Persuasive Writing

7th Grade Conspiracy Unit

Persuasive Writing

Persuasive writing is writing that tries to convince a reader to do something or to believe what you believe about a certain topic.

It takes a position for or against something.

Persuasive Writing can be used to…

Purpose• Support a cause

• Urge people to action

• Make a change

• Prove something wrong (or right)

Persuasive Statement• “Please support my football

team by buying discount coupons.”

• “Vote for Sarah!”

• “The principal should let us wear hats.”

• “Cell phones don’t cause brain cancer.”

Persuasive Writing can be used to…

Purpose• Stir up sympathy

• Create interest

• Get people to agree with you

Persuasive Statement• “If you don’t adopt this dog, it

could have to live in a shelter.”• “Better grades get you a better

job and more money.”

• “Milky Way is the best candy bar.”

Persuasive writing follows a certain format:

• INTRODUCTION with a “hook” and thesis statement

• BODY where the argument is explained

• CONCLUSION where main points are summarized and reviewed and the reader is left with something to think about.

First…Know Your Audience…• Before you start writing, you should know your

audience:– Who will read your writing? Who do you need to

convince?– The audience may be your friends, your teacher, your

parents, your principal, the readers of a newspaper or the President of the United States!

– Will you be graded? On What?– Should you be casual or professional?

Second… Pick a side!

• The writer must clearly state his/her position and stay with that position. Pick a side!

• Generally, the position is stated in the opening paragraph or introduction.

In order to convince the reader you need more than just an opinion; you need facts or examples to back your opinion. So, be sure you’ve done enough research!

Three: Do Your Research…

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Four: MAKE A PLAN, then write! The 6 Paragraph Essay:

1. Introduction/Hook/Thesis2. Argument 1 with support3. Argument 2 with support4. Argument 3 with support5. Show the counter-argument

and make an argument against it6. Conclusion

DOS and DON’Ts of Persuasive Writing:

• Do:• Divide into 5 paragraphs• Have a thesis statement in

your introduction• Come up with 3 main points

to support your argument—these will be your 3 body paragraphs

• Show the “counter -argument”

• Have a conclusion that has a “clincher statement”

• Come up with a catchy title

• Don’t :• Don’t begin with “Hello my

name is___ and I’m going to write about____”

• Don’t use the word “I “ (Instead of “I think we shouldn’t wear uniforms” say “Uniforms shouldn’t be required.”

• Don’t be wishy-washy. Pick a side!

• Don’t forget to support your opinions with facts and example s

The Great Introduction…What makes an good introduction?• It grabs or “hooks” the reader’s attention by using one or more of

the following strategies: – An anecdote or scenario– A quotation– An interesting fact or statistic– A question

• It tells how the writing will be organized. • The author’s position is clearly stated in a thesis statement.

Grabbing Your Audience…

Good strategies used in introductions:• Use an Anecdote/ Scenario

– The writer provides a personal experience or made-up situation to introduce the position.

• Questioning– The writer asks thought-provoking questions to capture the

reader’s interest.

• Interesting fact or statistic– The writer gives an interesting piece of information to grab the

reader’s attention.

Lets Take A Look….

You Could Start with a Riddle:• Get your reader’s attention with a challenging

thought.• “Are religious leaders always forthcoming about

their intentions? Does the truth always come out immediately? This was not the case in the cover up by the church of Scientology.”

You Could Begin with a Strong Statement:• Example:• Leaders of a religious organization are

supposed to be righteous, honest and trustworthy. This was not the case with the leaders of the Church of Scientology.

You Could Open with a Quotation:

• Example: According to Wikipedia, Operation Snow White “included a series of

infiltrations and thefts from 136 government agencies, foreign embassies and consulates, as well as private organizations critical of Scientology, carried out by Church members, in more than 30 countries.”

You Could Open with a interesting fact:

• Example:• “How does one reach spiritual freedom, particularly while still

living amidst a frantic and often overwhelming society? That is the goal of the Church of Scientology.”

