Persuasion

1. Persuasion Presenting an Opinion

2. Key Ideas • We use persuasion every day. • Persuasion is needed for most careers. • Two broad purposes • Position/Opinion • Problem/solution

3. Definition Persuasive writing is one of the three broad writing purposes outlined by the state standards. It can be defined as writing that sets out to convince an audience that the opinion or position taken is the correct one to adopt.

4. Things to Consider • Persuasive writing requires you to think clearly about what you believe to be true about an issue. • It also requires that you use sound or valid reasons and evidence to build your argument.

5. Writing Forms in the Real World • Letter to the Editor • Editorial • Product Evaluation or Complaint • Advertisement • Legal Arguments • Campaign Speech • Grant or Requisition • Letter of Application • Literary Evaluation • Music or Movie Review • Formal Research Papers

6. Consider your Audience • Demographics (age, gender. . .) • Bias • Appeals (Ethos, Logos, Pathos) • Tailor your presentation.

7. TONE Most persuasive essays will be formal and rational in tone. *Avoid “loaded language.” *Avoid slang.

8. Selecting a Topic • Choose a limited topic that is debatable. • State an opinion not just a fact. • Select a topic of significance. • Select a topic you feel strongly about. • Realize, once published, what you have said is “permanent.” • Topics should be current. • Find ideas in the news.

9. Gathering Evidence • Gather evidence on both sides of an issue. • Conduct interviews. • Survey your audience. • Question the experts. • Read reference books and journal articles. • Use credible internet sources.

10. Prewriting • Use Looping to narrow a topic. • Free write on broad topic for five minutes. • Circle the most important ideas. • Write for five minutes on the ideas you circled. • Repeat process until to reveal a topic narrow enough to cover in a persuasive essay.

11. Clustering Violates civil liberties Fuels rebellion Creates financial hardship A school uniform policy should not be adopted. Angers students Difficult to enforce Hinders individuality

12. Thesis Statements • In persuasive writing you need to state your position clearly. • Thesis statements should not be worded as a question. • Thesis statements may include preview of main points. • Sample thesis statement: School uniform policies should not be enforced because they violate the constitution, create a financial burden for parents and increase rebellion among youth.

13. Avoiding Errors in Reasoning • Hasty Generalization • Stereotype • Cause and Effect Fallacy • False Analogy • Attacking the Person • Either-Or Fallacy • Non Sequitur • Circular Reasoning • Begging the Question • Red Herring

14. Sample Letter to the Editor To the Editor: I am of the opinion that silence is a vote of assent. Therefore, I must speak up in regard to my opposition to the proposal for a mandatory id badge system. The school shooting that was cited as evidence for why it would be a good idea to institute such a policy is pandering to fear and hysteria. The argument that schools will be safer if everyone were identified with name badges is a fallacy because it is based on a hasty generalization—an argument that lacks enough evidence and research to support it. The NEA is in favor of making schools safe, but they say, “Our preference is to use [security] strategies that research has proven effective. What evidence makes proponents of this policy so sure that id badges would help in situations such as school shootings? I doubt that a student or adult intruder, as in the Colorado example, willing to murder and commit suicide, is going to worry about whether he or she is going to be reprimanded for not putting his or her name badge on before entering the school. It is true that other government institutions such as the FBI mandate security badges, but they have other measures in place to monitor security such as cameras, guards, and access codes to unlock doors. They are also a police agency whose members have already relinquished certain private citizens’ rights. Proponents may then argue that teachers also have chosen to become public figures giving up certain privacy rights. Perhaps the mandatory wearing of badges should be considered as a contractual issue? However, students are another story. They are private citizens unlike FBI officers or public school teachers. They certainly have the right to say that they do not want to give up their anonymity by wearing their name and photo id on their outward person.

