Notes on Writing a Persuasive Essay

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Notes on Writing a Persuasive Essay
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Rhetorical Concepts Kairos-timeliness
Ethos-credibility Logos-logic Pathos-emotion
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What is a Persuasive Essay?

• A persuasive essay has an introduction, a body
  and a conclusion.
• The writer takes a position for or against an
  issue and writes to convince his/her audience to
  agree with his/her position.
• The writer tries to convince the reader to
  believe or do something as well.

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Introduction

• Should have a hook or grabber to catch the
  readers attention

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Some grabbers include

• opening with an unusual fact or detail
• opening with a strong statement
• opening with a quotation
• opening with a statistic
• opening with a question
• opening with an anecdote

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The introduction should also include a THESIS
STATEMENT

• A thesis statement is a sentence that states what
  you will prove in your essay

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It is a fact that teenagers require
more sleep than adults. The average teenager
requires 12-14 hours of sleep a day.
Unfortunately, teenagers rarely get this amount
of sleep. Why? Because the average American high
school begins between 7 and 8 a.m. in the
morning. This is ridiculous. High school students
should have a start time of 10 a.m. to allow
their growing students to get the amount of sleep
they need to strengthen and develop their brains,
which will allow them to meet greater success in
school.
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What is the thesis statement?

• High school students should have a start time
  of 10 a.m. to allow their growing students to get
  the amount of sleep they need to strengthen and
  develop their brains, which will allow them to
  meet greater success in school.

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The Body

• Should consist of paragraphs that follow the
  thesis and transition smoothly.
• Each paragraph should give a solid reason to back
  your thesis statement
• Each reason should be followed with
  examples/details (elaborate on each point)

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Elaboration and Details

• Use real-life experiences
• Give statistics/facts
• Give examples/scenarios to support your each
  reason

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Counterclaim

• Acknowledge the other point of view that goes
  against your position.

• Discredit the counterclaim by finding fault with
  the counterclaim.

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Conclusion

• Begin with a transition (see list in tool kit)
• Summarize main points/reasons
• Restate thesis statement