Why? Because they want to end their concert with a high-energy song that everyone knows. They want to play that song—the one everyone waits all night to hear.

By leaving you excited about the final moments of the concert, performers know you’ll be more likely to have positive memories. You’ll also more likely be convinced that your hard-earned dollars were well spent.

The conclusion of your argumentative essay should be like the last song at your favorite concert: memorable and convincing.

Not sure how to make that happen? Read on to learn how to write a winning argumentative essay conclusion.

How to Write a Winning Argumentative Essay Conclusion

If you want to be a rock star of the argumentative essay world, you need to write a rock-star conclusion.

Because the goal of an argumentative essay is to use logical arguments to convince your audience, your conclusion needs to both remind readers of your main arguments and reinforce those arguments.

In order to write a winning argumentative essay conclusion, follow the three steps outlined below.

Step #1: Review the main arguments of your essay

The conclusion is your last chance to convince readers of your arguments. So it’s pretty important that you first identify not only the main arguments but also the strongest arguments you’ve presented.

Here’s how to identify the main arguments of your essay:

• Review your thesis statement. If you’ve written a three-part thesis statement, your key points may already be listed in your thesis.

• Review the topic sentence of each body paragraph. The topic sentence of each paragraph should identify the focus of the paragraph. By reviewing topic sentences, you can note the key points you’ve addressed.

• Create a reverse outline. If you want to be even more detailed about reviewing the main arguments (and the evidence you’ve used to support your arguments), try a reverse outline to get a complete picture of your essay.

Once you’ve identified your main arguments, decide which ones you’ll highlight in your conclusion.

You may wish to highlight some or all of your main arguments. (Keep in mind, though, that you might be required to summarize all of your key points in your conclusion, so check your assignment guidelines before you start writing.)

After you’ve decided which arguments you’ll highlight, begin writing your conclusion.

Step #2: Transition from the body of the essay and begin the conclusion

When readers reach the end of your essay, you want them to know that the essay has ended. You don’t want to leave them staring blankly, wondering if you forgot to include the final paragraph(s).

Thus, after you’ve written the final body paragraph of your essay, you need to clearly signal to the readers that your paper is coming to a close and transition to the conclusion.

I know it’s tempting to write “in conclusion” and just start writing, but “in conclusion” isn’t the most effective way to begin your concluding paragraph. Read Wrap It Up: 15 (Better) Concluding Transitions to learn 15 better ways to make the transition.

Once you’ve selected an appropriate transition word or phrase, use the first few lines of your conclusion to emphasize the key arguments of your essay.

I’m sure that you’ve heard that your conclusion should restate your thesis statement. While you should definitely restate the ideas presented in your thesis, you most certainly should not simply reword your thesis. (In other words, don’t just switch up a word or two and call it good.)

Remember, you’re synthesizing the core arguments of your paper and emphasizing the importance of your arguments. You’re not simply rewriting your thesis.

Example: An effective start

As an example of an effective start to a conclusion, take a look at these opening lines from the conclusion in an argumentative essay from our library:

Ultimately, one of the main problems with the men’s rights movement is their belief that women lie about being raped, sexually assaulted, or abused for attention or because they’re bitter against men. In turn, these men get more violent and lash out.

Notice that this conclusion begins with the transition “ultimately” to signal the beginning of the conclusion. The writer then effectively emphasizes the core arguments of the essay: what he/she believes are the main problems with the men’s rights movement.

By restating the central ideas of the paper, the writer effectively reinforces his/her claims and refocuses on the core arguments.

Step #3: Wrap up the conclusion

As you wrap up your argumentative conclusion, keep in mind the purpose of your essay: to convince your audience.

What better way to convince your readers than to appeal directly to them, right?

This doesn’t mean that you should address your readers by using second-person point of view. Instead, stick with third person.

To connect with your readers, you might urge them to take action or illustrate what might happen if they don’t make a change.

This strategy not only engages readers but also leaves them thinking about the importance of your claims.

Example: An effecting ending

Here’s the ending of the conclusion I included earlier. (I’ve included the ending in bold after the opening lines of the conclusion, so you can read the entire concluding paragraph at once.)

Ultimately, one of the main problems with the men’s rights movement is their belief that women lie about being raped, sexually assaulted, or abused for attention or because they’re bitter against men. In turn, these men get more violent and lash out. If they would listen to facts and reasoning, they’d understand what victims really go through. They may also come to learn that most of their problems of “male oppression” are results of a patriarchal societal structure and the toxic masculinity they refuse to acknowledge. Maybe they will never understand that feminism is the only thing that can liberate us all, but perhaps if it is rebranded as “egalitarianism” or “human rights”, they’ll reconsider.  

Notice that the writer uses third person to discuss the topic but clearly aims the final lines at anyone who refuses to acknowledge toxic masculinity. The writer then offers a suggestion for a change in terminology as a final push to convince readers that change needs to occur.

NOTE: The writer of this essay uses first-person plural (“us”). While it’s sometimes acceptable to use the first-person plural POV in an essay, check with your professor to see whether it’s acceptable in your assignment.

The Final Steps

With your winning argumentative essay conclusion in place, you can now focus on the final touches of your paper.

As you revise and edit your draft, make sure your essay fits all the requirements for a great argumentative essay. If you’re not sure whether your essay is strong, read these posts for additional argumentative essay writing tips:

• The Secrets of a Strong Argumentative Essay
• Writing an Argumentative Essay Made Easy (Infographic)
• What Is a Counterargument in an Argumentative Essay?
• What Is a Rebuttal, and How Do You Write an Effective One?

You can also review tons of example argumentative essays in our database.

Still on the fence as to whether your argumentative essay (or essay conclusion) is convincing? Send your essay our way.

Sure, I had one or two excellent topic ideas, but after that, I had to dig a little deeper to think of more creative and interesting options.

Why am I telling you this? 

I want to remind you that even those of us who write about writing can struggle to get the creative juices flowing.

So if you’re frustrated because you can’t think of anything “good” to write about for your Death of a Salesman analysis essay, don’t let it get you down. It happens to the best of us.

The good news is that I’ve worked through my initial writer’s block and have included 10 Death of a Salesman essay topics to inspire your upcoming essay.

Don’t Pick a Topic Until You Know These Three Things

I know you’re eager to get rolling on your essay, but before you select a topic, make sure you know these three things:

Know your essay options

Review your assignment guidelines, and make sure you know what type of essay you’re allowed to write.

Should you write a compare and contrast essay, a persuasive essay, or another type of literary analysis?

Know your limits

You will, of course, need to know your own limits regarding personal time constraints, but knowing your limits also refers to word limits. 

If you’re writing a short essay, you’ll definitely need to make every word count because you have a limited space in which to create an effective analysis. A longer essay, on the other hand, will allow you space to develop a more complex analysis. 

In other words, don’t write a detailed 3,000-word essay when the assignment calls for no more than 750 words.

Know whether you need to complete research

An essay that requires research can be a lot more time-consuming than an essay that requires only evidence from the book or play. Knowing whether you’ll need research sources will help you budget your time accordingly.

Once you know these three key points, you’re ready to select a topic for your Death of a Salesman essay.

10 Death of a Salesman Essay Topics for an Interesting Analysis

Topic #1: The American Dream in Death of a Salesman

The American Dream is the most prominent of the Death of a Salesman themes. Willy Loman has hopes and dreams for his life, but he never seems to be able to make them come true. He fails to live his American Dream.

• Explain how the theme of the American Dream is carried throughout Death of a Salesman
• Compare the theme of the American Dream as it is portrayed in Death of a Salesman to how it is portrayed in another piece of literature, such as The Great Gatsby.

Check out this example essay in our database for inspiration: The Pursuit of the American Dream by Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

Topic #2: Willy Loman as a tragic hero

Willy Loman fits the bill for a tragic hero because he possesses the flaw of ambition. He wants more out of life than he has and believes he should live a better life.

• Argue that Willy Loman meets the definition of a classic tragic hero.

Topic #3: Character analysis of Death of a Salesman

Many essays include elements of character analysis as part of a larger essay, but consider a character analysis as the entire focus of your essay. 

Remember: It’s fine to analyze a major character like Willy Loman, but don’t overlook the importance of minor Death of a Salesman characters.

• Analyze Willy’s neighbor, Charley, and his role as a neighbor and friend to Willy. Consider Charley’s success and lifestyle. How do they compare to Willy’s?  

Topic #4: Symbolism in Death of a Salesman

Two key symbols in Death of a Salesman are seeds (representing both growth and failure) and diamonds (representing the material wealth Willy cannot seem to achieve).

• Explain how seeds symbolize Willy’s hopes for the future. (Take a look at this example essay to read one writer’s analysis of symbolism.)

Topic #5: Language and tone in Death of a Salesman

An author’s use of word choice and tone in a piece can speak volumes. This is particularly evident in the word choice and tone of individual characters. Consider how a character’s words shape his or her personality and contribute to the story.

• Analyze the language used by Arthur Miller in Death of a Salesman.

Topic #6: Setting in Death of a Salesman

Setting can affect a variety of elements in a story, including characters’ personalities, character interactions, mood, and plot. Here are a few ways you could approach analyzing a Death of a Salesman setting:

• Examine the contrasting locations in Death of a Salesman and the effect they have on the play.
• Death of a Salesman is set in Brooklyn. How might this play be different if Willy Loman and his family lived in the Midwest or Alaska?

Topic #7: Conflict in Death of a Salesman

A story isn’t a story without some type of conflict.

In literature, the most common types of conflict are those listed below:

• character vs. character 
• character vs. society
• character vs. nature
• character vs. technology 
• character vs. supernatural
• character vs. self
• character vs. fate

Death of a Salesman is filled with conflicts of self (Willy Loman’s internal struggles), conflicts between characters (Willy’s conflict with his son, Biff), and conflicts with society (Willy’s inability to achieve his dreams).

• Examine Willy Loman’s internal struggles and how they affect his attitude, his ambitions, and his ultimate destiny.

Topic #8: The role of women in Death of a Salesman

While some literature contains vibrant leading roles for women, Death of a Salesman is certainly not one of them. Willy Loman’s wife is nothing more than a stock character, seemingly included only to fulfill the role of dutiful wife.

• Analyze the role of women in Death of a Salesman and how their roles shape more prominent characters in the play.

