English 101 Persuasive Essay Assignment
__________________________ for President!
Objective: Show your mastery of persuasion/argument by writing an essay that convinces your
peers and your instructor to vote for a specific presidential candidate.
Assignment:
You are asked to look at the issue(s) of _________________________ (see notice at end of this
packet) and determine which presidential candidate (Bush, Kerry, or Nader) is best qualified to
tackle the issue(s).
You and your team members are asked to write a well organized persuasive essay to convince
your peers and instructor to vote for the candidate. You may assume that the readers of your
essay are “wavering readers,” so you should follow the suggestions outlined on page 581 in your
text.
Specifics:
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The essay should be a minimum of 2.5 typed, MLA-formatted pages.
At least three reputable/credible sources should be used.
Use parenthetical citations appropriately within the body of your essay; include a
properly formatted works-cited page.
Tips for Success:
 Read Chapter 12: “The Law and Society: A Casebook for ArgumentationPersuasion” in Patterns for a Purpose and note summary (“Argument-Persuasion”) in
this packet.
 Consult your handbook to look up MLA parenthetical citation models and models of
works citied entries.
 Find strong/nonbiased evidence to support your thesis
 Use only credible sources like articles from SIRS, newspaper articles, congressional
records, and excerpts from speeches; see pages 655-656 in Patterns for a Purpose.
Class Meeting One: ___________________
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Class discussion of argument/persuasion
Review persuasive essay assignment
Initial meeting with group members
Choose issue(s) for essay
Complete “know”/”need-to-know” chart
Class Meeting Two: ____________________
 Continue discussion of persuasion
 Begin gathering research materials. NOTE: Provide instructor with a copy of all
materials used in your essay; submit with final draft.
 Complete general planning sheet
 Email instructor by midnight of class meeting two. The email should include
progress notes and any questions/concerns your group has. Only one email is due
from each group. Indicate your group number in the subject box of email.
 When you receive a response to the email, print and save a copy to submit with final
draft.
Class Meeting Three: ____________________
 Continue discussion of persuasion
 Groups review research to decide what research is needed/relevant for the essay.
Assess if more research is needed.
 Complete directed planning sheet.
Class Meeting Four: _____________________
 Continue discussion of persuasion
 Briefly review tips for giving oral presentations
 Groups discuss how they will present their findings
 Review draft of essay
 Email instructor by midnight of class meeting four. The email should include
progress notes and any questions/concerns your group has. Only one email is due
from each group. Indicate your group number in the subject box of email.
 When you receive a response to the email, print and save a copy to submit with final
draft.
 REMEMBER: Final draft of essay and all paperwork is due to the instructor next
class period.
Class Meeting Five: ______________________
 Make your case to the class. Briefly discuss issue(s) your group decided on. Based
on your research, who should be elected president of the United States in 2004.
“Argumentation-Persuasion”
(Adapted from Patterns for a Purpose: A Rhetorical Reader. 3rd ed. by Barbara Fine Clouse)
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“Both argumentation and persuasion aim to convince a reader to adopt a particular view or to
take a particular action” (575).
“Sometimes you have no hope of convincing your reader, so you must establish a less
ambitious goal, such as softening your reader’s objection or convincing your reader that your
view has some merit” (575).
“Audience assessment is particularly important in argumentation-persuasion. Not only must
you assess your reader’s interest in order to establish a reasonable purpose for your writing,
but you must also understand the characteristics of your audience so you know which points
need to be stated and proven, what kind of evidence will be the most effective, how hard you
must work to convince your reader, and how your audience will respond to emotional
appeals” (576).
“You must present yourself as knowledgeable and thoughtful, as one who carefully weighs
all evidence before drawing conclusions. If your reader thinks you are impetuous, careless,
or biased, he or she may not accept your position no matter how well argued it is” (577-578).
“For the most part, your argumentative detail will be the reasons you hold your view. . . .
However, supplying reasons for your stand is not enough; you must also back up those
reasons with support. Say you argue that the family unit is in trouble and you give the high
divorce rate as one reason to support your view. You must then go on to back up this reason,
perhaps by giving a statistic about how high the divorce rate is and by explaining the specific
negative effects of divorce on the family” (578).
“To back up your reasons, you can rely on a number of sources and strategies, including
personal experience and observation, facts and statistics, quotations and paraphrases,
interviews, speculations about the effects of adopting or not adopting your view, and the
patterns of development” (see pages 578-579).
Raising and Countering Objections: “No matter what stand you take on an issue, some
reasonable people will disagree with you, and those people will have valid points to support
their view. Ignoring this opposition will weaken your argumentation or persuasion because
you will not come across as someone who has carefully examined all sides before arriving at
a position. . . . Your audience will be thinking about the points that work against your view,
and if you do not deal with these points, you may fail to convince your reader. Thus, you
must recognize the opposing arguments and find a way to make them less compelling” (582).
(Prewriting/Pre-thinking):
Decide what issue(s) you wish to explore; record your decision here.
Begin filling out the following “know”/”need-to-know” chart to guide you in your research. Use
additional sheets of paper if necessary.
What do we already
know about the
issue(s)?
