ARGUE/PERSUADE NON-FICTION WRITING
How to write an opinion paragraph for argue/persuade non-fiction
This is the last guide in a series of 4 guides on writing argue/persuade non-fiction. In the previous guides we’ve looked at the general style for this kind of writing, as well as how to write openings and linked closings. This guide will focus on the main body of this kind of writing and how to write a few different types of paragraph that you can use to make your argument.
This guide is part of the Argue/persuade non-fiction writing series:
How to write openings and closings for argue/persuade non-fiction - part 1
How to write openings and closings for argue/persuade non-fiction - part 2
How to write an opinion paragraph for argue/persuade non-fiction
Contents of this guide
Three example questions that this guide will use
These are the same questions we used in the guides to writing openings and closings. They are designed to provide a range of different topics and text types to give you a diverse set of examples to draw from in your own writing.
Example question 1 – a speech about over-protective parents
“Parents today are over-protective. They should let their children take part in adventurous, even risky, activities to prepare them for later life.”
Write a speech to an audience of teenagers in which you argue for or against this statement.
Example question 2 – a letter to a head teacher about the school toilets
“The toilets in schools are one of the most over-used and under-maintained parts of the building. They should be much better looked after.”
Write a letter to a head teacher in which argue you for better toilet facilities in your school.
Example question 3 – an article about the superficiality of dating
“Dating today is more superficial than ever thanks to dating apps. Unless we change this, it will always be extremely hard for disabled people to find love.”
Write an article for a broadsheet newspaper in which you argue your point of view in response to this statement.
A quick recap of the structure of this kind of piece
In previous guides we’ve outlined the rough structure for this kind of writing. This guide will focus on the third part of this structure - the body.
Form elements for your given text type like headlines and straplines (articles and essays), addresses and greetings (letters) or headings and subheadings(leaflets).
The opening as an indirect way into the piece. See our separate guides to openings and closings for more on how to write this.
The body is what makes up the bulk of your piece. In it you will make your overall argument. This will be the focus of this guide.
The closing is the way you’ll finish off your piece. It will be a short paragraph that links back to your opening. Again, this was covered in two separate guides earlier in the series.
Three types of opinion paragraph for non-fiction argue/persuade writing
Similar to the guide to openings/closings, we’re going to outline three different types of paragraph that you could include in the body of your argue/persuade non-fiction piece. You will need 3 or 4 body paragraphs in total, all of which will be fairly short (you’ll see examples below to get a sense of this) and these three types are designed to help you think about the kinds of content you can include in this kind of writing.
The three types of paragraph are:
The argument. This is your bread and butter paragraph – the one you will use most often in the body of this kind of writing. In it, you essentially say what your opinion is; you make your argument.
The anecdote. Another way you can convey your opinion is through an anecdote (a short story from your own life) which illustrates the point you are making.
The real world. A third way you can convey your opinion is by using an example from the real world. Similar to an anecdote, it is a way for you to show your audience why they should listen to your opinion.
Exploring our three types of opinion paragraph
As is so often the case in these writing guides, we need to add a caveat here. In reality, you could write paragraphs that blend several of these types into one. If you’re a confident writer then you may want to do this, in which case these paragraph types should be seen more as ‘content types’. However, if you’re not a confident writer, then these paragraph types should help you plan and create this kind of writing more easily. They are designed to provide a toolkit from which you can construct your argue/persuade writing.
Opinion paragraph type 1: The argument
This is your main form of paragraph for the body of your piece. You will need at the very least one of these, and more than likely two or even three of them. This is a paragraph in which you explain your view of the topic you are writing your piece about and say why you have that view. In other words, you make an argument. There are lots of possible ways that you could do this, and we’ll show you three different examples below, one for each of the example questions.
A common feature of an argument paragraph is to first acknowledge the other side of the argument, before you explain why you disagree with it. This is something you can see in the over-protective parents example and the school toilets example. You don’t need to do this every time, but it’s quite effective to do this at least once in each piece, just to show that you do understand why people might disagree with you, even if you think those people are wrong.
‘The argument’ example for the speech about over-protective parents (Example question 1)
It seems beyond doubt that parents today are over-protective. They won’t let any of you leave the house, even to go to school, without a device through which they can contact you and, more worryingly, track you. Now, they may claim that they only want to keep you safe, and that they have your best interests at heart, and perhaps they do. But that doesn’t mean it actually is in your best interests to be treated this way. To be treated as fragile. To be treated as delicate, breakable things cast out into a treacherous world. All this does is make the world seem more treacherous than it really is, which just makes you feel unsafe all the time. It’s harmful not helpful.
