Persuasive Writing Unit
Issue: Immigration
• Watch the following video clip about illegal
immigration:
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/25145-discovering
language-arts-persuasive-writing-video.htm
Immigration Prompt
Should illegal immigrants who are living and working
in the U.S. be granted citizenship rights? Provide
clear evidence and quotes from credible sources to
support your position.
-or- Do you support Arizona Senate Bill 1070 that
makes it a state misdemeanor crime for an alien to
be in Arizona without carrying the required
documents? Provide clear evidence and quotes from
credible sources to support your position.
Issue: Football- Too Dangerous?
• Is football safe enough for children and
teenagers? In general, do you think the value
of playing a sport is worth any physical danger
it might pose?
• Write a position statement that expresses
your perspective.
• Find two or three facts from the article to
support your claim.
Two Sides
• Find three facts from the article that support
the claim that the potential injuries that can
occur from football are NOT worth the risk of
playing the game.
• Find three facts from the article that support
that claim that football is safe.
Student Example
Position Statement:
The NFL, NCAA, and other football associations need
to take football injuries very seriously to provide
safety for all players.
One step that these organizations can take is to
require teams to use HIT system helmets. This
helmet allows coaches and doctors to monitor the
number of blows to the head. The average lineman
using a HIT helmet logs anywhere from 1000 to
1,500 hits per season (Goldman, 3).
Football Safety Prompt
• Is football safe enough for children and
teenagers? In general, do you think the value
of playing a sport is worth any physical danger
it might pose? Provide clear evidence and
quotes from credible sources to support your
position.
Global Warming Prompt
An international group of scientists has announced that
global warming is here and that “Humans are very likely
the blame”. Do you agree or disagree with this
declaration?
* If so, how and why, and what should be done to
change the trend?
*If not, who/what is responsible for the trend? What
can be done to change the trend?
Provide clear evidence and quotes to support your
answer.
Outlining
• Please write your thesis/position statement in
the appropriate box on your worksheet.
• Early finishers, work on filling in the other two
boxes.
• If you need more room, feel free to write
these on a sheet of notebook paper instead.
• You may use your comp book, but you will
need to rip it out to turn it in with your essay.
Cyberbullying
• Do you think the government should draft
legislation to address cyberbullying?
• Should parents have their child’s
internet/social networking passwords to
monitor their online activity?
• Is it the school administrator's responsibility
to punish bullies, even when their activities
have not taken place on campus? Or should
children's rights to free speech be protected,
even when that speech does emotional harm
to another student?
Cyberbullying Prompt
• What should the punishment be for acts like
cyberbullying and online humiliation? Should
parents and teachers be held accountable if
they did not step in to stop the bullying?
• -or- If a person commits suicide because of
cyberbullying, should bullies be convicted of
manslaughter? Provide clear evidence and
quotes from credible sources to support your
position.
Animal Testing Prompt
Medical researchers, cosmetic companies, and
others often perform experiments on animals.
Many people feel that experimentation on
animals is wrong and should be stopped
immediately because animals do feel pain,
and there are other alternatives. How do you
feel? Provide clear evidence and quotes from
credible sources to support your position.
Which word has the most negative
connotation?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
stuck up / proud
wimpy / weak
unmotivated / lazy
unusual / weird
determined / stubborn
perspire / sweat
junk food / fast food
slow / cautious
old / mature
• stare / look
• old / mature
Harness the Power of Language
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Illegal alien / undocumented immigrant
bully / aggressor, tormentor, villain, violator
bullying / persecuting, victimizing, tormenting
testing / experimentation, mutilation, torture, cruelty
animal subjects / innocent victims
climate change / global warming
catastrophic effects / detrimental effects
skeptics / deniers
concussion / brain trauma
safety precautions, guidelines / rules, limitations
issue / problem, crisis
Today’s Objectives
• Preview persuasive essay rubric.
• Watch a video that explains persuasive
appeals and discuss how to apply it to your
own writing.
• Learn how to address the opposition in a
counter-argument.
• Preview persuasive writing checklist.
