first person persuasive essay

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Ai, ethics & human agency, collaboration, information literacy, writing process, using first person in an academic essay: when is it okay.

• CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 by Jenna Pack Sheffield

Related Concepts: Academic Writing – How to Write for the Academic Community ; First-Person Point of View ; Rhetorical Analysis; Rhetorical Stance ; The First Person ; Voice

In order to determine whether or not you can speak or write from the first-person point of view, you need to engage in rhetorical analysis. You need to question whether your audience values and accepts the first person as a legitimate rhetorical stance. Source:Many times, high school students are told not to use first person (“I,” “we,” “my,” “us,” and so forth) in their essays. As a college student, you should realize that this is a rule that can and should be broken—at the right time, of course.

By now, you’ve probably written a personal essay, memoir, or narrative that used first person. After all, how could you write a personal essay about yourself, for instance, without using the dreaded “I” word?

However, academic essays differ from personal essays; they are typically researched and use a formal tone . Because of these differences, when students write an academic essay, they quickly shy away from first person because of what they have been told in high school or because they believe that first person feels too informal for an intellectual, researched text. While first person can definitely be overused in academic essays (which is likely why your teachers tell you not to use it), there are moments in a paper when it is not only appropriate, but also more effective and/or persuasive to use first person. The following are a few instances in which it is appropriate to use first person in an academic essay:

• Including a personal anecdote: You have more than likely been told that you need a strong “hook” to draw your readers in during an introduction. Sometimes, the best hook is a personal anecdote, or a short amusing story about yourself. In this situation, it would seem unnatural not to use first-person pronouns such as “I” and “myself.” Your readers will appreciate the personal touch and will want to keep reading! (For more information about incorporating personal anecdotes into your writing, see “ Employing Narrative in an Essay .”)
• Establishing your credibility ( ethos ): Ethos is a term stemming back to Ancient Greece that essentially means “character” in the sense of trustworthiness or credibility. A writer can establish her ethos by convincing the reader that she is trustworthy source. Oftentimes, the best way to do that is to get personal—tell the reader a little bit about yourself. (For more information about ethos, see “ Ethos .”)For instance, let’s say you are writing an essay arguing that dance is a sport. Using the occasional personal pronoun to let your audience know that you, in fact, are a classically trained dancer—and have the muscles and scars to prove it—goes a long way in establishing your credibility and proving your argument. And this use of first person will not distract or annoy your readers because it is purposeful.
• Clarifying passive constructions : Often, when writers try to avoid using first person in essays, they end up creating confusing, passive sentences . For instance, let’s say I am writing an essay about different word processing technologies, and I want to make the point that I am using Microsoft Word to write this essay. If I tried to avoid first-person pronouns, my sentence might read: “Right now, this essay is being written in Microsoft Word.” While this sentence is not wrong, it is what we call passive—the subject of the sentence is being acted upon because there is no one performing the action. To most people, this sentence sounds better: “Right now, I am writing this essay in Microsoft Word.” Do you see the difference? In this case, using first person makes your writing clearer.
• Stating your position in relation to others: Sometimes, especially in an argumentative essay, it is necessary to state your opinion on the topic . Readers want to know where you stand, and it is sometimes helpful to assert yourself by putting your own opinions into the essay. You can imagine the passive sentences (see above) that might occur if you try to state your argument without using the word “I.” The key here is to use first person sparingly. Use personal pronouns enough to get your point across clearly without inundating your readers with this language.

Now, the above list is certainly not exhaustive. The best thing to do is to use your good judgment, and you can always check with your instructor if you are unsure of his or her perspective on the issue. Ultimately, if you feel that using first person has a purpose or will have a strategic effect on your audience, then it is probably fine to use first-person pronouns. Just be sure not to overuse this language, at the risk of sounding narcissistic, self-centered, or unaware of others’ opinions on a topic.

Recommended Readings:

• A Synthesis of Professor Perspectives on Using First and Third Person in Academic Writing
• Finding the Bunny: How to Make a Personal Connection to Your Writing
• First-Person Point of View

Brevity – Say More with Less

Clarity (in Speech and Writing)

Coherence – How to Achieve Coherence in Writing

Flow – How to Create Flow in Writing

Inclusivity – Inclusive Language

The Elements of Style – The DNA of Powerful Writing

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How to Write a Persuasive Essay: Tips and Tricks

Allison Bressmer

Most composition classes you’ll take will teach the art of persuasive writing. That’s a good thing.

Knowing where you stand on issues and knowing how to argue for or against something is a skill that will serve you well both inside and outside of the classroom.

Persuasion is the art of using logic to prompt audiences to change their mind or take action , and is generally seen as accomplishing that goal by appealing to emotions and feelings.

A persuasive essay is one that attempts to get a reader to agree with your perspective.

Ready for some tips on how to produce a well-written, well-rounded, well-structured persuasive essay? Just say yes. I don’t want to have to write another essay to convince you!

How Do I Write a Persuasive Essay?

What are some good topics for a persuasive essay, how do i identify an audience for my persuasive essay, how do you create an effective persuasive essay, how should i edit my persuasive essay.

Your persuasive essay needs to have the three components required of any essay: the introduction , body , and conclusion .

That is essay structure. However, there is flexibility in that structure.

There is no rule (unless the assignment has specific rules) for how many paragraphs any of those sections need.

Although the components should be proportional; the body paragraphs will comprise most of your persuasive essay.

How Do I Start a Persuasive Essay?

As with any essay introduction, this paragraph is where you grab your audience’s attention, provide context for the topic of discussion, and present your thesis statement.

TIP 1: Some writers find it easier to write their introductions last. As long as you have your working thesis, this is a perfectly acceptable approach. From that thesis, you can plan your body paragraphs and then go back and write your introduction.

TIP 2: Avoid “announcing” your thesis. Don’t include statements like this:

• “In my essay I will show why extinct animals should (not) be regenerated.”
• “The purpose of my essay is to argue that extinct animals should (not) be regenerated.”

Announcements take away from the originality, authority, and sophistication of your writing.

Instead, write a convincing thesis statement that answers the question "so what?" Why is the topic important, what do you think about it, and why do you think that? Be specific.

How Many Paragraphs Should a Persuasive Essay Have?

This body of your persuasive essay is the section in which you develop the arguments that support your thesis. Consider these questions as you plan this section of your essay:

• What arguments support your thesis?
• What is the best order for your arguments?
• What evidence do you have?
• Will you address the opposing argument to your own?
• How can you conclude convincingly?

TIP: Brainstorm and do your research before you decide which arguments you’ll focus on in your discussion. Make a list of possibilities and go with the ones that are strongest, that you can discuss with the most confidence, and that help you balance your rhetorical triangle .

What Should I Put in the Conclusion of a Persuasive Essay?

The conclusion is your “mic-drop” moment. Think about how you can leave your audience with a strong final comment.

And while a conclusion often re-emphasizes the main points of a discussion, it shouldn’t simply repeat them.

TIP 1: Be careful not to introduce a new argument in the conclusion—there’s no time to develop it now that you’ve reached the end of your discussion!

TIP 2 : As with your thesis, avoid announcing your conclusion. Don’t start your conclusion with “in conclusion” or “to conclude” or “to end my essay” type statements. Your audience should be able to see that you are bringing the discussion to a close without those overused, less sophisticated signals.

If your instructor has assigned you a topic, then you’ve already got your issue; you’ll just have to determine where you stand on the issue. Where you stand on your topic is your position on that topic.

Your position will ultimately become the thesis of your persuasive essay: the statement the rest of the essay argues for and supports, intending to convince your audience to consider your point of view.

If you have to choose your own topic, use these guidelines to help you make your selection:

• Choose an issue you truly care about
• Choose an issue that is actually debatable

Simple “tastes” (likes and dislikes) can’t really be argued. No matter how many ways someone tries to convince me that milk chocolate rules, I just won’t agree.

It’s dark chocolate or nothing as far as my tastes are concerned.

Similarly, you can’t convince a person to “like” one film more than another in an essay.

You could argue that one movie has superior qualities than another: cinematography, acting, directing, etc. but you can’t convince a person that the film really appeals to them.

Once you’ve selected your issue, determine your position just as you would for an assigned topic. That position will ultimately become your thesis.

Until you’ve finalized your work, consider your thesis a “working thesis.”

This means that your statement represents your position, but you might change its phrasing or structure for that final version.

When you’re writing an essay for a class, it can seem strange to identify an audience—isn’t the audience the instructor?

Your instructor will read and evaluate your essay, and may be part of your greater audience, but you shouldn’t just write for your teacher.

Think about who your intended audience is.

For an argument essay, think of your audience as the people who disagree with you—the people who need convincing.

That population could be quite broad, for example, if you’re arguing a political issue, or narrow, if you’re trying to convince your parents to extend your curfew.

Once you’ve got a sense of your audience, it’s time to consult with Aristotle. Aristotle’s teaching on persuasion has shaped communication since about 330 BC. Apparently, it works.

Aristotle taught that in order to convince an audience of something, the communicator needs to balance the three elements of the rhetorical triangle to achieve the best results.

Those three elements are ethos , logos , and pathos .

Ethos relates to credibility and trustworthiness. How can you, as the writer, demonstrate your credibility as a source of information to your audience?

How will you show them you are worthy of their trust?

• You show you’ve done your research: you understand the issue, both sides
• You show respect for the opposing side: if you disrespect your audience, they won’t respect you or your ideas

Logos relates to logic. How will you convince your audience that your arguments and ideas are reasonable?

You provide facts or other supporting evidence to support your claims.

That evidence may take the form of studies or expert input or reasonable examples or a combination of all of those things, depending on the specific requirements of your assignment.

Remember: if you use someone else’s ideas or words in your essay, you need to give them credit.

ProWritingAid's Plagiarism Checker checks your work against over a billion web-pages, published works, and academic papers so you can be sure of its originality.

Find out more about ProWritingAid’s Plagiarism checks.

Pathos relates to emotion. Audiences are people and people are emotional beings. We respond to emotional prompts. How will you engage your audience with your arguments on an emotional level?

• You make strategic word choices : words have denotations (dictionary meanings) and also connotations, or emotional values. Use words whose connotations will help prompt the feelings you want your audience to experience.
• You use emotionally engaging examples to support your claims or make a point, prompting your audience to be moved by your discussion.

Be mindful as you lean into elements of the triangle. Too much pathos and your audience might end up feeling manipulated, roll their eyes and move on.

An “all logos” approach will leave your essay dry and without a sense of voice; it will probably bore your audience rather than make them care.

Once you’ve got your essay planned, start writing! Don’t worry about perfection, just get your ideas out of your head and off your list and into a rough essay format.

After you’ve written your draft, evaluate your work. What works and what doesn’t? For help with evaluating and revising your work, check out this ProWritingAid post on manuscript revision .

After you’ve evaluated your draft, revise it. Repeat that process as many times as you need to make your work the best it can be.

When you’re satisfied with the content and structure of the essay, take it through the editing process .

Grammatical or sentence-level errors can distract your audience or even detract from the ethos—the authority—of your work.

You don’t have to edit alone! ProWritingAid’s Realtime Report will find errors and make suggestions for improvements.

You can even use it on emails to your professors:

Try ProWritingAid with a free account.

How Can I Improve My Persuasion Skills?

You can develop your powers of persuasion every day just by observing what’s around you.

• How is that advertisement working to convince you to buy a product?
• How is a political candidate arguing for you to vote for them?
• How do you “argue” with friends about what to do over the weekend, or convince your boss to give you a raise?
• How are your parents working to convince you to follow a certain academic or career path?