Looking for essay examples that discuss what roles women play in Death of a Salesman? Check out these essays:

• Female Characters in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• A Comparison of the Similarities and Differences in the Use and Representation of Women in Othello, Death of a Salesman, and The Taming of the Shrew

Topic #9: Family relationships in Death of a Salesman

Willy Loman has his share of internal conflicts, but the play also revolves around an ongoing conflict with his son, Biff.

• Analyze the relationship between Willy and Biff, arguing that Wily’s own failed expectations of himself (and thus unrealistic expectations of his son) are a key cause of the strife between father and son.

Topic #10: The definition of self in Death of a Salesman

Throughout the play, Willy Loman defines himself as a failure as a salesman, as a father, and as a husband. It is this attitude and definition of self that shapes his character and his decisions.

• Explain how Willy Loman’s definition of himself shapes his character and his fate.
• Consider how you might compare your definition of yourself to how Willy Loman defines his own character.

Shape Your Ideas Into an Essay

Once you’ve decided on a topic for your essay, whether it’s one of the 10 Death of a Salesman essay topics from above or something else, mold your ideas into a work of art.

Begin by shaping your ideas through prewriting and outlining. After you’ve put your ideas into place, create a rough draft.

Remember, revising and editing are important steps in the writing process too, so make sure to leave time to complete both.

Looking for a few extra bits of writing advice to make your essay amazing? Read 20 Ways to Improve Your Academic Writing.

If you have a first (or even fifth draft) of your paper but feel that it’s still a little rough around the edges, use our student editing service to help smooth out the rough spots. We’ve edited tens of thousands of essays and would love to help you polish your piece to perfection.

Stuck on Your Analytical Essay?

Check Out These Example Analytical Essays

Yes! Show me examples.

It looks like the educational software ad writers of this company don’t know the difference between “their” (possessive) and “they’re” (they are).

Would you feel confident purchasing educational software from a company that doesn’t know basic grammar (or perhaps simply doesn’t care enough to proofread its ad)? Probably not.

Why? Because simple typos are generally a result of sloppy work—and that’s what your professor is going to think if you turn in a paper with the same type of errors.

Typos and grammar errors are bad enough, but gaps in the content and logic of your paper are even worse. That means learning how to revise an essay is an essential skill.

So grab a current draft of an essay, and practice these revision strategies to make your essay better than ever!

How to Revise an Essay and Make it Better than Ever

Before we dive into the details of how to revise an essay, think about whether you’ll revise a digital copy or a hard copy.

If you revise a digital copy, you might want to save your first draft and make revisions on another copy. This will let you refer to your original ideas if you rewrite. (Just make sure to give the files different names, so you don’t accidentally submit the wrong version to your prof.)

If you revise a hard copy, grab a pen (and maybe a highlighter) to start marking up your pages. It can often be easier to catch typos and other errors when reading a printed copy. A lot of seasoned authors use this method, so don’t automatically dismiss this old-school way of editing before giving it a try.

Now that you’ve decided how you’ll work, here are six revision tips you need to know to revise your diamond-in-the-rough draft into a polished piece of writing perfection.

Revision tip #1: Write and revise on separate days

When you’re writing, every word you type sounds like perfection. If you read your essay the next day, though, you’ll see that every word is far from perfect. You might even have your share of typos and sentences that are barely comprehensible.

The takeaway: Don’t procrastinate.

Leave yourself enough time to revise. Write one day, and revise the next. You’ll be surprised at what types of errors seem to appear.

If you absolutely don’t have time to wait a full day before you revise, at least wait a few hours.

Think you don’t have the time (or don’t want to take the time) to revise? Consider this: If you don’t spend an extra day or two on revision, your professor will certainly let you know where you should have revised.

My point: Your grade will thank you if you put in the extra effort.

Need help managing time? Read How to Manage Time Better When Writing (and Living Your Life).

Revision tip #2: Read your paper out loud

Remember when you were a kid and you followed along with your finger as you read out loud? I bet you may have even paused to sound out words in your favorite book. It helped, didn’t it? Why? Because it helped you comprehend the words, their meaning, and the meaning of the story. You could hear the words being spoken.

While I’m not suggesting that you necessarily need to follow along the page or screen with your finger (but you can if you like), I am suggesting that you read your essay out loud so that you hear how your paper sounds. It’s easier to hear awkward wording and spot typos if you read aloud.

If you have a friend who’s willing to read your paper out loud, recruit him or her to help too. You can sit back, listen to your words, and note where you might need to revise.

Revision tip #3: Check the content of your essay first

When people think of revision, they often think of correcting spelling errors, typos, and other grammatical errors. Though these are all part of the revision process, there’s more to revision than just changing some punctuation or moving around a few words.

You need to look at the content and the development of your paper too.

Make sure you complete your revision of these larger concerns (content and development) before looking for smaller concerns, such as word choice, grammar errors, and typos.

Here’s why: Let’s say you spend 10 minutes working on one sentence that you just can’t seem to get right. You change the wording three times and move the comma twice in an attempt to craft the perfect topic sentence for your paragraph.

If you spend all that time writing one sentence, what happens if you then revise the content of your essay and end up cutting the entire paragraph because it doesn’t support your argument?

Yep, you wasted 10 minutes on one sentence. That 10 minutes would have been better spent working on your key arguments, rather than working on punctuation and wording.

Questions to ask

Not sure what you should be looking for when you revise content? Here’s a list of questions to ask yourself:

• Did you complete the assignment correctly? If you were supposed to write a compare and contrast essay, for instance, and your paper is actually an argument essay, you’ll have quite a bit of revision to do.

• Is your topic appropriately narrowed? For example, if you’re writing a four-page essay and you picked a ginormous and complex topic like climate change, you’ll definitely need to narrow the scope of your essay.

• Does your introduction effectively introduce your topic and essay? Does it include an attention grabber that makes your audience want to keep reading?

• Is your thesis statement clear and specific? Does it inform readers of the focus of your paper?

• Have you developed and defined key arguments to support your thesis? Are the arguments supported with sufficient evidence? (To check whether your paper is supported effectively, try a reverse outline.)

• Does your paper achieve its intended purpose? For instance, if you’re writing a persuasive essay, will your arguments actually persuade the reader? (Need help with being more persuasive? Check out Ethos, Pathos, Logos: Be More Persuasive in Your Next Essay.)

• Does your conclusion effectively wrap up your paper?

Revision tip #4: Consider style

Once you’ve revised the content of your paper, consider style.

You may not initially think writing style is important, but it plays a crucial role in the overall impression your writing will make on the reader.

Writing style is kinda like your own personal style. Whether you consider your style artsy, preppy, bohemian, casual, or punk, the clothes and hairstyle you choose say a lot about the message you put out to the world.

In writing, elements such as tone, voice, or redundancy can say a lot about the message you’re sending to the reader.

Here are a few things to look for as you review the style of your essay:

• Make sure you’re writing in the correct voice. Are you allowed to write in first person? Should you write in third person? (Third person is usually preferred in academic essays.)

• Examine the tone of your paper. If you’re writing an academic essay, don’t use slang and jargon. They’re too informal. Instead, use academic voice. For instance, you could replace “back in the day” with “previously” or “in recent years.”

• Watch out for word repetition and unnecessary redundancy. If you’re writing about the death penalty, it can be easy to write the term “death penalty” over and over again simply because it’s the topic of your paper. To avoid such repetition, try using synonyms, such as capital punishment, execution, or legalized killing.

You might also consider a thesaurus, but use it cautiously. Even though the words might have similar meanings, they likely have different connotations.

For example, if you look up the word “quiet” in a thesaurus, you’ll see the word “speechless” as a synonym. Clearly, these two words don’t mean quite the same thing and can’t always be used interchangeably.

Revision tip #5: Edit for grammar, spelling, and typos

Now that you have the content and style in place, it’s finally time to look at those smaller issues—grammar, spelling, proper word choice, and typos.

Learn how to avoid these types of errors (and how to correct them) by reading these posts:

• Dangling Modifier: Don’t Make This Funny Grammar Mistake
• Misplaced Modifier: How to Avoid This Hilarious Grammar Mistake
• 7 Grammar Rules That Everyone Should Learn
• 33 Commonly Misused Words (and How to Get Them Right)
• 97 Transitions Words for Essays You Need to Know

And even though I know you have spell check, don’t rely on it.

Of course spell check knows if words are spelled correctly, but sometimes spell check misses things or autocorrects to something it shouldn’t. For example, if you spell “definitely” wrong, spell check might change it to “defiantly.” This is definitely not what you want!

Checklist in a minute

I know the five strategies I’ve included so far are a lot to remember, so for quick reference, I’ve created this checklist that summarizes the revision strategies I’ve included in this post. To recap, here they are again:

• Write and revise on separate days. Set aside your draft, and return to it in a day or two to begin the revision process.

• Read your essay out loud. By reading your essay aloud, you can hear errors and identify places where you might need to clarify or reword ideas.

• Check the content of your essay first. Before you check grammar, check to see whether you’ve met assignment guidelines, created a strong thesis, developed and supported your arguments, and created an effective conclusion.

• Check the style of your paper. Look for correct point of view, proper wording, and appropriate tone.

• Edit for grammar, spelling, and typos.

I’ve also created a printable revision checklist for you so that you’ll always remember how to revise an essay to make it better than ever. Just pop it open, and click File > Make a copy to snag your own copy to print out and mark up as you revise your next paper.

The Final Revision

Even after all this effort, sometimes it’s not enough to revise your own work.

While arguments might make sense in your own mind, they might not be as clear to others. Sometimes, you can even miss small grammar and wording errors because your mind reads what you meant to say, not what you actually typed.

Need more convincing? Read Why Self-Editing is Killing Your Writing.

And thus, the last strategy to use when revising an essay…

Revision tip #6: Have someone else read your writing

Having others look at your work means they see it from a new perspective. They’re reading as your audience, not as the writer, so they’ll see and understand things differently.

In some English courses, you’ll have the opportunity to have your classmates read your work. If you’re not in an English course, you might have another friend (hopefully one who is good at writing) read your paper. You might also visit your school’s writing center.

Of course, it’s always a smart idea to have a professional editor review your work even when you know how to revise an essay. And for that, you’re in the right place: the editors at Kibin can not only provide you with expert feedback and help with the revision process but can also help you become a better writer along the way.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published on February 1, 2017, but has been expanded to include fresh advice and additional resources.

This reply works fine if you’re talking about a movie with your friends, but if you have to write a comparison essay about a book and its film adaptation, your teacher is going to expect a little more (okay a lot more) than “it just was.”