15. Just because others are doing this does not necessarily mean it is best practice, as we have so well learned from history. The “majority” can become a tyrant as noted in France near the time of its revolution, also in America with the slavery issue, and even in the 20th century when the Germans were the most educated majority on the face of the earth. We call ourselves “the land of the free and the brave.” Let us not allow those who would use national security to deceive us into revoking a citizen’s right to privacy. Our identity is our most sacred possession. If we force a person, who is guilty of nothing, to display his or her identity, this is saying that we deny the ideal of “innocent until proven guilty.” If we take this step, we are heading toward a slippery slope that plays right into the hands of the terrorists. They want to take our freedoms from us and turn us into a military state. While Rousseau’s argument regarding giving up individual rights for the good of the community sounds benign in theory, it only works when the one in charge is benevolent. What happens if we agree to give up individual freedom under a benevolent majority or government and then the next administration that rises to power has questionable motives? We must be extremely cautious about giving up our rights to liberty and privacy for the greater good. It is much more difficult to gain back rights that have been taken away than it is to lose them.

16. As I see it, just looking at id badges in isolation does not completely illustrate how our individual rights have slowly been chipped away since the school shootings in the 90’s and more recently due to 9/11. The 14th amendment has been trampled on with mandatory fingerprinting of new teachers, increased government wiretapping, detainment of suspects, indiscriminate searches at airports, and the interrogation of citizens without cause. We all like to say, “Oh well, it is for the greater good and for our own security, so I will comply. Or, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.” But what we fail to recognize when making these nonchalant comments is that evidence can be misconstrued. The example about the conservation officer walking across the school’s campus wearing camouflage is a perfect example. Outward appearances can be deceiving. Badges will not give us the power to read a person’s motives. Why do we distrust our own judgments so much that we would trust a badge or technology more so? In the example in the Education World article when the custodian would not allow the new band teacher access to the building without his badge, this point is illustrated. The custodian has been taught that he can no longer rely on his own judgment even after speaking to the staff member for several minutes. But, somehow a piece of plastic that can be easily stolen or forged by a terrorist is going to be trusted. This seems ludicrous, but it is what is going on. The high school staff member mentioned in the article handled this refusal very graciously because the custodian was “just following orders.” I can imagine other staff members being extremely upset for being denied access to their classroom or designated area, especially when the retrieval of an important file, report, or piece of equipment is paramount.

17. Terrorism has skewed our vision and made us paranoid. Unfortunately, our schools have lost their innocence. They have become an impersonal place filled with suspicion and doubt. This is not the kind of environment that research shows encourages learning. For those of you who received the Pacific Institute Training, you may recall the research cited by the presenter. The entire premise was to remind us that our children are essentially good and want to learn. We are the wizards who have the power to turn them into criminals or scholars. This id system teaches our students that we do not trust anyone and that we do negotiate with terrorists by voluntarily giving up our rights. In case you haven’t read the 14th amendment in a while, I thought I would remind you of what it says: All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privilege or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. It is true that this amendment can be interpreted in many ways. One interpretation of this amendment led to The Privacy Act of 1974. To find out more details on other rulings that have taken place over the last several years regarding privacy issues such as school records, I would encourage everyone to do some further research. I know some teachers avoid displaying student names when test information is published. This has been an issue recently, in deciding how to handle posting scores for the explore, plan, and PSAE in the teachers’ lounge.

18. Many schools have gone to mandatory badges, disregarding concerns over civil liberties, and some have been challenged. The judges, under this current administration, have struck them down because of the security/greater good argument, but that does not mean others will not continue to challenge these id policies. In 2005, after a heated school board debate, a security company bailed on a pilot program that a San Francisco school district had implemented requiring students to wear Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) badges that could track the students’ movements. Some parents felt that students were being treated like animals and were even being placed in more danger. It is hard for us to imagine how an id badge system could endanger students rather than protect them, but I will speculate that because a student’s identity is mandated to be displayed publicly, a criminal could gain access to that information too. I realize that the badge system that is being proposed currently does not have plans to use tracking devices. Yet, I cannot ignore some of the comments of local teachers wanting this type of technology implemented as we acquire more funding for security. How far are we willing to go with this? In my research, I discovered that a school in Wisconsin has already abandoned the plastic laminated badges because of loss or theft and have implemented an id chip being placed underneath the skin.

