Persuasive Paper - Example
Topic: Should recycling be mandatory?
Thesis: Recycling throughout the world should be mandatory in order to cut down on landfill buildup
and prevent the planet from being covered in waste.
Intro Paragraph:
Imagine a world where trash covers the ground like a thick blanket of smelly snow. People trudge
through the streets knee-deep in decaying McDonald’s wrappers, rancid cigarette butts, squished water
bottles, and sticky chewing gum. The sky is a consistent murky grey color and the only color comes from
the faded neon fast food and gas station signs that dot the streets. Disney-Pixar films made this idea an
unfortunate reality in the 2003 blockbuster, Wall-E, the story of a lone robot whose only job is to clean
up the mounds of trash and litter left behind by humans. While this fictional tale is quickly on the way to
becoming reality, there is a way to reverse the path. Instead of throwing piles of trash out the window
while cruising down the highway, people should be recycling and putting their trash to a more
productive use. Recycling throughout the world should be mandatory in order to cut down on landfill
buildup and prevent the planet from being covered in waste.
Topic Sentences:
1. When people throw away reusable material, they may as well be throwing trash and money out
the window as they cruise down the highway.
2. All of these overflowing landfills are causing increasingly severe ecological destruction such as
global warming and atmospheric pollution.
3. The destruction caused by the accumulation of trash can be significantly reduced, especially
because a large portion of trash is recyclable.
Body Paragraph – Recycling Persuasive Paper Example
All of these overflowing landfills cause increasingly severe ecological destruction such as global
warming and atmospheric pollution.1 The nation needs to help save the air people breathe, the water
people drink, and the very structure people stand on. Recycling can help this but, due to a lack of
participation, is not having the desired effect.2 People are not participating in recycling programs
“because of lack of… trucks, bins and composting sites” (“Successful”).3 One ecological benefit of
recycling is the reduction of landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency4, the United
States has 13,091 active and old municipal landfills (“Landfills”). If the US began mandatory recycling
when landfill production began, there would be 4,974 fewer landfills—nearly 100 less per state!5
Recycling also “conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals” (“Recycling”). The
ecological benefits of recycling vastly outweigh the simple convenience of dumping trash onto a pile.6
1
Begin with your topic sentence. Topic sentences introduce the reader to the topic of your paragraph.
The topic of this paragraph is landfills’ effects on ecology.
2
Always lead in to your parenthetical documentation. We’ve established a problem (ecological
destruction) and given the reason why (lack of participation).
3
The quote is incorporated into the sentence, quotation marks are used around the quoted material,
the article is properly cited using parentheses and quotation marks, and the period comes after the
citation. Any words you omit must be replaced with ellipses.
4
You can use proper attribution at the beginning of a sentence.
5
Always “debrief” your quotes. Explain their significance – don’t assume the reader knows why it is
important, and do not go onto the next quote without explaining.
6
Never ever end a paragraph with a quote. Sum up your paragraph before moving on to the next one.