If you need a push to help you move beyond that basic “I just like it more” as your standard of comparison, keep reading to learn how to write a killer book and movie comparison essay.

How to Write a Killer Book and Movie Comparison Essay

Sometimes, the mere thought of starting a new assignment can cause more stress than you’d like to admit. But by following a few important steps, you can alleviate at least a little of your stress and write a killer essay.

To work through the process of developing an effective book and movie comparison essay, I’m going to use an example that many of us have read and watched in high school: To Kill a Mockingbird.

Begin by understanding your assignment

The first step to writing a successful book and movie comparison is to understand your assignment.

In many cases, your professor will have already assigned a movie and book to compare. This means that now is not the time to take it upon yourself to draw an amazing comparison between a Harry Potter novel and its movie counterpart simply because you’re a superfan.

Knowing your assignment also means that, if you’re assigned to read and watch To Kill a Mockingbird, for instance, and your professor tells you to pay attention to characterization and symbolism, you should definitely follow her suggestion.

If you know that these elements will be required analysis in your paper, then you already have a head start and know what you should be looking for as you read and watch.

Take careful notes

I know annotation can seem like a royal pain, but trust me, you’ll thank me later. Taking notes not only helps you understand the information more completely but also saves you a lot of time because you can easily find information later when you write your paper.

Remember, you’re writing a compare and contrast essay, so you’ll want to take notes on both the book and the movie to help you draw comparisons.

Taking notes if you do know the required focus of your paper

If you already know what you should be looking for, jot down everything that seems important about the assigned topic.

If I were taking notes on one or more characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, for instance, here are a few points I’d look for:

• Physical descriptions
• Personality traits
• Characters’ thoughts on events or other characters
• What motivates characters to complete specific actions
• Interactions between characters
• Types of characters (protagonist, antagonist, round, flat, etc.)

I might also include any questions about characters or sections that leave me a little confused or wondering, “Why in the world would the character do that?”

Though you’ll look for the same elements in both the book and the movie, you might end up with notes about completely different characters or character traits after watching the movie, especially if the film takes a lot of creative liberties and vastly differs from the book.

Don’t worry! A drastically different set of notes will likely serve you well—it’ll help you establish true comparisons between the novel and the film.

If I were writing about the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird, here’s one of the key points I’d note about the characters:

• There’s a distinct change in the treatment of characters, particularly Jem and Scout’s mother. In the novel, their mother is only mentioned briefly, but in the movie, Jem and Scout have a detailed conversation about their deceased mother.

Because I’m only taking notes, I may not have a clear sense of why, how, or even if this is important to the story yet. That’s okay. Remember, the point is to start developing ideas.

In this case, I may wonder if the mention of their mother in this scene is meant to foreshadow another conversation, if the mother will somehow play a larger role in the movie, or if this scene is only a way for the producers to help develop the story on film.

Taking notes if you don’t know the focus of your paper before you read the book or watch the movie

If you’re assigned to read a book and watch the movie but you don’t yet know what the actual essay assignment will be, it’s time to search your memory for the literary terms you’ve been discussing in class.

Take notes on literary devices, such as theme, character, symbolism, imagery, simile, and metaphor. (Notice how this essay about To Live analyzes, among other devices, character, plot, and tone.)

One important thing to remember about the process of note-taking is that you don’t want to become so overwhelmed with writing notes that you don’t even remember what you just read or watched. In other words, don’t take notes on everything. Limit your notes to a handful of key devices.

As you take notes, look for elements that appear identical in both versions, but also look for anything that seems strikingly different.

Don’t worry if you don’t end up using everything in your notes or if a point seems really important at first but ends up being insignificant. The purpose of annotation is to get your ideas down on paper. You can sort through them later.

Think about what it all means

After you’ve finished reading, watching, and note-taking, set everything aside for at least a day or two to think about what it all means.

A list of notes and a whole bunch of random similarities and differences are great, but they don’t provide any information about the significance of these points (and they don’t yet provide you with a focus for your essay).

Remember, the goal of a comparison essay isn’t to simply identify points that might be the same or different.

The goal is to analyze the differences and explain how any additions, omissions, or changes in the film change the story or its interpretation.

In my example of To Kill a Mockingbird, I might have listed questions about Mrs. Dubose. In the book, she’s a crabby, old, racist neighbor of Jem and Scout, and it is later revealed that she is struggling with a morphine addiction. She plays a much smaller role in the movie version of To Kill A Mockingbird, though, and the issue of addiction isn’t brought up.

In my notes, I may ask the following questions:

• Did the producers feel that Mrs. Dubose’s addiction simply wasn’t important enough to include in the film?
• Does the omission actually have an impact on the story?
• Could the changes to Mrs. Dubose’s character affect elements such as plot, theme, or characterization (or the viewer’s interpretation of characters)?

Sifting through your notes and random thoughts and questions can get messy, so to stay organized (and to help you develop your ideas even further) try various prewriting techniques. (A Venn diagram can be particularly useful when examining similarities and differences.)

Determine what is important enough to be included in your comparison essay

After you’ve organized your notes and developed some initial analysis, it’s time to decide what’s important enough to include in your essay.

Not every similarity or difference is worth noting in your paper. Include only relevant and significant points that make the greatest impact between the book and movie.

Here’s what I mean.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, there is little physical description of Atticus Finch, other than the facts that he’s about 50 years old, is tall, and wears glasses. In the 1962 movie adaptation starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, Peck more or less fits this description. But in the movie, it’s evident that he parts his hair on the right (his right, not yours when looking at the image below).

Though there is no description of how Atticus wears his hair in the novel, and his hairstyle is obviously visible in the movie, there’s no point in mentioning this in an essay that compares the book and movie. It’s an insignificant point. His hairstyle is not relevant and doesn’t influence or shape the story in any way.

Let’s say, though, that a character’s hairstyle in a book is described in detail because it’s part of the character’s personality or because it symbolizes freedom, rebellion, or strength.

If the movie changes the character’s hairstyle, in this case, the entire character could change. This would most certainly be a time to analyze the importance of a change in appearance from book to film.

To see how one writer analyzes significant differences between a book and its movie adaptation, read A Comparison of the Similarities and Differences Between The Princess Bride Film and Novel.

Find a focus and outline your ideas

At this point, you have a solid list of relevant points to analyze, but you still don’t have a focus for your paper.

To start, develop a solid thesis statement.

Don’t write a bland statement like, “There are many similarities, but only a few differences between the book and movie.”

This doesn’t tell your readers anything about the true focus of your essay.

Instead, craft a thesis statement that is specific in its comparison and lets readers know exactly what you’ll be discussing.

In my essay about To Kill a Mockingbird, I might write the following thesis statement:

• Though the 1962 film adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is true to the themes of the original novel, its omission of minor characters leaves the audience with an incomplete understanding of the people and culture of Maycomb.

This thesis statement presents a clear roadmap for the essay and lets readers know the focus will be on the omission of characters and how they affect the story. (Want to see an effective thesis statement in action? Check out this essay from our library. It clearly illustrates why the writer feels The Great Gatsby novel is superior to the film adaptation.)

Once you’ve written your thesis statement, use it to provide guidance as you move to the next step of the writing process: outlining.

You’ll need roughly three or four key ideas and examples from the book and movie to support your claims.

If you’re looking for more specific information about outlines, read This Compare and Contrast Essay Outline Will Help You Beat Writer’s Block. The post also includes a compare and contrast essay outline template to help you get started.

Finally … Draft (and Revise and Edit) Your Comparison Essay

I know. It’s been a long journey, and at this point, you feel like you’ve just completed a marathon. The good news: it’s finally time to draft your essay.

Follow your outline to help you craft a catchy introduction, at least three body paragraphs to support your thesis, and an awesome conclusion.

To help you with the finer details of your draft, here are a few must-read posts:

• How to Start a Compare and Contrast Essay on the Right Foot
• 13 Compare and Contrast Thesis Statements to Inspire You
• Compare and Contrast Essay Tips From a Kibin Editor
• How to Revise an Essay and Make It Better Than Ever

Have a completed essay but aren’t sure whether you’ve focused enough on analysis or whether you’ve included significant points in your comparison? Let a Kibin editor take a look at your essay. We’ve edited tens of thousands of essays and can help you with your book and movie comparison essay too.

Stuck on Your Analytical Essay?

Check Out These Example Analytical Essays

Yes! Show me examples.

Do you think first responders rushing to the scene of a tragedy to help victims? Maybe you’re reading this before lunch, and the first thing you think of is a hero sandwich.

While both of these are legitimate types of heroes, they aren’t today’s focus. This article focuses on tragic heroes.

Specifically, we’re going to look at the difference between your average, run-of-the-mill hero and a tragic hero. And because you’re probably here because you need to write an essay about a tragic hero, we’re going to cover that too.

Without further ado, here’s (almost) everything you need to know about tragic heroes.

What Is a Tragic Hero?

Of course, in order to be a tragic hero, one must first be a hero.

A hero is generally a courageous warrior type who is admired by many and who is ready to rush into harm’s way to save individuals (or the entire planet).

So what makes a tragic hero tragic?

The one-sentence definition: Tragic heroes are literary characters (often the protagonist) who make a crucial judgment error that ultimately leads to their downfall.

Of course, there’s more to a tragic hero than a hero who makes a mistake.

Tragic heroes generally possess the following characteristics:

• Tragic heroes are imperfect. The audience sees the character as flawed, and they can relate to and empathize with the hero.
• Tragic heroes are prideful and often suffer more than necessary.
• Tragic heroes are generally someone of high status who experiences a drastic change in fortune (from good to bad).
• The downfall of a tragic hero is evident from the start, but the hero can do nothing to stop it.
• Tragic heroes discover their impending fate and accept it.
• Tragic heroes are harmed (emotionally and/or physically) throughout their lives.
• While tragic heroes learn from their mistakes, they are powerless to control their ultimate fate.
• Tragic heroes must face an important decision. It is often an error in judgment regarding the decision that causes their downfall.

NOTE: While the classic tragic hero was a male from a wealthy and/or powerful family, modern tragic heroes may be any gender and from any background.

How to Write About a Tragic Hero

Writing about a tragic hero is like writing about any other topic in the sense that there are a ton of ways to approach the subject. But unless your assignment specifically states that your essay should list and/or describe a handful of tragic heroes in literature, your essay should do more than merely list examples.

You need to find a focus, and you need to analyze.

Before you do anything, though, you need to decide who you want to write about.

