The Writing Process:

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The Writing Process

• Persuasive Writing

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What is a persuasive essay?
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Where do you see persuasive writing?
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For what purpose is persuasive writing used?
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Your assignment!

• Yes, of course. The assignment is to write a
  persuasive essay What else would it be?!?!
• But! You also have to do a persuasive speech to
  go with it!!

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Pre-Writing

• Brainstorm
• all the things about which you have a strong
  opinion(This could take a while)
• Look back over your brainstorming. About each
  topic, ask yourself the following questions
• Do I feel strongly about this topic?
• Might some people disagree about this topic?
• Do I have enough to say about this topic to
  persuade others to accept my position?

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Research

• In trying to persuade someone, you generally need
  cold, hard facts. Statistics are often very
  compelling, but examples and expert opinions
  (p.s. you are not an expert, yet) should be
  included as well.
• Where are you going to get the cold hard facts
  you need? Why, through research, of course!! (And
  you thought you were finished researching)

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PreWriting

• Organize your ideas.
• What is the best way to organize your paper?
• Strongest evidence first
• Strongest evidence last
• Make a list of the evidence you gathered that
  BEST supports your goal. Put it in an order that
  you feel is the most persuasive way to present
  it.
• Another part of being persuasive is anticipating
  the oppositions arguments and addressing them in
  your speech. List any arguments people have.
• Plan
• Go back over your evidence.
• Make sure your details are in the order you
  want them to be number them
• Consider and list how you will refute the
  arguments of the opposition.
• Make an outline

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Outline form

• Introduction
• Subtopic1
• Subtopic2
• Topic 1
• Subtopic1
• 1.Detail 1
• 2. Detail 2
• a. subdetail 1
• b. subdetail 2
• Subtopic2
• Topic 2
• Subtopic 1
• Subtopic 2
• 1. detail 1
• a. subdetail 1
• b. subdetail 2
• 2. detail 2
• Topic 3
• Subtopic 1

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Pre-writing

• What next?
• Begin Drafting!!
• Remember its important to have a good
  beginning. In a persuasive essay or speech, you
  want to state your position clearly from the
  beginning. Dont leave the audience wondering
  exactly whose side youre on.

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Drafting

• Good endings
• Dont forget, a good ending wraps up the essay so
  that your reader has a sense of closure.
• This is especially true if you want someone to
  change an opinion or to go out and do something.
• Re-state your position strongly.
• Sum up the arguments what were the main points?
• Tell the audience what you want them to do as a
  result of your speech/paper. Go buy a dog?
  Believe in Santa Claus? Support Green Peace with
  their time and money? TELL THEM!

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Drafting

• Writing the body
• A few reminders as you begin the body of your
  essay
• Write the main part without worrying about
  mistakes. Well fix it later.
• Follow your outline, adding more details as
  you think of them.
• Remember your purpose and audience.
• Remember to use the appropriate pronouns.
• Use your own voice show your personality and
  how you feel about things to keep your essay from
  sounding flat and boring. However, you still must
  use standard English. No slang!
• Be careful that you arent rude or obnoxious
  as you present your opinion. Opinions are like
  noses. The idea is to get people to want to share
  your noseI mean opinion. Not turn them off
  because you tried to browbeat them into doing
  what you want.
• Make sure you chose the best intro and
  conclusion for your paper, having clearly stated
  and re-stated your position.
• Include plenty of evidence. Just the facts,
  maam. Or sir.

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Revising

• Evaluate
• 1. Go back over the checklist on the previous
  slide.
• 2. Have a writing conference with a parent. This
  is different, because we dont want to ruin the
  effect of your speech by having people hear your
  paper ahead of time.
• 3. Elaborate word choice
• 4. Elaborate details
• 5. Elaborate Sentence variety

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Revising

• Writing conference
• Remember, this first meeting is not about
  proofreading. It is about listening to the
  content of the paper!
• With your parent (or other qualified adult)
• Writer Read your paper aloud. Do NOT just hand
  it to your partner to read. Ask for advise on any
  parts your are having trouble with. Take notes of
  your partners suggestions.
• Listener Tell the writer at least two things
  you like about the paper. Ask questions about any
  parts that are unclear. Give advise to help your
  partner improve the paper.

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Revising

• Elaborate
• Word choice Make sure you have chosen precise
  words. Do NOT repeat the same transition words
  over and over.
• Details Insert details within a sentence or add
  new sentences to add details. Find three places
  in your paper to either add details or revise to
  make the detail more descriptive.
• Sentence Fluency Add variety to your sentence
  structure. Dont start every sentence with then,
  so, however, etc. Dont make every sentence look
  exactly the same.

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Proofreading

• Edit!
• Now is the time to correct all those little picky
  mistakes. Once is NEVER enough.
• Correct your own- Heres a checklist
• Did you indent all paragraphs? ______
• Did you correct all fragments or run ons? ____
• Did you use the correct verb forms and not change
  tense is the middle of the paragraphs? ____
• Run spell-check, then check it again to catch
  those tricky homonyms and others the computer
  didnt catch ______
• Check the punctuation of any dialogue _____
• Did you use appropriate pronouns? _____
• Check your comma usage this always gets people!
  ______
• Peer editing Were skipping this part again,
  dont want to ruin the surprise!!
• Adult editing Have a parent or other adult read
  to catch anything that might be left. They must
  initial your draft!

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Publishing

• Final copy!
• Youre almost there. Make all corrections, add a
  title, and print a clean final copy!
• Make notecards to be used for your speech. NO
  notebook paper allowed at the podium. You may
  memorize, but I still STRONGLY suggest you have
  cards to refer to for statistics, etc. You dont
  want to get them wrong. Ill be looking at your
  paper as you read, so Ill know!