19. Other issues to consider regarding this proposal besides loss of freedom and privacy are where and when will the students be required to wear these id badges. Will they need to wear them after school during extra curriculars as well as in the evenings at sporting events and other events where the public is invited? What will happen to a student or visitor if he or she violates the badge policy? Who will enforce such a policy? Who will pay for the id badges and replacements when washed in the laundry too many times, or when they are lost or stolen? I have heard that this cost will be passed along to the students, but we all know that it is difficult to enforce even a twenty-five cent library fine. Do we really want to deal with the glut of paperwork and detentions/aer’s that may result because of this policy? We already have twenty-four line items on our building and grounds rules to enforce, plus classroom rules regarding tardiness, excessive talking and the like. Are we willing to give up more instruction time to handle this? I do not wish to adopt this policy. I am fine with a voluntary system in which students and staff display identification cards, but not a mandate! Dawn Drake

20. Sample Letter to the Editor II Whitney House is a small, white Victorian building that is home to nine Phillips Academy students each year. It is in fact a desirable dorm to be in, judging by the late spring term coin flip which occurred last year in order to win the chance for the only available double. Architecturally the house is a palace. Three of the dorm rooms have incredible bay windows, and almost every room has a walk-in closet. The trim over the windows and doors is authentic, matching with the tasteful edging outlining the high ceilings. One of the rooms upstairs even connects with a small tower that opens up to the front of the dorm.       Looking at the dorm from the outside, one can see the lovely front porch, and the second floor stained glass bay window. The view is however ruined by the fact that the white exterior paint is horribly peeling, as well as the floor on the similarly neglected porch. This building is representing Phillips Academy, and its location gives even the more incentive to make it presentable. The dorm is located on Bartlett Street, side-by-side with many other homes owned by people not connected with Phillips Academy. The homes are for the most part fairly large older homes. These buildings are all in immaculate shape, and in my opinion Whitney House should be comparable to them. It is unfitting for a dorm which represents our school have an exterior that was due to be re-painted several years ago.       As I mentioned earlier, the inside of the dorm truly exhibits the care that was put into constructing it; however, this hard work has been allowed to go to waste. The previously beautiful wood floors are scratched and cracked, and several of the boards have been loosened by missing nails that are dangerous to walk on. The heating system is also a hazard. The radiators are so hot that they cause significant burns if one were to touch them. The concentrated heat leaves parts of the room uncomfortably hot, but then leaves other parts drafty. Along with the heating problems, there are also electrical issues that -- although I am not an expert -- I can imagine are not safe. There are only three electrical outlets, in a double room. In other dorms, most singles have at least four outlets.

21.   The bathrooms are also incomparable to those of most other dorms. They are small and dingy, and none of the doors close or lock properly. The floors and draining systems are not at all in working order; when someone takes a shower, a large puddle of water rests in the center of the floor for a few hours before it finally evaporates. The sinks and toilers are indeed in working condition; however, they are in poor condition, making the bathrooms seem cheap and old. Downstairs in the dorm, there are two bathrooms, although only one has a shower. The other bathroom is tiny, holding a sink, a toilet and a claw footed bathtub. The idea of having a bathtub is intriguing, but with the poor shape it is in, and the fact that it is plainly unsanitary to share a bathtub with strangers, makes it unusable. A shower in that room would be much more convenient.       The common room itself is in fairly good shape, but so small that it cannot comfortably fit more than three or four people. I would think that in a dorm housing nine people, the common room should at least be large enough to accommodate all of those who live there. The room itself is smaller than any single in the building.       On a slightly separate issue, there are two washers and dryers in the dorm. However, they are located in a dark, dingy basement, and the only possible way to get to them is by leaving the dorm and going in through a door in the back of the building. It is difficult to drag a laundry bag down and up stairs and outside, especially in the winter. This also forces anyone who has to do laundry to fit it in before sign-in, whereas it would be much more convenient to be able to throw some clothes in after 10:00, when one doesn't have to worry about having to be at sports or clubs.

22.       I realize that the renovation process is a difficult and expensive one. In accordance with statistics from the office of Physical Plant, I was informed that Whitney House is 5,193 square feet. On average, the restoration of a house like Whitney can cost anywhere from $100-150 per square foot. Therefore, the expense of renovating the dorm would be roughly between $520,000 and $780,000. A possible option to avoid the immediate expenditure of over $500,000 would be to do the renovation over several stages. In my opinion, it is necessary for the bathrooms and exterior to be repaired the most promptly, but of course that would have to be determined by a professional. Though the expense may seem quite extravagant, I truly feel that it would be worth it. In comparison to other projects that the academy is funding, the renovation is a fairly small one. This house is truly of irreplaceable historical value, and it deserves to look its best.