Choose your hero

One of the first steps in writing about a tragic hero is to consider which hero (or heroes) you’ll focus on. This may already be dictated by your assignment, but if you have a choice, consider which heroes speak to you.

Do you want to write about classic Shakespearean tragic heroes like Hamlet or Romeo (from Romeo and Juliet), or will you focus on a more modern tragic hero like Severus Snape from Harry Potter?

If you’re still not sure which hero to select, check out 6 Tragic Hero Examples for a Heroic Essay for inspiration.

Decide your approach

Once you’ve selected your hero(es), decide what type of essay you’ll write.

Not sure how to approach your essay? Here are three ideas.

Character analysis essay

You may choose to develop a character analysis within another type of essay, or you may want to write an entire essay that analyzes your hero’s character.

In this case, the focus of the literary analysis is often to explain how and why your hero fits the definition of a tragic hero.

For instance, let’s say you’re writing about Batman.

Batman fits the classic definition of a tragic hero for the reasons below:

• He’s an educated, intelligent man who comes from a wealthy, powerful family.
• He suffers because his parents were tragically murdered.
• His life becomes more difficult after the death of his parents as he chooses to avenge their deaths and fight crime.
• He is a (relatively) normal person who the audience can relate to and empathize with.
• He possesses a character flaw in that he vows not to kill others. While some may, of course, not see this as an actual flaw, it is what causes Batman to experience more hardships as he does not kill villains when given the chance (which leads to even more crime, hardship, and destruction).

Once you’ve hit the key points to highlight how and why the character fits the definition of a tragic hero, use specific examples from the story to fill in the details and support your claims.

Check out how one student handled a character analysis in Macbeth: A Nihilistic, Self-Loathing Tragic Hero.

Alternatively, your character analysis might conclude that a character is not a tragic hero. To see an example of this strategy in action, read Why Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart Is Not a Tragic Hero.

Compare and contrast essay

If you’re comparing and contrasting two (or more) tragic heroes, don’t simply write a list of similarities and differences. While creating this type of list is a great prewriting strategy, your compare and contrast essay needs to do more than simply identify character traits.

The essay needs a focus. Think about the point you’re trying to make by comparing and contrasting the tragic heroes.

Here’s what I mean.

Imagine you’re writing a compare and contrast essay about the tragic heroes of Shakespeare.

Your paper wouldn’t simply list tragic heroes and identify character traits that are the same or different.

Instead, you would need to develop a clear thesis to let your readers know what exactly you’ll be discussing about Shakespeare’s tragic heroes.

For example, when developing your thesis, you might consider the following questions:

• Does Shakespeare use the same types of tragic heroes in a number of plays? Do Romeo, Hamlet, and Macbeth share more than the basic elements that define a traditional tragic hero?
• Or does Shakespeare mix it up and develop unique characters that portray a tragic hero differently in each play?

Another approach is to compare and contrast two tragic heroes who, on the surface, don’t seem to have much in common but who are ultimately more alike than many would imagine.

Take, for example, Macbeth and Willy Loman (from Death of a Salesman). On the surface, Loman, a salesman trying to provide for his family, and Macbeth, a general who wants nothing more than to be king, seem to have little in common.

Both, however, share a common fatal flaw: ambition. Both men want more out of life and want to move beyond their current stations in life.

Want more ideas of tragic heroes to compare? Check out these essay examples for inspiration:

• Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus and Breaking Bad’s Walter White
• Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman and Nora Helmer from A Doll’s House
• Oedipus and Hamlet

Persuasive essay

The goal of a persuasive essay is to convince your audience. One common tragic hero essay assignment is to convince your reader that the real tragic hero in a work is someone aside from the obvious choice.

Here are a few examples

• Creon instead of Antigone
• Brutus instead of Julius Caesar
• Jason instead of Medea

If your professor allows you to be a little more creative in your approach, you might try to convince your readers why you should be considered a tragic hero.

Remember, modern tragic heroes don’t need to be nobility or male, so consider how you might fit the definition of a tragic hero (aside from that whole part about your tragic flaw leading to your demise, of course).

Perhaps your character flaw is lack of self-control, pride, or ambition. Perhaps you’ve suffered in some way because of this flaw, and it has caused hardships in your life.

You might even include some elements of comparison and contrast to illustrate how you compare to a tragic hero on film or in classic literature.

Ready to Write?

Now that you have a better understanding of tragic heroes and are ready to begin writing, take a look at these resources to help you get started:

• 7 Essay Outline Templates to Get Your Essay Going
• How to Write a Thesis Statement in 5 Simple Steps
• 12 Examples of Good Topic Sentences (and Why They Work)

Not sure your paper is the best it can be? Don’t let a poorly written essay be your tragic flaw. Let the editors at Kibin help you improve your writing.

But what if I showed you an example?

It would certainly help, right? Check out the video below to learn how to tie an overhand knot.

I’m pretty sure that most of you have tied this knot more than once in your lifetime. But as the video states, you simply didn’t know the official name of the knot you were tying.

So. What does tying knots have to do with writing a persuasive speech?

Admittedly, not much. But it does illustrate that sometimes you have a pretty good sense of how to do something, even if you don’t realize it. You just need an example to remind you how it’s done and to get you moving in the right direction.

That’s exactly the goal of this post: to provide you with two persuasive speech examples that can inspire your own writing.

2 Good Persuasive Speech Examples to Inspire You

In the two speeches below, I’ve included comments on what makes these examples good. I’ve also made note of a few places where the speaker may improve.

TAKE NOTE: Both of these speeches cite sources. If you’re required to turn in your outline or a copy of your speech, check with your teacher (or assignment guidelines) to see if you should include a Works Cited (MLA), a list of references (APA), or a bibliography (Chicago).

For both persuasive speeches, my commentary is marked with “Susan says” speech bubbles. The specific text that I’m discussing from each speech is notated with brackets and corresponding numbers—[#]. For commentary that applies to full paragraphs, you’ll see the following notation at the end of the paragraph(s): *[#].

Persuasive Speech Example #1: A Persuasive Speech on Limiting the Production and Use of Plastic

A Persuasive Speech on Limiting the Production and Use of Plastic

[1] When you hear the term “polluted plastics” I can tell you the exact picture that just popped into about 10 of your heads. This one, right? You have all heard of how plastics are affecting our marine life and “oh, the poor sea turtle”. And that’s great! Really, it is. We have had the idea that “pollution is bad” drilled into our brains since we were about 7. But this little sea turtle is not necessarily the problem. It’s much bigger than him. Plastics are leaving lasting effects on our ecosystems due to the improper disposal. Plastic production also uses up many of our natural resources. It is up to us to make a change in order to maintain sustainability. [2] Today, I want to show you just how destructive these effects are, how big of a dent we are making in our natural resources, and what steps we should take next.

Susan says: 

[1] This opening uses an excellent hook to grab the attention of the audience. The speaker uses the common image of a sea turtle being affected by pollution to make a connection with the audience and get them thinking about how pollution affects the environment.

Susan says:

[2] The speaker ends the opening with a clear thesis statement to let the audience know that the speech isn’t just about sea turtles. The speech will discuss the environmental impact of plastics and how to reduce the use of plastics.

Remember, a thesis statement is like a roadmap to your entire speech, so make sure to include a focused thesis to let your audience know what to expect.

Let’s say you want to throw away one plastic water bottle. Okay, no big deal. It’s just one bottle right? Well, Charleston is a peninsula, meaning that we are entirely surrounded by the ocean. According to Hannah Ellsbury in her article “The Problem with Plastic”, for every six water bottles we use, only one makes it to the recycling bin. The rest are sent to landfills. Or, even worse, they end up as trash on the land and in rivers, lakes, and the ocean. That means that, on average, all of us in this room cumulatively throw away or litter 6,100 water bottles a year. Now, let’s say that about ¼ of these end up in our beautiful Charleston harbor. That’s about 1,525 bottles just floating around outside of Charleston in a year, and that’s strictly from our first year seminar class alone. Pollutants found in the plastic in disposable water bottles deteriorate and leach into the water leaving potential carcinogens in the water we drink daily. Now if all 1,525 water bottles in our harbor are deteriorating, that means your fresh seafood at Hyman’s might be slightly infested with pollutants. *[3]

Susan says:

*[3] Most people use (or have used) plastic water bottles. The speaker knows this and thus uses this example to make another connection with the audience.

The speaker even goes one step further by mentioning the effects of pollution on seafood at a local restaurant.

Using these types of personal and localized examples are excellent ways to convince your audience because the audience can directly relate and see how pollution affects their daily lives.

This section also cites statistics and other information from sources to provide evidence of the claim. Such information further convinces the audience because they realize that the speaker isn’t simply providing a personal opinion. Instead, statements are backed up by experts.

[4] Even worse, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the law of biomagnification states that pollutants “increases its concentration in the tissues of organisms as it travels up the food chain”. This means that all of you seafood lovers might have more pollutants in our bodies than we would imagine. Now, I bet you’re wondering what happens to the rest of the actual plastic pieces left in our oceans. Plastic pieces like these? Well, animals are ingesting them. In fact, plastic pieces are being found within birds in the Pacific, meaning that the plastic pieces are literally killing them from the inside out. The plastic found throughout the oceans is a result of improper disposal of our plastics. [5] Even worse, though, is how these plastics are made.

Susan says:

[4] While many teachers frown upon the use of dictionary definitions in essays or speeches, in this case the definition works well because many people wouldn’t understand the phrase “law of biomagnification.”

Susan says:

[5] Notice the importance of the last line of this section. It provides a transition to link ideas together.

Your audience needs a clear path to see the connection between ideas. Transitional words and phrases provide this connection.

You see how far this water bottle is filled? Imagine that it’s not water. Look at that and picture it as oil. That’s how much oil is used in the production of this bottle. According to Catherine Fox from National Geographic, Americans buy more water bottles than any other nation averaging at about 29 billion. In order to make all these bottles, manufacturers use 17 million barrels of crude oil. That’s enough oil to keep a million cars going for twelve months. By investing $10 in a reusable plastic water bottle, you are saving on average, $81.25 per year. You could potentially fill your car, which for us freshman is probably sitting back at home in our driveways, up three times with that money. *[6]

Susan says:

*[6] You need to know your audience in order to effectively convince them. In this case, the speaker is keenly aware of the audience and knows that first-year college students are often strapped for cash. Showing the audience how they can save money while saving the planet is a win-win and certainly goes a long way in persuading listeners.

