English 7 Miller Junior High
Spring Break
Persuasive Project
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The
Prompt.
A prompt is the explanation or directions of what you
being asked to write about.
7th Grade English
Miller Junior High
Spring Break Visit Project
Crabbing in Westport
Seattle Space Needle
Seattle Center, WA
Your prompt:
Write a multiparagraph letter to
a friend, relative, or
stranger persuading
them to visit a
Western/Central
Washington Destination during the
Spring or Spring
Break. Explain
what you could do
while they visit. Be
sure to include atleast 3 activities
that are interesting
and entertaining
that are close in
proximity (within a
few minutes, but not
any further than a
few miles from oneanother).
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Things to think about:
* Before you write your letter, you are making an advertisement or commercial to help you think of what to write
about.
* Who will you try to convince? Are they an adult or someone your age?
* Multi-paragraph letters should be at least 4-5 but no more
than 6 paragraphs.
* Each of your paragraphs should focus on reasons to visit.
* Each of your reasons should focus on things to do.
* You cannot just hang out at your house. You need to explain places you can take them.
* Remember to use persuasive strategies like expert opinions, emotional descriptions, facts, and dates to prove
that the visit will be fun.
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Creating an
Advertisement
Great Wolf Lodge
Grand Mound, WA
Brochure Advertisement or
iMovie Commercial
To help you think of ideas of what to write about you are creating a brochure or an iMovie.
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Your Brochure or iMovie
should include...
* A creative title using figurative language.
* A hook at the beginning to grab the
viewers’ attention posing a question or
anecdote.
* A topic (destination) that ties all the activities together. For example, the
name of the region, city, or place you
are going visit.
*At least 7-10 images that persuade the
viewer to to visit your destination.
* At least two sources cited to show
that you researched to explain the
place.
* A colorful, organized, and logical layout in which the important ideas are
easily located.
* 3 or more activities explained with
short facts and descriptive details.
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Research
Mt. Rainier.
White Pass Ski
Area
Here are some sites to explore.
Ask before you use others. Always remember while researching webpages,
you may find inappropriate sites.
Practice the 5 Steps to Internet
Grays Harbor Chamber of Commerce
http://www.graysharbor.org/
Safety.
Scenic Washington State
Experience Washington Travel
http://www.experiencewa.com/
http://scenicwa.com/listing/main/places
-to-go
Western Washington Attractions
http://www.seattlesouthside.com/
Travel Washington
http://www.travel-in-wa.com/outdoor/sk
i.html
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Lake Quinault
The Hoh Rainforest
Here are some
ideas to get
you started.
Grays Harbor The Puget Sound
Lake Quinault Tacoma
Aberdeen
Westport
Hood Canal
Bellingham
Ocean Shores
San Juan Islands
The Olympic Peninsula The Cascade Mountains
Hurricane Ridge
Leavenworth
Forks/Twilight Tour Spring Snow Sports
Seattle (Downtown, City Center, the Waterfront)
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Persuasive Writing:
How Do I Start?
Cascade
Mountain Resort
How to Write an Introduction.
The first paragraph.
Spring Skiing
Creating a creative introduction is key to
an effective persuasive paper, advertisement, or commercial.
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Skagit Valley Tulip
Festival
Creating the
Hook.
Introductions are key to good persuasive writing.
A good introduction (first paragraph) has a creative hook.
Here are some examples of creative hooks about a different
topic than the one you are writing about.
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Tell an Anecdote,
Story, or Scenario.
An anecdote is a short
“New Rule Has Kids Scared.” Those are
story. It can be a story
about your own
the headlines from The Daily World. The
experience.
new rule is like a disease spreading across
our state and making children cry. No late
work has a devastating affect on students
and it needs to be stopped.
The beginning is a scenario going on around the state
and the underlined part is the statement of their claim
(the topic sentence).
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Dear Principal,
Ask a Good
Thoughtful or
Rhetorical Question.
A rhetorical question is a
statement in the form of a
question. You ask a rhetorical
question to make a point, not
to get an answer.
“Three strikes you’re out!” That is what
everyone says, but really, doesn’t everybody deserve a second chance? In baseball
you get three chances to bat, so why can’t
you have just two at school? What if you
had an emergency at home or you got really
sick? Shouldn’t you get a second chance if
you didn’t get your homework in? I think
that teachers should accept late work because you at least tried to turn it in.
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Dear Mr. Johnson,
Did you know that a recent district sur-
vey showed that four out of five school kids
Share an
do not have passing grades because they
Interesting or
do not turn in their work on time? This
Surprising Fact or
could be changed by no longer allowing late
Statistic.
work. Late work should not be accepted at
Grant Middle School.
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Wildflowers on Mt. Rainier
Now think about
your topic. What is
your claim/
opinion? Try to
introduce it using
one of these
Which strategy can you use?
Start with an anecdote story, or scenario.
Or
Start with a thoughtful or rhetorical question.
Or
Start with an interesting or surprising fact or statistic, or
quote.
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4.
How do you organize a
persuasive essay?
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Organization
Structure:
In a persuasive essay, staying focused on your point is very
Order of
Importance.
important.
Thinking about about HOW you present and explain your
points is just as important.
