Persuasive Writing

Ms.

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

Persuasive Writing can be

used to
Purpose
Support a cause

Urge people to action

Make a change
Prove something
wrong

Persuasive Statement
Please support my
football team by buying
discount coupons.
Vote for Sarah!
The principal should
let us wear hats.
Cell phones dont
cause brain cancer.

Persuasive Writing can be

used to
Persuasive Statement
If you dont adopt this
dog, it could have to live
in a shelter.
Create interest
Better grades get you a
better job and more
money.
Get people to agree
with you
I am sure youll agree
that Milky Way is the best
candy bar.
Purpose
Stir up sympathy

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.

FirstKnow 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.

Three: Do Your
Research
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 to do
the research!

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Four: MAKE A PLAN, then

write!

The 6 Paragraph Essay:

1. Introduction/Hook/Thesis
2. Argument 1 with support
3. Argument 2 with support
4. Argument 3 with support
5. Show the counter-argument
and make an argument
against it
6. Conclusion

DOS and DONTs of Persuasive

Writing:
Do:
Divide into 5 paragraphs
Have a thesis statement
in your introduction
Come up with 3 main
points to support your
argumentthese will be
your 3 body paragraphs
Show the counter
-argument
Have a conclusion that
has a clincher
statement
Come up with a catchy
title

Dont :
Dont begin with Hello
my name is___ and Im
going to write about____
Dont use the word I
(Instead of I think we
shouldnt wear uniforms
say Uniforms shouldnt
be required.
Dont be wishy-washy.
Pick a side!
Dont forget to support
your opinions with facts
and example s

The Great Introduction

What makes an good introduction?
It grabs or hooks the readers 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 authors 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 readers interest.

Interesting fact or statistic

The writer gives an interesting piece of information to
grab the readers attention.
Lets Take A Look.

You Could Start with a

Riddle:
Get your readers attention with a
challenging thought.
Whats plain, and boring? What makes all
students in a school building look the
same and lose their individuality? If you
guessed UNIFORMS, youre correct!

You Could Begin with a Strong

Statement:

Example:
Fast food consumption has risen 500
percent since 1970 and today
reaches nearly every part of society,
including some public school
cafeterias.

You Could Open with a

Quotation:
Example:
University of Delaware professor states:
Advertising, including television ads, billboards, and other
advertising,
including toys in boxed meals, has had an effect upon children
as never before.
Children these days are growing up with low concern for their
health and
more concern for what tastes good.

You Could Open with a

interesting fact:
Example:
Did you know that a typical child needs 2,000
calories for an entire day and Burger Kings
Whopper with triple cheese has 1,230 calories?

You Could Open with an

Anecdote:
An anecdote can provide an amusing and attentiongetting opening if it is short and to the point.

My hands felt sticky after pulling open the doors to Big

Bobbys Boisterous Burger Hut. The odor smelled of
fried everything. I ordered a Big Bobby Combo #2. There
was enough food to serve a small third world country on
my tray. I nibbled at the pound burger and my chin
was covered in a mayonnaise and ketchup concoction. I
asked the server if I could have a few fries with my salt. I
left the place feeling like my stomach was mad at me.

You Could Open with a Fact or

Statistic:
Example:

Thirty percent of the children in the survey ate fast

food on any given day during the survey, and they
ate an average of 187 calories a day more than
those who did not eat fast food. These additional
calories could account for an extra six pounds of
weight gain per year, according to Ludwig.

You Could Open with a

Question:
How many times have you eaten fast
food this month?

Open with an Outrageous

Statement:
Example:
Fast food is killing America!

Next: Creating a Thesis

Statement

A thesis statement is one sentence at the end of your

introduction that states your opinion. It needs to be
strong.
First, choose 3 main focus points to discuss in your
essay. These points will become the focus of three
paragraphs in the body of your paper.
Lets use fast food as an example again.
Fast food(3 Discussion Points)

rapidly increases weight

causes high blood pressure

leads to sluggishness

Writing the Thesis

Statement
Now take your three main focus points and
summarize them. Put your completed thesis
statement at the end of your first paragraph.
THREE MAIN FOCUS POINTS
I believe fast food is harmful because it rapidly
increases weight, causes high blood pressure, and
leads to lethargy.
COMPLETED THESIS STATEMENT
I believe fast food has negative health effects.

Our Introductory Paragraph:

CATCHY TITLE

Fast Food Is Killing America!

HOOK THE READER

Did you know that a typical child needs 2,000 calories

for an entire day and Burger Kings Whopper with triple
cheese has 1,230 calories? That is far more calories than
anyone needs in one day! Fast food consumption has risen
500 percent since 1970 and today reaches nearly every part
of society, including some public school cafeterias. Fast
food is harmful because it rapidly increases weight, causes
high blood pressure, and leads to sluggishness. Fast food is
bad for your health!
YOUR THREE ARGUMENTS
THESIS STATEMENT

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Three Supporting
Paragraphs:

Use each of the main arguments you

used in your introductory paragraph
and expand on each giving facts and
reasons.
In our example, you would write one
paragraph on how fast food increases
weight, one paragraph on how it
causes high blood pressure and one
on how it leads to sluggishness.
Walsh Publishing Co. 2009

Youll Need to Show The Other

Side
How many of you have been in a discussion
with someone and you remember saying,
Yeah, thats true, but This is called a
counter-argument. Its the other side of
the argument.
Youll need to tell your reader what the
counter-argument is and prove why it
shouldnt matter.
Lets take a look using our example of fast
food

The Other Side of the Story

This is where you should explain why your
opposition believes what they believe.
For example:
A fast food company wouldnt agree with
the points in this essay. They would have
lots of reasons why fast food is good. They
may sayits convenient or Its fine if
eaten in moderation. These arguments
just dont hold up when you take all the
facts into consideration!
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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 I challenge you to watch what
you eat and to avoid fast food.
Provide a solution
Provide an answer to the problem Fast food doesnt
have to be bad food. Make better choices like
salads, fruit and low fat treats.
Make a Prediction
Explain what might be the consequences of action or
inaction If people continue to eat lots of fast food,
they put their health at risk. If kids dont make better
choices today, they wont grow into healthy adults.
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Concluding Paragraph:
Restate your thesis.

In closing, its important to remember that too much

fast food can have negative effects on your health. If not
eaten in moderation, you can gain weight, suffer from high
End with
blood
pressure and become slow and sluggish. Is it worth
A comment (Dont make your body suffer!)
the
to your
body?
Healthy
A risk
question
(Are you
willing toEat
risk your
health?) and Make good choices!
A call to action (I highly recommend you consider your options the next time your
faced with a decision about what to eat.)

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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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Dont Forget
Make sure to read over
your work and edit for
mechanics and spelling.
Write neatly!
Include detail and great
vocabulary.
Follow proper format:
Proper heading and skip
lines!
Walsh Publishing Co. 2009