VISUAL PERSUASIVE ESSAY
Guide to Creating a Visual Essay
Table of Contents
Literary Analysis
Thesis Statements
Topic Sentences
Evidence
Parenthetical Citations
Analysis
Effective Intros and Conclusions
Imbedding Quotes
Taboo Words
MLA Format
Brainstorming your paragraphs
Analysis (TKAM)
Questions to ask while researching
Internet sources and Search Engines
Powerful Search Engines and the “Invisible Web”
Other places to search and Online References
Online Libraries, Newspapers, and Articles
Persuasive thesis statements
Persuasive Topic Sentences
Persuasive Evidence
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
First Step
Persuasive
thesis
statements
reflect what
you are
arguing.
If you were a
defense
lawyer, this
would be
what you are
fighting for:
“He is
innocent”

Creating a persuasive thesis:
 Come
up with what you want to argue for
your visual essay
 Design a thesis that is specific and creates
an argument
 Use persuasive words like should, must,
needs to, etc. to craft your argument.
 Do not waver, your argument can have no
holes
Examples
Check to make
sure the thesis
statements are
specific,
argumentative,
and strong.



Abortion should be illegal in the United
States of America because it is dangerous,
it is technically killing a human being, and
it goes against Christian ideals.
O.J. Simpson is guilty of killing Ron
Goldman and Nicole Brown and was
unjustly let free during his murder trial.
Drilling in Alaska must be made illegal
because of the previous destruction caused
by the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Persuasive Topic Sentences
If you were a
defense
lawyer, these
would be your
reasons why
he/she is
innocent:
Alibi
•
No just
reason
•

Your persuasive topic sentences must:
 Directly
connect to your thesis and act like
reasons to prove your thesis
 Each answer the question “why”?
 Be specific
Examples
Make sure
these topic
sentences are
specific,
support the
thesis, and
answer the
question
“why”

Thesis


Drilling in Alaska must be made illegal because of the
previous destruction caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Topic Sentences

The United States cannot allow drilling to occur in Alaska
because modern drilling practices still cannot guarantee
there would not be any spillage.

Drilling in Alaska must also be banned because Alaska
contains wildlife found only in that region and we must work
to protect these animals.

It must be made illegal to drill in Alaska because
environmentalists are still cleaning up the mess and
destruction caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill and cannot
afford to do damage control on yet another spill.
Practice
Make sure to
meet the T.S.
requirements!

Write three topic sentences to support
the thesis:
 Fast
food restaurants should not be forced
to post calorie counts for all items on the
menu.
 OR
 Homework
should not be given to high
school students.
Persuasive Evidence
If you were a
defense
lawyer your
evidence
would be:
DNA samples

Persuasive evidence works to support your
T.S.

Do not choose “great” evidence that does not
connect to the T.S.
Eye witnesses
Both pieces of evidence must be different,
but still support the same argument
Reports

Quotes
Testimonies


In other words, do not be repetitive.
When introducing your evidence, you must
authorize it- tell who said it or where you
got the quote and say why it is valid
Examples
Make sure the
evidence
connects to the
T.S., offers
different
information,
and
authorizes the
source/author
you collected
it from.

Thesis


Topic Sentences


Drilling in Alaska must be made illegal because of the previous
destruction caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
The United States cannot allow drilling to occur in Alaska because
modern drilling practices still cannot guarantee there would not be
any spillage.
Evidence

Sam Warner, an environmental specialist currently working in Alaska
cleaning up the Exxon Valdez oil spill states, “Look what occurred off
the coast of Mexico. Oil companies cannot fully guarantee that
another tragic oil spill will not occur at any point of their drilling”
(Warner).