As you observe these arguments in action, evaluate them. Why are they effective or why do they fail?

How could an argument be strengthened with more (or less) emphasis on ethos, logos, and pathos?

Every argument is an opportunity to learn! Observe them, evaluate them, and use them to perfect your own powers of persuasion.

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Allison Bressmer is a professor of freshman composition and critical reading at a community college and a freelance writer. If she isn’t writing or teaching, you’ll likely find her reading a book or listening to a podcast while happily sipping a semi-sweet iced tea or happy-houring with friends. She lives in New York with her family. Connect at linkedin.com/in/allisonbressmer.

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• Writing Tips

Use of the First Person in Academic Writing

3-minute read

• 29th July 2014

Early in our school lives, we are encouraged to express our thoughts and opinions. This sometimes leads to a writing style very focused on the first person, with sentences which begin ‘I believe’, ‘I think’, ‘In my opinion’, etc.

There are differing opinions about whether or not first-person pronouns should be used in academic writing . Whatever your position, though, overuse of ‘I’ or ‘my’ is not a good idea, as it can draw focus from the subject under discussion.

When Not to Use the First Person

When writing, there is no need to state that you think something. Asserting it as fact implies that you believe it. For example, take these sentences:

• Henderson’s argument is invalid because…
• I believe Henderson’s argument is invalid because…

These both mean the same thing. Saying ‘I believe’ is unnecessary, as it is clear that you are expressing an opinion without having to signal it explicitly!

The first sentence is also more persuasive, as the second seems like mere opinion. Your argument is not strengthened by writing ‘I think that…’, but rather by providing relevant supporting evidence.

When to Use the First Person

Sometimes the first person is useful for highlighting how your opinion differs from a thinker you are discussing. For example, in summing up, you might say ‘while Henderson has stated X, I believe the opposite’.

Unless your university forbids using ‘I’ in essays, you can also use the first person when describing your methods to avoid awkward sentences. For instance, the following sentence is a bit confusing:

It was concluded that the new technique can reduce remission rates.

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The question, then, is who made the conclusion? To ensure clarity, the sentence could be written as:

We conclude that the new technique can reduce remission rates.

This eliminates the ambiguity over who is drawing the conclusion, as well as being more impactful by using the active rather than passive voice.

The crucial thing to consider when using the first person in your work is whether it detracts from the focus of your argument. Using ‘I’ or ‘we’ when describing your methodology is generally fine, since it clarifies the role you play in the research process.

But phrases like ‘In my opinion…’ do not add to the clarity of your writing. Instead, they make it seem like your research is more about you than whatever you’re investigating!

Finally, if in any doubt, it is always best to check with your supervisor or style guide before setting to work. Good luck!

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Home / Guides / Writing Guides / Paper Types / How to Write a Persuasive Essay

How to Write a Persuasive Essay

The entire point of a persuasive essay is to persuade or convince the reader to agree with your perspective on the topic. In this type of essay, you’re not limited to facts. It’s completely acceptable to include your opinions and back them up with facts, where necessary.

Guide Overview

• Be assertive
• Use words that evoke emotion
• Make it personal
• Topic selection hints

Tricks for Writing a Persuasive Essay

In this type of writing, you’ll find it is particularly helpful to focus on the emotional side of things. Make your reader feel what you feel and bring them into your way of thinking. There are a few ways to do that.

Be Assertive

A persuasive essay doesn’t have to be gentle in how it presents your opinion. You really want people to agree with you, so focus on making that happen, even if it means pushing the envelope a little. You’ll tend to get higher grades for this, because the essay is more likely to convince the reader to agree. Consider using an Persuasive Essay Template to understand the key elements of the essay.

Use Words that Evoke Emotion

It’s easier to get people to see things your way when they feel an emotional connection. As you describe your topic, make sure to incorporate words that cause people to feel an emotion. For example, instead of saying, “children are taken from their parents” you might say, “children are torn from the loving arms of their parents, kicking and screaming.” Dramatic? Yes, but it gets the point across and helps your reader experience the

Make it Personal

By using first person, you make the reader feel like they know you. Talking about the reader in second person can help them feel included and begin to imagine themselves in your shoes. Telling someone “many people are affected by this” and telling them “you are affected by this every day” will have very different results.

While each of these tips can help improve your essay, there’s no rule that you have to actually persuade for your own point of view. If you feel the essay would be more interesting if you take the opposite stance, why not write it that way? This will require more research and thinking, but you could end up with a very unique essay that will catch the teacher’s eye.

Topic Selection Hints

A persuasive essay requires a topic that has multiple points of view. In most cases, topics like the moon being made of rock would be difficult to argue, since this is a solid fact. This means you’ll need to choose something that has more than one reasonable opinion related to it.

A good topic for a persuasive essay would be something that you could persuade for or against.

Some examples include:

• Should children be required to use booster seats until age 12?
• Should schools allow the sale of sugary desserts and candy?
• Should marijuana use be legal?
• Should high school students be confined to school grounds during school hours?
• Should GMO food be labeled by law?
• Should police be required to undergo sensitivity training?
• Should the United States withdraw troops from overseas?

Some topics are more controversial than others, but any of these could be argued from either point of view . . . some even allow for multiple points of view.

As you write your persuasive essay, remember that your goal is to get the reader to nod their head and agree with you. Each section of the essay should bring you closer to this goal. If you write the essay with this in mind, you’ll end up with a paper that will receive high grades.

Finally, if you’re ever facing writer’s block for your college paper, consider WriteWell’s template gallery to help you get started.

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Scholarly Voice: First-Person Point of View

First-person point of view.

Since 2007, Walden academic leadership has endorsed the APA manual guidance on appropriate use of the first-person singular pronoun "I," allowing the use of this pronoun in all Walden academic writing except doctoral capstone abstracts, which should not contain first person pronouns.

In addition to the pointers below, APA 7, Section 4.16 provides information on the appropriate use of first person in scholarly writing.

Inappropriate Uses:   I feel that eating white bread causes cancer. The author feels that eating white bread causes cancer. I found several sources (Marks, 2011; Isaac, 2006; Stuart, in press) that showed a link between white bread consumption and cancer.   Appropriate Use:   I surveyed 2,900 adults who consumed white bread regularly. In this chapter, I present a literature review on research about how seasonal light changes affect depression.

Confusing Sentence:   The researcher found that the authors had been accurate in their study of helium, which the researcher had hypothesized from the beginning of their project.   Revision:   I found that Johnson et al. (2011) had been accurate in their study of helium, which I had hypothesized since I began my project.

Passive voice:   The surveys were distributed and the results were compiled after they were collected.   Revision:   I distributed the surveys, and then I collected and compiled the results.

Appropriate use of first person we and our :   Two other nurses and I worked together to create a qualitative survey to measure patient satisfaction. Upon completion, we presented the results to our supervisor.

Make assumptions about your readers by putting them in a group to which they may not belong by using first person plural pronouns. Inappropriate use of first person "we" and "our":

• We can stop obesity in our society by changing our lifestyles.
• We need to help our patients recover faster.

In the first sentence above, the readers would not necessarily know who "we" are, and using a phrase such as "our society " can immediately exclude readers from outside your social group. In the second sentence, the author assumes that the reader is a nurse or medical professional, which may not be the case, and the sentence expresses the opinion of the author.

To write with more precision and clarity, hallmarks of scholarly writing, revise these sentences without the use of "we" and "our."

• Moderate activity can reduce the risk of obesity (Hu et al., 2003).
• Staff members in the health care industry can help improve the recovery rate for patients (Matthews, 2013).

Pronouns Video

• APA Formatting & Style: Pronouns (video transcript)

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Should I Use “I”?

What this handout is about.

This handout is about determining when to use first person pronouns (“I”, “we,” “me,” “us,” “my,” and “our”) and personal experience in academic writing. “First person” and “personal experience” might sound like two ways of saying the same thing, but first person and personal experience can work in very different ways in your writing. You might choose to use “I” but not make any reference to your individual experiences in a particular paper. Or you might include a brief description of an experience that could help illustrate a point you’re making without ever using the word “I.” So whether or not you should use first person and personal experience are really two separate questions, both of which this handout addresses. It also offers some alternatives if you decide that either “I” or personal experience isn’t appropriate for your project. If you’ve decided that you do want to use one of them, this handout offers some ideas about how to do so effectively, because in many cases using one or the other might strengthen your writing.

Expectations about academic writing

Students often arrive at college with strict lists of writing rules in mind. Often these are rather strict lists of absolutes, including rules both stated and unstated:

• Each essay should have exactly five paragraphs.
• Don’t begin a sentence with “and” or “because.”
• Never include personal opinion.
• Never use “I” in essays.

We get these ideas primarily from teachers and other students. Often these ideas are derived from good advice but have been turned into unnecessarily strict rules in our minds. The problem is that overly strict rules about writing can prevent us, as writers, from being flexible enough to learn to adapt to the writing styles of different fields, ranging from the sciences to the humanities, and different kinds of writing projects, ranging from reviews to research.

So when it suits your purpose as a scholar, you will probably need to break some of the old rules, particularly the rules that prohibit first person pronouns and personal experience. Although there are certainly some instructors who think that these rules should be followed (so it is a good idea to ask directly), many instructors in all kinds of fields are finding reason to depart from these rules. Avoiding “I” can lead to awkwardness and vagueness, whereas using it in your writing can improve style and clarity. Using personal experience, when relevant, can add concreteness and even authority to writing that might otherwise be vague and impersonal. Because college writing situations vary widely in terms of stylistic conventions, tone, audience, and purpose, the trick is deciphering the conventions of your writing context and determining how your purpose and audience affect the way you write. The rest of this handout is devoted to strategies for figuring out when to use “I” and personal experience.

Effective uses of “I”:

In many cases, using the first person pronoun can improve your writing, by offering the following benefits:

• Assertiveness: In some cases you might wish to emphasize agency (who is doing what), as for instance if you need to point out how valuable your particular project is to an academic discipline or to claim your unique perspective or argument.
• Clarity: Because trying to avoid the first person can lead to awkward constructions and vagueness, using the first person can improve your writing style.
• Positioning yourself in the essay: In some projects, you need to explain how your research or ideas build on or depart from the work of others, in which case you’ll need to say “I,” “we,” “my,” or “our”; if you wish to claim some kind of authority on the topic, first person may help you do so.

Deciding whether “I” will help your style

Here is an example of how using the first person can make the writing clearer and more assertive:

Original example:

In studying American popular culture of the 1980s, the question of to what degree materialism was a major characteristic of the cultural milieu was explored.

Better example using first person:

In our study of American popular culture of the 1980s, we explored the degree to which materialism characterized the cultural milieu.

The original example sounds less emphatic and direct than the revised version; using “I” allows the writers to avoid the convoluted construction of the original and clarifies who did what.

Here is an example in which alternatives to the first person would be more appropriate:

As I observed the communication styles of first-year Carolina women, I noticed frequent use of non-verbal cues.

Better example:

A study of the communication styles of first-year Carolina women revealed frequent use of non-verbal cues.

In the original example, using the first person grounds the experience heavily in the writer’s subjective, individual perspective, but the writer’s purpose is to describe a phenomenon that is in fact objective or independent of that perspective. Avoiding the first person here creates the desired impression of an observed phenomenon that could be reproduced and also creates a stronger, clearer statement.

Here’s another example in which an alternative to first person works better:

As I was reading this study of medieval village life, I noticed that social class tended to be clearly defined.

This study of medieval village life reveals that social class tended to be clearly defined.