You should be able to see from this first example that this paragraph makes an argument for why parents are over-protective. It also acknowledges the other side of the argument (“they may claim that they only want to keep you safe…etc”), before saying why this writer thinks that argument is wrong. As this is a speech to an audience of teenagers, it uses direct address at various points (e.g. “they won’t let any of you”, “making you feel unsafe”, etc). There are also rhetorical devices here, like the anaphora of “To be treated as” near the end.
‘The argument’ example for the letter to a head teacher about the state of the school toilets (Example question 2)
I believe that the toilets in our school need to be given greater priority by the team who look after the site. I know that the school is a big place and that there are lots of things that require attention, but the toilets need to come first. They are far more important to the students than the hedges or the lawns or the slightly chipped paint in the science corridor. We use them several times a day and those experiences, which are sometimes very unpleasant, can have a significant emotional impact on us, affecting our ability to learn.
This argument paragraph is similar to the last one in that it acknowledges the other side of the argument (“I know that the school is a big place…etc”) before giving reasons why that argument doesn’t hold up in the opinion of this writer. However, the positioning is very different in this paragraph as the writer is a student and the addressee is the head teacher. That is reflected in the way the piece is written (e.g. “our school”, “we use them several times a day”). There are rhetorical devices used here too, like the polysyndetic triad “the hedges or the lawns or the slightly chipped pain in the science corridor.”
‘The argument’ example for the article about the superficiality of dating (Example question 3)
Of course, dating has always been superficial. There were no ‘good old days’ here (“Oi, lads, check out the personality on her!”) but Tinder and its copycat cousins have supercharged this unpleasant tendency. These apps have made it so casual and easy to look for love – it’s like a game played on a phone – that dating happens almost exclusively online now. So, instead of hoping to meet a nice boy or girl at work, people just play the game, choosing who they want to date based on a picture in an app. They don’t even get to experience the person in person – to feel their charisma or laugh at their jokes or even marvel at their magnificent contouring – they just choose a face (and probably some abs or arms) and see what happens. This change has been disastrous for people who are not the right size and shape for dating apps.
This final example also makes an argument: it suggests that dating has become more superficial than ever, with reasons, before explaining why this is a problem. It is from an article, so there’s no direct address or even any positioning of the writer (there is no ‘I’ in this paragraph). That is because it’s a different type of text to the previous examples.
It’s also worth noting that this argument paragraph also brings in some aspects of the real world (Tinder), so it’s a bit of a blend of Opinion paragraph type 1 (‘the argument’) and Opinion paragraph type 3 (‘the real world’). This kind of thing is very common and perfectly fine to do. As we said at earlier, you may want to blend the paragraph types in your own writing.
Opinion paragraph type 2: The anecdote
Another way to flesh out the body of your piece is to provide a paragraph with an anecdote from your own life which helps to prove whatever it is you’re trying to argue for. This is particularly effective if you didn’t use an anecdote as your opening. If you did, then you should probably avoid adding another one to the body of your piece, unless it’s a particularly good (and different) one. You should not use more than one of these paragraphs in the body of your piece, though, otherwise it will get a bit repetitive. Let’s look at some examples so you can see how this works.
‘The anecdote’ example for the speech about over-protective parents (Example question 1)
When I was very young – much younger than any of you, primary age, I guess – local kids from the neighbourhood would knock on my door and ask if I wanted to “come out to play”. Then I’d disappear off to the park to play football or climb trees or smoke cigarettes or whatever. And my only rule was to “be back before dinner.” During this time out to play, my mum had no way to contact me and no idea if I was safe, but she trusted me and assumed I probably was safe. And most of the time I was. (The smoking was a grey area.) It seems impossible to imagine your parents doing this today, though. It would be considered reckless or even negligent in our post-phone world. They would be judged.
This example once again uses direct address (“much younger than any of you”) because it’s from a speech. It also uses rhetorical devices like listing and bathos (“to play football or climb trees or smoke cigarettes”) to create a light and humorous tone. At the end, the anecdote is then linked back to the audience and the overall argument about parents in the modern world.
