Warm-Up for Opinion Essays

An opinion essay makes a case for a personal feeling you have about an important topic. This lesson will help you think about your opinions on different topics and your reasons for feeling the way you do.

What Is an Opinion?

(c) Thoughtful Learning 2016

An opinion essay explains a writer’s view about an important topic. Stating an opinion is easy: “I love that movie!” you might say, even though your friend might feel differently, or “I can’t wait for gym,” even though a classmate dreads it. Giving reasons for your opinion is not as easy. It requires you to think about why you feel the way you do.

Writing an opinion essay is all about careful thinking. Your opinion statement must be well thought out, and it must be supported by reliable reasons. As a result, opinion essays usually require some research. Once you have gathered your reasons, you can arrange them from most important to least important, or the other way around. In the end, your goal is to produce an essay that convinces your reader to agree with you.

Thinking About Opinions

For an opinion to be strong, it must be believable and worthy of arguing for. It must also be based on a foundation of solid thinking. Here is a strong opinion statement.

• Lincoln School should consider starting a chess club.

  (A phrase like should consider signals that an opinion is probably reasonable.)