Development by Persuasion

1. Development by Persuasion by Dotti Shelton Developmental English Instructor South Texas Community College

2. What is a persuasive essay? • A persuasive essay is an essay that you write in order to accomplish one of three effects: • to declare the best solution to a problem, • to argue a certain way of looking at an issue, or • to urge an adoption to a specific plan of action.

3. Choose an appropriate topic Know why you hold your position and be able to articulate that position clearly Anticipate opposition Know your audience, keeping them in mind throughout your arguments (tone) Decide which points you wish to argue These become your three points of discussion How do I begin?

4. How do I organize my essay? • The three points you determine you want to argue are presented in your essay map. • The pattern you will use is clearly and logically organized for you on your organizer. • You must argue your ideas logically, which may include giving examples, presenting comparisons or contrasts, showing a cause-effect relationship or arguing by presenting a definition.

5. How do I support my arguments? • Personal experiences • Personal observations • Experiences or testimony from others • Factual information • Statistics • Charts • Graphs • Diagrams

6. What do I need to avoid? • Illogical reasoning • Glittering generalities (not always so) • Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (not a cause/effect relationship) • Non sequitur reasoning (not a reasonable conclusion) • Manipulation of facts

7. What will my essay look like? • It will have an introduction with a thesis and an essay map. • It will have an opposing point in the introduction. • It will have three body paragraphs. • It will have transition sentences from paragraph to paragraph. • It will have a conclusion that summarizes the major arguments in each body paragraph.

8. What do I already know about writing persuasive essays? • You have written persuasive essays in high school as well as read persuasive writing in newspapers and magazines. Additionally, you argue points every day and hear arguments on the television as well as the radio. Now, you will be choosing a topic of interest and simply put, writing down those ideas in a pre-determined pattern, one that will assist you in passing the TASP test.

9. EXAMPLE Currently, the debate about smoking in public places continues. Many cities have decided to ban any smoking in public buildings. This is true in the city of Austin, and it should be true in the city of McAllen. Smoking should be banned because of the hazards it poses to non-smokers, which include incorrect disposal of cigarette butts, inhalation of second-hand smoke and the inability of some people to breathe comfortably around those who choose to smoke. (all nouns)

10. What else will I need to do? • You will have to write strong topic sentences for each body paragraph. Here are three examples: • Have you ever looked at the number of cigarette butts that lie on the ground? • Some of the current research on lung cancer has indicated that second-hand smoke is a threat to the non-smoker. • If a person has a breathing problem and is placed in the same proximity as a smoker, that person may experience difficulty breathing normally.

11. Are there other skills I will need to exhibit? • You will have to develop your body paragraphs with examples, explanations and details. • You will have to use transition words and sentences. • You will have to conclude your essay by summarizing the major points presented in each of your body paragraphs.

12. Persuasive Writing Topics • You can read more about persuasive writing in your Writing Made Easy textbook. • Persuasive writing begins on page 102 • Read student samples assigned. • In the first persuasive essay you write, you must take a position on an issue discussed in class based on the NIF books.