Writing to Persuade

Writing to Persuade

 When you are writing to persuade you are trying to convince people to agree with your opinions or to do something.  Some examples of persuasive writing are: newspaper editorials, reports, speeches, advertisements, reviews, etc.

• The goal of writing to persuade is not to show you are angry about an issue.  The goal is to have us take a closer look at our beliefs and the beliefs of others.  Persuasive writing gives us the opportunity to consider different beliefs fairly and to justify our own beliefs.

 When writing to persuade you should use evidence to support your viewpoint, consider views that are against your viewpoint, and present a strong conclusion.

Some parents worry that accepting a school uniform policy will be too expensive.  However, there are ways to lessen the cost.  For example, in Seattle, Washington, local businesses help pay for uniforms at South Shore Middle School.  In Long Beach, California, graduating students donate or sell their uniforms….

 When writing to persuade you should include the following:

• Evidence to support your viewpoint:  including statistics (data), facts, quotes from experts, and examples.
• Considering viewpoints that are against your viewpoint:  try to think of the arguments or concerns that others may have about your viewpoint.  You should respond to these concerns to explain why your viewpoint is the best one.
• All of your explanations and evidence should lead to a strong conclusion where you summarize your view.  The conclusion can also include a call for the readers to perform an action.

 The two main types of arguments in writing to persuade are logical and emotional.

• Logical aruguments use facts and evidence to persuade.  This type of argument is more likely to persuade others to change their viewpoint.
• Emotional arguments use the feelings of the author and reader to persuade.  Emotional arguments work best for an audience that already agrees with you.  Emotional arguments usually do not persuade people who don't already agree.

 How to organize your writing when trying to persuade your readers: 

 First, identify your audience.  Who are you trying to convince?  Focus your argument on your audience. 

• Let's look at an example of focusing on your audience.  Your argument is that your school should have a longer recess.  Look at the ways you would approach the argument based on your audience.

             *Principal:  Focus on how it could improve learning. 

             *Parents:  Focus on why play time is important.

 Choose the issue you want to persuade your audience to accept.  It is a good idea to pick an issue that is important to you or that you care about.  This will make your argument more convincing.

• A persuasive argument works best when there is a disagreement of some sort.  If there is no disagreement, then there is no point to writing the argument.
• Decide on the purpose of your argument:  What do you hope to accomplish?  Why is it important?  Is there a benefit to your view?  What problems could be eliminated?  What questions could be answered?  How would other people be affected?  What obstacles would be overcome?
• After deciding on your issue you need to decide whether you are for or against the issue.  
• Then you will decide how you will support your argument.  We will use the logical approach when writing.  
• Making a Pro versus Con chart could be helpful to develop your ideas.

“I think schools should serve better lunches.”
Pros	Cons
Students will eat their entire lunch and not throw food away.	Lunches would cost more money.
Students learn better when they are not hungry.	More people would need to be hired if more students bought lunch.
Students will want to come to school for good lunches.	Students only want junk food.

 Your first paragraph should introduce your argument.  Write a statement that tells the point you are trying to make. State the 3 best reasons you have to support your position.  These reasons will become the topic of each of the paragraphs in the body.  Don't get too specific, leave the details for later.  Just lay out your main idea and opinion.

 Plan out your argument.  Organise the information in order of importance before writing your rough draft.  

• Always keep in mind the arguments that others may have against your own viewpoint.  Only address these points if you have good ways to respond to them.  For example, a fact that does not support their view is a good response.  A bad response is to simply say their viewpoint is wrong.
• Avoid making your argument into an "I" versus "You" situation.  The reader is not likely to be persuaded to change their view if they feel like you are blaming them for a problem or issue.

 The body should include at least 3 paragraphs.  Each point should cover a main point to back up your argument and idea.  Each paragraph should include smaller points that support the main point. 

First Sentence:  Main Point	Cats are easy to look after.
Second Sentence:  Support	They are very independent.
Third Sentence:  Support	Cats are very clean and hygienic.
Fourth Sentence:  Support	Cats are very intelligent.
Last Sentence: Transition	The last sentence should lead to the next paragraph smoothly.

  

 Write your rough draft.  Remember that if you use quotes from experts you need to give credit to the experts.  Tell who they are and put any quotes in quotation marks ("").

• Make each sentence count.  Be clear and stick to your point.   

 Revise and edit your rough draft.  Ask yourself if your argument needs more support?  Is your viewpoint clear?  Did you include the opposing view?  Did you explain why the opposing view is not the best one?  Did you leave the reader with a strong comment to leave them thinking about your argument? 

 Write your final draft.  

   To use an interactive persuasive essay map.    

   To practice writing persuasive leafets.            

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