How To Write Discursive Essays

1. What is a Discursive Essay?

A discursive essay is an essay which involves a discussion. You’re encouraged to examine different perspectives on the issue so that the discussion you provide is a balanced one! You are on the right track if your essay sheds light on the issue by looking at it from different viewpoints.

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2. How do I Identify a Discursive Essay Topic?

Let’s take a look at some of the discursive essay topics from past year papers:

• 2021 O-Level: “Young people are changing the world for the better.” What is your opinion?
• 2019 O-Level: “Most young people today are obsessed with fame and imitating celebrities.” What are your views?

In recent years, “What is your opinion?” and “What are your views?” are common signposts used to indicate a discursive essay topic. However, there are also instances where such questions are not used. Consider:

• 2012 O-Level: People all over the world are living longer. What are the advantages and disadvantages of their increased life expectancy?
• 2010 O-Level: What important lessons in life are learned away from school?

So note that the question can still indicate discursive writing even when it does not contain “What is your opinion?” or “What are your views?”

3. What is the Difference Between a Discursive Essay, an Argumentative Essay and an Expository Essay?

Many students get confused by these terms because they share many overlaps. Simply put, discursive essays and argumentative essays fall under the umbrella term, or the genre, of expository essays. An expository is a genre of writing that presents an analysis on a topic and provides sound evidence to support the writer’s ideas.  

Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s look at the differences in requirements for a discursive and an argumentative essay.

Argumentative: you are required to take an explicit stand on the issue. Your essay is structured in a manner that argues towards this stand. When writing an argumentative essay, your goal is to persuade, to convince the reader to be in support of your stand.

Discursive: you are not required to take an explicit stand on the issue. In other words, you do not need to pick a side. You may choose to pick a side; that’s perfectly fine! Just note that the goal here is not to persuade or to convince; it is to provide the reader with a balanced discussion by examining the issue from various viewpoints.

Now that you’ve learnt how to identify a discursive question and gotten a better idea of what it requires, let’s look at how to plan a discursive essay.

4. How do I Approach or Structure a Discursive Essay?

Some essays require a binary approach, meaning to say you tackle the issue by addressing the positive and the negative aspects of the question at hand. 

Here is how you can plan your body paragraphs for such topics:

Now, it’s your turn! Try planning an outline for the following topics:

• 2021 O-Level: “Young people are changing the world for the better.” What is your opinion?
• 2017 O-Level: It is often said that people are too concerned with getting things and spending money. What is your opinion? 

On the other hand, there are topics which are not suited for such a binary approach. Consider questions such as:

• 2014 O-Level: Which features of Singapore and its citizens make it a major tourist attraction for people from all over the world?
  • Give 3 x features (1 per body paragraph)

• 2010 O-Level: What important lessons in life are learned away from school?
  • Give 3 x important lessons (1 per body paragraph)

5. How do I Brainstorm Ideas for a Discursive Essay to Achieve a Balanced Discussion?

Give yourself 10 minutes to do a proper planning. It’s useful to approach the issue at hand by exploring its significance and relevance in different spheres and domains: Education, Ethics or Morals, Technology, Law etc.

Instead of giving 3 different points from an education perspective, why not broaden your scope and look at the issue from not just an educational perspective, but also a technological perspective and an ethical perspective?

This is what makes for a matured, holistic response. 

Let’s use the following topic as an example:

2021 O-Level: “Young people are changing the world for the better.” What is your opinion?

If you run out of ideas, you can also examine two sides of a coin in a single domain. For example, you’ll see that in the example, that for the technological sphere, there are instances of youths making and not changing the world for the better.  

Now that the brainstorming is done, let’s put pen to paper and start writing!

6. How do I Write an Introduction for a Discursive Essay?

• Share an insight or observation regarding the issue. Why is this issue worth discussing? What are the implications of the issue? You can also use 5W1H questions to help you generate ideas.
• Define your scope of discussion and if needed, define the keywords in the topic by setting out what is meant by, for instance, “young people” and “for the better”.

You can ask yourself these questions to help you with your intro:

• Who are “young people”?
• In which domains are youths making significant impact?
• Why do some people believe that they are making the world a better place?
• Why do other people not trust youth to positively impact the world?
• What is my thesis?

Simply answer these questions + include your thesis. Voila, you have a solid introduction!

Young people are often described as the changemakers of society, the future leaders, and the hope of our world. From advocating for the environment to spearheading social justice causes, the young people of today undoubtedly have the potential to change our world for the better. Having said that, one must question if this potential is somewhat overshadowed by charges of laziness, selfishness, irresponsibility et. cetera that are often levelled, sometimes legitimately I might add, against the younger generation. In this essay, I assess if the actions of today’s youths truly, on balance, lead us to a brighter future by exploring the impact they are making in the domains of education, environment, and technology.

7. How do I Write the Body Paragraphs for a Discursive Essay?

Students, you must have heard of the PEEL method by now. We introduce the POINT in the first sentence, ELABORATE on the point, then substantiate with EVIDENCE or EXAMPLES, and finally, we round it all off by LINKING back to the point.

It sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?

a. Your essay must not be example-driven! It must always be point-driven. 

b. Remember to make the link from your examples/ evidence back to your topic sentence. This illustrates the relevance and strength of your evidence and reinforces your main point. 

 

For our example, a coherent body paragraph could look like this: 

 

[Topic Sentence: main point] In the sphere of education, youth activists are making positive changes by advocating to make education available to girls in less developed societies. [Elaborate: why do I say this?] It is because of their efforts that young women formerly deprived of education, due to reasons like patriarchal mindsets, are now able to access learning. [Evidence: how to prove my point?] A notable example is the Pakistani activist, Malala Yousafzai, who began her activism by bravely speaking out against the Taliban’s ban on education for girls. Her story did much to raise awareness about the existing barriers to education. She also co-founded the Malala Fund, which advocates for policy changes to prioritize girls’ education globally. Partnering with UNESCO, Malala’s fund has helped over 5,000 girls in countries like Egypt and Tanzania gain access to education. [Elaborate: what is the significance in relation to the question?] By giving these girls an education and helping them out of the poverty cycle, activists like Malala are helping to raise global literacy rates and reduce problems associated with poverty. Society gets a chance to benefit from what these young women can contribute to the workforce. [Link: reinforce my main point] It is clear the tireless efforts of these activists have made significant impact in the education domain.

 

8. How to Write a Conclusion for a Discursive Essay?

Many students just reiterate the points in conclusion. But that is… you guessed it, boring. Last impression lasts!
 
You want to provide an insight to this issue to demonstrate your maturity of thought. Apart from summarising your points, link your conclusion back to the introduction so that your essay comes a full circle. You can also use a quote or thought-provoking question for readers to make their own conclusion.

 

Check out this conclusion:I conclude by pointing out that it is unfair to generalise all young people; in every generation, there will be individuals who give that generation a bad name and those who, as this question suggests, make the world a better place. As shown in this essay, many youths in this generation are attempting to make an impact in different segments of society. But whether the efforts of these young trailblazers are, on balance, bettering the world is still a matter of debate. Furthermore, whether these efforts ultimately result in lasting positive changes depends not just on young people, but also on global leaders and international organisations. So perhaps the real question we should be asking is this: how can we, and not just the young people, work together to change this world for the better?

 

Students, this is how you tackle a discursive essay. Try applying these tips to one of the topics above!

Want more guided practice balancing viewpoints? Our Essay Writing Master Class (Lower Secondary) covers this in depth.