Although you may run across instructors who find the casual style of the original example refreshing, they are probably rare. The revised version sounds more academic and renders the statement more assertive and direct.

Here’s a final example:

I think that Aristotle’s ethical arguments are logical and readily applicable to contemporary cases, or at least it seems that way to me.

Better example

Aristotle’s ethical arguments are logical and readily applicable to contemporary cases.

In this example, there is no real need to announce that that statement about Aristotle is your thought; this is your paper, so readers will assume that the ideas in it are yours.

Determining whether to use “I” according to the conventions of the academic field

Which fields allow “I”?

The rules for this are changing, so it’s always best to ask your instructor if you’re not sure about using first person. But here are some general guidelines.

Sciences: In the past, scientific writers avoided the use of “I” because scientists often view the first person as interfering with the impression of objectivity and impersonality they are seeking to create. But conventions seem to be changing in some cases—for instance, when a scientific writer is describing a project she is working on or positioning that project within the existing research on the topic. Check with your science instructor to find out whether it’s o.k. to use “I” in their class.

Social Sciences: Some social scientists try to avoid “I” for the same reasons that other scientists do. But first person is becoming more commonly accepted, especially when the writer is describing their project or perspective.

Humanities: Ask your instructor whether you should use “I.” The purpose of writing in the humanities is generally to offer your own analysis of language, ideas, or a work of art. Writers in these fields tend to value assertiveness and to emphasize agency (who’s doing what), so the first person is often—but not always—appropriate. Sometimes writers use the first person in a less effective way, preceding an assertion with “I think,” “I feel,” or “I believe” as if such a phrase could replace a real defense of an argument. While your audience is generally interested in your perspective in the humanities fields, readers do expect you to fully argue, support, and illustrate your assertions. Personal belief or opinion is generally not sufficient in itself; you will need evidence of some kind to convince your reader.

Other writing situations: If you’re writing a speech, use of the first and even the second person (“you”) is generally encouraged because these personal pronouns can create a desirable sense of connection between speaker and listener and can contribute to the sense that the speaker is sincere and involved in the issue. If you’re writing a resume, though, avoid the first person; describe your experience, education, and skills without using a personal pronoun (for example, under “Experience” you might write “Volunteered as a peer counselor”).

A note on the second person “you”:

In situations where your intention is to sound conversational and friendly because it suits your purpose, as it does in this handout intended to offer helpful advice, or in a letter or speech, “you” might help to create just the sense of familiarity you’re after. But in most academic writing situations, “you” sounds overly conversational, as for instance in a claim like “when you read the poem ‘The Wasteland,’ you feel a sense of emptiness.” In this case, the “you” sounds overly conversational. The statement would read better as “The poem ‘The Wasteland’ creates a sense of emptiness.” Academic writers almost always use alternatives to the second person pronoun, such as “one,” “the reader,” or “people.”

Personal experience in academic writing

The question of whether personal experience has a place in academic writing depends on context and purpose. In papers that seek to analyze an objective principle or data as in science papers, or in papers for a field that explicitly tries to minimize the effect of the researcher’s presence such as anthropology, personal experience would probably distract from your purpose. But sometimes you might need to explicitly situate your position as researcher in relation to your subject of study. Or if your purpose is to present your individual response to a work of art, to offer examples of how an idea or theory might apply to life, or to use experience as evidence or a demonstration of an abstract principle, personal experience might have a legitimate role to play in your academic writing. Using personal experience effectively usually means keeping it in the service of your argument, as opposed to letting it become an end in itself or take over the paper.

It’s also usually best to keep your real or hypothetical stories brief, but they can strengthen arguments in need of concrete illustrations or even just a little more vitality.

Here are some examples of effective ways to incorporate personal experience in academic writing:

• Anecdotes: In some cases, brief examples of experiences you’ve had or witnessed may serve as useful illustrations of a point you’re arguing or a theory you’re evaluating. For instance, in philosophical arguments, writers often use a real or hypothetical situation to illustrate abstract ideas and principles.
• References to your own experience can explain your interest in an issue or even help to establish your authority on a topic.
• Some specific writing situations, such as application essays, explicitly call for discussion of personal experience.

Here are some suggestions about including personal experience in writing for specific fields:

Philosophy: In philosophical writing, your purpose is generally to reconstruct or evaluate an existing argument, and/or to generate your own. Sometimes, doing this effectively may involve offering a hypothetical example or an illustration. In these cases, you might find that inventing or recounting a scenario that you’ve experienced or witnessed could help demonstrate your point. Personal experience can play a very useful role in your philosophy papers, as long as you always explain to the reader how the experience is related to your argument. (See our handout on writing in philosophy for more information.)

Religion: Religion courses might seem like a place where personal experience would be welcomed. But most religion courses take a cultural, historical, or textual approach, and these generally require objectivity and impersonality. So although you probably have very strong beliefs or powerful experiences in this area that might motivate your interest in the field, they shouldn’t supplant scholarly analysis. But ask your instructor, as it is possible that they are interested in your personal experiences with religion, especially in less formal assignments such as response papers. (See our handout on writing in religious studies for more information.)

Literature, Music, Fine Arts, and Film: Writing projects in these fields can sometimes benefit from the inclusion of personal experience, as long as it isn’t tangential. For instance, your annoyance over your roommate’s habits might not add much to an analysis of “Citizen Kane.” However, if you’re writing about Ridley Scott’s treatment of relationships between women in the movie “Thelma and Louise,” some reference your own observations about these relationships might be relevant if it adds to your analysis of the film. Personal experience can be especially appropriate in a response paper, or in any kind of assignment that asks about your experience of the work as a reader or viewer. Some film and literature scholars are interested in how a film or literary text is received by different audiences, so a discussion of how a particular viewer or reader experiences or identifies with the piece would probably be appropriate. (See our handouts on writing about fiction , art history , and drama for more information.)

Women’s Studies: Women’s Studies classes tend to be taught from a feminist perspective, a perspective which is generally interested in the ways in which individuals experience gender roles. So personal experience can often serve as evidence for your analytical and argumentative papers in this field. This field is also one in which you might be asked to keep a journal, a kind of writing that requires you to apply theoretical concepts to your experiences.

History: If you’re analyzing a historical period or issue, personal experience is less likely to advance your purpose of objectivity. However, some kinds of historical scholarship do involve the exploration of personal histories. So although you might not be referencing your own experience, you might very well be discussing other people’s experiences as illustrations of their historical contexts. (See our handout on writing in history for more information.)

Sciences: Because the primary purpose is to study data and fixed principles in an objective way, personal experience is less likely to have a place in this kind of writing. Often, as in a lab report, your goal is to describe observations in such a way that a reader could duplicate the experiment, so the less extra information, the better. Of course, if you’re working in the social sciences, case studies—accounts of the personal experiences of other people—are a crucial part of your scholarship. (See our handout on  writing in the sciences for more information.)

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Can You Use First Person in an Argumentative Essay?

by  Antony W

September 24, 2023

It’s tempting to use first person pronoun to write an argumentative essay. And if it’s your first time to write this type of an essay in college, the temptation can be real and intense.

After all, doesn’t writing an argumentative essay require you to choose a topic, do in-depth research, choose a standpoint and support it with reasonable evidence?

It does, but there are rules to follow when writing an essay that  argues your claims .  That includes choosing and using the correct kind of pronoun as expected in formal academic writing.

We don’t recommend using the first person pronoun in an argumentative essay. Unless your instructor suggests that you do so, omit it from the assignment because your writing will read better without it.  

From an academic standpoint, your professor expects the essay to speak facts, be 100% free from personal feelings, and academically reflect arguments that correspond with your opinion. 

Besides, using the first person pronoun makes an argumentative essay sound subjective, therefore spoiling its overall purpose.

You need to understand that an argumentative essay is completely different from persuasive essay or opinion writing.

Often, the goal is to provide arguments that you’d like the targeted readers to consider.

In particular, you present arguments based on facts provided in news articles, established research studies, books, and academically acknowledged sources .

Therefore, constantly using the first person statement not only make the essay sound somewhat biased but also tends to make it read like a personal narrative essay .

When to Use First Person in an Argumentative Essay

While it’s not appropriate to use first person in an argumentative essay, there are instances when it would make a lot of sense to do so. 

You can use it when: 

• 1Talking about a research you’ve conducted and its impact on the topic under investigation
• 2You want to share a personalized practice or life experience provided it fits the subject matter
• 3Using the results of your personal research as an argument in the essay
• 4You want to provide an anecdotal evidence that you can only tell well in first person
• 5Your instructor has asked you to give your personal reflection or opinion about the argumentative essay topic in question

As you can see, it’s impossible to explain some matters clearly without using the first person pronoun.

Most of the times, however, it’s best to use a neutral tone to present your arguments.

What Pronoun Should I Use in an Argumentative Essay?

You should only use the third person pronouns when writing an argumentative essay. These pronouns are he, she, theirs, its, they, it, hers, and them.

The third person is the best to use in academic writing because it not only has an authoritative stance but also makes your writing less personal and more credible and objective.

There are three type of third person point of view that you can use to write a killer argumentative essay. These are:

Third Person Omniscient

This third person point of view allows you to jump from one character to another.

Readers assume that you know a lot about each character and you can easily withhold or reveal actions, feelings, or thoughts.

Since you can move freely from thought to thought, this point of view allows you to give your observations and opinions as well as those of the characters.

Third Person Limited

This is where you identify a single character and focus on their beliefs, thoughts, characters, actions, and feelings.

This approach allows you either to limit the perspective of your reader or control the amount of information you’d like them to know in the essay.

Keep in mind that you can’t switch between characters in this point of view.

Third Person Objective

The third person objective allows you to describe a character at any place and time in your argumentative writing.

Again, you don’t confine yourself to a single character. Instead, you’re free to switch between characters in your essay as many times as required.

You shouldn’t use the second person pronouns in argumentative essay writing either.

Since they demonstrate familiarity with an audience, they tend to sound accusatory and therefore place unnecessary responsibility on the reader.

The trick to resisting the temptation of using a second person in writing an argumentative essay is to use general terms to refer to the subject.

Why Write an Argumentative Essay in Third Person Pronoun? 

Writing an argumentative essay in third person allows you to use relevant sources to complete the assignment.

The approach even allows you to list all the relevant sources used in writing the essay, which is necessary in academic writing.

Furthermore, using the third person point of view gives you the freedom to present concrete evidence to your readers without sounding too biased.

Get Essay Writing Help from Help for Assessment

Do you need help with essay writing but don’t know which academic writing agency to work with?

Or maybe you’re running out of time and you have an urgent assignment waiting for you?

Get in touch with Help for Assessment. Our writers work hand in hand with students to help them get their essays completed on time.

 Therefore, we can help you to write great argumentative essays even if the assignment is urgent.

The last mistake you want to make is to fill your argumentative essay with first person pronoun. Unless it’s necessary to do so, it makes perfect sense to avoid it.

Remember, arguments are facts, not opinions based on personal perspective. Terms such as “I believe”, “I think”, and “I feel”, can weaken your writing voice and make your arguments sound vague.

So even if you feel like you can explain a claim well with a more personalized line of defense, first write the statement without the first person pronoun and see what it sounds like.

You’ll realize that you don’t need the first person pronoun most of the time. 

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

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A persuasive essay is a type of academic writing where the author presents an argument and tries to convince the reader to adopt their point of view or take a specific action. The goal of a persuasive essay is to persuade or sway the reader's opinion through logical reasoning, evidence, and compelling arguments.

