Prompt 1: You want to try out for (activity of your choice) _______________________________ that meets every day after school. Your parents believe that participating in this
activity and maintaining good grades are too difficult to manage.
Think about what you could do to achieve your goal and address your parents’ concerns. Write a letter to your parents to persuade them to allow you to participate.
Be sure to

Establish a clear thesis or position for your audience

Support your position with logical reasoning and relevant evidence

Anticipate and answer counterarguments

Use persuasive techniques appropriately
Prompt 2: Your parents want to do something special to celebrate your upcoming graduation from middle school. They are considering getting you a new pet of your choice or
going on a vacation to a place of your choice within the continental U.S. Think about which one you would want. Write a letter to your parents persuading them to go with your
choice.
Be sure to

Establish a clear thesis or position for your audience

Support your position with logical reasoning and relevant evidence

Anticipate and answer counterarguments

Use persuasive techniques appropriately
Prompt 3: KMS administrators are deciding whether or not to let students have and chew gum at school. Administrators believe that gum will become more of a problem than it
already is, whereas you believe that gum could be used appropriately.
Think about the ways in which students would benefit by being allowed to chew gum. Write a persuasive text to convince administrators to allow students to have
and chew gum at school.
Be sure to

Establish a clear thesis or position for your audience

Support your position with logical reasoning and relevant evidence

Anticipate and answer counterarguments

Use persuasive techniques appropriately
Prompt 4: KMS administrators are deciding whether or not to let students use their cell phones within the classrooms. Administrators believe that cell phones will be used
inappropriately, whereas you believe that they could be used as an educational tool.
Think about the ways in which you could use a cell phone to learn. Write a persuasive text to convince administrators to allow students to use cell phones within the
classroom for educational purposes. Be sure to

Establish a clear thesis or position for your audience

Support your position with logical reasoning and relevant evidence

Anticipate and answer counterarguments

Use persuasive techniques appropriately
Prompt 5: Kingston Middle School is experiencing a problem with litter and a lack of recycling. The school grounds are strewn with garbage while trash cans are not used.
Students are not adhering to recycling guidelines and are throwing away materials that could be recycled.
Think about ways this is damaging the environment. Write a persuasive text that could be published in the school newsletter that will convince peers that this is a
significant problem and needs to be addressed. Be sure to

Establish a clear thesis or position for your audience

Support your position with logical reasoning and relevant evidence

Anticipate and answer counterarguments

Use persuasive techniques appropriately
Prompt 6: With the current economic challenges facing our nation, many states and counties have cut back on work weeks. North Kitsap School District is considering shutting
down all school buildings one day per week. This would mean that the school day for the remaining four days of the week would be about one- and one-half hours longer.
Think about ways this change would affect you. Since you are a student currently attending school in North Kitsap, would you prefer to continue with the current
five-day week, or change to a four-day week with longer school days? Write a letter to the School Board supporting your choice.
Be sure to

Establish a clear thesis or position for your audience

Support your position with logical reasoning and relevant evidence

Anticipate and answer counterarguments

Use persuasive techniques appropriately
Prompt 7: The community of North Kitsap community has been surveyed several times over the past five years and an overwhelming majority of residents would not mind their
kids attending school year round. As a result, the North Kitsap School District is considering changing to a year-round school schedule.
Think about ways it might benefit you or families. Since you are a student currently attending school in North Kitsap, would you prefer to continue with the current
calendar or switch to year round? Write a letter to the School Board supporting your choice.
Be sure to

Establish a clear thesis or position for your audience

Support your position with logical reasoning and relevant evidence

Anticipate and answer counterarguments

Use persuasive techniques appropriately
Prompt 8: With the current budget cuts in education across America, schools are facing hard choices to make regarding which programs to keep versus which ones to cut. The
North Kitsap School District must decide between cutting all athletic programs or all meal programs (breakfast and lunch).
Even though they are both very important to kids, decide which one should be cut over the other and the reasons why it would be better. Write a letter to the North
Kitsap School Board supporting your choice. Be sure to

Establish a clear thesis or position for your audience

Support your position with logical reasoning and relevant evidence

Anticipate and answer counterarguments

Use persuasive techniques appropriately
Prompt 9: The citizens of Washington State have passed a bill through Congress to raise the legal driving age from sixteen to eighteen. If enough people across the state vote on
it, it will become law in two years, which means you will have to wait until you are eighteen to take the driver’s test to get your license to drive.
Think about ways this could benefit you or the safety of our citizens if this was enacted into law. Write a letter to your Congressman supporting your choice
Be sure to

Establish a clear thesis or position for your audience

Support your position with logical reasoning and relevant evidence

Anticipate and answer counterarguments

Use persuasive techniques appropriately
Persuasive Writing
Prompt Brainstorming
Name _________________
L.A., Per. ____
Date __________________
1. What is the topic of your chosen prompt? _________________________________________________
2. Who is your audience? _________________________________________________________________
4. What do all members of your audience need to know about this issue in order to understand your ideas about
it? In other words, give the prompt some background and context.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. List all of the reasons “for” and “against” the issue as you can think of. List at least five; the more you can list at
this point, the better.
FOR
AGAINST
3. Why is this an important topic to you? _____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
4. What is your position on the issue? If necessary, review the persuasive argument types: logos, pathos, and
ethos (Springboard, p. 144.) Create one argument of each type to support your position on the issue.
My Position: ____________________________________________________________________________
Logos: _________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Pathos: ________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Ethos: _________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
5. What is the most important argument against your position? ___________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
6. How would you respond to the most important argument against your position? ___________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________