a bit more complicated. The best essay topics are ones that take into account the events of contemporary life, discussing moral, ethical, technological, and environmental issues. Students have the opportunity to make a serious impact with their writing, fearlessly breathing new life into the old world. For college, it is best to choose controversial persuasive essay topics. They challenge the writer to engage in relevant intellectual issues. Here are some examples:

• Media marketed for teenagers advertise morally and ethically wrong messages.
• Federal courtrooms must have live cameras that televise all trials.
• Beauty contests should not be encouraged.
• With the amounts of information available online, college education should be made significantly cheaper.
• Create a prisoner rehabilitation system using music and art.
• Arguing in favor of Net Neutrality.

Persuasive Writing Outline

Writing an outline is a big step for writing persuasive essays. An outline helps to get your thoughts well-organized and makes the writing process simpler.

A standard persuasive essay structure is quite similar to other types of essays and consists of three main elements: an introduction, body, and conclusion. Each element plays its own role in the paper. You will be required to follow the persuasive essay format and cite it according to one of the common citation styles, such as APA or MLA.

Here is a brief note on what each part of this paper consists of and what purpose each part has:

1. Intro: Consists of a hook, background info, and a thesis statement. It should be straight to the point, engaging, and concise. The main purpose of the introductory paragraph is to define your topic and position, grab the reader’s attention, and give a sneak-peek into the topic’s background.
2. Main Body: Consists of several paragraphs, each focusing on a separate idea with supporting evidence. It should be logical, contain valid arguments, and be interesting. As a general rule, such an essay has from 3 to 5 body paragraphs. In the final body paragraph of your paper, you can also state the opposing opinion and provide counterarguments—this will strengthen the persuasive effect of the text.
3. Conclusion: Consists of a short summary of key points, a restated thesis, and additional information to leave readers some food for thought. To consolidate the convincing effect of your paper, it should be clear, logical, and powerful.

To give you a better idea of how a persuasive essay outline should be formed, here is a sample on the topic “Are Women Weaker Than Men Today”:

1. Introduction

• Hook: “In the 21st century, women are more than housewives.”
• Background Info: “For ages, the debate on whether women are weaker or stronger than men have not faded.”
• Thesis: “The era of male dominance has come to an end. Today women can do and be pretty much everything men can.”

2. Main Body

• Argument #1: The strength of a woman from a family perspective + supporting facts, stats, and evidence
• Argument #2: The strength from a work perspective + supporting facts, stats, and evidence
• Argument #3: The strength from a society perspective + supporting facts, stats, and evidence

3. Conclusion

• Summary of all arguments
• Thesis restatement: “Women were perceived as a weaker sex for centuries. However today, looking at modern women examples, we can mark this statement as false.”
• Food for thought: “Over the past decades, women from all over the world have proven that they can do anything a man can do and succeed. Their success is the best indicator of their strength. And, even though there is nothing else to prove, women are still seeking to take a more active role in modern society.”

How to Use Arguments in Persuasive Essays

How to start a persuasive essay: first and foremost, to write an effective paper, you have to understand the basic principles of persuasive writing. Your main goal is to make readers accept your opinion and agree with it. The only way to do it is by supporting your ideas with credible, reasonable, and verifiable arguments. Apart from that, you will have to appeal to human emotions and logic. The right blend of rational and emotional elements in your text is what makes it persuasive.

Now, let’s get back to the basic elements of persuasive writing. There are three elements of rhetoric described by Aristotle that you should keep at the core of your writing:

• Ethos: an element that appeals to an author’s credibility. It implies that readers will trust your opinion because they find you a credible author. If you don’t have your own ethos yet (meaning you are not a proven expert in a specific field), you can refer to opinions stated by credible organizations and personas. In this case, their ethos will help your arguments sound more solid.

How to Shape a Powerful Persuasive Argument

Here are a few basic tips to help you generate convincing arguments for your paper:

• Research. To be able to form solid and convincing points, you have to be very well informed about the chosen topic. Research it thoroughly using trusted sources, collect expert opinions, and find facts.
• Make sure there are two sides to your topic. Your thesis must have two sides – the one with which you agree, and the one you are going to be opposing. You will not be able to create a good persuasive argument if the chosen topic is not debatable.
• Understand the contrasting opinion. Another vital factor in shaping powerful arguments is being able to understand the opposite position and being able to find solid counterarguments to disprove it.
• Use evidence. Finally, keep in mind that a persuasive argument will look incomplete and invalid if you don’t have sufficient and convincing evidence to support it.

