When it comes to writing, most writers desire for the reader to grasp the purpose of their writing and be persuaded that the ideas are logical. The writer must persuade the readers that the thesis, premises, and evidence are true. Often students are uncertain of the validity of their arguments and they are not able to back their thesis and premises with valid reasoning. Avoiding common errors in logic and reasoning is vital in writing custom persuasive essays.
Often students make invalid assumptions throughout their essays. An assumption is a statement that the writer accepts as true without any type of evidence. Look at this example:
African Americans women are submissive to their husbands.
If this statement is made without any evidence to this, then it is a stated assumption that is not necessarily true. Sometimes the writer will make an unstated assumption that is unsupported throughout the paper. This often leads to the reader questioning the validity of the entire essay or term paper. Other students make unstated assumptions that appeal to the emotions, but fail to support the thesis.
A good persuasive essay has valid arguments that are supported in the essay. Some arguments may be persuasive as they appeal to the emotions. There are persuasive essays that show evidence, but they fail to persuade the readers. The arguments must appeal to the reader as well as be valid and reasonable.
What makes a valid argument? An argument that can be proven by facts and statistics. One of the best ways to proof an argument is to use facts and statistics that show why the argument is valid. For instance, if a writer argues that students are suffering from bullying in the school system, a way to prove this would be through statistics about bullying. For example,
One out of five students are bullied in the classroom. Three out of five students know a student who carries a weapon to school.
These statistics grab the reader and lends to the validity of the argument. The problem is often the writer will make an assumption, but fail to give evidence that it is true. If you read an essay about bullying and there were no facts or statistics, the reader may fail to grasp the argument.
When it comes to persuasive arguments, the thesis statement and premises should be supported with evidence of the essay. A reader is not going to believe the argument if there is no proof. Imagine telling the readers that people are dying from the West Nile Virus caused by mosquitoes. The writer describes the illness and even shows that mosquitoes do carry different viruses, but the writer does not provide any proof about the West Nile Virus causing people to die. Would the reader be convinced that people are dying from the virus? What the writer needs to prove the thesis of people dying from the West Nile Virus are statistics, facts, examples, and quotations. The reader wants to see the statistics on how many people are actually dying. The reader wants to know facts about the mosquitoes and how it causes the West Nile Virus.
A persuasive essay is not valid without proof. Assumptions without evidence tend to make the reader question the validity of the essay. The thesis statement and premises need evidence to show how the reasoning of the essay is true. Some of the ways to prove an assumption or premises are through the use of quotations, statistics, facts, and examples.