There are many ways to organize an essay, but this chapter
focuses on just a few; Order of Importance and Causal Chain.
SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST...
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Whale Watching
Organization
Structure
Order of importance means that you save
your best reason (activity) for the last bodyparagraph. You share that reason right before the conclusion.
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Cause and Effect (Causal Chain)
A causal chain is when each paragraph is connected to the paragraph
before through cause and effect.
For example: “If you give us more time for a break, we will get more
homework done. Our grades will improve and our parents will be
proud.”
In the example above each sentence is an effect of the one before. You
can use this to explain ideas or to connect a paragraph to the one before.
Here is another example: If you have a paragraph about an activity, that
activity may make the reader hungry, so a paragraph about a place to
eat could easily follow.
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How to explain
your reasons?
An easy way to add explanation is to write a concession
Concession/Rebuttal
rebuttal for your second body paragraph.
Here is how a concession rebuttal paragraph works....
1. You think of a reason AGAINST your opinion (for example
many people don’t like to visit Washington because it rains
a lot).
2. In the first sentence concede (agree) that the con is true.
FOR EXAMPLE: “You might be thinking that it rains a lot in
Washington, and really, it does.
3. However you DON’T EXPLAIN the reason any more after
that. After you concede (agree), you solve the con or prove
why the con could actually be good. FOR EXAMPLE: Even
though we have a lot of rain, all that water makes the trees
grow which provides great hunting and fishing.
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So here is how a concession rebuttal works when you put it all together.
The example below is about a different topic; this person is trying to prove why late work should not be allowed at school.
You may be thinking that it is mean to not accept late work, but some of us turn
in our work on time everyday. I want all the icky procrastinators to get no credit because they did not do the work and I did. I am all for fairness and fairness makes a
great school, but some people need to take up the reins and learn responsibility.
If you are not sure how to start a concession rebuttal paragraph here are some words to
help you start.
*It is true that... however
*Certainly... but... in short
*Admittedly... on the other hand... so
*Of course... however... finally
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Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Figurative language is a fancy way of describing something. Below are some types of figurative language that
writers your age can use well.
1. Similes and Metaphors
Describe Using
Figurative Language
example: His hair was like peach fuzz.
Karen was a ray of sunshine.
2. Specific and Descriptive Details (Verbs and Adjectives)
example: My boyfriend sits in the second row from the left in the third seat behind John.
3. Repetition or Alliteration
example: An old-fashioned trolley in tropical hues pulls
up to The Pier - five stories of fun, food, and shopping.
4. Onomatopoeia
Words whose sounds imitate the sounds of what they
describe, such as hiss, growl, honk, buzz, woof, etc...
5. Personification
example: The moon-lit evenings seem to smile down at
us while the flames danced about in our campfire.
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Using Persuasive Strategies to Explain
West-coast
Clam Digging
Don’t forget that persuasive strategies are
another great way to explain your reasons.
Remember to...
Ethos (Ethical/Moral Appeal)
*Use emotions: Tell a funny or happy memory of
a time when you visited one of these places
Logos (Reason/Logical Appeal)
*Use
logic: Add facts, numbers, dates, or statis-
tics about the place related to how much it costs or
how long ago it was built. Be sure to use numbers
that would make someone want to visit.
Pathos (Emotional Appeal)
*Use
authority: Are there any quotes you can find
in your research that you can share that prove why
this place is good to visit? Add those to your paragraphs. Famous people, lawmakers, scientists who
would support your point of view.
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How to Write a
Persuasive Conclusion
Writing a strong piece from beginning to
end is extremely important in persuasive
writing.
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The last paragraph in any essay or letter is a conclusion. Even
though it is the last paragraph, it is still important to end with a
strong idea.
Persuasive conclusions should...
*connect the whole letter, essay, or speech together.
*have a call to action or a prediction.
A persuasive
conclusion needs a
call to action
*leave the reader with something to think about.
Here is an example
Now do you see why it’s not right to say that teachers should not accept late work? Not everyone is perfect and sometimes students make mistakes. But isn’t that how we learn? Only you have the power to choose between becoming a dictator or the president of a proud school. Say no to late
work.
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Cornell Notes: Research for Spring Break
Purpose: To Write Persuasively.
Name:___________
Per:_______
Date: __________
Topic: Research a Western/Central Washington Destination_____________________________
1. Name the activity you
can do at this destination. (Restate the topic
in your response.
2.Name the things that are
fun that is associated with
activity. (Is it a place to eat,
shop, hike, sight-see, etc...)
3. Describe in detail what
this activity would look like,
feel like, things heard,
smelled, or tasted. Use
strong verbs and
adjectives.(Use your packet
with verbs and Adjectives.)
4. What important dates,
numbers, statistics can you
find about the place? For example, the date it opened, the
number of visitors, the cost
of food or attractions.
5. Name any other interesting information you can
share about this place that
would make someone want
to visit.
Write two websites used to gather this information:______________________________________
Why did you choose this site?_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
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Bibliography
Sources Cited:
Writing Instructional Modules. Washington Office
of Public Instruction. N.p., 2007. Web. 08 Mar.
2013.
Freeman, Marcia S. Listen to This. Developing an
Ear for Expository. Gainesville, FL: Maupin
House, 1997. Print.
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