PERSUASIVE WRITING

Main Goal

• Convince your audience that your ideas are valid

OR• More valid that someone else’s• Convince your audience to do something or believe something

Backup Goal• If nothing else, you should strive to make your

audience think about your topic in a new light

Rhetoric

•The art of speaking and writing effectively

Aristotle

• Greek philosopher• Claimed in any given case, you can observe and determine the most effective way of persuasion

• Divided the means of persuasion into three categories:• Ethos (credibility)• Pathos (emotional)• Logos (logical)

Ethos: How do we do it?• Stay consistent• Do your research• Have confidence

• Straddle the line• Choose your side and don’t go back

How NOT to do it:

Pathos: How do we do it?• Flattery—you will be more persuasive by complimenting

someone and being positive• You may want to arouse anger or pity• Create an emotion by setting a scene• Be descriptive—show, don’t tell!

• Never insert direct appeal (ex: “At this point, you should be crying…”)

• You can’t force it! Be natural.

How NOT to do it:

Logos: How do we do it?• State your argument within the first paragraph• Repetition is key• Rebuttal: the part of the argument where the writer

acknowledges and counters the opposing view—this must be in your papers!

• Put yourself in the shoes of your opponent• Think about objections and say it before your opponent

can

Persuasive writing…• Is convincing• Has a clear position and is focused on that position• Has more than one argument to support a position• Is elaborated on using reasons, well-chosen and specific details,

examples, anecdotes, facts, and/or statistics as evidence to support arguments

• Is organized to make the best case for your position with an opening including the position statement and an effective persuasive conclusion, such as a call to action

• Anticipates and refutes the opposing opinion• Uses transitions to connect position, arguments, and evidence• Shows commitment to position with voice and language appropriate for

the audience• Uses specific words, phrases, and persuasive strategies that urge or

compel to support a position

Use persuasive writing to…• Support a cause (Please support my team by buying

these coupons)• Urge people to action (Vote for Pedro)• Make a change (The school should serve better lunches)• Prove something wrong (Cars do not cause global

warming)• Stir up sympathy (If you don’t adopt this dog, it could be

put to death)• Create interest (Better grades lead to a better job and

more money)• Get people to agree with you (I’m sure that you will agree

that Reese’s are the best candy)

Example:

• Some late work counts as 70% credit, giving kids a C-, which is passing. Some kids are happy because they think a C- is a good grade. How can we allow students to turn in all of their work late but still earn a passing grade? The kids that have C-s don’t care about their work because even if they turn it in late, they can still get a passing grade. These kids have sort of twisted the grading system to benefit themselves. This can no longer be allowed.

Audience Awareness• KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

• The audience is who will read your writing• The audience may be your teacher, your parents, your friends, or

even the President of the United States• Knowing who your audience is helps you decide:

• How to connect with the ideas, knowledge, or beliefs of the person or group

• What information to include• What arguments will persuade him/her/them• How informal or formal the language should be

Clear Position

•The writer must clearly state or imply his or her position and stay with that

position •The position is stated generally in the

opening paragraph or introduction

Persuasive Language• Choosing just the right words or phrases to use at just the

right time with just the right audience• Precise words:

• Trigger strong feelings• Seizes• Snarls• Dumbstruck

• Repeated words or phrases• For emphasis• “I Have a Dream” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

• Different connotations• Positive or Negative

• Mean or strict• Dead or passed away• Used or pre-owned

Persuasive Strategies: Expert Testimony

• Evidence in support of a fact or statement by a person thought to have special skills or knowledge

• “The effort put in reflects the outcome,” says Professor Plum from the University of Washington. I must say that I have to agree with this powerful message.

Persuasive Strategies: Anecdote

• A personal experience inserted into your writing in which the audience sees your own expertise or knowledge, and as a result will support your position

• Even an A student like myself can forget an assignment once in a while! I think every student should be entitled to the right of having at least one “late pass” per quarter.

Persuasive Strategies: Compromise or Problem Solving

• When you create a solution that is in between the two points of view

• Even if you don’t choose my position on this argument, at least consider this: Make late work be at the teacher’s discretion. Let the teachers decide a fair punishment or penalty, or if late work will be accepted at all. Thank you for taking my ideas into consideration.

• I also understand that some students would choose not to do their homework and do it later. But I have solutions to this problem, too. A student could have to bring a note signed by a parent or guardian that says why a student brought his or her work in late. An alternative solution is that homework can only be accepted a select number of days after it was due.

Persuasive Strategies: Statistics• Using facts & statistics to support your position

• Sixty-three percent of teachers surveyed on late homework say they would truthfully rather give kids zeros than go through the hassle of grading late homework. Teachers don’t want to waste their time with procrastinators. The No Late Homework Rule will further support this belief.

Persuasive Strategies: Rhetorical Questions

• Questions that have obvious answers; often used to involve the audience, create interest, and to introduce your position or argument

• “I’m sorry. I left my work at home. My mom just had a baby, so I was taking care of her, and I just ran out the door without it.” Your teacher smiles at you. “It’s okay, I understand. Just bring it in tomorrow.” Isn’t that a better situation than, “Oh, too bad! You don’t get any credit for it”?

Organizational Structures• Concession & counter argument (rebuttal)• Acknowledging or recognizing the opposing viewpoint, conceding

something that has some merit, and then countering it with another argument

• Causal Chain• A chain or cause/effect events• Can be used for an entire essay or for a portion of an essay• If you give us more time for a break, we will get more homework

done, so our grades will be better, and our parents will be proud.• Compromising or Problem Solving• Proposing a compromise or suggesting a solution to a problem• Order of importance• Ordering arguments from least to most important (or vise versa) to

persuade an audience