‘The anecdote’ example for the letter to a head teacher about the state of the school toilets (Example question 2)
Three times last week when I tried to use the Year 10 toilets during lunch, there was no toilet roll in any of the cubicles. On the third occasion, I saw another girl in the toilet reach into her bag to retrieve her own toilet roll. She carries one with her! This is the sort of thing I’d expect to see in a prison, not in a school. I went to reception to report the situation and somebody eventually came with new toilet roll, but I had to use the Year 7 toilets, which isn’t ideal for them or me. Since we are encouraged to use the toilets at break and lunch, would it not be possible for someone to check them at the start for something like this?
This anecdote example is for a letter so it’s a bit plainer in terms of style. It’s not full of rhetorical techniques (though there is a rhetorical question at the very end) because that wouldn’t be appropriate for the text type. It just presents a realistic story as a way to further the overall argument - that the toilets in this totally imaginary school need to be more looked after, with a practical suggestion for how this could be done. As such, it is part anecdote, part argument, but, as we have said, it’s perfectly fine to blend these paragraph types.
An example for the article about the superficiality of dating (Example question 3)
When I first joined Tinder, it was genuinely thrilling, scrolling through endless women, swiping them, sifting them, judging them. I did feel slightly guilty when I swiped left in a heartbeat, but the guilt quickly passed because there were so many more girls to swipe. That’s the draw that these apps provide. It didn’t take me long, however, to realise that the reciprocal thing must be happening to me too. Girls I had never met, and never would meet, were swiping me, sifting me, judging me. As I ate my dinner, somebody somewhere was rejecting me on the app. As I drove home from work, somebody somewhere was rejecting me on the app. As I walked, as I talked, as I slept or showered or pooed, somebody somewhere was rejecting me on the app based on nothing but a photograph of my face. It was a sickening realisation, and I knew I had to get off the app.
This final example is from an article, so it’s written in a very different way to the previous one. It’s full of rhetorical techniques like the rule of three, repetition and anaphora. This is appropriate for this type of text in a way that it wouldn’t be for a letter to a headteacher. You need to match the style of your writing to the type of text.
Opinion paragraph type 3: The real world
The final way you can flesh out the body of your piece is to talk about something from the real world which illustrates the point you are trying to argue. This is similar to the ‘pop-culture reference’ opening/closing type, in that your real world reference could be something from popular culture, like a meme or a TV advert or a film or whatever, but in this case it doesn’t need to be widely known - you can talk about anything from the real world, whether it’s part of popular culture or not. You can use examples of things that have happened to other real people (e.g. friends, parents, celebrities, etc), or you can use general trends in the real world which demonstrate whatever you’re arguing (e.g. the cost of living crisis, the climate crisis, etc).
As with the anecdote paragraph type, this will be more effectively if you didn’t use the pop-culture reference as your opening type, but if your real world example is sufficiently different to the pop-culture reference you used in your opening, then it would still be a really good thing to include. You don’t need to do a paragraph like this, but it can add some variety to your piece so it’s not all types 1 and 2.
One last thing: in your real world paragraph, do not use made-up statistics. It’s fine to use real statistics, if you happen to know them off by heart, but don’t make them up. AQA have specifically asked teachers to stop telling students to do this.
‘The real world’ example for the speech about over-protective parents (Example question 1)
I am far from the only person who thinks this, either. Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt set out a strong case for the harm that safetyism can do to children in their book, The Coddling of the American Mind. Haidt has even helped to set up a charity called ‘Let Grow’, which is founded on the belief that children like you are smarter and stronger than our culture gives you credit for and that you need independence to grow into capable, confident and happy adults.
This first example uses a reference to a book that is relevant to the overall argument. Notice that it doesn’t go into any real detail - that would be too much to expect from you trying to write this kind of text. It just makes the reference to the book (and the connected charity) and explains why it’s relevant to the question.
‘The real world’ example for the letter to a head teacher about the state of the school toilets (Example question 2)
I’m sure, as a headteacher, you are well aware of the mental health crisis among young people today. My generation have been made unwilling participants in a giant psychological experiment, conducted for profit by Tech giants like Meta and TikTok, and it is, in case you haven’t noticed, driving us slightly mad. I think schools should be doing as much as they can to ameliorate this crisis, and that includes getting the simple things right, getting the basic necessities in place to at least assuage some of the hardship of living through this insane social experiment. And, silly as it may sound, clean, functional and safe school toilets are one of those basic necessities.