The Office of Sustainability offers these water bottles to all students. They are made out of tin and are much more durable than any other kind of water bottle.

These bottles were offered for free at our freshman convocation and continue to be offered to all students. Not to mention, Starbucks has an option to purchase a reusable cup for a cheap price. Dining Halls have already enforced a plastic-free environment to dine, however, students are still able to purchase plastic containers from vending machines in education buildings. I believe that the College of Charleston should maintain the same standards they have set for the dining halls throughout campus. Soda dispensers with compostable cups should replace the vending machines currently residing in our education buildings. The Starbucks on campus should charge a small fee for each plastic cup used when ordering cold drinks. There is no reason plastic cups should still be sold on campus, and I propose a small fee should be charged for every purchase involving plastic. *[7]

Susan says:

*[7] The speaker begins to wrap up the speech by offering solutions. This strategy helps the audience become even more interested in the topic and shows them what even small steps can do to reduce the use of plastics.

Now I’m hoping that you’re interested in doing something to help cut down on the pollutants entering, not only your body, but millions of aquatic sea creatures as well. You know the harmful effects of plastic on our environment and you know the dent we put in our planet in the production of these goods. We should all make an effort to use reusable water bottles, however, if we must, to recycle our plastic waste. We must put an end to the era of plastic so this little guy can swim freely, but only our generation can do so. *[8]

Susan says:

*[8] The final section again appeals to the audience as a call to action.

It’s clear that the speaker is referencing a visual when stating “so this little guy can swim freely.” The image more than likely refers back to the opening point about sea turtles and pollution.

Connecting the conclusion to a point made in the introduction is a nice way to tie ideas together. And although the final line is worded a bit awkwardly, the point is still clear.

Persuasive Speech Example #2: A Persuasive Speech on the Topic of Organ Donation

A Persuasive Speech on the Topic of Organ Donation

[1] First of all I would like to thank you the board for inviting me here today, allowing me to be a part of and contributing to this cause that personally means so much to me. When I first contacted your organization, the Executive Director informed me that the greatest need was for a campaign that was tailored toward people between the ages of 18 and 24. The focus was to be on encouraging organ donation and facilitating open communication of the donor’s decision with family members. [2] Overall the campaign was to inform them of our nation’s public health crisis regarding organ donation. *[3]

Susan says:

[1] Rather than speaking to a general audience (or classmates and a teacher), this speaker is directly addressing an audience already aware that they will be listening to a speech about organ donation.

By speaking to a specific audience, this speaker can adjust the main ideas in order to directly appeal to listeners.

Susan says:

[2] Here, the speaker directly mentions the purpose of this speech: to inform the audience of the nation’s health crisis regarding organ donation.

Even though the audience likely knows the subject of the speech, in this thesis statement, the speaker lets the audience know that the focus is on the crisis of organ donation, not simply a general discussion of the topic.

Further, the speech focuses on the idea that this is a crisis. Thus, the speaker is clearly attempting to persuade listeners into seeing just how important it is to increase organ donation.

Susan says:

*[3] This opening paragraph is a solid start to the speech as it effectively presents the topic and appeals to the audience (which increases the likelihood that the speaker will persuade listeners).

That’s right: Organ Donation is a public health crisis.

• According to UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing as of this morning there are 90,350 American men, women, and children on the transplant waiting list.
• One person will die needlessly at the end of this hour waiting for organ donation and 10 more people are added to this list every day.
• There are over 250 billion people in our country. *[4]

Susan says:

*[4] Here, the speaker cites powerful statistics to persuade the audience and illustrate just how many people need organ transplants and how many die because they don’t receive the life-saving help they need.

Using startling statistics causes the audience to take notice. Plus, because the numbers are shocking, the audience is more likely to remember the argument made by the speaker and more likely to be convinced.

According to the Department of Health and Human Resources, in 2002, there were 2.5 million deaths, and 106,742 of them were due to accidents. In 2002, 6,190 donor heroes and their families made the decision to donate. When comparing these statistics less than a half percent, not even 1% of these accidental fatalities were used to save or improve the life of another human being. So when I say heroes that is exactly what I mean. *[5]

Figures taken from The Oregon Donor Program website are disheartening. The Oregon population is at 3.5 million and last year only 84 donor heroes and their families chose to donate the gift of life in our state. *[6]

You see the reality is it doesn’t take 90,000 donors to save or improve the lives of these people. For every one organ donor has the potential to help at least 50 individuals with their “Gift of Life”. You see I know this personally because two very special people to me were organ donors who died tragically and unexpectedly. Through my experiences I have gained a greater understanding of what the “Gift of Life” really means. *[7]

Susan says:

*[5–7] In these paragraphs, the speaker again stresses the lack of donors and attempts to persuade the audience to donate by illustrating how many people they can help through organ donation.

This campaign was specifically tailored for the scholars of Southern Oregon University, its alumni and community members who are a truth seeking, compassionate, and educated group of individuals. The campaign goal is to share this information utilizing an information kiosk for SOU students and alumni in the student union. The kiosk would give SOU community members the opportunity to sign up as organ donors and would offer practical useful tools to share their decision with their loved ones. *[8]

Susan says:

*[8] The speaker again appeals to the audience by complimenting them while explaining the campaign to increase organ donation.

By appealing to the audience’s sense of compassion, the speaker increases the chances of listeners believing in the cause.

The two artifacts I have created specifically for this persuasion campaign are:

* A green hospital bracelet will be given to each new organ donor or individuals who can show a driver’s license indicating them as being an organ donor at the kiosk. *[9]

The bracelet itself is an example of symbolic persuasion representing the many lives that have been touched by organ donation. The pictures and names on each bracelet are actual people that have either been the patient waiting, the patient who died waiting, the transplant survivor, or the donor heroes. *[10]

The bracelet then is used as a reminder, and a reinforcing element of their commitment to organ donation. Because the bracelet is worn and not tucked away it encourages vital communication of the donor’s decision with family and peers. *[11]

* My second artifact is a letter that was created to address and personalize the donor’s donation decision. A Gallup poll conducted for the Partnership for Organ Donation showed that 85% of Americans supported organ donation. According to the Organtransplants.org website each year nearly 50% of families decline the opportunity to save lives by donating organs and tissues of deceased loved ones. The truth is even if you have decided to be an organ donor and you yourself know the significance of your choice your family has the final say as to whether or not your commitment is carried out. *[12]

The letter will serve as another reminder of the donor’s commitment to share his donation decision with his family, furthermore solidifying his decision and his intent. *[13]

Susan says:

*[9–13] At the end of the speech, the speaker explains what artifacts will be used to encourage participation in organ donation. The artifacts represent real people, not just abstract numbers. This not only allows the current audience to make a personal connection but also allows them to see how this campaign will impact others.

By looking forward and illustrating how the artifacts will help the cause, the speaker has further convinced the audience to agree with the importance of both organ donation itself and participating in the campaign described in the speech.

[several paragraphs omitted]

In conclusion, the facts remain that:

• 90,350 people are waiting…for a life-saving transplant
• 19 people die every day because of the lack of organ donation.
• Last year 6,529 people died …waiting for a life saving transplant.
• In 2004 there were 7,151 donors and their families who chose to share the “gift of life”.
• According to the Department of Health and Human Resources in 2004, 27,036 people received a lifesaving organ transplant.*[14]

Organ donation is based on altruism in our culture. That is according to Mr. Webster an unselfish concern for or dedication to the interests or welfare of others. My final plea to this audience of truth seeking, compassionate, educated individuals would be to take a look at the facts, take a look at the need then take a look at what you can and will do to help fill the gap for Alex, Christopher, Amy, Fletcher, Mike, Katy, Jim, Jonah, Kim, Crystal, Gloria, Darcy, Chuck, Nikolette, Caleb, Don, Zachary, Joshua, Isabella, Mark, Kennedy, Alicia, Jerry, Ashton, Gary and Nona. *[15]

[16] Organ donation costs nothing, yet could mean everything!

Susan says:

*[14–15] Though the speaker might choose a more effective phrase than “in conclusion,” the end of this speech provides a clear push to persuade the audience. By citing shocking statistics and again making the information personal by adding names (rather than only statistics), the speaker is more likely to persuade the audience.

Susan says:

[16] The final line is also a call to action. This strategy is effective because it asks listeners to personally get involved and make a difference.

Now That You’re Inspired

Now that you’re inspired by the two persuasive speech examples above, it’s time to get creative and write your own speech.

Before you do, take a look at these resources to help get your speech rolling:

• 49 Persuasive Speech Topics You’ll Actually Want to Talk About
• How to Write a Persuasive Speech (On Just About Anything)
• This Persuasive Speech Outline Will Help You Write Faster

After you’ve written your speech, don’t forget that Kibin editors are here to help. Our expertise isn’t limited to essays, either. We have oodles of experience editing speeches too, and we’re ready to help you with yours.

I get it. If you’re not a fan of outlines, it can be pretty tedious to sort out where to put an “A,” a “1,” or a “b.” The mere thought of it is enough to drive you mad.

In all reality, though, outlining isn’t that bad, and it’s important to realize that there are some things in life that we just have to do—simply because they’re good for us.

When you’re a student, sometimes writing a formal outline is one of those things.

Even if you don’t find writing an outline that painful, there can be times when you need a little help getting your ideas together in the right format.

Whether you love (or hate) outlines, here’s how you can develop an outline to help you write your persuasive speech faster.

Before You Start Your Persuasive Speech Outline

Before you start outlining, you will, of course, need a topic for your persuasive speech. If you don’t already have one, this list of 49 speech topics or this one of 33 socially conscious persuasive topics should give you at least a little inspiration.

Even if you already have a topic, don’t immediately jump into outlining unless you’ve spent at least a little time pondering your topic. You need time to sort out your thoughts.

If your assignment requires research, make sure you also do a preliminary search to gather ideas and potential sources.

If you haven’t done either of these yet, take a brainstorming break now to do some research if needed.

Don’t worry, I’ll be here when you return. I’ll just grab a cup of coffee and wait.

How to Write a Persuasive Speech Outline

Have you pondered your topic? Spent a little time perusing sources? Excellent. Let’s talk outlines.

Even if you have a love/hate relationship with outlines, they’re excellent prewriting tools that will enable you to organize your thoughts and lay out the details of your speech.

They actually save a lot of time too. Once you put your ideas in outline form, you can write the actual speech in no time flat.

