Are you struggling with writing an opinion essay, or is it your first time writing one? Then, you might as well use our ideas, tips, and tricks to write an opinion essay that scores you an A+ grade.
The process of creating a successful essay is different for everyone. Some will prefer working undistracted while others work better with distractions.
Although no guide can comprehensively fit your writing style, one thing is for sure: our guide will help you write an opinion essay in a step-by-step format. We have broken down the opinion-writing process into three core stages: prewriting, writing, and revision to make it easy to grasp.
This guide also covers aspects such as opinion essay topic, structure, and the essential guidelines to set you up with writing an opinion essay.
Our comprehensive opinion essay guide inspires your confidence as a writer from the beginning, mid-way, to the end. Consult with us if you feel you need further help.
An opinion essay is a formal piece of writing that presents an author's point of view (opinion) supported with reasoning, evidence, and examples and can entail opposing inconsistent viewpoints.
Unlike an argumentative or persuasive essay where you offer counterarguments or counterpoints, you focus more on your opinion about an issue at hand in an opinion essay.
You don't necessarily have to explore the advantages or disadvantages (pros and cons). Besides, you don't have to describe the essay topic from a different perspective. Instead, you give your opinions based on well-researched data.
Opinion writing is all about you giving your point of view or perspective in a layered manner. By layering, we mean that you support your opinion with examples and explanations.
Opinion essays are often written by college and university students. Besides, non-native English-speaking students enrolled in the IELTS must write an opinion piece. Thus, opinion essays help you express your thoughts, perceptions, and opinions while writing in English.
Before you commence writing your opinions in an essay, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to write about in your opinion essay and how you will express it. Here are a few major steps that you must undertake:
Consider reading the opinion essay prompt as the very first step in your writing journey. As you read the instructions, you will get to know the objective of the assignment/essay, the length and deadline of your opinion essay, the formatting style required, and the number of sources to use when writing the essay.
Reading the prompt also helps you understand the questions you will be tackling as you write. It also helps set out the main points that must feature in your opinion writing. These points include the central idea or thesis and the extent of research required to support the opinions in your essay.
As you read the instructions, you can use mind maps or short notes to brainstorm over the topic provided. You can also do the same to develop ideas that you can turn into topics if one is not given.
In this phase of your writing, you can utilize the freewriting technique to develop as many ideas as possible. Freewriting allows you to download all your thoughts concerning a certain topic.
No idea is terrible, off-topic, or strange during the discovery or investigation phase. As you brainstorm, do some light research to familiarize yourself with concepts, frameworks, and facts about the ideas you have developed.
If you think outside the box, for one moment, you will be amazed at how much there is to write an opinion essay about.
If no topic is given, go ahead and select a topic you feel works well for you. Pick something that you are familiar with and find interesting to write about. As you have already brainstormed, choosing a topic should not be hard.
Related: Best argumentative essay topics.
Read through the primary and secondary sources as you take notes, organize facts, and develop ideas so that you can work out your position, perspective, lens, and perspective on a topic.
This is the evidence that you will be using when drafting your opinion essay.
Research online, read related books, find related peer-reviewed scholarly journals, use Wikipedia to familiarize yourself with concepts, and choose the sources to keep for the writing phase.
Are you already familiar with thesis statements? If you are, you do not have to worry about developing an opinion essay thesis statement. The process is the same because an opinion essay thesis is a central idea or argument you want the entire essay to be about. It is the idea that the body paragraphs will be expounding and developing. Remember to have a clear thesis so that you have a focused opinion essay. To do this, refer to your thesis each time you are writing the paper.
Like other academic papers, opinion essays must have a short, clear, and precise title. Your title often comes from the topic and the thesis. To develop your title, take your thesis and compress it into 3-4 words. Remember, the title should not tell the entire story; it leaves that to the body paragraphs.
With the topic, thesis, and title ready, it is time to create an outline or a rough template for your opinion essay. An outline helps you to organize your essay into paragraphs. It is the blueprint or the map of the rough structure of your essay. Although many students deliberately skip this step, it is vital as it makes it easier to stay focused when writing an opinion essay.
Real work begins during the drafting phase, where you begin to write your paper. With all you've done in the preparation phase, you should not be afraid to handle this stage.
You already have a thesis, which is good because a lack of it often leads to drifting, making it hard to frame the fact. As you draft the opinion essay, you will be using the materials from the prewriting stage to build your paragraphs.
Most successful opinion writers will begin with the body paragraphs without an introduction. When you start with the body paragraphs, you get the independence to work through your ideas without restriction to a thesis. However, this is only useful if you are unsure about the direction you need your opinion essay to take. However, we will explain it step by step and leave the approach for your choosing.
Your opinion essay must have an introduction as the first paragraph after the title page. The introductory paragraph presents your subject and states your opinion clearly, concisely, and precisely.
Since it is the first part your reader focuses on, you need to impress them immediately. Using a solid essay hook, you can only beckon them off the bat.
When you introduce a hook in the opinion essay introduction, you will capture your audience's attention, psyche, and interest, motivating them to keep reading. For example, you can begin your essay with a statistic, fact, rhetorical question, addressing the readers directly, anecdote, or a quote of your choosing. It should be the first sentence in your introduction.
After hooking your reader, provide the background on your topic to help your readers understand: the intent and significance of your opinion essay. Offer some overview of the critical debates about the topic, but do not provide too many details in the introduction.
Finally, present your thesis statement in your last one or two sentences. You already have your thesis statement from the prewriting stage. Present it so that your reader understands your central argument, and focus and so that you can signal your readers about your position on the topic.