What do we need to
know about the
issue(s)
Where can we find
the answers?
What have we
learned/discovered?
(NOTE: You will be
working on this
column for most of
the project.)
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What do we already
know about the
candidate(s)?
What do we need to
know about the
candidate(s)?
Where can we find
the answers?
What did we
learn/discover?
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Organizing Your Essay (See pages 586-587):
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Introduction (First one or two paragraphs of the essay):
 Explain why the issue is important and/or provide needed background
information.
 Possibly establish your ethos (see page 580).
 Present your thesis statement. “Your thesis . . . should state the issue and your
stand on that issue” (586).
 The United States desperately needs federally funded day care.
o issue: federally funded day care
o stand: in favor of it (needed in the US)
 Body/Support Paragraphs (usually one to two for each reason you give to support your
argument)
 “You will probably find topic sentences helpful when you structure argumentpersuasion. You can place each reason for your thesis in its own topic sentence
and follow each topic sentence with the appropriate support” (586-587).
 Conclusion Paragraph(s):
 Reaffirm your position for emphasis and/or
 summarize your chief arguments
 additionally, “you can call your audience to action by explaining what you want
your reader to do” (587). NOTE: For this assignment, there should be a
definite “call to action,” because you need to get your readers to vote for
your candidate.
General Planning
Thesis: ______________________________________________________________________
Reason: ______________________________________________________________________
Reason: ______________________________________________________________________
Reason: ______________________________________________________________________
Reason: ______________________________________________________________________
Conclusion: __________________________________________________________________
Directed Planning
I. Introduction Paragraph
A.
Background Information Needed:
B.
Importance of Issue:
C.
Tentative Thesis Statement:
II. First Body/Support Paragraph:
Tentative Topic Sentence (One Reason Why Your Reader Should Accept Your Claim)
A. Supporting Evidence (How can you prove/explain what you’ve included in the topic
sentence for this paragraph? Statistic? Quote from newspaper article? Voting record?)
B. Additional supporting evidence for this paragraph
III. Second Body/Support Paragraph:
Tentative Topic Sentence (One Reason Why Your Reader Should Accept Your Claim)
A. Supporting Evidence (How can you prove/explain what you’ve included in the topic
sentence for this paragraph? Statistic? Quote from newspaper article? Voting record?)
B. Additional supporting evidence for this paragraph
IV. Third Body/Support Paragraph:
Tentative Topic Sentence (One Reason Why Your Reader Should Accept Your Claim)
A. Supporting Evidence (How can you prove/explain what you’ve included in the topic
sentence for this paragraph? Statistic? Quote from newspaper article? Voting record?)
B. Additional supporting evidence for this paragraph
V. Fourth Body/Support Paragraph (if needed)
A. Supporting Evidence (How can you prove/explain what you’ve included in the topic
sentence for this paragraph? Statistic? Quote from newspaper article? Voting record?)
B. Additional supporting evidence for this paragraph
VI. Conclusion Paragraph
Group Information (Keep for your own records.)
NAME:
PHONE and/or EMAIL
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Progress Made During Meeting One:
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Progress Made During Meeting Two:
______________________________________________________________________________
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Progress Made During Meeting Three:
______________________________________________________________________________
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Progress Made During Meeting Four:
______________________________________________________________________________
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Problems:
______________________________________________________________________________
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Directions: Each group member should complete one of these forms and submit it to the
instructor when the final essay is due. NOTE: Fifteen of the 100 points available for this
assignment will be based on the average of personal and group members’ comments.
GROUP MEMBER EVALUATION FORM
Name of group: __________________ Evaluating group member: ____________________
Please grade the following categories, except attendance, for each member of your group, using
a score of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). Evaluate yourself too. These evaluations will be considered
in determining your final grades for the project.
Group Member
Writing/Word-
Research Contribution
Work Attitude
Attendance
Processing
Contribution
List what you contributed to the assignment personally, including ideas, research, writing, wordprocessing, etc.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Signed by team member: ____________________________________
Date:
_____________________________________
GROUP ASSIGNMENTS
(You may use any or all of the issues assigned to your group.)
Group One
members
Group Two
issues
 Jeff Tiller
 Adrienna Johnson
 Keiunee Mursier
 civil liberties
 illegal drugs/War
on Drugs
 education
 school vouchers
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members
issues
Miranda Freeman
Dusti Gambrell
Tynetta Norman
Jamall Wright
 homeland security
 war on terror
 foreign policy
Group Three
members
Group Four
issues
 Jennifer Coleman
 Engride Coleman
 Brian Perrin
 economy
 welfare reform
 trade
 social security
 Medicaid
 prescription drugs
members
 Rose Evans
 Brandon O’Dell
 Carla Williams
Group Five
members
 Sam Hawthorne
 Misty Dunlap
 Sondra Gooden
issues
 campaign-finance
reform
 taxes
 budget deficit
 environment
Group Six
issues
 civil liberties
 illegal drugs/War
on Drugs
 education
 school vouchers
members
 Makeisha Williams
 Jennifer Calliham
 Nicole Quarles
issues
 economy
 welfare reform
 trade
 social security
 Medicaid
prescription drugs