Prewriting for Opinion Essays
Prewriting is your first step in writing an opinion essay. These prewriting activities will help you select a topic to write about, develop an opinion statement, and gather and organize your details before you begin a first draft.
Prewriting to Select a Topic
For your own opinion essay, you need to select a topic that is debatable and that you feel strongly about. A debatable topic is one that people have differing opinions about. There is no debate that young people need to exercise, but there is debate about extending the school year.
Brainstorm topics.
For each category, list at least two debatable opinions that you could write about.
School Classes
Environment
City/Neighborhood
School Activities
Sports
Select a topic.
Share your topic ideas with one or two classmates to find out which ones they like. Also ask yourself which topics you feel most strongly about. Put a star (*) next to the topic for your opinion essay.
Prewriting to Develop Your Opinion
With an opinion in mind, you need to collect your thoughts for your essay. This will help you decide what you already know about your topic and what you need to find out.
Collect your thoughts.
Answer these questions about your opinion statement.
- Why is the topic important to me?
- What do I already know about it?
- What reason do I have to support my opinion? (You should have three strong reasons.)
- What else do I need to learn about the topic?
Prewriting to Collect Details
In your essay, you will develop each reason in a separate paragraph. There are many different types of details that you can use to explain each reason. Here are six common types:
- Facts are true statements that can be checked.
When students make art projects, they plan, experiment, and make choices.
- Statistics are facts that involve numbers.
The School Board has said that next year’s budget will be 15 percent lower than this year’s budget.
- Examples show a specific case or version of something.
Mr. Larson says his classroom is an art studio, and we are the artists at work.
- Explanations tell how or why something works as it does.
In most classes, students sit at their desks and read, write, and do worksheets. These assignments may be important, but they can get boring. In art class, students create their own drawings, paintings, and other projects. They don’t have to worry about answering questions or making mistakes. In addition, students can move around more and share their work.
- Quotations are the thoughts and words of experts.
Tom Horne, Superintendent of Schools in Arizona, said it best: “If [educators] are worried about test scores and want to get them higher, they need to give kids more art, not less.”
- Concessions show that you are aware of the other side of the issue.
The School Board has said that next year’s budget will be 15 percent lower than this year’s budget. The Board will have a hard decision to make because one or two programs will have to be cut. Before the Board decides, the members need to understand the value of art.
Identify important details.
Write your reasons below. Then list two or three details to explain each reason. Check Web sites, science books, and magazines.
Reason 1:
Details:
Reason 2:
Details:
Reason 3:
Details:
Identify a concession.
Identify an opposing opinion or idea that you might need to admit.
Prewriting to Plan Your Essay
Once you have completed your research, you are ready to plan and organize your information for writing.
Revisit your opinion statement.
Write your opinion statement here. Reread it. If, for some reason, it doesn’t sound believable and say exactly what you want it to say, try another version, and another. Choose the opinion statement that works best.
Opinion statement:
Arrange your reasons.
List your reasons below in the order that you want to explain them. List the most important reason either first or last.
First reason:
Second reason:
Third reason:
Teaching Tip
In opinion essays, students should start with the most important reason or lead up to it. Either organizational pattern has impact.