This example takes another set of real world things - the mental health crisis facing young people and the social media experiment led by Big Tech companies - and uses them to support the argument about having nice toilets. Because this is a letter, the style is still fairly plain - there aren’t loads of rhetorical devices used here - but there is some sophisticated vocabulary (“ameliorate”, “assuage”) which helps to make this example more sophisticated overall.
‘The real world’ example for the article about the superficiality of dating (Example question 3)
Consider Guardian journalist Lucy Webster’s experience with the Matchmakers dating website. In 2021, she was advised not to join because, according to Matchmakers, people like her (people in wheelchairs) are rarely successful at finding love, and the company did not want to take her money under false pretences. The company were trying, I think, to be kind here, but it speaks loudly to the truth of the situation on the ground. Though we have made a lot of progress on diversity and inclusion, even with disability, this does not seem to have trickled down to the attitudes of the man or woman on the street who is looking for love. Here, we seem to be stuck in the superficial past.
This final example is for an article, so it’s written without any kind of direct address once again. It takes a real life situation (something from the news) and uses it as evidence for a broader point about people’s attitudes. This is the kind of thing the real world paragraph should be used for - as a way to say that it is not just you that thinks this; it is evident in the world at large too. The language in this paragraph is fairly plain and lacking in levity; that’s because the subject-matter is quite serious and so it wouldn’t have been right to write about it in an elaborate or humorous way. You should try to factor this kind of thing into your own writing, if you can.
The effect the text type has on your opinion paragraphs
As with the openings/closings, the text type you are asked to write will have a significant effect on the style that you use to write these kinds of paragraphs. We have used three different text types in our examples to try to illustrate this. This is most clearly evident in the examples for the letter (Example question 2). You should be able to see very clearly that these are written to form part of a letter and would sound very strange if they were in a speech or an article. The notes on the examples explain some specific examples of this, but the key thing you need to remember is to write your piece with the text type very clearly in mind.
However, unlike the openings/closings, all three of these paragraph types can be used just as well in any type of text. Certain anecdotes or real world references would be more or less appropriate for different text types and audiences, of course, but the core concept behind each of these opinion paragraph types works equally well for all the types of text you could be asked to write for this question.
The importance of cohesion
Throughout this guide, and in the earlier guides in this 4 guide series, we have been focussing on how to write individual paragraphs for a piece of argue/persuade non-fiction writing. This is because individual paragraphs are easier to conceptualise and easier to practise than a whole piece, which takes much longer to write (an entire lesson). For this reason, we will often ask you to practise writing individual paragraphs in your lessons, before you attempt to do a whole piece in an assessment.
However, your final piece must not feel like it is constructed from a series of unconnected paragraphs. It needs to feel unified, like a single article or letter or speech, and not like a jumble of different paragraphs placed next to one another.
This is called cohesion. Each paragraph in your piece needs to follow on naturally from the one before. We discussed this a bit at the end of the first guide to writing openings and closings, but we wanted to mention it here too.
Cohesion can be achieved in a variety of ways, using connective words and phrases (‘however’, ‘nevertheless’, ‘on the other hand’, etc), for example, or discourse markers (‘Well’, ‘So’, ‘Now’, etc), or by including references to earlier paragraphs in later paragraphs (this is a more sophisticated way to achieve cohesion).
It is beyond the scope of this guide to explain all of this in detail, but you need to ensure that you bear cohesion in mind when you come to write your full, assessed pieces of argue/persuade non-fiction.
Summing up - key things to remember when writing an opinion paragraph for an argue/persuade piece of non-fiction
These kinds of paragraphs will be used in the body of your argue/persuade non-fiction pieces, after your opening and before your closing
Their purpose is for you to explain your opinion and the reasons that you hold it - they are a way for you to make your argument in order to persuade your reader that your opinion is valid
We have come up with three types of paragraph that you can use to help you come up with something to say in this part of your piece: the argument, the anecdote and the real world.
You can mix together these paragraph types if you want - they aren’t official types of paragraph; they are just designed as a way to make it easier for you to write this kind of non-fiction
The text type you have been asked to write will have a significant impact on the style that you use to write these paragraphs
All three of these paragraph types can be used in any of the text types you could be asked to write for this question
You need to ensure that, when you write these paragraphs, you need to ensure that each paragraph flows naturally from the one before: this is called cohesion