What Is a Conclusion?

A conclusion is used to summarize what you’ve written about in your academic paper. It may seem easy, but your final mark depends a lot on how well you are able to express the main point of your research paper. The ability to show the whole picture of your research, in several concise paragraphs or pages, is sure to make your work stand out. Also, remember that the conclusion is the last part of the research paper (if you exclude the bibliography and endnotes), so you should take it seriously.

When writing a conclusion for your research paper, you should inherently restate the main argument. There you will be able to show the strengths of your main argument and repeat all of the main evidence that supports your argument. But do not be too repetitive!

Your conclusion should be appropriate. How is this achieved?

1. If the argument is too complex, summarize it again to the reader.
2. If you have not talked about the significance of your results, here is the chance to do it.
3. Swiftly proceed from a detailed to a more general overview of your topic.
4. Do not include any new context or a lot of new ideas which could have been discussed previously in more detail.
5. Persuasively and succinctly restate your research problem or topic. You may even include your own reflections about the evidence presented in your work – be introspective.

General Rules for a Conclusion of a Research Paper

If you manage to write a well-structured conclusion, you will be able to demonstrate your deep and well-analyzed understanding of the research problem.

• The conclusion should be written in clear, simple language. Do not be overly elaborate.
• Do not repeat your results without going into a deeper discussion about them.
• Showcase opportunities for further research.

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The Outline

The outline of the conclusion should include:

• A thesis statement. This is a brief statement which helps to describe what the work is about in several sentences. A good thesis should be impersonal, definitive, clear, and arguable.
• A summary of arguments. After the thesis you should write the summary of arguments or data that you have collected.
• Observations and final sentence. Finish with your own observations and include a final sentence to convey the importance of your work.

Information to Include

The Last Opinion on the Problems You Raised in Your Paper

This will create a lasting impression and will show your own confidence in your work. To do this, you can highlight the main findings in your research, including the main points of analysis and unexpected results that you encountered when doing the work.

Summary of Your Thoughts and Opinions to Show How Significant Your Research Is

The conclusion is a perfect chance for you to succinctly reply to one of the inherent questions your readers will usually have after finishing to read: “So what?”

Your Own Ideas

In the main part of the research, it’s not always feasible to talk about your own opinions. The conclusion is where your personality comes into place. Use it to talk about the impact of your findings and their general significance.

Thoughts About the Future

If your research is insightful and interesting, there are probably more ways of discussing your research problem. Showcase how this problem can be further discussed or solved based on the results of your academic work. Mention other people who have researched this problem and their ideas, and specify how the research might be developed in the future.

How to Develop a Compelling Conclusion

Here are some main points to help you not just summarize the key thoughts of your work, but to go deeper to warrant a better grade:

1. If you have been writing about a contemporary problem, talk about what can happen if the problem is not solved, but do not add new information. Do not bring in new evidence or new facts.
2. Don’t hesitate to offer or to recommend some course of action.
3. Use relevant quotations or expert opinions to make your conclusion more authoritative.
4. Repeat a key statistic, fact, or even a visual image that represents the main point of your paper.
5. Express personal reflection. You can even talk about your own life experiences.
6. Interpret the results in your own way to give them a fresh perspective. Do not be afraid to be a researcher who introduces something new—even for the most common problems.
7. Finish your conclusions with a short, but powerful message which will help others remember your study. This message is something that can differentiate you from others.
8. Do not say “in conclusion” or similar sayings. This includes “in summary” or “in closing.” Why? These sayings sound a bit unnatural and stiff. They make your work appear too formal and pragmatic. A strong conclusion does not need the word – “In conclusion”. It will stand on its own.
9. Use the same consistent tone through your entire paper. It sounds unnatural if you suddenly use an absolutely different tone or style of presenting the information.
10. Check your entire paper to make sure that you have not left any really important points behind.

How to Make a Conclusion Effective Rhetorically

Important to remember: effective conclusions are about synthesis rather than a summary.

To summarize means to make a brief statement of the main points. To synthesize means to combine information into a coherent whole. You want to tie the paper together neatly. Linking the introduction and the conclusion gives your paper “fullness.” Ever seen a film where a tiny detail in the beginning is reintroduced in the end? Same effect.