Another bonus of writing a detailed outline:

Your teacher may allow you to use only your outline when you deliver your speech. Having a well-written and concise outline means you’ll have your talking points in order (and you won’t fill the dead air with “…ummm” until you can think of something to say).

Where should you start?

The finished outline will contain all the usual sections: introduction, body, and conclusion.

That doesn’t mean that you have to start with the introduction and work, step by step, until you reach the conclusion, though.

You might start with a working thesis statement to help you establish the focus for your speech and then develop your main ideas. You can always go back and fill in the introduction and conclusion once you have a solid direction for your speech.

Of course, if you’re the type of person who needs to start at the introduction, that’s fine too. Do whatever works for you.

In my persuasive speech outline for this post, I’m going to start with the introduction and provide a step-by-step outline to help you get started on your own.

Here’s the topic for my persuasive speech outline: why adults should get a flu shot.

Persuasive speech introduction

The introduction needs to hook your audience, provide background and context for your topic, and contain a thesis statement to focus your speech.

Attention grabber

Begin the introduction by grabbing the attention of your audience with a clever or shocking hook.

Think about all those boring lectures you’ve sat through as a student. You don’t want to be that speaker. You don’t want your audience to tune you out and think about where they’re going to dinner instead of listening to your speech.

Instead, you want them on the edge of their seats, eager to hear what you have to say.

To grab the attention of my audience, I would start my introduction with this shocking statistic:

In the 2017–2018 flu season, 61,000 Americans died from the flu. It was one of the most severe flu seasons in history (CDC.gov).

This statistic hits home and shows the audience just how dangerous the flu can be.

Background/context

This section includes information that helps the audience understand the context of your topic and provides any background they may need to know to fully understand your key points.

You’ll also want to consider your audience as you develop your outline (and speech). If you’re speaking to senior citizens, for instance, the information you’ll include here (and throughout your speech) would likely be different than if you’re speaking to seniors in high school.

In my example, I’m trying to convince a general audience that they should get a flu shot, so I’d briefly explain a little bit about the shot and again stress how important a flu shot is to one’s health.

Thesis statement

Wrap up your opening with a clear thesis statement to let your audience know your stance on the topic.

My thesis statement would be something like this:

Adults should get a flu shot each year because it can be a life-saving vaccine.

This thesis statement clearly indicates that my topic will be flu shots, and because I’m writing a persuasive outline, my thesis presents my stance on the topic: that people need a flu shot because it can save lives.

Persuasive speech body

The body will be the majority of your speech. A basic outline will contain at least three main ideas to support your thesis.

Develop each idea in at least one paragraph. Unless you’re writing an extremely short speech, the body of your speech should be a minimum of three paragraphs. You may include more main ideas (and thus more paragraphs), of course, depending on your assignment.

Each main idea needs evidence to support your claim. (A claim is essentially the argument presented in your speech.)

If you’re citing sources, look for statistics, examples, and expert opinions to support your claims. Use paraphrases, summaries, and quotes to integrate the information into your speech.

Remember: Evidence from sources should support your claims, not make up the bulk of your writing. In other words, resist the urge to copy and paste large chunks of content into your outline. Write the speech in your own words and use sources as supporting evidence for your claims.

If research isn’t required for your persuasive speech, include personal examples and your own knowledge of the topic to support your claims.

Example body paragraph

 Here’s an example of how one of my body paragraphs would be structured:

Claim: Getting the flu shot helps with herd immunity.

Evidence: “Once enough people are vaccinated, the flu can’t spread quickly because it encounters people who are protected against it. The flu virus runs into a dead end” (Lynch).

Analysis/Commentary: Essentially, if everyone gets a flu shot, the virus can’t easily spread because everyone is protected against it. This also means that people who aren’t able to be vaccinated (such as the very young) are less likely to get the flu because fewer adults around them will become infected.

This example presents a solid claim and provides a quote from a reliable website to support the fact that getting a flu shot helps keep everyone safe. (You may wish to include more than one piece of evidence to support each claim.)

It also includes my own analysis and commentary to not only discuss the topic of herd immunity but also further explain (using my source as evidence) why adults should get an annual flu shot.

As you develop your main ideas, keep in mind that you want to appeal to your audience, and you want to use solid arguments.

To learn more about appeals and logic, check out these two posts:

• Ethos, Pathos, and Logos: Be More Persuasive in Your Next Essay
• 10 Logical Fallacies That Will Kill Your Argument

Counterargument and rebuttal

A counterargument is the opposing view to your claim. While you may not be required to include a counterargument in your speech, anticipating and addressing opposing views is a smart way to make your argument more convincing.

In my example, I’m arguing that people should get a flu shot because it can save lives. The opposing view might argue that vaccines are dangerous and getting a flu shot can actually cause someone to get sick.

A rebuttal is your reply to the opposing view. In other words, you’re adding more evidence to support your claim (while also illustrating why your claim is stronger than the claims of the opposition).

In my example, I could point to evidence that indicates that a flu shot doesn’t really cause people to get the flu. People who get the flu after receiving the shot were likely already exposed to the virus.

How you incorporate the counterargument and rebuttal will depend on your assignment (and, in some cases, personal preference).

Your teacher might require you to include a counterargument and rebuttal as a separate paragraph before the conclusion, or you may be allowed to incorporate a counterargument and rebuttal into one of your main body paragraphs.

Conclusion

The conclusion is your last chance to convince the audience of your claims.

To convince them, restate your key ideas and emphasize again why they should be convinced by your arguments.

Because I’m trying to convince my audience how important it is to get a flu shot, in my conclusion, I’ll remind them how miserable it feels to be sick. I’ll stress that if they take the time to get a flu shot, they not only can avoid the misery of the flu but also can prevent more serious illness and even protect others.

The Final Outline

If the mere thought of creating a persuasive speech outline still leaves you feeling a little under the weather, drink some soothing tea, and remember, outlining isn’t all that bad.

To make outlining even easier, here’s the skeleton of the persuasive speech outline we just created. You can use this as a guide to help you build your own outline by filling in your topic, claim, and supporting evidence.

1. Introduction

a. Hook/Attention grabber
b. Background and context
c. Thesis statement

2. Body: Evidence to support your thesis

a. Claim 1

i. Evidence from source(s) to support claim
ii. Analysis/Commentary

b. Claim 2

i. Evidence from source(s) to support claim
ii. Analysis/Commentary

c. Claim 3

i. Evidence from source(s) to support claim
ii. Analysis/Commentary

3. Body: Counterargument and Rebuttal

a. Counterargument
b. Evidence from source to illustrate counterargument
c. Refutation of argument and evidence

4. Conclusion

a. Restate key ideas and stress the importance of your claim
b. Emphasize why readers should be convinced by your arguments

Looking for an example outline before you tackle your own? Take a look at these outlines:

• A Speech Outline Regarding the Lowering of Athlete Salaries
• Outline of a Speech on How Helmets Reduce Injuries in Motorcycle Accidents

Ready to get started but need a shot in the arm to convince you to get moving?

Download this persuasive speech outline template to help you put your ideas in place.

If you have your outline finished but want a pair of expert eyes to provide some feedback before you step behind the podium, send it to the editors at Kibin. We can polish your outlines, essays, and just about any writing project your teachers can dream up.

Older siblings can be pretty persuasive, and if you’ve ever fallen victim to this persuasion (as I may have done once or twice), you already have a good understanding of what it takes to convince an audience.

How do you translate your experiences of being persuaded into being persuasive in your upcoming persuasive speech?

Here’s what you need to know to write a persuasive speech on just about anything.

The Art of Persuasion

Before you get started on your speech, it’s a smart idea to take the time to review a variety of techniques you can use to persuade your audience.

Thus, before we start the “how to” of how to write a persuasive speech, take a look at these articles:

• Use These Persuasive Techniques to Be More Convincing
• Ethos, Pathos, Logos: Be More Persuasive in Your Next Essay
• One Persuasive Writing Technique You Can’t Write Without

Ready to move on to learning how to write a persuasive speech? Excellent. Let’s start with topic selection.

Step 1: Choose a Topic for Your Persuasive Speech

Choosing the right topic for your persuasive speech is just as important as choosing the right topic for a persuasive essay.

One of the first steps of topic selection is to understand your assignment.

You need to know, for instance, if there are any guidelines (or prohibitions) on topics. For example, can your speech attempt to convince your classmates to buy you lunch, or can you attempt to convince your teacher to not assign any more homework this year?

Does your speech need to be about a more serious topic like texting and driving or cyberbullying? If so, does it need to include research?

Once you understand the parameters of your assignment, think about your own interests and whether you can be convincing while speaking about a given topic.

Let’s say your BFF suggests you speak about whether fast food should be served in public high schools. If it doesn’t matter to you what schools serve because you think it all tastes awful, this probably isn’t the best topic for you.

Exhausted your mental resources and can’t think of the perfect topic for your persuasive speech? Here are 137 ideas:

• 49 Persuasive Speech Topics You’ll Actually Want to Talk About 
• 33 Persuasive Essay Ideas That Make an Impact
• 40 Persuasive Essay Topics to Get You Started
• 15 Excellent Topics for Persuasive Essays

I’ve decided that my speech (for example purposes in this article) will focus on aliens.

Step 2: Develop a Focus for Your Persuasive Speech

Once you have a topic for your speech, you’ll need to narrow it appropriately.

If you want to write about graffiti, for instance, you can’t just start writing everything you know about the topic. (If you do, you’ll end up with lots of content, and you’ll be able to meet the time requirements—but trust me, you won’t end up with a good persuasive speech.)

Instead of just randomly writing about the topic, develop a persuasive focus.

If you were writing about graffiti, for instance, you could write about why graffiti is actually art rather than vandalism or why graffiti needs to be cleaned up in a specific neighborhood.

In my example, I chose aliens as my broad topic, and I’m going to narrow my topic to the existence of aliens. That is, I hope to persuade my audience to believe that aliens exist. But I could be even more specific and try to persuade my audience that television and movie aliens are based on real aliens already on Earth. (Who’s to say Spock isn’t an actual extraterrestrial on our planet?)

Once you’ve nailed down your focus, It’s time to start developing the nuts and bolts of the speech.

Step 3: Outline the Main Ideas of Your Persuasive Speech

After you’ve narrowed your topic, outline the main ideas.

When developing the main ideas of your speech, first consider whether you’re required to complete research. If you need to cite sources, make sure to locate credible resources.

Don’t forget to check to see what types of sources you can use too. You might be able to cite all websites, but you may be required to cite more scholarly resources, such as books or journals.