Types of Persuasive Appeals
• Logical Appeals
a. evidence, facts, statistics
b. expert opinion
c. examples
• Emotional Appeals
a. word choice / connotation
b. visual details / imagery
• Ethical Appeals
a. reputation
b. sincere, honest tone
• Try to incorporate all of these strategies into your writing
• They will be putty in your hands!
Counter-Arguing
• Recognize and acknowledge the reader’s concerns and
objections
• Show the reader that their objections are invalid or
irrelevant.
• Your voice should be assertive, yet restrained; do not
attack the reader or they will be offended and will not
take your side.
• Respectfully disagree with the objections using clear,
logical evidence and reasoning.
Framework for Counter-Argument
• “It might be said that_______, however…”
• “It could be argued that______, but…”
• “Some people say/believe/think/feel that____
This is untrue/incorrect/not the case/
because__________ or according to_______”
• “While critics argue that________”
• “While some may say that_______,
Example
• Many people adhere to an “eye for an eye”
philosophy, however, until our society is able
to eradicate all possibility of human error in its
judicial system, capital punishment must be
banned.
What is Plagiarism?
• “Failing to cite quotations and
borrowed ideas.
• Failing to enclose borrowed language
in quotation marks.
• Failing to put summaries and
paraphrases in your own words.”
(Bedford Handbook, 570)
Paraphrasing: Is this
Plagiarism?
Original Source
If the existence of a signing
ape was unsettling for
linguists, it was also startling
news for animal
behaviorists.
Version A
The existence of a signing ape
unsettled linguists and
startled animal behaviorists
(Davis, 26).
(An excerpt from an article by
B. Davis)
This exercise is from The Bedford Handbook
Answer A
Version A
Original Source
The existence of a signing
If the existence of a signing
ape unsettled linguists and
ape was unsettling for
startled animal behaviorists
linguists, it was also startling
(Davis, 26).
news for animal
Answer: Plagiarism. Even
behaviorists.
though the writer has cited
the source, the writer has
not used quotation marks
around the direct quotation,
"the existence of a signing
ape." In addition, the
phrase, "unsettled
linguists and startled
animal behaviorists,"
closely resembles the
wording of the source.
Paraphrasing: Is this
Plagiarism?
Original Source
If the existence of a
signing ape was
unsettling for linguists,
it was also startling
news for animal
behaviorists.
Version B
If the presence of a signlanguage-using chimp
was disturbing for
scientists studying
language, it was also
surprising to scientists
studying animal
behavior (Davis, 26).
Answer B
Original Source
If the existence of a signing
ape was unsettling for
linguists, it was also startling
news for animal
behaviorists.
Version B
If the presence of a signlanguage-using chimp was
disturbing for scientists
studying language, it was
also surprising to scientists
studying animal behavior
(Davis, 26).
Answer: Still plagiarism.
Even though the writer
has substituted synonyms
and cited the source, the
writer is plagiarizing
because the source's
sentence structure is
unchanged.
Paraphrasing: Is this
Plagiarism?
Original Source
If the existence of a signing
ape was unsettling for
linguists, it was also startling
news for animal
behaviorists.
Version C
According to Flora Davis,
linguists and animal
behaviorists were
unprepared for the news
that a chimp could
communicate with its
trainers through sign
language (Davis, 26).
Answer C
Original Source
If the existence of a signing
ape was unsettling for
linguists, it was also startling
news for animal
behaviorists.
Version C
According to Flora Davis,
linguists and animal
behaviorists were
unprepared for the news
that a chimp could
communicate with its
trainers through sign
language (Davis, 26).
Answer: No plagiarism. This
is an appropriate
paraphrase of the original
sentence.
A Summary of Proper Citation
•
Exact phrases
– Quotation marks around the phrase
– Cite the author in the text (author’s last name, page number);
include the source on your Works Cited page.
•
Paraphrasing
– Change the wording AND sentence structure
– Cite the author in the text; include the source on your Works
Cited page.
•
Ideas
– Cite the author in the text; include the source on your Works
Cited page.
•
Common knowledge
– No need to cite