There are a few technical tricks to making this effect:

• Pose a question in the introduction and answer it in conclusion.
• Start a joke or a story, and finish it in conclusion.
• A creative idea: if you’re writing about recycling you can start with the story of a plastic bag, and make it go full circle. The plastic bag gets thrown away, recycled, and becomes a plastic bag again. A beautiful and compelling story of reincarnation.
• Rely on imagery. Create a pattern of words and images in the introduction, and mirror it in conclusion. It creates a subconscious feeling of totality.

These rhetorical devices will help your essay stick in the minds of readers. They can be powerful tools and really prompt change.

For more ideas, look to the greats. George Orwell is one of the masters of rhetorical devices such as mirroring and imagery. His essay Shooting an Elephant has made lots of people cry.

Making a Conclusion Effective Logically

If you aim to make a clear and focused conclusion rather than an inspiration one, you want to go with hard facts. Merely stating the problem and consequences isn’t enough though. People don’t want to hear hard facts, and you have to trick them into paying attention.

Here are a few smart techniques:

• Give the reader a graphical illustration of the consequences of idleness. Remember, most won’t care until they see how it relates to their life. Check out the introduction to the blog for an example.
• Recommend a solution or a course of action. This may have been the goal of your research paper all along.
• Refer back to a relevant scientist, expert, or great thinker. If Einstein said it, most people would likely believe you too.
• Demonstrate urgency. Do we really need oceans to flood the financial centers of New York City to believe in climate change?
• Show a critical statistic which speaks facts. Statistics can be catchy. However, as mentioned in point one, nobody cares until they see how it relates to them
• Reflect on yourself and personal experience. It may be subjective, but this way you connect to the audience on a human level. Illustrate your conclusion with a situation from your life.
• Reuse a hook from the introduction, but show it in light of all this new knowledge. Remember that anecdote everyone laughed at in the introduction? Well now they know the truth, and it isn’t funny anymore. In fact, it’s a bit scary.
• Give the readers a new hook they can take home and think about.
• If your research doesn’t answer the question or provide solutions — say it! Hopefully, someone in the audience will pick up where you left off.

What You Should Avoid in the Conclusion for Your Research Paper

We know the Do’s, not let’s go over the don’ts. Hopefully, by the end of this article, your conclusion will shine like a nice recycled plastic bottle.

• Lack of concision. Some students can go on and on with the work they have written, which is usually unnecessary and irritating. Try to be as concise and to the point as possible. The conclusion is not the right place for small details. Talk about the implications, evaluations, insights, but do not talk about some minor points which can be easily omitted. These minor points include the multiple steps you might have taken when writing the research, additional topics which stem from the main topic, unnecessary details which could be compressed into several short sentences instead of several paragraphs, and so on.
• Lack of comments on larger and more significant issues. The introduction usually goes from general to specific. In comparison, the conclusion usually goes from specific back to general. So this is where you need to put your research into a larger context.
• An absence of the negative aspects of your research process would make your paper seem not as authentic as it should be. So, if you had certain problems, drawbacks, and challenges, it will help the paper seem more relatable, personal, and in-depth—which is often the key to a successful research.
• No clear summary of what was learned. Talk about your own experience and what knowledge you have accumulated along the way. It can be only a few sentences long, but it is still very important.
• Inability to match the objectives of your research. You need to address how your original objectives in your introduction have been achieved throughout the work. Make a nice structural circle to show how the introduction and conclusion are interlinked.
• Inability to unify your work. You need to tie all of the sections of your academic work together so that the professor can see a whole picture. You can even use the same images and concepts in the introduction and the conclusion to link everything.
• Poor logic. In some papers, there may be different, or even opposite, points. The conclusion is a perfect place to create a single and clear opinion for the problem. If your paper contains certain questions that weren’t clearly answered in the paper, they must be answered in the conclusion. You can even ask readers to draw their own conclusions. The best way to do it is to ask the readers questions instead of always providing them with answers. Still, this approach may not work in all disciplines, but it may be quite effective if you are writing a research paper on some social issues or politics.
• No personal recommendation. If you are creating a call to action, you need to explain which actions you consider the most important or effective. This will help to better understand the topic and the general context of your research.