100 Persuasive Essay Topics

Grace Fleming, M.Ed., is a senior academic advisor at Georgia Southern University, where she helps students improve their academic performance and develop good study skills.

Persuasive essays are a bit like argument essays, but they tend to be a little kinder and gentler. Argument essays require you to discuss and attack an alternate view, while persuasive essays attempt to convince the reader that you have a believable argument. In other words, you are an advocate, not an adversary.

Writing a compelling persuasive essay requires you to select a topic that ideally stirs your readers' emotions. Before settling on a subject, explore some options to find one that helps craft the strongest and most engaging argument.

Below is a list of potential persuasive essay topics to spark your brainstorming process. You can choose a topic from this list or use it as inspiration to develop an idea of your own.

Main Components of a Persuasive Essay

• Introduction: This is the opening paragraph of your essay. It contains the hook, which is used to grab the reader's attention, and the thesis, or argument, which you'll explain in the next section.
• Body: This is the heart of your essay, usually three to five paragraphs in length. Each paragraph examines one theme or issue used to support your thesis.
• Conclusion: This is the final paragraph of your essay. In it, you'll sum up the main points of the body and connect them to your thesis. Persuasive essays often use the conclusion as a final appeal to the audience.

Learning how to write a persuasive essay is an essential skill people use every day in fields from business to law to media and entertainment. English students can begin writing a persuasive essay at any skill level. You'll surely find a sample topic or two from the list of 100 persuasive essays below, sorted by degree of difficulty.

Watch Now: 12 Ideas for Great Persuasive Essay Topics

Beginner Topics

1. Kids should get paid for good grades.
2. Students should have less homework.
3. Snow days are great for family time.
4. Penmanship is important.
5. Short hair is better than long hair.
6. We should all grow our own vegetables.
7. We need more holidays.
8. Aliens probably exist.
9. Gym class is more important than music class.
10. Kids should be able to vote.
11. Kids should get paid for extra activities like sports.
12. School should take place in the evenings.
13. Country life is better than city life.
14. City life is better than country life.
15. We can change the world.
16. Skateboard helmets should be mandatory.
17. We should provide food for the poor.
18. Children should be paid for doing chores.
19. We should populate the moon.
20. Dogs make better pets than cats.

Intermediate Topics

1. The government should impose household trash limits.
2. Nuclear weapons are an effective deterrent against foreign attack.
3. Teens should be required to take parenting classes.
4. We should teach etiquette in schools.
5. School uniform laws are unconstitutional.
6. All students should wear uniforms.
7. Too much money is a bad thing.
8. High schools should offer specialized degrees in arts or sciences.
9. Magazine advertisements send unhealthy signals to young women.
10. Robocalling should be outlawed.
11. Age 12 is too young to babysit.
12. Children should be required to read more.
13. All students should be allowed to study abroad.
14. Yearly driving tests should be mandatory past age 65.
15. Cell phones should never be used while driving.
16. All schools should implement bullying awareness programs.
17. Bullies should be kicked out of school.
18. Parents of bullies should have to pay a fine.
19. The school year should be longer.
20. School days should start later.
21. Teens should be able to choose their bedtime.
22. There should be a mandatory entrance exam for high school.
23. Public transit should be privatized.
24. We should allow pets in school.
25. The voting age should be lowered to 16.
26. Beauty contests are bad for body image.
27. Every American should learn to speak Spanish.
28. Every immigrant should learn to speak English.
29. Video games can be educational.
30. College athletes should be paid for their services.
31. We need a military draft.
32. Professional sports should eliminate cheerleaders.
33. Teens should be able to start driving at 14 instead of 16.
34. Year-round school is a bad idea.
35. High school campuses should be guarded by police officers.
36. The legal drinking age should be lowered to 19.
37. Kids under 15 shouldn't have Facebook pages.
38. Standardized testing should be eliminated.
39. Teachers should be paid more.
40. There should be one world currency.

Advanced Topics

1. Domestic surveillance without a warrant should be legal.
2. Letter grades should be replaced with a pass or fail.
3. Every family should have a natural disaster survival plan.
4. Parents should talk to kids about drugs at a young age.
5. Racial slurs should be illegal.
6. Gun ownership should be tightly regulated.
7. Puerto Rico should be granted statehood.
8. People should go to jail when they abandon their pets.
9. Free speech should have limitations.
10. Members of Congress should be subject to term limits.
11. Recycling should be mandatory for everyone.
12. High-speed internet access should be regulated like a public utility.
13. Yearly driving tests should be mandatory for the first five years after getting a license.
14. Recreational marijuana should be made legal nationwide.
15. Legal marijuana should be taxed and regulated like tobacco or alcohol.
16. Child support dodgers should go to jail.
17. Students should be allowed to pray in school.
18. All Americans have a constitutional right to health care.
19. Internet access should be free for everyone.
20. Social Security should be privatized.
21. Pregnant couples should receive parenting lessons.
22. We shouldn't use products made from animals.
23. Celebrities should have more privacy rights.
24. Professional football is too violent and should be banned.
25. We need better sex education in schools.
26. School testing is not effective.
27. The United States should build a border wall with Mexico and Canada.
28. Life is better than it was 50 years ago.
29. Eating meat is unethical.
30. A vegan diet is the only diet people should follow.
31. Medical testing on animals should be illegal.
32. The Electoral College is outdated.
33. Medical testing on animals is necessary.
34. Public safety is more important than an individual's right to privacy.
35. Single-sex colleges provide a better education.
36. Books should never be banned.
37. Violent video games can cause people to act violently in real life.
38. Freedom of religion has limitations.
39. Nuclear power should be illegal.
40. Climate change should be the president's primary political concern.

Key Takeaways

1. Persuasive essays aim to convince rather than confront, effectively making you advocate for a position or idea.
2. Choosing a compelling topic that evokes emotions is crucial for crafting a strong persuasive essay.
3. The main parts of a persuasive essay are the introduction (with a hook and thesis), body paragraphs (explaining themes supporting the thesis), and conclusion (summarizing main points and making a final appeal).