The Environmental Research center located in Portland, Oregon has
done extensive research in this field and claims that “oil rigs that
pump on a consistent basis have a ten percent chance of failure at
any given moment” (“Environmental Research Clinic”).
Work on your own…


Develop a strong thesis statement for
your topic that persuades the audience
to believe your side.
Develop three topic sentences
supporting your evidence that directly
align with your thesis.
Table of Contents


Visual essay analysis
Images for visual essay
Analysis


You are not to write your analysis on your visual essay;
instead, write it on flashcards OR type it on regular size
paper in large font and present it to the class
In your analysis, use your evidence to persuade your
audience to side with you.



Use persuasive words like should, must, need, will, do…
You may include a “call to action”
Do not use “I”, “you”, or “me”- you may use “us” or “we”
as a universal identity

Therefore, it is important that we (Californians) help
contribute to local businesses in order to stimulate the
economy keep family-owned companies alive.
Example
T.S.- The United States cannot allow drilling to occur in Alaska because modern drilling
practices still cannot guarantee there would not be any spillage.
Evidence on slide- Sam Warner, an environmental specialist currently working in Alaska
cleaning up the Exxon Valdez oil spill states, “Look what occurred off the coast of Mexico.
Oil companies cannot fully guarantee that another tragic oil spill will not occur at any point
of their drilling” (Warner).
Analysis bullet points•
Because spillage has happened recently, it is clear that scientists have not developed any full-proof
methods to prevent another destructive oil spill from occurring.
Evidence on slide- Furthermore, the Environmental Research center located in Portland, Oregon
has done extensive research in this field and claims that “oil rigs that pump on a consistent
basis have a ten percent chance of failure at any given moment” (“Environmental Research
Clinic”).
Analysis bullet points•
•
•
It is apparent that we are taking a risk by allowing corporations to drill in Alaska.
The government must explicitly make it clear to the general population that we may be risking
another destructive pollution incident if we allow these practices to occur.
Until the science behind oil drilling guarantees no spillage, we need to make sure no more drilling
occurs in Alaska.
Images
Images should
add to, not
detract from
your argument

Choose images that support your
argument:
 Images
that evoke an emotional response
will make your audience side with you
 Graphs, charts, and documents will make
your audience have a rational response
 Crime scene photos, maps, and location
photos will make your argument more
believable and sound for the audience
Examples
Presenting with your Images

Talk about your images, point to
specifics in your images using a white
sheet of paper, and use them as
persuasive tools in your speech
 Do
not show images without discussing
them

Chose a background color or image to
enhance your presentation
 If
you chose an image as a background,
make sure we can still read your writing
Sample Presentation Notes

Thesis


Topic Sentence


The United States cannot allow drilling to occur in Alaska because modern drilling practices still cannot
guarantee there would not be any spillage.
Evidence


Drilling in Alaska must be made illegal because of the previous destruction caused by the Exxon
Valdez oil spill.
Sam Warner, an environmental specialist currently working in Alaska cleaning up the Exxon Valdez oil
spill states, “Look what occurred off the coast of Mexico. Oil companies cannot fully guarantee that
another tragic oil spill will not occur at any point of their drilling” (Warner).
Image:




This picture is one of the thousands of animals who were impacted by the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
It takes, on average, 1 hour to clean a single animal
70% of animal, like this one, die before they are able to be cleaned
This shows the damage caused by a spillage

Analysis:


Evidence


The Environmental Research center located in Portland, Oregon has done extensive
research in this field and claims that “oil rigs that pump on a consistent basis have
a ten percent chance of failure at any given moment” (“Environmental Research
Clinic”).
Image



Because spillage has happened recently, it is clear that scientists have not
developed any full-proof methods to prevent another destructive oil spill from
occurring.
This image shows the Mexico oil rig and oil spilling out of it
It is apparent how much oil can spill out only minutes after the spillage began
Analysis
•
•
•
It is apparent that we are taking a risk by allowing corporations to drill in Alaska.
The government must explicitly make it clear to the general population that we may be
risking another destructive pollution incident if we allow these practices to occur.
Until the science behind oil drilling guarantees no spillage, we need to make sure no
more drilling occurs in Alaska.