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Mini-Workshop Writing a Persuasive Essay

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.

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Mini-Workshop Writing a Persuasive Essay

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  1. 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-WorkshopWriting a Persuasive Essay

  2. 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. [End of Section]

  3. Writing a Persuasive EssayChoose an Issue Issue:a topic about which reasonable people have opposing views Look around for issues that intrigue you. • 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?

  4. Do I really care about this issue? Does it have clear pro and con arguments? Is it narrow enough to argue in 1,500 words? Writing a Persuasive EssayChoose an Issue List several issues. Look at each one and ask: If you answer yes to all three questions, you know you have a good topic for your essay.

  5. The public schools must prepare all students for college. Protecting the environment is important. The bike path system in this city needs to be improved. Writing a Persuasive EssayChoose an Issue Would these issues make good topics for a persuasive essay? No (too broad) No (no clear con argument) Yes, meets all criteria [End of Section]

  6. The City Council should establish a budget and a plan to repair, expand, and maintain the bike path system downtown. Concerned citizens are urged to write their City Council members and ask them to place this matter on the agenda for the next meeting. Writing a Persuasive EssayIdentify Your Thesis and Call for Action Write a thesis statement that defines your perspective,or position, on the issue. Also, develop a call for action—a sentence that tells readers what you want them to do. [End of Section]

  7. 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? 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. [End of Section]

  8. 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

  9. 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 More bike paths would encourage people to ride their bicycles to school or work, creating less pollution from automobile exhaust. Everyone would benefit from that. ethical appeal Much of the money that would be needed to improve the bike path system could come from the mass transit budget. logical appeal

  10. 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 [End of Section]

  11. Body Paragraph 1strongest reason Body Paragraph 1second strongest reason Body Paragraph 2another good reason Body Paragraph 2another good reason Body Paragraph 3secondstrongest reason Body Paragraph 3strongest reason Writing a Persuasive EssayOrganize Your Support Arrange your reasons by order of importance. Capture readers’ attention early. Make a strong final impression. OR [End of Section]

  12. 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. [End of Section]

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