How to Write an Opinion Essay: an Ultimate Guide + Examples

An opinion essay is a formal piece of custom essay writings which presents the author’s point of view on a particular subject supported by reasoning and examples. The opposing viewpoint is also suggested, but it is followed by arguments that show its inconsistency.

🙂  Writing an Opinion Essay: Basics

You may be wondering: how to write an opinion essay? How is it different from persuasive, argumentative or pros and cons essay?

It’s simple:

When you write an argumentative or persuasive essay, you should provide counterpoints and describe the essay topic from different points of view. In opinion paper, you don’t have to focus on advantages and disadvantages comparison, but only in your opinion about the issue.

You may say: “I’m afraid to take a stand,” or “I don’t know what to say.”

Relax.

There’s nothing to worry about if your arguments based on well-researched data.

Speaking about the topic, some students find it difficult enough to choose the perfect one. But it’s not so hard: think about something that engages you most; that you feel strongly about.

Do you still have no clues what to write? Check our 100 free ideas for an argumentative or persuasive essay and choose the topic that you have a strong opinion.

The next steps are to pick up few reasons supporting your point of view and gather the facts that you’ll use as evidence.

📜  Opinion Essay Structure

The next step is to writу an opinion essay outline. First of all, it will help you to overcome the fear of the blank page. Second, you’ll have a broken-down list of ideas and an organized place for your random thoughts so that you can write an assignment faster.

Here’s an opinion paper outline example:

• An introduction. Write a thesis statement and reasons for your opinion. Give your readers a hook to engage them with the topic.
• The main body. Broke it in several paragraphs where you provide arguments and supporting examples, statements, and facts.
• A conclusion. Ending a paper, restate the main thesis and summarize central points of the essay.

Develop an outline while you’re researching the topic and place evidence where they make the most sense. You don’t have to write whole assignment – just put stand-alone examples and facts in the place where they should go.

Well-prepared outline for opinion essay makes almost 70 percent of success. All you left to do is merely join your arguments by bridging language.

Check These Useful Tips for Writing an Opinion Essay:

• State your opinion as for the topic discussed.
• Make a list of viewpoints and reasons supporting your point of view.
• Construct well-developed paragraphs.
• Use linking words and phrases to join the sentences and the paragraphs within the text.
• Start each paragraph with a topic sentence.

✍️  Essay Introduction and Conclusion

After you’ve finished an outline, you will have all of your facts organized. It’s time to develop an introduction to opinion writing. Its primary goal is to prepare your readers to dip into the essay.

The opening paragraph is a kind of a roadmap describing the path you’re your paper will take. An opinion essay introduction secret is to give a hook to your readers, grab their attention and make the rest of writing irresistible.

After giving a hook to your audience, introduce the topic and briefly describe supporting reasons that you will expand in body paragraphs.

Similar to an introduction, the opinion essay conclusion wraps up your paper. It’s a summary that broadly covers your ideas and allows your readers to understand your arguments.

Apply the Following Techniques to Start and Finish Your Opinion Essays:

• Address the reader directly.
• Start with a quote.
• Start with a thought-provoking or rhetorical question.
• Refer to some striking or unusual fact, idea or situation.

✔️  30 Basic Expressions to Use

When it comes to opinion writing, a lot of students can’t provide their point of view. This shows a lack of your critical thinking skills and leads to low grades.

If you need a quick fix for your assignment, check our list of basic expressions to help you start putting your opinions:

1. As far as I am concerned, …
2. I am (not) convinced that …
3. In my opinion/view …
4. My opinion is that …
5. I (firmly)believe that …
6. I (definitely) feel/think that …
7. I am inclined to believe that …
8. Personally, I believe that…
9. It is clear that…

10. It seems to me that…
11. In my mind…
12. As I see it…
13. My principal reason is…
14. Another reason is…
15. It is widely known that…
16. It could be argued that…
17. The well-known fact is…
18. Research has shown that…
19. For instance/for example…
20. This suggests that…
21. It would seem that…
22. This proves that…
23. This supports the …
24. Even though / Although…
25. In contrast…
26. Despite the fact that…
27. In spite of…
28. In order to…
29. To sum up…
30. In conclusion…

And don’t forget to use nouns, adjectives and adverbs, or make your own phrases.

⚠️  Do’s and Dont’s

Do you need more expert advice on how to write a great essay?

Keep reading!

Basic Do’s in Writing an Opinion Essay

• Write in a formal style.  Write your assignment as if you are giving an important speech.
• Avoid slang and jargon.
• Introduce the topic clearly. Avoid unnecessary phrases and useless facts that do not relate directly to the topic.
• Start each paragraph with clear topic sentences; outline the main ideas
• Use generalizations
• Use present tense when writing an opinion article
• Cite your sources in a proper way
• Stay brief
• Make sure that there is a logical sequence that allows your readers easy to follow

Basic Dont’s in Writing an Opinion Essay

• Don’t use colloquial expressions. Even though slang language is expressive and vivid, jargon words come and go quickly.
• Don’t use short forms. Replace the contractions with the non-contracted versions of the words.
• Don’t use over-generalizations
• Don’t use statistics without proper referencing
• Don’t give personal examples
• Don’t repeat arguments. If you have few similar facts, group them as a single argument.
• Avoid abbreviations
• Don’t overuse simple and short sentences
• Don’t use imperative voice
• Avoid exclamation marks, parentheses, dashes
• Don’t address your readers as “you”
• Don’t use emotive vocabulary

The final piece of advice: don’t forget to proofread your paper. Revise your content, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, etc. Make sure that your essay answers the main question. Check if the evidence you provided is accurate and up-to-date.

Thank you for reading! Our free tips will help you get through any kind of essay. Still, if you’re stuck with your essay, you can always count on the tips and recommendations from professional writers!

With the help of the tips above, you’ll be able to create the most unbelievable papers in a blink of an eye. Now that you know the secrets of professional writers. Try writing your own opinion essay!