Organizing and Writing a persuasive Essay

1. Organizing and Writing a persuasive Essay In this demonstration you will learn four basics steps to writing a persuasive essay. This will provide you with a foundation in early writing steps and evaluation. As a real life situation in 5th grade, you will be given the topic you are to write about. This demonstration will take that into account as you read on. Use the arrows at the bottom right to navigate through the demonstration or click on the home to return to the overview page.

2. Overview Step 1 – Choosing a side and creating an outline. Step 2 – Writing paragraph one, stating opinion and reasons why. Step 3 – Paragraphs two, three, and four, providing details and experience to explain listed reasons. Step 4 – Closing paragraph, restating purpose and a strong conclusion. Click on any step to return or review if necessary.

3. The purpose of a persuasive essay is to convince or persuade someone to agree with you. Many people write persuasive essays to someone that is about to make a decision that will affect them in some way. Here is an example of question you might see in a real world situation. Your principal would like to shorten your lunch period from 35 minutes down to 25 minutes. She has asked the students at her school to provide feedback about this topic before she makes a decision. This is a prime example of why someone would write a persuasive essay. We’ll use this question throughout this demonstration and show the proper steps for you to take to complete a persuasive essay.

4. Step 1 – Take a stand! Pick a side and stick with it. You might not be concerned about your lunch time, but you will need to choose one way or the other. For the purpose of this course, let’s say you would be extremely upset if you lost your lunch time. Once you’ve chosen a side, you will need to brainstorm and organize your reasons and examples down on a piece of paper. An example of brainstorming might look like this. Please note that telling the reader that it “isn’t fair” is not a sufficient reason!

5. Step 2 – After creating your outline, begin writing your first paragraph with a strong heading that is going to grab your reader’s attention. You will then need to identify what your position is and why you have chosen this particular side. With out explaining your reasons, state them in this paragraph. The explanations will follow. Here is an example of a strong first paragraph – I barely have enough time to eat my sandwich, let alone my fruit and dessert! Cutting back our lunch time from 35 minutes to 25 minutes is a horrible idea. I do not agree with this and that’s why I am writing you this letter. First of all, if you shorten lunch, students won’t have enough time to eat. Second, there won’t be enough time to get healthy exercise. And third, students will create more waste.

6. Step 3 – Paragraphs two, three, and four will be used to explain the three reasons you just stated in your opening paragraph. Keep in mind that you are trying to convince the reader to agree with you. Using detailed examples and personal experiences will help them relate to you, and you will get your point across much easier. Here is an example of a detailed paragraph – The first reason you should not shorten lunch time is because you will be sending students back to class hungry. After lining up for lunch, walking to the cafeteria, and waiting in line for my meal, I barely have enough time to eat. There are some days that I only finish my main course, which leaves my fruit, chips, and dessert on my tray. I’m still hungry, but I can’t eat because the lunch aide is asking us to leave to make room for the next grade. * Note – paragraphs three and four click here.

7. Step 4 – Writing a conclusion is your last chance to convince your reader! Use your last paragraph to RESTATE the side you’ve chosen and the three reasons why. Be sure to restructure your words so you’re not repeating your first paragraph. Finish your essay with a great closing line similar to the way you started your first paragraph. In conclusion, I feel strongly that you should not take away ten minutes of our lunch time. We don’t have enough time to eat as it is, more food will go wasted, and students will have less time to get the physical activity they need to stay healthy. Remember, the last thing parents want to see is two large dumpsters filled up with uneaten food! Click here to see an example of a completed essay.

