Writing a Persuasive Paper
What is a Persuasive Writing?
• Writing used to convince others of
what you believe or say.
Why do it?
• Want others to:
–AGREE with us
–Share our Values
–Accept our argument or conclusions
Examples
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•
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To get what we want
To avoid trouble ???
Politics
Can you think of other examples?
“Mom I want a
Dog”
How will I ever convince
her to let me have one?
Pick Me!!! I am too
cute to pass up.
Look I do tricks!
Parts of a Paper
• Introduction
– Hook
– Background
– Thesis
• Body
– Topic Sentence
– High level of Support
• Conclusion
– Effective Ending
– Closure on issues without being repetitive
from Intro.
– Tie up paper and relate back to hook/thesis
Persuasive Structures
• Position and why---Thesis
• Concession---alternate viewpoints
• Refutation---why other viewpoints are
flawed, inaccurate, illogical, etc.
• Confirmation---restating position (new
words)
Thesis Statement
• Could be last sentence of your Intro.
• Statement of your position---be sure you know
which side of the issue you are on.
• Should be clear and concise---use effective
language (avoid being repetitive)
• For persuasive essays, these statements
should be debatable. (that is, can someone
else state the opposite opinion?)
You decide: Are these good thesis
statements for the topics?
• School Uniforms: School uniforms are stupid
and are therefore dumb, so they should not be
allowed in any school.
• Exit Exams: Schools should require all high
school students to pass an exit exam before
graduation.
• Open Campus: Have you ever tried to eat lunch
in just 15 minutes?
• Thesis Statements 1 & 3 are NOT
STRONG statements.
• 1 is repetitive, uses poor language, and not
concise
• 3 is a question, so it is not a statement
• Thesis Statement 2 would be a STRONG
thesis statement because it is clear, states
the position, and uses effective language
without giving all the specific information
away.
How can we fix Statements 1 & 3?
• School Uniforms: School uniforms are
stupid and are therefore dumb, so they
should not be allowed in any school.
• Open Campus: Have you ever tried to eat
lunch in just 15 minutes?
Concession
• Acknowledging other viewpoints
• Make them relevant and significant to topic
• Make sure you can refute them
• Don’t:
– Make the other side’s points
– Lose your focus and flip flop sides
How to set up concessions
• Begin with a dependent clause followed by an
independent clause
– While many people think school uniforms are
beneficial, others may disagree.
• Directly state the other views
– There may be many reasons to avoid school uniforms
such as loss of individuality or loss of personal
freedoms
• Make generalization
– Some may argue that school uniforms destroy
individuality or personal freedoms.
Refutation
• State why the concessions are flawed
• Use a dependent clause (the concession)
followed by an independent clause (the
refutation)
– While others argue that school uniforms
cause a loss of individuality and personal
freedoms, students need to understand that
the Supreme Court has ruled that school
districts have the legal right to impose school
uniforms for safety reasons.
Confirmation
• Come back to your main reasons for your
position
• Do not be repetitive
• Find a key idea throughout your paper and
revisit this idea (for example: personal
freedom and individuality)
• Often, the confirmation appears in the
conclusion
Possible Paper Set Up
•
•
•
•
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Position
Your Points
Concessions
Refutation
Confirmation
• Position
• Concession 1 &
Refutations
• Concession 2 &
Refutations
• Confirmation
Persuasive Techniques
• Logic
• Repetition of key
word/phrase throughout
• Rhetorical
Question
• Emotional
Language
– Simile
– Metaphor
• Analogy
• Facts supported by
research findings
Persuasive Writing
• The speaker
–Some credibility (knowledgeable
and/or believable)
• The audience
–Appeal to particular people
• The occasion
–May become an argument
supporting other arguments within
work or among works