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Persuasive Writing Techniques & Tips. Charged Words. Words that evoke a strong emotion – “freedom,” “love,” “passion,” “constitutional right”. Rhetorical Questions. A question not intended to be answered, used for emotional effect – “Are we going to stand by and take this abuse?”.
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Charged Words Words that evoke a strong emotion – “freedom,” “love,” “passion,” “constitutional right”
Rhetorical Questions A question not intended to be answered, used for emotional effect – “Are we going to stand by and take this abuse?”
Restatement Taking the same idea and explaining it in different words. “The trip to Dairy Queen would take two minutes! We could walk there and return before the new class began!”
Repetition Using the same word or phrase over again for effect. “No! No! No!”
Parallelism Using the same sentence structure for effect – “We will not! We shall not! We cannot!”
Exclamation Using an exclamation point to put emphasis on an idea – “I will not take the abuse!”
Logical Appeal The use of facts to convince someone of something. “After researching, we have found that the school could save $1,600 by allowing us to eat lunch off campus.”
Emotional Appeal Using emotional statements to convince someone of something. “Oh, the humanity! Even squirrels have more freedom then we do. Have some mercy. Let us eat off campus!”
Rule of Three Using an element three times to create maximum emotional impact.“No! No! No!”
Allusion Referencing a respected source to convince people to believe what you believe. “In the beginning, there was lunch, and it was good. But, it would be heavenly if we could eat off campus.”
Counter Argument Understandthe opposite viewpoint of your position and then counter it by providing contrasting evidence or by finding mistakes and inconsistencies in the logic of the opposing argument. “Some might think that leaving campus for lunch would put students’ safety at risk, but students are more likely to get injured going up and down one of our crowded staircases at lunchtime.”
Anecdote A brief story to illustrate your point, usually a personal story. Personal experiences add relevance and support to a persuasive essay and can serve as good anecdotes to start or conclude a persuasive essay. “When I attended school in Colorado, we were allowed to leave campus for lunch and there was never a problem. Students always returned safely in time for fifth period.”
Opening Paragraph Ideas for the opening paragraph - • Open with an unusual detail • Open with a strong statement • Open with a quotation • Open with an anecdote • Open with a statistic or fact • Open with a rhetorical question • Open with an exaggeration or outrageous statement
Closing Paragraph This is the last chance the writer has to convince the reader of the validity of the information presented. This paragraph should include the following: • a restatement of the controlling idea, using some of the original language or language that "echoes" the original language. • a summary of the main points or arguments from the body of the essay • a final statement that gives the reader signals that the discussion has come to an end (This final statement may be a "call to action” in a persuasive essay)
Essay Don’ts • “I am going to tell you about …” • One giant paragraph • Contractions • Slang • Clichés or trite expressions • “In conclusion…” • The End Of course there are more, but these are the most annoying.