The question of how to write a persuasive essay is often asked by high school or college students. But it is not a secret that the skill of creating a solid persuasive argument is vital not only for students. The ability to form your strong opinion is a very useful instrument to have in life. A person who masters the art of persuading people will be able to build a successful career in any field and build effective relationships. Our academic experts decided to assist you in understanding the importance of this type of academic writing by sharing effective tips on writing an effective persuasive essay, providing examples, general structure, and more. So keep reading and find out everything you should know about persuasive paper.

Hire proficient academic writers with the degrees from the top universities in the US and have your perrsuasive paper completed by an expert!  

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

It does not matter whether you know who Jenny Mollen is or not – she was right when saying it. It is time to provide a clear definition of what is a persuasive essay. It is an academic type of paper, which contains an explanation of a specific topic and tries to convince readers of an author’s truth presenting it as the most biased and competitive point of view. It contains a logical & valid perspective on the problem. Professional Tip:

Unlike a position paper , the primary purpose of a persuasive essay is to make people take the same point of view regarding a specific topic. Without credible, relevant evidence, author’s points will not sound strong enough to ensure an audience. Keep on reading to understand structure and explore exciting persuasive essay college examples!

Before we get to guidelines and structure of an essay , it is important to mention what are the three main elements of a persuasive essay. First of all, these are foundation of every effective argument, invented by philosopher Aristotle. The goal of these traditional modes of persuasion is building logical arguments and making your audience more likely to trust them. Let’s look at them in more detail.

Do you want to understand how to structure a persuasive essay in detail? Then you should read the next information carefully. A successful writing of a persuasive essay requires a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of this type of paper. You should not only understand your topic and provide good arguments but also know how to structure your thoughts properly. We will help you with that. This guide will explain the fundamentals and major elements of this type of work. So follow the approach we presented below and your persuasive text will stand out from the crowd.

If it get's too challenging, submit your persuasive essay details and pay for professional essay writing at StudyCrumb. Our academic gurus will compose a wonderful essay based on your needs while you are spending time on more important things. 

Wonder how to start a persuasive essay ? It is an example of an excellent introduction. An answer to question of how to be persuasive in writing starts with a good persuasive intro. An introduction to this type of academic writing has 2 primary purposes:

Stay subtle if you want to succeed in your persuasive writing. Identify the topic, purposes, main messages, sources, and target audience before developing an outline and start working on the introduction.

Conclude an introduction paragraph with the powerful thesis for persuasive essay. It is a sentence or two that stresses the main idea of your whole paper, which is author’s primary argument to persuade the audience. Let’s look at the example:

With a good thesis statement your persuasive essay writing is more likely to impress your audience.

Once you have stated your thesis, the final sentence of your introduction paragraph, do everything possible to defend your idea. Develop 3 strong persuasive arguments that will support your opinion. Every new body paragraph starts with primary idea. It is followed by in-text citations and evidence gathered from primary sources. Before writing each persuasive body paragraph, conduct in-depth research and select the most up-to-date, accurate, and credible facts from sources like books, magazines, newspapers, websites, documentaries, etc. Do not use Wikipedia or similar sources. Teachers do not grade them as anyone can edit those websites. Any website where answers provided to necessary questions are shared by some typical Internet users who are not field experts does not count. In general, structure of body paragraphs looks this way:  

Many students underestimate the power of conclusion. An introduction should grab reader’s attention, but a conclusion should leave a positive impression on your reader and make your writing successful. Here we will explain persuasive conclusion paragraph structure. We also advise our users to look at different  essay conclusion examples . Begin with the short overview of the arguments and corresponding evidence. Reword the thesis statement, which closes the opening paragraph to stress the importance of everything written in your persuasive paper. Do not make a conclusion of more than 5 sentences. Avoid inserting new arguments or evidence in the last paragraph. The only new thing the author can add is his forecast for the future/the way the researched problem may be implemented in the real world. To persuade the reader or encourage him in ongoing research, call him sign a petition/join a support group if you write a debatable speech on politics, for example. Quote all the cited sources properly after the conclusion. The list is called Bibliography or References/Works Cited.  

Step 1:  Choose one of the persuasive essay topics that interests you the most. If you have a strong opinion about something, feel free to talk about it in your persuasive essay. This will not only be interesting to you but also make your readers believe in what you say. Browse our topics for a position paper , they can help you with some fresh ideas. Step 2: Research the question from both sides. Obviously, you should know everything about the issue you are for, but not less important to know the side you are against. To make the reader believe you and take your side you should know the arguments you're trying to convince them against. Step 3: Look for some credible sources. Then read the information carefully and make notes in order to use them later in your paper. Step 4: After you have analyzed all sources, create an outline for your essay. A persuasive essay outline will help you put your thoughts in order and organize your arguments. Create logical connections between your evidence and arguments to make the writing process easier. Step 5: Create the attention-grabbing hook for your persuasive essay to intrigue the reader. Include your hook to your strong introduction paragraph. Capture your audience's attention by including the essential background information in your introduction. Step 6: Write your body paragraphs. Try to keep a logical sequence of your arguments by presenting your evidence consecutively, from the weakest reason to the strongest. Step 7: Write a conclusion. Summarize all the main points you talked about in your essay and restate your thesis. Include a call to action. Step 8: Proofread and edit your text. Read it out loud and correct all the grammar mistakes and typos. You can also give your essay to your friend, they can see it from a different angle. Check if the sentence structure is correct. Delete unnecessary words and parts of sentences. Here’s how a template of a persuasive essay on gun control will look. Take a glimpse to get a better idea or simply use StudyCrumb's college essay writing service at once.  

>> Learn more: How to Write a Good Essay

To make you understand the topic even better, we have prepared one of the great persuasive essay examples that will give you an overall idea. Feel free to download the available materials or use a sample attached below as a source for inspiration. We hope that this reference will help you organize your thoughts and create an outstanding essay!

Another thing you should keep in mind is persuasive paper format. It is important to check formatting once you are done. It includes both in-text citations (direct/indirect) & references. A student must check the way each type of source is cited and references before inserting a new entry in Bibliography . The format for persuasive essay will depend on teacher's guidelines. Review your assignment thoroughly. Pay attention to specifics like a word count, spacing, font and alignment. Anyway, if you don’t know proper formatting, here we provided the general guidelines for essay format:  

Word count:  around 500 words. Fonts: Times New Roman, 12-point. A 16-point font is suitable for the title for your essay, unless you specify otherwise. Arial as well as Georgia fonts are also appropriate in essay writing, too. Spacing: Double-spaced. 1.5 works as well. Alignment: justified.  

The points listed below stress an important role of a proper persuasive essay writing.

We've created our concise guide that will help you with your persuasive essay writing. Hope with our tips, examples and a general structure you will know how to write a compelling persuasive essay and improve your skills of convincing your audience in written form. Buy a persuasive essay if you just need the result without any hassle. 

How to Write a Persuasive Essay: Frequently Asked Questions

1. how long should a persuasive essay be.

Persuasive essays have no paragraph limits. However, a general word count will depend on whether you are middle school, high school or college student. Anyway, try not to exceed 500 word limit. Keep it shorter but emphasize your most relevant information.

2. How are a persuasive essay and an expository essay different?

The difference between persuasive and expository essays is in their purpose. Goal of expository writing is informing your reader or explaining something. It should shed light on some topic so readers understand what it is about. On the other hand, persuasive writing aims to persuade and convince others.

3. Which three strategies are elements of a persuasive essay?

A formal persuasive essay includes three strategies: issue, side, and argument.

• Ethos It is an element that will help you “sell” your point of view. Through this element, a speaker or writer appeals to ethics. They use words and knowledge for building trustworthiness. They persuade their audience of their credibility, character or intelligence. In this way, the public is more likely to believe arguments made.
• Pathos This element helps you evoke feelings of your readers. Through this element, a speaker or writer appeals to emotions. To make your argument more convincing, you should trigger compassion, joy, sadness, anger, or any other kind of emotion.
• Logos Through this element, a speaker or writer appeals to logic. Logos will help your readers focus on rational and reasonable validity of your argument.
• Attract reader’s attention from opening lines.
• Present your topic and reveal goals of writing.
• Main claim/argument.
• In-text citations & other evidence.
• Transition to the following paragraph.
• Begin with a clear thesis/controlling point. Establish the focus of writing (place it in the last sentence of an introduction).
• Introduce thesis after brief introduction with hook sentence coming first. Make sure you know how to write a hook in an essay .
• Develop body paragraphs based on in-depth research. Provide either narrative/descriptive or argumentative points.
• Do not forget to add persuasive transition words & phrases. Relate points and make the entire flow of your text smooth.
• Insert counterarguments and present and reject opposing opinions.
• A conclusion should enhance central idea. Do not make it repetitive!
• Issue is what your essay is about. Include an issue in your title.
• Side (Thesis) means which side of an issue (“for” or “against”) you believe in your essay.
• Argument is where you are proving your side and convince readers using your arguments and evidence.

What Is a Persuasive Essay: Definition

Elements of a persuasive essay, persuasive essay structure, how to write a persuasive essay introduction paragraph, writing a persuasive essay thesis, how to create a persuasive essay body paragraph, how to write persuasive essay conclusion paragraph, how to write a persuasive essay: 8 simple steps, persuasive essay examples: free sample to help on your way, persuasive essay format, persuasive writing tips: main points, writing a persuasive essay: bottom line.

"I think the power of persuasion will be the greatest superpower of all time.” Jenny Mollen  

“People often confuse persuasive writing with argumentative one. The main difference is that an author of an argumentative paper should take a certain position regarding chosen topic while an author of another type of paper should also persuade the target audience, his argument is the dogma. In both cases, authors should respect opposing views. No matter what selected topic/research problem is, a student should conduct extensive research outside of class to succeed.” Prof. Jeremy Walsh, college teacher of Religious Studies & online writer at StudyCrumb

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, can you use first-person in college essays.

Hey guys, I'm writing some college essays and I was wondering if it's ok to use the first-person perspective in an argumentative essay? I've heard conflicting information, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Absolutely, using first-person is not only acceptable but also encouraged in college essays. The purpose of a college essay is to provide the admissions committee with a glimpse into your personality, experiences, and perspective. Writing in the first-person enables you to showcase your distinct voice and engage the reader more effectively.

However, it's essential to strike the right balance between using first-person and providing a compelling narrative or argument. Make sure your essay doesn't become too self-centered or lack depth. Instead, use the first-person perspective to share your unique experiences, thoughts, and emotions, and connect them to a broader theme or message.

For argumentative essays, while you can use first-person to communicate your opinions or experiences, ensure that you back up your claims with strong evidence, logical reasoning, and well-researched examples. This approach will create a much stronger and more persuasive essay.

Ultimately, when using the first-person perspective in your college essays, focus on authenticity, clarity, and substance to craft a memorable and impactful piece of writing. Good luck!

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How to write a First Person Essay and Get a Good Grade

First-person essays are fun essays to write. The reason is that they are usually written in the first-person perspective. In this article, you will discover everything crucial you need to know about first-person essay writing.

By reading this article, you should be able to write any first-person essay confidently. However, if you need assistance writing any first-person essay, you should order it from us. We have competent writers who can write any first-person essay and deliver ASAP.

What is a first-person Essay?

A first-person essay is an academic writing task written from the first-person perspective. A typical first-person essay will involve the author describing a personal experience. This is the reason why first-person essays are also known as personal essays .

Since first-person essays are personal, they are usually written in a casual tone and from the first-person point of view. However, there are occasions when such essays must be written in a formal tone (calling for using citations and references). Nevertheless, as stated, they are often written in a casual tone.