8. This is what your completed essay will look like when you are finished. I barely have enough time to eat my sandwich, let alone my fruit and dessert! Cutting back our lunch time from 35 minutes to 25 minutes is a horrible idea. I do not agree with this and that’s why I am writing you this letter. First of all, if you shorten lunch, students won’t have enough time to eat. Second, there won’t be enough time to get healthy exercise. And third, students will create more waste. The first reason you should not shorten lunch time is because you will be sending students back to class hungry. After lining up for lunch, walking to the cafeteria, and waiting in line for my meal, I barely have enough time to eat. There are some days that I only finish my main course, which leaves my fruit, chips, and dessert on my tray. I’m still hungry, but I can’t eat because the lunch aide is asking us to leave to make room for the next grade. Another reason you should not shorten lunch time is because students won’t have enough time outside. Recess is more than just a time to have fun. It is imperative that students are outside releasing energy and taking a break from sitting. We are young and we like to move around. This gives a chance to relax and prepare for the next half of the day. The last reason is that students throwing away more food . Our society already wastes so much food and energy. This is going to make it even worse. Students are learning that it is ok to make all this food and then throw it away. This will have an affect on the garbage cans, the custodian, and overall waste management. In conclusion, I feel strongly that you should not take away ten minutes of our lunch time. We don’t have enough time to eat as it is, more food will go wasted, and students will have less time to get the physical activity they need to stay healthy. Remember, the last thing parents want to see is two large dumpsters filled up with uneaten food!

9. Paragraph three and four– Another reason you should not shorten lunch time is because students won’t have enough time outside. Recess is more than just a time to have fun. It is imperative that students are outside releasing energy and taking a break from sitting. We are young and we like to move around. This gives a chance to relax and prepare for the next half of the day. The last reason is that students throwing away more food . Our society already wastes so much food and energy. This is going to make it even worse. Students are learning that it is ok to make all this food and then throw it away. This will have an affect on the garbage cans, the custodian, and overall waste management. Return

10. Return Pick your side and write down as many reason that you can think of.

11. Now that you have completed this module, it is your turn to write a persuasive essay. Keep in mind the four steps that you just learned, and apply them to your writing. You will be given 60 minutes to brainstorm your ideas, create and outline, and put your argument into persuasive essay format. When you are ready to begin click on the testing link, if you would like to review this module again click on the review link. Test Review

12. Topic – Your school district is hosting a city council meeting to discuss the option of extending the school day by two hours each day. By doing this, students will not have to go to school on Fridays. The extended hours will be from 7:30am to 4:00pm, Monday through Thursday, and there will not be a short day. Instructions – In persuasive essay format, write to your school district explaining whether you agree with the option or not. List your reasons and provide specific details and examples that support your choice. Consider all different groups that will be affected by this decision. Click on the link below to begin writing. Begin

13. Begin Typing here - Once you have finished writing, review your work and click submit for grading. Clicking submit will end your session and you may not return to your essay. Submit

14. Congratulations! You have finished your course in persuasive essay writing. You will receive your graded essay 7-10 days from the time you submitted your assessment. Thank you! Click here to see an example of a completed essay with feedback.

15. Student Example Permanent three-day weekends sounds like the best idea that the government has thought of in years. I feel that taking our five school days and turning them into four days is a great idea because it will allow more time with our families, and we will get more school work done during the weekends. The first and most important reason we should cut school down to four days is because it will give us more time to be at home with our families. Many government buildings have gone to a four day week so we will have the same schedule as our parents. I guess other kids with parents at work can find a babysitter. Another reason we should shorten the school week is so we can have more time to finish homework and big projects that are done at home. Having Friday off would allow students to finish homework that they didn’t get done during the week. They can also go to the city library and do research and use the computers there. In conclusion, I believe that changing the school week to four days a week will improve test scores at school, students will be happy to do their homework, and everyone will get to spend more time with their families. Teacher Feedback Your opening sentence is strong and convincing to the reader. All of your paragraphs start and end at appropriate times and good use of transitional words. Remember that you will want to have five paragraphs total, in your opening paragraph you stated two reasons for your argument. To have a strong essay, you will need at least three ideas with supporting examples and details. In the second paragraph you state that some parents will be home with the kids while others will have to find a babysitter. This statement seems to refute your argument. Be sure to provide sentences that will help your position. The second reason is a weak example. It’s hard to think that students will do more homework on Fridays when most teachers don’t give homework over the weekend. If kids are treating the extra day as a three-day weekend, the last thing they want to do is extra school work. Finally, in your conclusion you bring up other reasons for your decision that you didn’t explore in your essay. How are you connecting test scores to a four day week? End Module