Persuasive Essay

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Persuasive Essay
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Purpose

• To express your opinion about a topic.
• To convince the reader why you believe a certain
  way.
• To change someones opinion.
• To make the reader aware of a situation.
• To sell a point.

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What does a Persuasive Essay Need?

• Great opening sentence (topic sentence)
• Strong reasons why the author believes a certain
  way.
• Details and explanations (examples) why the
  reasons are valid.
• Well-written closing statement (conclusion) that
  gets the reader to remember what you said.

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What Does it Look Like?
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• Topic sentence (fact)
• Your opinion (I believe that).
• Reasons to support your opinion (Reason 1, 2, )
• Body Paragraphs(including the counter
  argument)details and facts that back up your
  reasons (proof).
• Closing paragraphmake the reader pick a side).

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Introductory Paragraph Example
If you weighed all the people in the world and
added it up, it would be less than the weight of
all the ants on the planet. Hard to believe, but
in fact very true.
I believe we should include ants into our
everyday diet. If you have had any experiences
with ants, you would realize that they are easy
to catch, free, and taste just like chicken.
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Body Paragraph 1 Example
To catch a group of tasty ants, one just needs to
leave some sugar out and let the ants come to
them.
In fact, all food that has some sugar in it will
attract our little mealtime friends. In my
opinion, catching ants is much easier than
hunting buffalo or even going to the grocery
store. Remember, just like home-delivered pizza,
ants will come right to your front door!
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Body Paragraph 2 Example
My critics would say that ants taste horrible and
thus shouldnt be included in our diet.
I would argue that with enough seasoning,
anything tastes good. Throw some BBQ sauce on
those little buggers and they taste great. You
can even fry them or make them into a sandwich.
In reality, many of the lucky people who now eat
their share of daily ants compare the taste to
that of chicken.
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Body Paragraph 3 Example
Since ants are a natural and abundant resource,
theyre free!
How many things in this world are free? Just
think of how much money you could save if you
were to add ants to your diet. You could even
save enough money to afford extra ketchup,
mustard, chocolate, or any other dipping sauce.
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Concluding Paragraph Example
As you can see, there are many reasons why we
should consume more ants. Any way you look at it,
they are ripe for the picking. Next time youre
outside messing around, dont forget to attract
those ants they could be dinner!
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Your Turn!