The best first-person essays are those with a casual tone and a solid first-person point of view (POV). A casual tone is a conversational tone or a non-formal tone.

And a solid first-person POV writing is writing that is characterized by the generous use of first-person pronouns, including “I,” “me,” and “we.” It differs from the academic third-person POV writing that is characterized by the use of third-person pronouns such as “her,” “he,” and “them.”

Types of First-person Essays

There are several types of first-person essays in the academic world. The most popular ones include admission essays, reflective essays, scholarship essays, statement of purpose essays, personal narrative essays, and memoirs.

1. Admission essays

An admission essay, a personal statement, is a first-person essay that potential students write when applying for admission at various universities and colleges. Most universities and colleges across the US require potential students to write an admission essay as part of their college application.

They do this better to understand students beyond their academic and extracurricular achievements. As a result, the best college admission essays are often descriptive, honest, introspective, meaningful, engaging, and well-edited.

2. Reflective essays

A reflective essay is a first-person essay in which the author recalls and evaluates an experience. The objective of the evaluation is usually to determine whether an experience yielded any positive or negative change. Professors typically ask students to write reflective essays to encourage critical thinking and promote learning.

Reflective essays can be written in various styles. The most popular style is the conventional introduction-body-conclusion essay writing style. The best reflective essays follow this style. In addition, they are introspective, precise, well-structured, and well-edited.

3. Scholarship essays

A scholarship essay is a first-person essay you write to get a scholarship. Most competitive scholarships require students to submit an essay as part of their application. The scholarship essay submitted is one of the things they use to determine the scholarship winner.

Usually, when scholarship committees ask applicants to write a scholarship essay, they expect the applicants to explain what makes them the most suitable candidates/applicants for the scholarship. Therefore, when you are asked to write one, you should do your best to explain what makes you deserve the scholarship more than anyone else.

The best scholarship essays are those that are honest, direct, useful, and precise. They also happen to be well-edited and well-structured. 

4. Statement of purpose essays

A statement of purpose essay is a first-person essay that graduate schools require applicants to write to assess their suitability for the programs they are applying to. A statement of purpose is also known as a statement of intent. The typical statement of purpose is like a summary of an applicant’s profile, including who they are, what they have done so far, what they hope to achieve, and so on.

When you are asked to write a statement of purpose essay, you should take your time to assess what makes you a good candidate for the program you want to join. You should focus on your relevant academic achievements and what you intend to achieve in the future. The best statement of purpose essays is those that are well-structured, well-edited, and precise.

5. Personal narrative essays

A personal narrative essay is a first-person essay in which the author shares their unique experience. The most successful personal narrative essays are those that have an emotional appeal to the readers. You can create emotional appeal in your personal narrative essay by using vivid descriptions that will help your readers strongly relate to what you are talking about. You can also create emotional appeal in your personal narrative essay by generously using imageries.

The typical personal narrative essay will have three parts: introduction-body-conclusion. In addition, the best ones usually have good descriptions of various settings, events, individuals, etc. Therefore, to write an excellent personal narrative essay, you should focus on providing a detailed and engaging description of whatever you are talking about.

A memoir is a first-person essay written to provide a detailed historical account. Memoirs are usually written to share confidential or private knowledge. Retired leaders often write memoirs to give a historical account of their leadership era from their perspective.

You may not be worried about the prospect of being asked to write a memoir as a college student, but it is good to know about this type of first-person essay. It may be helpful to you in the future. Moreover, you can always write a memoir to be strictly read by your family or friends.

 Structure and Format of a First-Person Essay

You are not required to follow any specific format when penning a first-person essay. Instead, you need to write it just like a standard format essay . In other words, ensure your essay has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.

1. Introduction

Your essay must have a proper introduction paragraph. An introduction paragraph is a paragraph that introduces the readers to what the essay is all about. It is what readers will first read and decide whether to continue reading the rest of your essay. Thus, if you want your essay to be read, you must get the introduction right.

The recommended way to start an essay introduction is to begin with an attention-grabbing sentence. This could be a fact related to the topic or a statistic. By starting your essay with an attention-grabbing sentence, you significantly increase the chances of readers deciding to read more.

After the attention-grabbing sentence, you must include background information on what you will discuss. This information will help your readers know what your essay is about early on.

The typical essay has a body. It is in the body that all the important details are shared. Therefore, do not overshare in the introduction when writing a first-person essay. Instead, share your important points or descriptions in the body of your essay.

The best way to write the body of your first-person essay is first to choose the most important points to talk about in your essay. After doing this, you are supposed to write about each point in a different paragraph. Doing this will make your work structured and easier to understand.

The best way to write body paragraphs is, to begin with, a topic sentence that sort of declares what the writer is about to write. You should then follow this with supporting evidence to prove your point. Lastly, you should finish your body paragraph with a closing sentence that summarizes the main point in the paragraph and provides a smooth transition to the next paragraph.

3. Conclusion

At the end of your first-person essay, you must offer a conclusion for the first-person essay to be complete. The conclusion should restate the thesis of your essay and its main points. And it should end with a closing sentence that wraps up your entire essay.

Steps for Writing a First-Person Essay

If you have been asked to write a first-person essay, you should simply follow the steps below to write an excellent first-person essay of any type.

1. Choose a topic

The first thing you need to do before you start writing a first-person essay is to choose a topic. Selecting a topic sounds like an easy thing to do, but it can be a bit difficult. This is because of two things. One, it is difficult for most people to decide what to write about quickly. Two, there is usually much pressure to choose a topic that will interest the readers.

While it is somewhat challenging to choose a topic, it can be done. You simply need to brainstorm and write down as many topics as possible and then eliminate the dull ones until you settle on a topic that you know will interest your readers.

2. Choose and stick to an essay tone

Once you choose a topic for your essay, you must choose a tone and maintain that tone throughout your essay. For example, if you choose a friendly or casual tone, you should stick to it throughout your essay.

Choosing a tone and sticking to it will make your essay sound consistent and connected. You will also give your essay a nice flow.

3. Create an outline

Once you have chosen a topic and chosen a tone for your essay, you should create an outline. The good news about creating an outline for a first-person essay is that you do not have to spend much time doing research online or in a library. The bad news is that you will have to brainstorm to create a rough sketch for your essay.

The easiest way to brainstorm to create a rough sketch for your essay is to write down the topic on a piece of paper and create a list of all the important points relevant to the topic. Make sure your list is as exhaustive as it can be. After doing this, you should identify the most relevant points to the topic and then arrange them chronologically.

Remember, a first-person essay is almost always about you telling a story. Therefore, make sure your points tell a story. And not just any story but an interesting one. Thus, after identifying the relevant points and arranging them chronologically, brainstorm and note down all the interesting details you could use to support them. It is these details that will help to make your story as enjoyable as possible.

3. Write your first draft

After creating your outline, the next thing to do is to write your first draft. Writing the first draft after creating a comprehensive outline is much easier. Consequently, simply follow the outline you created in the previous step to writing your first draft. You already arranged the most relevant points chronologically, so you shouldn’t find it challenging to write your first draft.

When writing this first draft, remember that it should be a good story. In other words, ensure your first draft is as chronological as possible. This will give it a nice flow and make it look consistent. When writing the first draft, you will surely remember new points or details about your story. Feel free to add the most useful and interesting ones.

4. Edit your essay

After writing your first draft, you should embark on editing it. The first thing you need to edit is the flow. Make sure your first draft has a nice flow. To do this, you will need to read it. Do this slowly and carefully to find any gaps or points of confusion in your draft. If you find them, edit them to give your story a nice flow.

The second thing you need to edit is the tone. Make sure the draft has a consistent tone throughout. Of course, ensure it is also in first-person narrative from the first paragraph to the last. The third thing you need to edit is the structure. Ensure your essay has a good structure with three parts: introduction, body, and conclusion.

5. Proofread your essay

After ensuring your essay has a nice flow, a consistent tone, and a good structure, you should proofread it. The purpose of doing this is to eliminate all the grammar errors, typos, and other writing mistakes. And the best way to do it is to read your essay aloud.

Reading your essay aloud will help you catch writing errors and mistakes. However, you should also proofread your essay using an online editor such as Grammarly.com to catch all the writing errors you may have missed.

After proofreading your essay, it will be crisp and ready for submission.

Topic ideas for a first-person essay

Below are some topic ideas for first-person essays. Since there are several distinct types of first-person essays, the ideas below may not be relevant to some types of first-person essays. However, the list below should give you a good idea of common first-person essay topics.

• A story about losing a friend
• A story about your first foreign trip
• A story about the best thing that happened to you
• A dangerous experience that happened to you
• A high school friend you will never forget
• A story about how you learned a new skill
• The most embarrassing thing that happened to you
• The first time you cooked your own meal
• The first time you did something heroic
• The first time you helped someone in need
• Your first job
• The most fun you’ve ever had
• The scariest thing that ever happened to you
• A day you will never forget
• The biggest life lesson you have learned
• How you met your best friend
• Your first time driving a car
• Your first time, feel depressed and lost
• A story from a vacation trip
• Your cultural identity

Sample Outline of a First-person Essay

Below is a sample outline of a first-person essay. Use it to create your first-person essay outline when you need to write a first-person essay.

• Attention-grabbing sentence
• Background info
• Thesis statement
• Body Paragraph 1
• First major point
• Closing sentence

2. Body Paragraph 2

• Second major point

3. Body Paragraph 3

• Third major point

4. Conclusion

• Thesis restatement
• Summary of major points
• Concluding statement

Example of a first-person essay

My First Job Your first job is like your first kiss; you never really forget it, no matter how many more you get in the future. My first job will always be remarkable because of the money it gave me and how useful it made me feel. About two weeks after my 17 th birthday, my mother asked me if I could consider taking a job at a small family restaurant as a cleaner. I agreed. I could say no if I wanted to, but I didn’t. My mother was a single mother working two jobs to care for my three younger siblings and me. She always came back home tired and exhausted every single day. I had always wanted to help her, and as soon as the opportunity presented itself, I grabbed it with my two hands. My mother had heard about the cleaner job from a close friend; hence she hoped I could do it to earn money for our family. Once I agreed, I went to the restaurant the next day. I took the train and arrived at about seven in the morning. The restaurant was already packed at this time, with the workers running around serving breakfast. I asked to speak to someone about the cleaning job, and I was soon at the back office getting instructions about the job. Apparently, I was the first to show genuine interest in taking the job. For the first three days, the other staff showed me around, and after that, I started cleaning the restaurant daily at $8 an hour. Now $8 an hour may seem like little money to most people, but to me, it meant the world! It was money I didn’t have. And within the first week, I had made a little over $400. I felt very proud about this when I got my first check. It made me forget how tired I was becoming from working every day. It also made me happy because it meant my mom didn’t have to work as hard as she did before. Moreover, within a month of working at the restaurant, I had accumulated over $250 in savings, which I was very proud of. The little savings I had accumulated somehow made me feel more financially secure. Every weekend after work was like a victory parade for me. The moment I handed over half my pay to my mother made me feel so helpful around the house. I could do anything I wanted with the remaining half of the pay. I used quite a fraction of this weekly to buy snacks for my siblings. This made me feel nice and even more useful around the house. After about three months of work, my mom got a promotion at one of her places of work. It meant I no longer needed to work at the restaurant. But I still went to work there anyway. I did it because of the money and how useful it made me feel. I continued working at the restaurant for about five more months before joining college.

Final Thoughts!

First-person essays are essays written from the first-person perspective. There are several first-person perspective essays, including personal narrative essays, scholarship essays, admission essays, memoirs, etc.