If you are writing a longer opinion essay, say eight pages and beyond, you can end your introduction by briefly describing the contents of every section of the essay. Thus, you provide a roadmap of your essay so that your reader grasps the structure and has a preview of how you will develop arguments in your opinion essay.
The main body of your essay needs to support your thesis statement, set out in the introduction. For a standard five-paragraph essay, your opinion essay will have three linked body paragraphs. Each paragraph should present a separate idea or point of view that is supported by evidence, examples, and facts that must be well-cited.
Each body paragraph must begin with a unique topic sentence, a mini-thesis, or the main idea that you will back with arguments and evidence in the paragraph. Ensure that you do not start a new paragraph because the one you are writing has become longer. Instead, begin a new paragraph only when you want to discuss another idea.
As you write the body paragraph, use the right tenses, transition or linking words, formal vocabulary, right punctuations, and cite the sources well.
The body paragraphs account for 80% of your essay, which means that you should balance the word count among the three body paragraphs.
After the topic sentence, present evidence that can include quotes, data, or examples from relevant scholarly sources. Then, interpret and explain the evidence and show how it builds your thesis.
Related Read:
The third step in writing an opinion essay is concluding it. The conclusion of an opinion essay should restate the main opinion/thesis statement using different words. It should also contain a brief summary of the main points supporting your arguments. Finally, it should equally show why your main opinion matters.
Refrain from introducing new ideas or apologizing for your opinions in the essay. But, on the other hand, never undermine your arguments as well. You should also avoid cliché concluding phrases like to sum up, in summary.
The conclusion should engage your readers. You can end with a warning, ask a provocative question, make recommendations, or suggest consequences if your opinion is not considered.
For a great and meaningful conclusion for an opinion essay, end your essay with an impactful or memorable sentence to create one last strong impression in the mind of your readers.
After writing your first draft, take a break from writing. This is the time to close your computer, arrange your table, catch that movie or series, drink some water, or take a walk.
Once you have rested enough, assuming your essay is not urgent, you can proceed to the revision stage when fresh. Some call it the editing and proofreading phase; whatever it is, it is the last part of writing an opinion essay where you make sure you dot your i's and cross your t's.
In the revision phase:
An opinion essay is written in prose form. Therefore, ensure that you do not have listicles in your essay; it is not a camping list either way!
If crafted the right way, your opinion essay will become an excellent piece of writing that your professor can use as an example of the best opinion essay for the following classes. The tips we have shared above can help you pull your a-game when writing an opinion essay.
Related Read: How to write a comprehensive A+ essay.
Opinion Essay Outline/Template
You have probably already encountered and used the basic five-paragraph essay structure, which works well with opinion essays.
I. Introduction
II. Body Paragraphs
A. Body Paragraph 1
B. Body Paragraph 2
C. Body Paragraph 3
III. Conclusion
We already covered some phrases to use when writing essays. However, when you are undertaking opinion writing, the chances are that you need to explain your point of view in the best way. So, here are some basic expressions that you can use to expose how good a critical thinker and a creative writer you are, which is the key to scoring an A+ grade.
If you want to fix an opinion essay assignment faster and better, use some of these expressions or phrases to put through your opinions:
Expressions to use when writing an opinion essay | |
|---|---|
It is not entirely convincing that | Even though it is arguable that. |
It is compelling that | Although Y agrees with X that, |
The principal opinion here is | The vivid fact is that |
Y firmly/strongly believes that | Research has proven that |
X feels/thinks/holds that | One is inclined to think that |
With all the assumptions considered. | It is evident that |
This suggests that | It would mean that |
This proves that | Although |
To | To bring an end to the debate about |
In support of. | To clear the confusion around |
In contrast. | For example, or for instance |
Nothing is cast in stone; you can always choose your words wisely. However, the ultimate goal is to write an outstanding opinion essay that seduces the best grade from your instructor or professor. Remember, you can use adverbs, adjectives, and nouns when writing but mind the flow of ideas and simplicity of your opinion piece.
As you set out to write an opinion essay, we have gathered some dos and don'ts to help you write a great essay. Read them and keep them in mind when researching, drafting, writing, and editing your opinion essay.
Dos | Don'ts |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Avoid using exclamation marks, parentheses, and dashes. Instead, be discreet. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here is what to write your opinion essay about
Related Read: How to choose topics for your essay.
Related Read: Political science essay topic ideas.
You can decide to write an opinion essay on a sports topic. If sport is your thing, focus on the current affairs, arising issues, and the news. Here are some topics:
Check this out, too: Sports topics for essays.
Related: Adoption topics to consider for essays.
Culture has become a hot topic for almost every essay. Many students realize the importance of culture in society. Under it, you can explore mentality, fashion, arts, beliefs, religion, and language. Here are some topics to write an opinion essay about culture:
Related: Black death essay topics.
In a nutshell, our article has comprehensively covered the opinion writing process. Coming this far means you know how to write an opinion essay introduction, body, and conclusion. Whether it is a three-paragraph essay or a five-paragraph opinion essay, our tips will see you through to success.
Related Article: Descriptive essay writing guide.
As a final remark, once you have entirely fixed every part of your essay outline, turn the first draft into a final draft by thoroughly proofreading your paper. Remember to also revise for organization, language, grammar, vocabulary, style, and spelling. And when choosing the sources to use, utilize the CRAAP test to get credible and reliable sources.
As you write, remember not to use I when stating your opinion. Instead, use an objective and formal style when writing an opinion essay. It is a paper where you express your opinion, yes, but try to do it objectively.
If you need help writing or editing your opinion essay, you can consult with our professional writers.
Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.
