Persuasive Writing

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Persuasive Writing
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Essential Questions

• What are the unique characteristics of persuasive
  writing?

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Essential Questions

• What are the common components we notice in
  editorials, essays, speeches, letters,
  journalism, advertisements, cartoons, and other
  forms of persuasive writing.

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Essential Questions

• How does a writer use language to build,
  substantiate, and sustain a credible thread of
  argument?

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Concepts and Topics

• Claim
• Debatable/Arguable
• Shares characteristics of thesis statements
• Answers the question, What is the author trying
  to prove?

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Examples of Claims

• Today there is more pressure placed on students
  to do well in schoolthis pressure is what is
  causing the increase in cheating
• Colleen Wenke, Too Much Pressure

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Examples of Claims

• Giving up privacy rights to government
  surveillance cant guarantee physical safety,
  but it will certainly inhibit intellectual
  freedom and limit cognitive liberty. We
  Americans who cherish our freedoms should
  seriously consider whether or not this is a
  compromise we are willing to make.
• Zara Gelsey, The FBI is Reading Over Your
  Shoulder

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Concepts and Topics

• Evidence (or Data)
• facts, statistics, expert opinion, examples, etc.
  used to support claim
• Answers What does the author say to persuade
  reader to accept the claim?

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Concepts and Topics

• Evidence (or Data)
• Must also appeal to intelligence and feelings of
  audience
• Rational
• Emotional
• Ethical

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Concepts and Topics

• Warrant
• Are the assumptions underlying the
  argument-generally accepted beliefs and values in
  our society
• Common ground between author and audience

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Concepts and Topics

• Warrant
• Connects the evidence to the claim.
• Answers Why causes the author to say what s/he
  says?

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Concepts and Topics

• Counter-Argument
• Why and when is it necessary to provide a counter
  argument?

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Concepts and Topics

• Audience
• Why is it important to have an audience in
  persuasive writing?
• Why should you consider that audience?

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Concepts and Topics

• Syntax
• How does the order of words in a sentence enhance
  the desired effect?
• How do you use various sentence types?

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Concepts and Topics

• Diction
• How does thoughtful deliberate word choice affect
  the reader?

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Concepts and Topics

• Organization
• Why is organization crucial to the
  intelligibility of the argument?