Creating the outline

So about that outline.

Unless a formal outline is required, you can jot down ideas in any outline format that works for you. You can also try a graphic organizer to visualize ideas.

You can also simply write a few notes to help get your ideas rolling.

For example, I might list the following as my main ideas about the existence of aliens:

• Water is necessary for life, and water is present on a number of planets.
• Astronauts (who are trusted experts) have reported UFOs.
• Scientists have established the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute.

These ideas give me a starting point for each of my main body paragraphs and function much like topic sentences because they give me a direction for each paragraph.

Supporting your claims

Next, I’ll need to fill in the rest of the paragraph with evidence to support my claims.

In my case, I’d need evidence from the experts to help me explain the following:

• where (besides Earth) water is present in the universe, and why this means that aliens could exist;
• which astronauts reported UFOs, what they reported, and why this is credible evidence of the existence of aliens; and
• details about the SETI Institute, its origins, and its purpose, and why the mere fact that the institute exists means that scientists believe there is life beyond Earth.

After sketching out these rough ideas, I’m ready to write a draft of my speech (and cite my sources according to my assignment guidelines).

I would, of course, start my assignment early enough so that I would have time to revise and edit. (Revision is important, so make sure you leave enough time to revise and edit your speech too.)

Be Persuasive and Appeal to Your Audience

As you write your persuasive speech, remember that you’re trying to convince your audience, so you need to think about who makes up your audience and what they believe.

Think about writing a persuasive speech as being like creating an ad campaign.

If you were advertising casual tennis shoes to teens, you’d have to think about what matters to them. Teens want style. While cost can play a factor, for the most part, as long as the shoe is trendy, you’ve appealed to their basic requirement.

Now think about creating an ad campaign for casual tennis shoes for older adults. While style may play a role, older adults are more concerned with cost, durability, and comfort. If you can convince older adults that a tennis shoe is comfortable, you’ve hooked them. Even if your shoe is a little more expensive, they’ll be willing to hand over their hard-earned cash in exchange for some comfy kicks.

See how using the right language and the right type of appeal (such as ethos, pathos, or logos) is necessary in order to convince your audience?

How to appeal to your specific audience

Given the above, it’s important to keep your audience in mind and think about what matters to them as you draft your speech.

For instance, if you’re trying to convince your teacher and classmates, consider how you can appeal to a general audience.

If your teacher has assigned an audience for your speech, you may have to pretend you’re speaking to parents, teens, or members of the school board (and thus consider what types of arguments you’ll use to convince them).

If your teacher allows some flexibility with your speech, you might choose your own audience. For example, if you’re writing about aliens, you could ask the class to pretend they’re aliens and try to convince them to take you to their home planet.

The takeaway: Know your audience. If you know how they think and what they believe, you’ll be able to appeal to them and be more convincing.

Additional Resources to Help You Write a Persuasive Speech

If you have a pretty good sense of what you want to write about and how you’ll put your speech together but are still looking for a little more help, check out these additional resources:

• How to Control the Tone of an Essay
• 20 Ways to Improve Your Academic Writing
• 10 Essay Writing Rules to Throw Out the Window

If you’d like to read an example or two of a persuasive speech before you get to work on your own, check out these speeches from our library:

• A Persuasive Speech on Pitbulls As a Non-Violent Breed of Dog
• A Persuasive Speech on Limiting the Production and Use of Plastic

One final piece of wisdom regarding speeches: Take a few deep breaths, and relax.

We all get nervous speaking in front of people (especially when our grade depends on it), but being prepared before you step foot behind the podium can make the entire process of delivering your speech a little less stressful.

Want to make sure your speech is in tip-top shape before you put yourself out there? Let the editors at Kibin help. While we can’t necessarily help you calm your nerves in front of an audience, we can help you prepare a terrific speech (on just about anything).

Live long and prosper.

It’s not until you’re actually standing in the chip aisle that you realize your friend didn’t specify which type of chips she wanted. You stare for what seems like hours (okay maybe three seconds) at plain, baked, barbeque, and even some bizarre cappuccino-flavored concoction before texting her to learn that she wants a specific brand of baked, wavy chips (that a convenience store won’t likely sell).

What does all this have to do with gender equality?

Aside from making you crave chips, my point here is that choosing articles and topics for essays is kinda like standing in that chip aisle: There’s a lot to choose from, and not all options are created equal.

Choose your chip incorrectly, and you end up with a terrible flavor that leaves a bad taste in your mouth for days. Choose your topic and sources incorrectly, and your entire essay could be equally terrible. (A bad grade will leave a bad taste in your mouth for days too.)

So grab a bag of your favorite chips, sit back, and let’s look at 10 good gender equality article choices for your upcoming essay.

The Broad Topic of Gender Equality

Before you do just about anything, you’ll need to decide what exactly to write about. While your professor may have assigned a gender equality essay, it doesn’t mean you can (or should) write about everything related to gender equality in the required five pages.

To write an effective essay, you first need to narrow your topic.

Not sure how to even begin? Here are a few suggestions:

• How/why gender inequality persists
• Why we need full gender equality
• Gender equality and LGBTQ individuals
• Gender-based violence
• Wage gap between genders
• Gender equality in the workplace
• Gender equality in education
• Should only exist sex pills for men
• Promotion of gender equality in professional sports

Keep in mind that even the above list of topics can be further narrowed.

For instance, you might discuss gender-based violence as it relates to teens, to the United States, or to another country. You might focus your discussion of gender equality in the workplace as it relates to STEM fields or to the political arena.

If you’re still not sure which direction is best for your essay, take a look at these 10 gender equality articles to help jump-start your research.

10 Gender Equality Articles to Support Your Next Essay

The articles below cover a wide range of gender equality topics, so I’ve provided a brief summary of each article to help you decide whether the article is a good fit for your essay.

I’ve also included an APA (7th edition) citation and MLA (8th edition) citation for each of the gender equality articles. (If you need to use APA 6th edition, consult this resource for the correct formatting.)

When citing, don’t forget to include in-text citations for each piece of information you use from sources. (Need a few reminders about citation and avoiding plagiarism? Click here to learn more.)

And now, let’s look at those 10 gender equality articles I promised.

1. Why Is Gender Equality Important?

This article is posted by Global Vision International (GVI), “an award-winning organization that focuses on high-impact and high-quality conservation and community development programs.”

In addition to providing readers with ways they can help promote gender equality through volunteer efforts, this article explains how creating equal employment opportunities for women can change the economy and help break the cycle of poverty.

APA 7 Citation

Darrah, P. (2019, June 11). Why is gender equality important? Global Vision International. https://www.gviusa.com/blog/why-is-gender-equality-important/

MLA 8 Citation

Darrah, Petrina. “Why Is Gender Equality Important?” Global Vision International, 11 June 2019, www.gviusa.com/blog/why-is-gender-equality-important/.

2. The Importance of Gender in Early Childhood Education Policy

Published by the well-respected Brookings Institution, the writer argues that gender equality in early childhood education is often overlooked. The writer also stresses the importance of gender awareness in order to help children thrive.

Chi, the author of this article, is a 2018 Echidna Global Scholar and Associate Professor at the Center for Teacher Education Research, KIS, MOE, Beijing Normal University.

APA 7 Citation

Chi, J. (2018, November 5). The importance of gender in early childhood education policy. Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2018/11/05/the-importance-of-gender-in-early-childhood-education-policy/

MLA 8 Citation

Chi, Jin. “The Importance of Gender in Early Childhood Education Policy.” Brookings Institution, 5 Nov. 2018, www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2018/11/05/the-importance-of-gender-in-early-childhood-education-policy/.

3. Gender Equality As a Security Issue

This article asserts that gender inequality should not be thought of as only a feminist issue. It is, in fact, a global security issue. The author indicates that “studies have repeatedly shown that gender inequality is a global concern, linked to domestic and international conflict, radicalization and economics.”

Published by Yale University, this article passes the CRAAP Test regarding currency and authority. If it meets your research needs and is relevant to your essay, it will have passed the test with flying colors.

APA 7 Citation

Johnson-Freese, J. (2019, September 17). Gender equality as a security issue. YaleGlobal Online. https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/gender-equality-security-issue

MLA 8 Citation

Johnson-Freese, Joan. “Gender Equality As a Security Issue.” YaleGlobal Online, 17 Sept. 2019, yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/gender-equality-security-issue.

4. Gender Inequality Is One of the Most Persistent Evils of Our Times

Written by the Prime Minister of Iceland, this piece examines the #MeToo movement and how the government can eliminate gender inequality to work toward an equal society.

This article is published by CNN, a respected news organization.

If you’re not sure whether the online sources you’re reviewing are credible, take a look at Evaluating Websites: What You Need to Know to Find Great Sources.

APA 7 Citation

Jakobsdóttir, K. (2019, September 17). Gender inequality is one of the most persistent evils of our times. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/17/opinions/katrn-jakobsdttir-gender-inequality-intl/index.html

MLA 8 Citation

Jakobsdóttir, Katrin. “Gender Inequality Is One of the Most Persistent Evils of Our Times.” CNN, 17 Sept. 2019. www.cnn.com/2019/09/17/opinions/katrn-jakobsdttir-gender-inequality-intl/index.html.

5. Goal 5: Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls

This United Nations article highlights the importance of achieving gender equality in order to build a “foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.”

This article includes gender inequality statistics and also links to a variety of gender- and equality-related sites.

Interested in reading one writer’s thoughts on how to achieve gender equality? Take a look at The Goals and Ways of Achieving Gender Equality.

APA 7 Citation

United Nations. (n.d.). Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/

MLA 8 Citation

“Goal 5: Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls.” United Nations,  www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/.

6. Gender Inequality and Women in the Workplace

Posted as a Q&A with a sociology professor at Harvard, this piece examines the concerns of work–life balance, fertility rates, and concerns over the declining birth rate in Japan and how the decline could undermine the Japanese economy.

Not sure how to approach an essay about gender equality in the workplace? Get inspired by reading this essay from our library on childcare, gender equality, and paternal leave, or this essay on women in combat.

APA 7 Citation

Harvard Summer School. (n.d.). Gender inequality and women in the workplace. https://www.summer.harvard.edu/inside-summer/gender-inequality-women-workplace

MLA 8 Citation

“Gender Inequality and Women in the Workplace.” Harvard Summer School, www.summer.harvard.edu/inside-summer/gender-inequality-women-workplace.

