How to Write an Opinion Paragraph
What is an Opinion Paragraph?
An opinion paragraph is a paragraph where the writer gives his opinion on a topic and tries to persuade the reader to agree with him. In order to do this, the writer gives reasons and evidence to support his opinion. It is advisable to use a clear and concise paragraph structure when writing an opinion essay, as this will make it easier for your readers to understand your argument or opinion.
Opinion paragraph Structure
Opinion paragraphs are assigned to students to help them develop their critical thinking skills. Therefore, they must follow a specific structure to write a good opinion paragraph.
Topic Sentence: State your opinion in one sentence in a topic sentence. You should always agree or disagree with the paragraph’s main idea.
Supporting Sentences: Use at least three pieces of evidence to support your opinion. This could include reasons, examples, data, statistics, expert quotes, or personal anecdotes.
Concluding sentence: Summarize the topic sentence and rewrite them with different words. Leave the reader with something to think about!
Opinion paragraph “transition words” through movie clips
Watch this video to learn essential transition words for creating topic sentences, supporting sentences, and concluding sentences in an opinion paragraph.
Indent your paragraph
The first line of the paragraph must be indented. There’s no set rule for how many letters to skip when indenting a paragraph, but a good rule is to skip at least four letters.
How to write a topic sentence?
The first sentence of your paragraph should be a topic sentence, where you should give your opinion on a topic. You should also mention whether you agree or disagree with the topic.
How to write supporting sentences?
After the topic sentence, the next stage is providing reasons and examples to support your opinion.
You should include at least THREE reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the statement. Moreover, the reasons should be logical to convince the readers.
Use transition words
A good writer organizes and presents his ideas logically and coherently. In order to do this, you should use transition words and phrases to connect your ideas logically and coherently.
There are different transition words used in an opinion paragraph. The good thing about using transition words and phrases is that these words help the reader understand your point of view. Here are some transition words that can be used in an opinion paragraph.
How to write a concluding sentence?
In conclusion, you should summarize your main points and restate your opinion with different words.
✅ Dos and Don’ts of Opinion Writing
When you are asked to write an opinion paragraph, it is important to remember that this is not a research paper. Your assignment is to express your own point of view with reasonable logic on the given topic. In order to do this, you need to follow some basic dos and don’ts of opinion writing.
Dos
-Pick a topic that you are passionate about. This will make it easier for you to express your opinion and the logical reasoning behind it.
-Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence that states the main point of that paragraph.
-Support your claims with evidence from reliable sources.
-End your paragraph with a conclusion that summarizes your argument and leaves the reader with something to think about.
– Include facts, data and statistics
Don’t
-Don’t deviate from the main topic of your paragraph. Every sentence should support your opinion in some way.
-Try to avoid repeating the first-person pronouns (I, me, my, etc.). This makes your argument sound less objective and professional.
-Don’t rely too heavily on anecdotal evidence. This can make your argument seem less credible.
Seven Opinion Paragraph Writing Tips
There are a few things to keep in mind when writing an opinion paragraph:
- Pick a topic that you are passionate about. This will make the paragraph writing process more enjoyable for you and make your essay more convincing.
- Indent your paragraph.
- Make sure to state your opinion in the topic sentence clearly. This will give the reader an idea of what to expect from the rest of the paragraph.
- Support your viewpoint with evidence. This could be from personal experience, reasons, examples or facts.
- Use proper grammar and punctuation throughout the paragraph. This will show that you are taking the paragraph seriously and putting effort into it.
- Remember that there is usually more than one way to examine an issue. So don’t be afraid to share your own unique perspective!
- Proofread your paragraph and check spelling and grammar mistakes.
