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Feature Menu. Assignment Choose an Issue Identify Your Thesis and Call for Action Consider Purpose and Audience Support Your Position Organize Your Support Practice and Apply. Mini-Workshop Writing a Persuasive Essay. Writing a Persuasive Essay. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Mini-WorkshopMini-WorkshopWriting a Persuasive EssayWriting a Persuasive Essay
Assignment Choose an IssueIdentify Your Thesis and Call for ActionConsider Purpose and AudienceSupport Your PositionOrganize Your SupportPractice and Apply
Feature Menu
Writing a Persuasive Essay
Assignment: Write a persuasive essay defending your position on an issue that is important to you.
You probably express your opinion on some issue or another almost every day. Which issues do you care about the most? Writing a persuasive essay can help you convince others to agree with you. For this essay, you’ll develop a strong argument targeted to a particular audience.
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Look around for issues that intrigue you.
Issue: a topic about which reasonable people have opposing views
Writing a Persuasive EssayChoose an Issue
• What have you seen on the television news or read in the newspaper?
• What would you like to see changed in your school or community?
List several issues. Look at each one and ask:
Writing a Persuasive EssayChoose an Issue
If you answer yes to all three questions, you know you have a good topic for your essay.
Do I really care about this issue?
Is it narrow enough to argue in 1,500 words?
Does it have clear pro and con arguments?
Would these issues make good topics for a persuasive essay?
Writing a Persuasive EssayChoose an Issue
No (too broad)
No (no clear con argument)
Yes, meets all criteria
Protecting the environment is important.
The public schools must prepare all students for college.
The bike path system in this city needs to be improved.
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Writing a Persuasive EssayIdentify Your Thesis and Call for Action
Also, develop a call for action—a sentence that tells readers what you want them to do.
Write a thesis statement that defines your perspective, or position, on the issue.
Concerned citizens are urged to write their City Council members and ask them to place this matter on the agenda for the next meeting.
The City Council should establish a budget and a plan to repair, expand, and maintain the bike path system downtown.
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Writing a Persuasive EssayConsider Purpose and Audience
Your purpose is to persuade your audience. First, analyze your audience so you can tailor your argument to them.
Decide what evidence, reasons, and language to use.
What are the audience members’ ages, interests, education levels, values?
Determine how much background to provide.
What do they already know about the issue?
Prepare to address any objections to your thesis.
Where do they stand on the issue?
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Writing a Persuasive EssaySupport Your Position
Include solid reasons why your readers should believe or act as you suggest.
Logical appeal: engages readers’ ability to think clearly
Emotional appeal: stirs readers’ feelings; personalizes the issue
Ethical appeal: establishes you as a fair and knowledgeable speaker; calls upon readers’ sense of right and wrong
Writing a Persuasive EssaySupport Your Position
Classify each statement below as a logical, emotional, or ethical appeal.
Just last month, a bicyclist was killed when he was hit by a bus on Main Street. Surely his family wishes there had been a bike path.
emotional appeal
ethical appeal
logical appeal
More bike paths would encourage people to ride their bicycles to school or work, creatingless pollution from automobile exhaust. Everyone would benefit from that.
Much of the money that would be needed to improve the bike path system could come from the mass transit budget.
Writing a Persuasive EssaySupport Your Position
Back up your reasons with solid evidence—facts, statistics, anecdotes, expert testimony, and examples.
Reason: More bike paths would lead to a reduction in air pollution.
Evidence: Two years ago Bridgeton, a town similar to our own in size, climate, and demographics, reported a 5 percent reduction in toxic fumes from auto emissions after twenty-six new bike paths were constructed.
statistics
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Writing a Persuasive EssayOrganize Your Support
Arrange your reasons by order of importance.
Body Paragraph 1second strongest reason
Body Paragraph 2another good reason
Body Paragraph 3strongest reason
Body Paragraph 1strongest reason
Body Paragraph 2another good reason
Body Paragraph 3 second strongest reason
ORCapture readers’ attention early.
Make a strong final impression.
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Writing a Persuasive Essay
Use the guidelines in this presentation to
• choose an issue
• formulate a thesis statement and a call for action
• gather and organize support
Write your persuasive essay and share it with your intended audience.
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