Review Topic Sentences

1. Review Topic Sentences Write 2-3 topic sentences for each of the following topics. Example Topic: Television’s effects on children Topic sentences: • Television is harmful to children because it teaches them violence as a way to solve problems. • Television can improve a child’s general knowledge.

2. Topics for Topic Sentences • Smoking Cigarettes • Foreign Travel • Space exploration • Music • Studying a foreign language

3. How to write a Persuasive Essay

4. Writing Assignment #3 • You are going to write a persuasive essay, trying to persuade someone to support your position on a topic of your choice. • Examples of topics: • Why Seoul is a better city to live in than Daejeon. • Why we shouldn’t have “English-only” curriculum in South Korea. • Why gay marriage shouldn’t be legal. Minimum: 4 paragraphs Maximum: 5 paragraphs

5. What is a Persuasive Essay? • A writer takes a stance on an issue, either FOR or AGAINST. • Tries to convince the reader to accept his or her point of view. • In order to convince the reader, the writer not only states his or her stance with an opinion, but with facts and research.

6. Example of a Persuasive Speech- “Harms of Pop” • Listen to someone give a speech about soda/pop (Coke or Pepsi). • Listen to how she organized her speech in order to support her position. • What are the three points that she argues in her speech?

7. How to choose a topic • Find a position that you are not only passionate about, but you can find solid evidence that supports your position. • Don’t choose a topic where it is only based on belief or opinion. You need to develop your opinion with facts, statistics, and data.

8. Find out more about the other side • Start your essay by defending your thesis statement. • Think about a thesis statement that directly opposes your viewpoint. • Examine the other side and determine if you have enough evidence to disprove the other person’s viewpoint. • Are there any contrasting evidence, inconsistencies, and logic that doesn’t make sense?

9. Define your topic • Make sure your topic is clearly defined and objective (no “I” statements). Which topic is the best? • Cable modem vs. dial-up • Why I chose cable modem over dial-up • Reasons why cable modem rules over dial-up

10. Example- “Stem Cell Research” • Listen to someone give a speech, trying to convince you that we shouldn’t do embryonic stem cell research. • How did he argue against the opposite position? • Can you think of other responses in favor or against his argument?

11. How to organize the essay-Introduction • Thesis statement • Clear definition of the points that support your thesis. • Present them in the same order that you’ll use in the body of your essay.

12. Introduction- “Hook and Grabber” • Unusual detail • Strong statement • Quotation • Anecdote • Statistic or fact • Question

13. Example of Introduction More people die on Korean roads in a single year than all the U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since the fighting began. In this paper I will describe the road conditions and the mentality that leads to this unnecessary, and certainly avoidable, killing.

14. Body of Persuasive Essay • Begin each paragraph with a point from your introduction. • Support your statements with evidence. • As you finish each paragraph, read it from the other person’s perspective (the person opposing your view) in order to check for faulty logic, inconsistencies in logic. • Make sure your evidence is specific.

15. Supporting Details • When you state something, you need to provide support and your claims have to be explained. Example: “Smoking is bad for you.” Why?

16. Examples of evidence • Hypothetical instance (“Suppose that…” “What if…”) • Drawing comparisons • Analysis • Analogy • Graphs and statistics

17. Conclusion • Summarizing the main points of your argument. • State again what the reader must believe and/or do. • Incite the reader to do something about the issue (prediction, question, recommendations, quotation).