You Could Open with an Anecdote:• An anecdote can provide an amusing and attention-getting

opening if it is short and to the point.

• “Walking into my place of worship I feel peace overcome the stress in my life. Sunday worship is a time when I can escape the stress of everyday life and feel good about the world I live in. My hopes that human nature is kind, honest and trustworthy is restored. Listening to our pastor is something that I look forward to each week.”

You Could Open with a Fact or Statistic:

• Example:

• Eleven highly placed Church executives pleaded guilty or were convicted in federal court of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property.

You Could Open with a Question:

• Do you trust the leaders of your church?

Open with an Outrageous Statement:

• Example:• “No one can be trusted!”

Writing the Thesis Statement

• Put your completed thesis statement at the end of your first paragraph.

COMPLETED THESIS STATEMENT• The Church of Scientology operatives committed infiltration,

wiretapping, and theft of documents in government offices.

Add your summary

• “Operation Snow White was the Church of Scientology's internal name for a major criminal conspiracy during the 1970s to purge unfavorable records about Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard.”

Our Introductory Paragraph:

Tustworthy People Are Few and Far Between!

Leaders of a religious organization are supposed to be righteous, honest and trustworthy. This was not the case with the leaders of the Church of Scientology. Operation Snow White was the Church of Scientology's internal name for a major criminal conspiracy during the 1970s to purge unfavorable records about Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard. The Church of Scientology operatives committed infiltration, wiretapping, and theft of documents in government offices.

CATCHY TITLE

HOOK THE READER

THESIS STATEMENT

Three Supporting Paragraphs:• Use three pieces of the evidence you

researched. One for each paragraph.– Documents found by FBI– Leaders plead guilty– Refused to cooperate with government officials

You’ll Need to Show “The Other Side…”• How many of you have been in a discussion with

someone and you remember saying, “Yeah, that’s true, but…” This is called a counter-argument. It’s the “other side” of the argument.

• You’ll need to tell your reader what the counter-argument is and prove why it shouldn’t matter.

• Let’s take a look using our example Operation Snow White…

The Other Side of the Story• This is where you should explain why your opposition

believes what they believe.• For example: • “Members of the Church of Scientology continue to

defend their leaders. They deny that their leaders are guilty burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property. They claim that their leaders were framed and forced to enter a plea of guilty in order to lessen their sentence term. These members are not looking at the facts.”

Conclude or End Your Essay…What makes an good conclusion? Last paragraph summarizes your main point. End using one or more of the following strategies:

–Call the reader to action–Anecdote or scenario–Make a Prediction

The last paragraph wraps up the writing and gives the reader something to think about.

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Strategies for Conclusions• Call to Action

– Ask the reader to do something or to make something happen “Before trusting anyone, make sure you know them well.”

• Provide a solution– Provide an answer to the problem “Church leaders should

be accountable for their actions. A form of accountability needs to be put in place.”

• Make a Prediction– Explain what might be the consequences of action or

inaction “If our leaders continue to display characteristics that show their lack of trustworthiness, our country will continue to follow their lead.”

Concluding Paragraph:Restate your thesis.

Operation Snow White was a systematic attempt by the Church of Scientology to infiltrate and steal classified files on Scientology from governments all over the world. Church officials possessed documents found by FBI, they refused to cooperate with government officials and the leaders of the church plead guilty of charges. Church leaders should be accountable for their actions. A form of accountability needs to be put in place. Summarize

main points

Ending strategy

Review: The Persuasive Essay:• A Catchy Title• Introductory paragraph with a “hook”, three

main arguments and a thesis statement.• One paragraph for each of your three

arguments.• Address the “counter-argument”• Closing paragraph that re-states your thesis and

challenges the reader to think about it.

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Don’t Forget…

• Make sure to read over your work and edit for mechanics and spelling.

• Include detail and great vocabulary.• Follow proper format: Proper heading and

double space!

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