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How to Write a Persuasive Essay: Step-by-Step Guide + Examples

Have you ever tried to get somebody round to your way of thinking? Then you should know how daunting the task is. Still, if your persuasion is successful, the result is emotionally rewarding.

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

A persuasive essay is a type of writing that uses facts and logic to argument and substantiate such or another point of view. The purpose is to assure the reader that the author’s position is viable. In this article by Custom-writing experts, you can find a guide on persuasive writing, compelling examples, and outline structure. Continue reading and learn how to write a persuasive essay!

⚖️ Argumentative vs. Persuasive Essay

• 🐾 Step-by-Step Writing Guide

🔗 References

An argumentative essay intends to attack the opposing point of view, discussing its drawbacks and inconsistencies. A persuasive essay describes only the writer’s opinion, explaining why it is a believable one. In other words, you are not an opponent; you are an advocate.

A persuasive essay primarily resorts to emotions and personal ideas on a deeper level of meaning, while an argumentative one invokes logic reasoning. Despite the superficial similarity of these two genres, argumentative speech presupposes intense research of the subject, while persuasive speech requires a good knowledge of the audience.

🐾 How to Write a Persuasive Essay Step by Step

These nine steps are the closest thing you will find to a shortcut for writing to persuade. With practice, you may get through these steps quickly—or even figure out new techniques in persuasive writing.

📑 Persuasive Essay Outline

Below you’ll find an example of a persuasive essay outline . Remember: papers in this genre are more flexible than argumentative essays are. You don’t need to build a perfectly logical structure here. Your goal is to persuade your reader.

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Note that the next section contains a sample written in accordance with this outline.

Persuasive Essay Introduction

• Hook: start with an intriguing sentence.
• Background: describe the context of the discussed issue and familiarize the reader with the argument.
• Definitions: if your essay dwells upon a theoretical subject matter, be sure to explain the complicated terms.
• Thesis statement: state the purpose of your piece of writing clearly and concisely. This is the most substantial sentence of the entire essay, so take your time formulating it.

Persuasive Essay Body

Use the following template for each paragraph.

• Topic sentence: linking each new idea to the thesis, it introduces a paragraph. Use only one separate argument for each section, stating it in the topic sentence.
• Evidence: substantiate the previous sentence with reliable information. If it is your personal opinion, give the reasons why you think so.
• Analysis: build the argument, explaining how the evidence supports your thesis.

Persuasive Essay Conclusion

• Summary: briefly list the main points of the essay in a couple of sentences.
• Significance: connect your essay to a broader idea.
• Future: how can your argument be developed?

⭐ Persuasive Essay Examples

In this section, there are three great persuasive essay examples. The first one is written in accordance with the outline above, will the components indicated. Two others are downloadable.

Example #1: Being a Millionaire is a Bad Thing

Introduction, paragraph #1, paragraph #2, paragraph #3, example #2: teachers or doctors.

The importance of doctors in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult to overstate. The well-being of the nation depends on how well doctors can fulfill their duties before society. The US society acknowledges the importance of doctors and healthcare, as it is ready to pay large sums of money to cure the diseases. However, during the lockdown, students and parents all around the world began to understand the importance of teachers.

Before lockdown, everyone took the presence of teachers for granted, as they were always available free of charge. In this country, it has always been the case that while doctors received praises and monetary benefits, teachers remained humble, even though they play the most important role for humanity: passing the knowledge through generations. How fair is that? The present paper claims that even in the period of the pandemic, teachers contribute more to modern society than doctors do.

Example #3: Is Online or Homeschool More Effective?

The learning process can be divided into traditional education in an educational institution and distance learning. The latter form has recently become widely popular due to the development of technology. Besides, the COVID-19 pandemic is driving the increased interest in distance learning. However, there is controversy about whether this form of training is sufficient enough. This essay aims to examine online and homeschooling in a historical and contemporary context and to confirm the thesis that such activity is at least equivalent to a standard type of education.

Persuasive Essay Topics

• Why do managers hate the performance evaluation?  
• Why human cloning should be prohibited.  
• Social media have negative physical and psychological effect on teenagers.  
• Using cell phones while driving should be completely forbidden.  
• Why is business ethics important? 
• Media should change its negative representation of ageing and older people.  
• What is going on with the world?  
• Good communication skills are critical for successful business.  
• Why capitalism is the best economic system.  
• Sleep is extremely important for human health and wellbeing.  
• Face-to-face education is more effective than online education.  
• Why video games can be beneficial for teenagers.  
• Bullies should be expelled from school as they encroach on the school safety.  
• Why accountancy is a great occupation and more people should consider it as a future career.  
• The reasons art and music therapy should be included in basic health insurance.  
• Impact of climate change on the indoor environment.  
• Parents should vaccinate their children to prevent the spread of deadly diseases.  
• Why celebrities should pay more attention to the values they promote.  
• What is wrong with realism?  
• Why water recycling should be every government’s priority.  
• Media spreads fear and panic among people.  
• Why e-business is very important for modern organizations.  
• People should own guns for self-protection.  
• The neccessity of container deposit legislation. 
• We must save crocodiles to protect ecological balance.  
• Why we should pay more attention to renewable energy projects.  
• Anthropology is a critically relevant science.  
• Why it’s important to create a new global financial order .  
• Why biodiversity is crucial for the environment?  
• Why process safety management is crucial for every organization.  
• Speed limits must not be increased.  
• What’s wrong with grades at school ?  
• Why tattoos should be considered as a form of fine art.  
• Using all-natural bath and body products is the best choice for human health and safety.  
• What is cancel culture?  
• Why the Internet has become a problem of modern society.  
• Illegal immigrants should be provided with basic social services.  
• Smoking in public places must be banned for people’s safety and comfort.  
• Why it is essential to control our nutrition .  
• How to stimulate economic growth?  
• Why exercise is beneficial for people.  
• Studying history is decisive for the modern world.  
• We must decrease fuel consumption to stop global warming.  
• Why fighting social inequality is necessary.  
• Why should businesses welcome remote work?  
• Social media harms communication within families.   
• College athletes should be paid for their achievements.  
• Electronic books should replace print books.  
• People should stop cutting down rainforest .  
• Why every company should have a web page .  
• Tips To Write An Effective Persuasive Essay: The College Puzzle, Stanford University
• 31 Powerful Persuasive Writing Techniques: Writtent
• Persuasive Essay Outline: Houston Community College System
• Essays that Worked: Hamilton College
• Argumentative Essays // Purdue Writing Lab
• Persuasion – Writing for Success (University of Minnesota)
• Persuasive Writing (Manitoba Education)
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Michelle Goldberg

Opinion Columnist, reporting from Phoenix

If Arizona Repeals Its Abortion Ban, the Far Right Won’t Blame Trump

On Wednesday, anti-abortion activists packed the gallery of the Arizona House to protest plans to repeal the state’s unpopular 1864 abortion ban. Before the day’s legislative business began, a man in a white cowboy hat, invoking a tradition from Donald Trump rallies, pointed at the media section and led the crowd in angry chants of “shame!”

This seemed to me ironic, since it was Trump himself, far more than any journalist, who encouraged a small but decisive faction of Republicans to break with anti-abortion leaders and erase Arizona’s sweeping abortion prohibition, which the House did on a 32-to-28 vote. The Senate could vote on the issue next week.

I’d gone to the Capitol in part because I was curious about whether the anti-abortion movement felt betrayed by Republicans. After all, for decades the party has mostly done the movement’s bidding, but on Wednesday, bowing to popular pressure, three Republicans joined Democrats in favor of repeal. Arizona is thus almost certain to become the first state with a Republican legislature to back off its most draconian post-Roe abortion restrictions.

This might never have happened had Trump not come out for scrapping the Victorian-era statute, followed by Kari Lake. (Though she’s since flip-flopped again, lamenting the refusal of Arizona’s attorney general to enforce the 1864 ban.)

After the vote, activists were furious at the Republican lawmakers who broke ranks. A few were unhappy with Lake. No one who I spoke to, however, blamed Trump. Several were unaware that Trump opposed the 1864 law.

“I didn’t hear that, no,” said Karen Mountford, a Republican precinct committeeman — Arizona Republicans don’t use gender-neutral titles — wearing a “Trump Girl” T-shirt.

Anthony Kern, a far-right Republican state senator, who was pontificating outside the Capitol about the need to return to America’s Christian foundations, pledged that the three Republicans who voted to scrap the abortion ban would be unseated. Lake, he said, is “wrong on this issue.” But Trump? “I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt because he has been the most pro-life president ever,” said Kern.

Perhaps this flexibility isn’t surprising: later on Wednesday, Kern was indicted by the state, accused of fraud and forgery for his role in Arizona’s fake Trump electors scheme.

In 2016, Christian conservatives argued they had to vote for Trump in order to ban abortion. Eight years later, Trump has become an end in himself; for him and only him, wobbliness on abortion can be overlooked.

Michelle Cottle

Opinion Writer

Trump Didn’t Really Do That Well in Pennsylvania

In the category of things that make you go hmmm: President Biden and Donald Trump romped to victory in their primaries in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, and yet …

Trump lost nearly 17 percent of the Republican vote to Nikki Haley — who, you may recall, dropped out of the presidential race a month and a half ago. (As a point of contrast, Biden’s defunct primary challenger, Representative Dean Phillips, pulled not quite 7 percent.) Such a lively showing by Haley’s zombie campaign is a big ol’ red flag for Team Trump.

“What the primary results show is Trump’s continued weakness among suburban voters,” said Berwood Yost, the director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College, in an email. Yost cited Haley figures for “Chester (25 percent), Delaware (23 percent) and Montgomery (25 percent) Counties, in particular” but also noted that “there were many suburban areas in Central Pennsylvania where she received a sizable share of the vote. And don’t forget about Erie County (20 percent).”

Don’t forget about Erie, indeed.

Trump’s problems in the state may stretch beyond purplish suburbia. Haley won more than 20 percent of Republicans in Lancaster County, a dark-red enclave, and pulled double digits in other conservative counties such as Westmoreland and Northumberland.

And keep in mind that Pennsylvania holds closed primaries, in which only registered members of a party can vote in that party’s primaries, so it’s not as though independents or mischief-making Democrats were muddying up the Republican pool.

How many of these Haley Republicans will turn out in the general election to vote for Biden? Or for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.? Or for no one at all? Impossible to say.

But these are the questions that should be keeping the former president’s people up at night.

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David Firestone

Deputy Editor, the Editorial Board

Amy Coney Barrett Jumps In on Abortion

Justice Amy Coney Barrett was one of six members of the Supreme Court who voted to end the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, so she has very little credibility among those who support a woman’s right to reproductive freedom. Nonetheless, she may yet play a significant role in determining the new landscape of abortion rights and has recently sounded skeptical of those on the extreme right who want to criminalize every form of abortion.

Granted, comments by justices at oral arguments are never reliable guides to how they will vote. But on Wednesday she appeared to be quite critical of a lawyer for the state of Idaho who was defending the state’s near-complete ban on abortion against the Biden administration’s case that all federally funded hospitals are required to provide emergency medical care, which can sometimes include abortions.

The Idaho lawyer, Joshua Turner, had been under fire from the court’s three liberal justices for not being willing to state the plain implications of the state’s ban — that in some circumstances, the health of women could be endangered if doctors are prohibited from ending dangerous pregnancies. Justice Sonia Sotomayor cited several real-life examples of women who suffered sepsis or later had to have a hysterectomy because doctors wouldn’t perform an abortion. Turner kept dodging about whether that was the effect of the law, saying it was a case-by-case decision. Finally, Barrett jumped in, saying she thought Idaho’s position was that abortions could be justified in those circumstances.