7. Women’s Rights (killer facts on gender equality)

This is a brief fact sheet filled with statistics about gender inequality. For instance, the fact sheet states how “gender-based violence is one of the biggest causes of injury and death to women worldwide, causing more deaths and disability among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war.” The fact sheet also details how, “as a result of violence and neglect, there are 50 million fewer women in South Asia today than there should be.”

This fact sheet is published by OxFam New Zealand, “a non-profit organisation dedicated to finding lasting solutions to poverty and injustice” (OxFam.org.nz), and also links to a women’s rights section of the website.

Looking for ideas about gender equality and the status of women in society? Check out this essay from our library.

APA 7 Citation

OxFam New Zealand. (n.d.). Women’s rights. https://www.oxfam.org.nz/what-we-do/issues/gender-equality/killer-facts

MLA 8 Citation

“Women’s Rights.” OxFam New Zealand, 2019, www.oxfam.org.nz/what-we-do/issues/gender-equality/killer-facts.

8. 7 Appalling Facts That Prove We Need Gender Equality Now

This article highlights seven facts to illustrate the injustices of gender inequality, including the fact that “over 150 countries have at least one actively sexist law.” Other facts include that “1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime.” Additionally, per the article, “in most countries, women only earn between 60 and 75% of men’s wages – for the same work.”

The site also links to a variety of resources with more information about each of the facts.

Interested in writing about the gender pay gap? Get inspired by reading A Study of the Gender Pay Gap in Society.

APA 7 Citation

Olorunshola, Y. (2016, May 25). 7 appalling facts that prove we need gender equality now. Global Citizen. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/shocking-facts-gender-inequality-international-wom/

MLA 8 Citation

Olorunshola, Yosola. “7 Appalling Facts That Prove We Need Gender Equality Now.” Global Citizen, 25 May 2016, www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/shocking-facts-gender-inequality-international-wom/.

9. 17 Marketing Campaigns With a Positive Message for Women

Included in this blog post by Econsultancy are 17 marketing campaigns that fight inequality and female idealism, and promote female empowerment.

The highlighted ads tackle domestic violence, motherhood, education, fashion and beauty even in the young ones.

APA 7 Citation

Econsultancy. (2018, November 21). 17 marketing campaigns with a positive message for women. https://econsultancy.com/17-marketing-campaigns-with-a-positive-message-for-women/

MLA 8 Citation

“17 Marketing Campaigns With a Positive Message for Women.” Econsultancy, 21 Nov. 2018, econsultancy.com/17-marketing-campaigns-with-a-positive-message-for-women/.

10. Gender Equality: “No Room at the Top for Women Scientists”

This article reports the findings of several studies. Per the article, although women do enter STEM and related science fields, many “leave the profession due to problems such as harassment and issues around promotion and pay.”

This article is trustworthy and is a reliable research source as it’s published by BBC News.

APA 7 Citation

Briggs, H. (2019, September 6). Gender equality: “No room at the top for women scientists.” BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49552812

MLA 8 Citation

Briggs, Helen. “Gender Equality: ‘No Room at the Top for Women Scientists.’” BBC News, 6 Sept. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49552812.

What’s Next?

Finished your bag of chips but aren’t sure what to do next? You could make another snack run to the convenience store. But you might want to actually do a little more research to find additional gender equality articles for your upcoming essay first. (You can always get more snacks after you’ve finished your research.)

Here are several additional resources to not only help you find the sources you need but also help you put everything together into a finished research essay:

• 5 Best Resources to Help With Writing a Research Paper
• 15 Thesis Statement Examples for Research Papers to Inspire You
• How to Write a Research Paper: A Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Craft a Research Paper Outline

Finished your research and completed a draft of your gender equality essay? Pat yourself on the back, and let a Kibin editor help you make your draft even more awesome. We’re here 24/7 to help you with any step of the writing process.

You can’t complete either of these tasks without tools. So what if I handed you a hammer, a saw, and a handful of nails to start building, or a basic paintbrush and a gallon of paint to start your masterpiece?

While you could certainly create something (and sometimes something pretty fantastic) with only basic tools, you’d be able to create a much more polished and professional project if you had the right tools to work with.

The same is true for writing.

A pen and paper or computer and blank screen are the only basic tools you need to be any type of writer. But if you want to create a written masterpiece for your upcoming assignment, try these 14 writing tools for students to help you work smarter (not harder).

14 Writing Tools for Students

In order to write, you don’t always need expensive tools, like a new computer or pricey software. All 14 writing tools for students in the list below allow you to access their basic services for free.

The tools provide help with proper word choice, prewriting, collaboration, time management, organization, citation, and essay writing.

1. Thesaurus

Using a thesaurus doesn’t mean you need to find off-the-wall words that you think will make you sound smart. Using a thesaurus correctly means you should find the perfect word for the situation.

For instance, if you’re writing a narrative essay, writing that you went swimming in blue water isn’t terribly descriptive. Using a thesaurus, you might realize that the water was actually cerulean or turquoise.

2. Dictionary

Don’t underestimate the power of the dictionary. You can, of course, look up words that you don’t know, but you can also use a dictionary to help you write more effectively.

If you’re writing a descriptive essay, for example, you could type the word “hunger” to get the following definition: “a compelling need or desire for food.” This definition might be just the phrase you need to describe your hunger and that you felt compelled to order a footlong extra-large super combo at the local sub shop.

3. Dictionary of obscure words

While a standard dictionary will, of course, contain obscure words too, a dictionary of obscure words might be just the ticket if you’re looking for a few unique words to captivate your audience .

Let’s say you’re working on a creative writing piece about vampires, for instance, and you just don’t want to use the word “blood-thirsty” again. Using a dictionary of obscure words,you find the words sanguinolent (containing blood; bloodthirsty), sanguisugent (blood-sucking), and sanguivorous (blood-drinking)—all of which would be perfect additions to your story.

4. Reverse dictionary/thesaurus

A reverse dictionary or reverse thesaurus is a tool that “lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept” (OneLook.com).

Keep in mind that the generated list from your search may result in a lot of unrelated words too. But if you look at the first few words on the list, the reverse dictionary is usually pretty accurate.

A search for “lose your job,” for instance, returns “fired,” “sacked,” “terminated,” and “canned” within the top nine results.

5. A guide to literary terms

This website offers a comprehensive list of literary terms, and quizzes and flashcards to help you study.

Remember, literary terms aren’t just for literary analysis essays.

Literary devices can be used in most types of essays to strengthen your writing and grab the audience’s attention.

For instance, you could state that the kids you were babysitting acted rowdy, and readers would understand your point. If, however, you use a simile and stated that the kids acted like a wild pack of dogs, your description suddenly takes on an entirely new meaning and creates a much stronger image.

6. EasyBib

Struggling with proper APA, MLA, or Chicago citations? EasyBib offers free citation generators. Simply type in the requested information about your source, and the site will automatically generate a citation. (Make sure to double-check the format when you copy and paste the citation into your essay.)

7. Google Docs

You might think of Google Docs as only a place to type your papers, but it’s also a great collaboration tool.

If you want to have others review your paper, simply send them a link, and they can comment to their heart’s content. Google Docs is a great tool for group work too as you can share ideas and keep notes all in one convenient place.

8. Pomodoro Tracker

The goal of the Pomodoro system is to allow you to focus on the task at hand without distraction and to ultimately increase your productivity.

Here’s how it works: The timer is set at 25 minutes. Use the 25 minutes to work steadily on your writing, and then take a short 3–5 minute break before going back to your project. If you need to work on your project further, work another 25 minutes, and then take another break. (This break might be a few minutes longer than the first.)

While you’re writing, resist the urge to check that text on your phone or pop open a new tab to check on your fantasy football stats—save those tasks for your breaks.

9. My Study Life

If you’ve ever missed an assignment deadline or exam because you simply forgot (or misplaced your paper planner or notes), My Study Life might be just the app you need.

My Study Life allows you to add reminders for assignments, organize your schedule, and sync your schedule to all of your devices. You can even access it offline.

10. Sticky notes

Good old fashioned paper sticky notes will sometimes do the trick. But if you’re working on your computer more than you’re working with paper and pencil, a digital sticky note may be more effective for quick reminders (and they won’t get lost on your way to class, either).

11. MindMup

MindMup allows you to create an unlimited number of mind maps and store them online for up to six months. (The subscription service includes even more features and allows you to collaborate with other users.)

Mind mapping is useful in just about any type of essay writing as it allows you to visually plan out your ideas. Like other graphic organizers, mind maps are great for those of us who hate writing formal outlines.

12. Speechnotes

If your fingers are worn to the bone from typing endless essays, try dictating your paper with Speechnotes.

Simply speak, and the site will convert your words to text.

Keep in mind that you can’t be a speed-talker like the guy below.

You must speak slowly and clearly, but the website can save a lot of typing time. It can also take time to get used to saying “comma” or “period” each time you want to add punctuation, but you have the option of manually typing punctuation if you prefer.

After you’ve dictated your essay (or other assignment), you can copy/paste the text into another program, and continue editing or submit your assignment as you would normally.

NOTE: Speechnotes only works with Google’s Chrome browser, which you can download for free.

13. Flashcard Machine

Though you have to create a free account before you can use this site, Flashcard Machine enables you to create sets of flashcards as study tools.

This site is an excellent option for studying literary terms, of course, but you can also use flashcards to stay organized when writing a research paper.

Use one side of the card for a Works Cited or References page citation, and use the other side to summarize the source or include a paraphrase or quote you might want to include in your paper.

14. Kibin

Did you know that Kibin not only offers this awesome blog (which you’re reading now) but also offers a free thesis generator tool and free paper grader service?

If you’d like more specific feedback on your paper, you can work with a Kibin editor to improve your writing as well. We can help with anything from organization and grammar to citation and style.

And if you’re needing more inspiration to pick a topic or organize your paper, be sure to check out Kibin’s extensive essay database and see how other students have tackled topics that interest you.

Have Tools, Will Write

Even if you’ve been working with all the possible writing tools for students in your toolbox to improve your writing, don’t forget that the Kibin Essay Writing Blog has tons of helpful posts to help you put the finishing touches on your paper. Here are a few you might find useful:

• Avoid These 10 Common Grammar Mistakes in Your Paper
• 5 Punctuation Rules You Need to Know
• How to Improve Sentence Variety in Your Essays (and Why You Should Care)

Did we forget to mention your favorite writing tools for students? Give them a shoutout in the comments!