“I’m kind of shocked, actually,” she said, “because I thought your own expert had said below that these kinds of cases were covered, and you’re now saying they’re not?” Her comments, accusing Turner of “hedging,” suggested that she didn’t believe the state’s guidance to doctors was clear. She even got Turner to admit that an anti-abortion prosecutor could go after a doctor who made a difficult decision to end a pregnancy.

The overall impression she gave was that she doubted the state’s law superseded federal law on emergency care. Last month, in an even more important case involving the legality of abortion drugs, she also suggested a crackdown on such pills would be an overreach, as long as doctors who oppose abortion would have the right not to prescribe them.

If she and one other conservative justice — possibly John Roberts or Brett Kavanaugh — side with the three liberals on these cases, that could mitigate some of the worst effects of her earlier misjudgment to overturn Roe v. Wade.

David Brooks

Opinion Columnist

Why I’m Getting More Pessimistic About Biden’s Chances This Fall

Last fall I argued that Joe Biden was the Democratic Party’s strongest 2024 presidential nominee . I believed that for two reasons: He has been an effective president, and he is the Democrat most likely to appeal to working-class voters.

I still believe Biden is the party’s strongest candidate, but I’m getting more pessimistic about his chances of winning.

The first reason is not political rocket science: Voters prefer the Republicans on key issues like inflation and immigration. Most Donald Trump supporters I know aren’t swept up in his cult of personality; they vote for him because they are conservative types who like G.O.P. policies and think Trump is a more effective executive than Biden.

The second reason I’ve become more pessimistic is because of what’s happening to the youth vote. NBC News released an interesting poll last weekend finding that interest in this election is lower than in any other presidential election in nearly 20 years. Only 64 percent of Americans said they have a high degree of interest in the election, compared to, say, 77 percent who had high interest in 2020.

But what really leaps out is the numbers for voters ages 18 to 34. Only 36 percent of those voters said they are highly interested.

I imagine that’s partly because it’s difficult to get enthusiastic about candidates who are a half-century older than you. But part of it is also about Biden’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war. Young people are much more critical of Israel than other groups, and there are no candidates representing that point of view.

I think what we’re seeing at Columbia and on other elite campuses is a precursor to what we’re going to see at the Democratic convention in Chicago. In 1968 the clashes between the New Left activists and Mayor Richard Daley’s cops were an early marker of the differences between the more-educated and less-educated classes. They were part of the trend that sent working-class voters to the G.O.P.

If there are similar clashes in Chicago this August, the chaos will reinforce Trump’s core law-and-order message. It will make Biden look weak and hapless. Phrases like “from the river to the sea” will be 2024’s version of “defund the police” — a slogan that appeals to activists but alienates lots of other voters.

The folks in the administration project confidence that their man will prevail. I wish I could share that confidence.

Jessica Bennett

A contributing editor in Opinion.

Trump Gets the Everyman Experience

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I walked into court in Lower Manhattan early Monday to hear opening statements in the criminal trial of Donald Trump, but somehow it was something a bit more grandiose. This is the most important trial in American political history. Shouldn’t it have looked more impressive than a decrepit D.M.V.?

But as Trump’s lawyers argued in opening statements, Trump is not merely the former president and presumptive Republican nominee. “He is also a man, he is a husband and a father,” one of them said. “He’s a person, just like you and just like me.” It was an attempt to humanize him — and yet all I could think, in that dreary courtroom, with a sour smell and a broken overhead clock, was that this is going to drive Trump mad.

For the next six weeks, four days a week, seven hours a day, including meals and coffee and bathroom breaks, Trump will be treated like an ordinary New Yorker, forced to sit in a drab 17-story municipal building.

Inside the court, the chairs were uncomfortable. It was so cold that reporters were bundled in heavy coats and scarves. (Trump wasn’t wrong when he complained, “It’s freezing.”) The speckled linoleum floors were drab, the fluorescent lighting was harsh, the rumpled shades were drawn. It was hard to see and hear. The monotony made my eyes droop.

Trump has called the courthouse “an armed camp,” but in reality it has remained open to the public, including spectators who want to attend the trial, like the young man in a beer sweatshirt who, on his way to work, decided to join the press line and peppered a young woman with questions. “Maybe they’ll let me in. I have a blog,” he said confidently. Hours later, I passed him in the hallway.

Court let out early Monday, after the judge explained that an alternate juror had a dental emergency. You could just imagine Trump seething at the thought of his time dictated by a root canal. But I was grateful to leave early — and satisfied that he would be there every day.

Jonathan Alter

Contributing Opinion Writer

David Pecker and ‘The Trump Tower Conspiracy’

Donald Trump famously calls journalists “enemies of the people.” It turns out the friendly “journalists” of the scuzzy National Enquirer may have done as much as anyone to get him elected in 2016.

Now the worm has turned, and David Pecker, the longtime publisher of the Enquirer, is delivering devastating testimony against his old pal, detailing crimes against Trump’s 2016 rivals, the standards of journalism and the truth.

Pecker is testifying under subpoena, but his plea agreement doesn’t require him to be an enthusiastic prosecution witness with the memory of an elephant. Trump, glaring at him from across the courtroom, seemed unappreciative of all that Pecker once did for him.

I covered the weird and historic 2016 campaign. While the celebrity candidate led in many early polls, he was far from a shoo-in for the nomination. Ben Carson was the front-runner for a spell in late 2015, Ted Cruz won the Iowa caucuses, and Marco Rubio was briefly seen as the logical young choice for the G.O.P.

Pecker testified that as part of what prosecutors call “the Trump Tower conspiracy,” hatched just before Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015, Trump — through Michael Cohen — helped The Enquirer generate phony stories about malpractice by Carson and adultery by Cruz and Rubio (not to mention an article sliming Cruz’s father as connected to John F. Kennedy’s assassination).

No one in the courtroom was laughing at the lurid tabloid headlines when they were introduced into evidence. It seems clear that these bogus stories, too, were part of the corrupt and journalistically disgraceful Trump Tower deal.

Under the terms of the “catch and kill” deal, Pecker was Trump’s “eyes and ears” for stories about dalliances that could harm the candidate. When a Trump Tower doorman, Dino Sajudin, shopped a tip that Trump had fathered a child with a Latina maid in Trump’s apartment, Pecker testified that he reported it to Cohen, who was adamant that the story was untrue. Trump would take a DNA test, Cohen told Pecker: “He is German-Irish, and this woman is Hispanic, and that would be impossible.”

Sure enough, Dino the doorman’s story turned out to be false. To protect Trump before the election, Sajudin nonetheless received an unheard-of $30,000 from The Enquirer for his bogus tip. But the contract introduced into evidence required Sajudin to pay $1 million if he talked about it. After the election, he was released from the nondisclosure agreement — more evidence that suggests that “catch and kill” was a prelude to the criminal cover-up of the Stormy Daniels hush-money payment that is the heart of the case.

On Thursday, we’ll hear more about Trump the double cheater: his efforts to silence his mistress Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels. And we’ll see more of the mundane but critical documents that connect the man Pecker described as a “detail-oriented micromanager” to criminal wrongdoing.

Joe Biden, Abortion Warrior?

I have covered politics for longer than I care to recall, so watching President Biden come out as a champion of abortion access feels a little weird.

I mean, I get why the president felt moved to wave the reproductive rights banner in Florida on Tuesday. With the state’s six-week abortion ban kicking in next week, this seems like a prime moment to remind voters everywhere that Donald Trump likes to brag about being the guy who killed Roe v. Wade.

Still, this issue has never really been in Biden’s comfort zone. The guy is a devout, old-school Catholic who has said he believes life begins at conception. “I’m not big on abortion,” he said last year , even as he insisted that “Roe v. Wade got it right.” And up to this point, he had largely left the reproductive rights crusading to Kamala Harris.

But there he was on Tuesday at a community college in Tampa, backed by big blue banners calling for “Reproductive rights” and “Restoring Roe,” fiercely bashing Trump for putting women’s health and lives at risk. “There is one person responsible for this nightmare!” he roared. It was enough to make my heart go pitter-patter.

In his brief remarks, Biden didn’t utter the word “abortion” very often, but he didn’t really need to. Rather, he emphasized the idea that Trump and his party are messing with women’s fundamental rights — and doing so at their peril. And on this point, he appeared to be enjoying himself. The president observed that in overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court “practically dared women to be heard” when Justice Samuel Alito wrote, “Women are not without political or electoral power.” Leaning in close to the mic, he dropped his voice and said, with a chuckle and a gleam in his eye, “No kidding.”

Raising the stakes, Biden warned that conservatives will be coming for people’s contraception and in vitro fertilization treatments next — maybe even same-sex marriage. And then he wrapped things up by urging voters to “teach Donald Trump a valuable lesson: Don’t mess with the women of America! I mean it!”

For a guy with deep moral qualms about abortion, it was an impressive call to arms.

Jesse Wegman

Editorial Board Member

The Legal Limits of Trump’s Contempt Defense

Donald Trump is on trial in New York for falsifying business records, but if you really want to appreciate just how far removed the rule of law is from the essence of Trumpism, you could have listened to the brief contempt hearing held Tuesday morning, out of the jury’s earshot, before the trial resumed.

At the request of prosecutors, Justice Juan Merchan earlier this month imposed a gag order on Trump, who has a bad habit of attacking anyone and everyone involved in his criminal cases, from prosecutors to witnesses to jurors to the judge and even the judge’s family members. To go by Trump’s recent activity on Truth Social, the order hasn’t worked. Prosecutors pointed to 11 different posts that they said violated the order, including references to two prosecution witnesses as “sleaze bags” and an attack on the jury pool that his lawyers claimed was a repost of comments by a Fox News host.

First things first: In criminal trials, process is everything. Trump is innocent until proven guilty, like any criminal defendant, and there is a process for making that determination. It involves the cooperation of many key players, including regular Americans who are there by duty, not choice. By attacking those people, Trump is making a mockery of the justice system and endangering real people’s lives.

Constant threats and insults against his perceived enemies are Trump’s stock in trade, of course; in the political world, he relies on them like other politicians rely on baby-kissing. It’s coarse and juvenile, but it’s not illegal.

In court, it’s a different matter. There are consequences for behavior like this. “I have never seen a criminal defendant go out and attack the process and the actors in the process while the trial was going on, while a jury was in the box,” Kristy Parker, a former federal prosecutor now with Protect Democracy, told me.

On Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers sought to explain away his posts as protected speech, but surely they know better. So does Justice Merchan, who was clearly out of patience and told them their arguments were “losing all credibility with the court.”

Trump may well come out of this contempt hearing with nothing more than a few thousand dollars in fines and an even sterner warning against similar behavior in the future. But the courts — and the American people — are watching and learning. Trump’s refusal to stop, even pursuant to an explicit court order, tells you all you need to know about the incompatibility of the man and the government he seeks to lead.

Will Justice Merchan Find Trump in Contempt of Court?

What are the chances that Justice Juan Merchan will find Donald Trump in contempt of court? “99.999 percent,” the retired judge George Grasso, a spectator at the trial, told me during a break.

It’s not clear when Merchan will rule on contempt or how many counts Trump will be cited for, but Count 10 is as close as you can get to a sure thing.

That’s the one related to Jesse Watters, the Fox News host who on April 17 made the despicable claim that Juror No. 2, a nurse, was lying during jury selection when she claimed she could be fair and unbiased because no one who said, as she did, that “no one is above the law” could possibly be fair. (Juror No. 2 soon stepped down from the jury, telling the judge she couldn’t handle the negative publicity.)

That day, Watters posted on Truth Social, “Catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge.” When Trump reposted it, he added: “in order to get on the Trump jury.”

This put the lie to the claim of Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche that Trump was merely responding to political attacks or reposting content, not willfully defying the gag order.

“This goes to the defendant’s willfulness,” the prosecutor Chris Conroy argued to the judge. “He added to it and posted it.” The judge appeared to agree.

Blanche made a lame attempt to explain. “This gag order — we’re trying to comply with it,” he said. “President Trump is being very careful to abide by your rules.”

That’s when the judge said, “Mr. Blanche, you’re losing all credibility with this court.”

Farah Stockman

Rural Voters Are More Progressive Than the Democratic Party Thinks

If you caught the scathing takedown of the book “White Rural Rage” in The Atlantic , then you’re aware of how intellectually dishonest it is to single out rural voters for special contempt. It’s also politically foolish, as a new poll by Rural Democracy Initiative , which will be released to the public in May, illustrates.

The group, which supports a network of progressive organizers in rural areas, commissioned the poll to help its members shape their messages in the most effective way. The survey, which was answered by 1,713 likely voters from rural areas and small towns in 10 battleground states, suggests that rural voters tend to be economic populists who would overwhelmingly support parts of the Democratic Party’s agenda — as long as the right messenger knocked on their doors.

Some 74 percent of rural voters who answered the poll agreed that decisions around abortion should be made by women and their doctors, not politicians or the government. That high figure helps explain why efforts to preserve abortion rights in Kansas, Ohio and other places have been so successful.

But it’s not just abortion. The survey found overwhelming support for leaders who fight to raise the minimum wage, to protect the right to form a union and to make quality child care more affordable — policy descriptions that seem ripped from President Biden’s campaign speeches.

The trouble is that a significant number of the respondents didn’t associate these policies with Democrats. In fact, once that partisan affiliation was added, support dropped significantly. Nonetheless, 47 percent of respondents said they would prefer to vote for a Democrat who grew up in a rural area and shared their values over a Republican business executive from the East Coast.

But perhaps the biggest problem the survey uncovered was that large numbers of respondents — especially young voters and people of color — reported that no one from the Democratic Party had reached out to them to offer information or ask for their support.

“It’s really clear that Democrats have a significant work to do to rebuild their brand in rural America, but that investment could pay dividends for Democrats, not just in the future but this year,” Patrick Toomey, a partner at Breakthrough Campaigns, which conducted the survey, told me.

In an election in which a few thousand votes could decide who wins the presidency or controls the Senate, it’s foolish to write off rural America.

Jurors Begin to Understand the ‘Trump Tower Conspiracy’

Donald Trump always wears a red necktie, right? Not anymore. For the last four days in court he’s gone with a blue one. Whether this is a lame bid for the sartorial sentiments of blue-state jurors or just a reflection of his mood, he heard more bad news in court on Monday.

We learned that if Trump testifies in his own defense, he will be chewed up on cross-examination. Justice Juan Merchan ruled that Trump can be questioned about lies he told in four of six prior judicial proceedings, including the E. Jean Carroll case and the ruling that the Trump Foundation was a fraud. Only a foolish megalomaniac would take the stand under such circumstances — so perhaps he will.

Merchan also made it very clear he doesn’t approve of “jury nullification,” instructing jurors, who seemed very attentive, that they must convict him if they are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty.

In the prosecution’s opening statement, Matthew Colangelo outlined what his team calls the August 2015 “Trump Tower conspiracy” hatched by Trump, Michael Cohen and David Pecker, boss of The National Enquirer, who began his testimony later in the day. Colangelo previewed a large amount of evidence that will corroborate Cohen’s testimony about the falsified business records (including handwritten notes) that will most likely be damaging to Trump.

The worst day for Trump could come when the prosecution plays a September 2016 taped call in which Trump can be heard asking Cohen, “So what do we have to pay for it? 150?” (Meaning $150,000.) The answer was $10,000 more. Colangelo concluded: “It was election fraud. Pure and simple.”

By saying of Trump, “he’s a man, he’s a husband, he’s a father, he’s a person like you and me,” Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney, seemed to be setting up a defense partly based on Trump not wanting the Stormy Daniels story made public in order to protect his family. But Cohen and others are expected to testify that Trump tried to avoid paying the hush money on the theory that it wouldn’t matter if the story came out after the election. So much for shielding Melania.

The Trump lawyers are denying everything — the alleged affairs and the cover-up — which is unlikely to be persuasive. But they may have better luck arguing that for all the prosecution’s talk of conspiracy, that wasn’t a count in the indictment. Blanche’s best line was: “Spoiler alert: There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence this election. It’s called democracy.”

What the jurors don’t know yet and won’t learn until the judge instructs them just before they deliberate is that there is nothing in New York state law requiring prosecutors to prove that Trump broke tax laws, campaign finance laws or conspiracy laws to win a felony conviction. All they need to do is prove that Trump intended to do wrong in these areas.

And by insisting that Trump is completely innocent, his lawyers have made it harder for the jury to convict him of just misdemeanors, not felonies. But it will be a few weeks before the jury understands all of that.

Parker Richards

Opinion Staff Editor

The Impossible Matzo Ball

What do you call a person who keeps trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? My mom, apparently: Each Passover, she tries once more to make vegan matzo ball soup. I’m sure she’s tried every published recipe, tried variations, tried anything she can think of. The thing about a matzo ball, of course, is that its structural integrity is everything: You need the egg, and most vegan egg substitutes just don’t seem to cut it.

The quixotic pursuit is an essential part of our Seders each year. It’s as much a tradition now as adding the Yankees to the list of Ten Plagues or slight eyebrow raising that accompanies the repeated crossing out and reinsertion of the founding years in Israel on the list of Jewish struggles in our much-modified family Haggadah — or even, for me, of the story of the first matzo, the unleavened bread made by the Israelites as they fled Egypt.

Standard matzo balls — which also have matzo meal and spices and herbs — are held together with egg. There are many vegan egg substitutes that add a bit of stickiness. Bananas work well in muffins; you might try cornstarch for a pie. The two most common versions are silken tofu and flaxseed mixed with water.

When I asked The Times’s recipe columnist Melissa Clark for a tip, she pointed me to Joan Nathan’s vegan matzo ball soup recipe. It calls for the use of aquafaba — chickpea water — as an egg substitute. (Clark noted that Ashkenazic dietary rules prohibit consuming legumes like chickpeas and soybeans, known as kitniyot, on Passover but Sephardic rules allow it. My mom’s veganism is more observant than her Judaism, however, so it’ll probably be all right.) The inside scoop is that this year my mom is going to use both silken tofu and flaxseed. Next year maybe aquafaba will join the list.

The plethora of options seems fitting for a holiday that celebrates liberation and, thus, relaxation; the need to labor in someone else’s name is gone, and so the labor of love that is the matzo ball can continue unhindered.

The quest for the structurally sound vegan matzo ball always made sense to me as latter-day Passover tradition. Judaism — especially of my family’s assimilated, not-really-observant-at-all kind — never seemed to me to require a logic that made sense independent of its own tradition. Jewish history and practice are rife with coincidences and traditions and loopholes. Why not add failed vegan matzo balls to the list? And who knows? Maybe this year the matzo balls will hold together.

Zeynep Tufekci

The N.I.H.’s Words Matter, Especially to Long Covid Patients

Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee , has proposed allocating $1 billion annually for 10 years to the National Institutes of Health for long Covid research. One potential stumbling block to this good idea is bipartisan criticism of the N.I.H.’s sluggishness in producing useful results from the initial $1.15 billion allocated to long Covid.

It’s in that context the current N.I.H. director, Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, responded to a question about long Covid last week, saying, “We see evidence of persistent live virus in humans in various tissue reservoirs.” She said that the virus can “live a long time in tissues” and that this is “likely one of the ways that it produces some of its terrible symptoms.”

The statement rattled researchers and shocked communities of long Covid patients. Proving persistent live virus that can replicate long after the acute phase and showing that it relates to long Covid symptoms would be a Nobel-territory breakthrough and point to effective treatments.

However, while viral persistence is one hypothesized mechanism for long Covid, as far as I knew, only viral remnants — leftover virus pieces that cannot replicate — have been shown, not persistent live whole virus. Further, such remnants haven’t correlated with long Covid symptoms. (Some healthy and sick people have them.)

Patients were abuzz . Was this more unacceptable sluggishness? Was the N.I.H. sitting on crucial unpublished information? Was the N.I.H. director completely out of touch with the research? Had they all misunderstood the science?

I reached out to the N.I.H. The answer turns out to be mundane. Dr. Bertagnolli said she “misspoke” and had “meant to say ‘viral components’ rather than ‘live virus.’” The N.I.H. also confirmed to me such remnants have not yet been shown to correlate with long Covid symptoms.

Viral remnants may still play a role — maybe only some people are sensitive to them — or maybe leftover viral components are common and harmless. The N.I.H. also told me this is “an area of active investigation,” as it should be.

It’s good that Dr. Bertagnolli is so engaged with long Covid, and misspeaking during an interview is human. Hopefully, the institution keeps in mind that suffering patients are hanging on their every word.

An earlier version of this article misstated the initial amount of money allocated to the National Institutes of Health to study long Covid. It is $1.15 billion, not $1.5 billion.

How we handle corrections

Patrick Healy

Deputy Opinion Editor

What Toll Will the Trial Take on Trump?

Every Monday morning on The Point, we kick off the week with a tipsheet on the latest in the presidential campaign. Here’s what we’re looking at this week:

The spring of a presidential election year is usually a slog, but this week brings more proof that 2024 is unlike any other campaign, with Donald Trump’s criminal trial getting fully underway, President Biden finally showing how he’ll frame abortion in the race and the Supreme Court taking up campaign-related cases.

But it’s Trump’s legal issues that matter most right now. Opening arguments are set for Monday in his 2016 election interference case, and the ultimate outcome of the trial will affect the presidential race. A conviction would be a blow to Trump in what will be a tight Electoral College race in November, while a hung jury would be a win for his effort to portray himself as a victim of partisan prosecutors. (An acquittal is a long shot, but you never know.)

I’m curious about the toll the trial takes on Trump. It’s already visible in his face, his body language. He’s frustrated and annoyed, tired, sometimes angry or sleepy. A lot of Americans like Trump’s brash, high-energy, sarcastic, upbeat performances. So will Dour Donald sour voters? Also, when pressure takes a toll on politicians, they can do dumb things (i.e., the Clinton-Lewinsky affair). As I wrote last week , Trump has never been more vulnerable (the NBC News poll out yesterday underscored that), and the trial will wear on him.

Biden will deliver a speech Tuesday in Florida on abortion rights, denouncing the state’s six-week abortion ban. Biden doesn’t like to say the word “abortion” and has a long and uneasy history on the issue — he has never been a vocal champion. Does he start changing that with this speech? Whatever he says will tell us a lot about how Biden plans to frame this race around abortion, which could be a winning issue for Democrats in Arizona, Nevada and some other swing states this November.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the historic Trump presidential immunity case on Thursday, as well as in interesting cases on abortion and homeless camps this week. Check out this good preview article .

As for the House speaker, Mike Johnson, it looks increasingly likely that he will hold on to his job through November, thanks to Democrats, after a grumpy Marjorie Taylor Greene held back on her motion to vacate after the foreign aid votes this past weekend. The House is in recess this week, and Greene might try to oust Johnson when the chamber is back next week, but it has the look of a fool’s errand right now.