Persuasive Writing
An issue and an essay: a handy five-step process!
You will be writing a persuasive essay that argues for a specific position on an issue that you care about.
First, you must choose the issue. This is not as simple as it may sound—some issues are just not worth
arguing.
Question: What specific issue, be it local, national, or international, should teenagers care
about (i.e., pay attention to, read about, have a legitimate opinion on) and why? How can
people work to address this issue? Who or what might stand in the way?
STEP #1: Choose three possible issues that are of interest to you. Complete the graphic organizer
on the following pages. See which issues you care about the most, and which would be viable
issues to write about.
Below is a list of possible topics and issues that might concern you. You do not need to choose an issue
from this list, but you may if you like. The most important thing is that you actually care about or have
something to say about the issue!
Voting
Organ donation
Blood donation
Stem-cell research
Lowering the drinking age
Immigration
Legalizing marijuana
Smoking in public
Seat belt laws
Helmet laws
Gun control
Hunting
Alternative fuels
Vegetarianism
Animal testing
Paying college athletes
Speaking English in
America
Privacy rights
Cosmetic surgery
Term limits
Nuclear arms
Cost of prescription drugs
Living wills
Abortion
Abused Women
Adoption
Affirmative Action
Age Discrimination
Air Pollution
Animal Experimentation
Animal Rights
Asylum
Atomic Energy
Biological and chemical
weapons
Birth Control
Capital Punishment
Censorship
Child Labor
Church/ State Issues
Climate Change Policy
Creationism vs. Evolution
Espionage and intelligence
gathering
Fat Tax On Food
Foreign Oil Dependence
Gay Marriage
Genetic Engineering
Genetically engineered
foods
Global warming/Climate
change
Government fraud and
waste
Gun Control
Human Cloning
Medicinal Marijuana
Minimum Wage
Polygamy
Racial Profiling
Recycling
Bullying
Sex Education
Space Exploration
Stem Cell Research
Term Limits
Violent Video Games
Women in the Military
Israel/Palestine
Standardized tests
Sustainable food sources
Farm subsidies
Assisted suicide/ “Death
with Dignity”
Topic 1:
My view:
Possible support:
What should happen or change?
Opposing view:
Topic 2:
My view:
Possible support:
What should happen or change?
Opposing view:
Topic 3:
My view:
Possible support:
What should happen or change?
Opposing view:
STEP #2: Narrow down your choice to one issue (with a possible runner-up). Do some preliminary
research on your issue of choice using the internet—what do others have to say? Can you find any
reliable data relating to this issue? Have you found TOO MUCH reliable data to sort through?
Decide on the issue you will write about and state your position (your POINT or CLAIM) below.
ISSUE: _______________________________________________________________________________
POINT: ______________________________________________________________________________
STEP #3: Begin your research in the MHS library. You will be instructed (or refreshed) on how to
access the online databases that contain tons of useful information on many issues. You will also
be instructed on how to access the library catalog for print resources. You should TAKE NOTES
that will support your point as well as notes that explain the opposition.
Make sure you keep track of the sources you use and that you copy down facts, statistics, and quotes
correctly. Printing articles or websites to ensure accuracy is recommended! For books, collect all of the
publication data; photocopying the copyright page is helpful! For databases, use the source citations at
the end of the articles. For general websites, record the URL, author, title of page, author, and date
updated. Use www.easybib.com to create citations for books and websites; a complete bibliography is
required for this essay!
STEP #4: Begin writing by creating an outline. This is where you gather and organize your point,
support, examples, opposition, and call to action in one place. This is an INFORMAL document
meant to guide your writing. It should look like this:
A Title for your Essay
I. Topic statement (statement of opinion) in a complete sentence
A. an interesting hook
B. any other information you will use here—no specifics or statistics yet!
II. First supporting reason (in a complete sentence)
A. Explain
B. Statistic or anecdote
C. “If…then” statements
D. Tie it back to your opinion
III. Second supporting reason (in a complete sentence)
A. Explain
B. Statistic or anecdote
C. Don’t forget the three appeals!
D. Tie it back to your opinion
IV. Third supporting reason (in a complete sentence)
A. Explain
B. Statistic or anecdote
C. Don’t forget the three appeals!
D. Tie it back to your opinion
V. Address the opposition
A. State the opposing position
B. Provide a quote or statistics to clarify
D. Disprove the opposition
VI. Conclude by restating your opinion
A. Prediction for the future if people don’t agree with you
B. Call to action: command the audience to do or believe something
STEP #5: Begin drafting your essay. There are several ways to structure your essay (see next page)
but your writing must include rhetorical devices and appeals. See below for suggestions on how to
infuse these into your writing.
Using Rhetorical Devices and the Three Appeals
Begin with a hook sentence.
 Rhetorical question. Have you ever been punished for simply speaking your mind?

Strong Statement. Abortion is murder—plain and simple.

Startling Fact. A whopping seventy-nine percent of American men do not know how AIDS is
contracted.

Anecdote. In a small village in Cuba, an eight year-old named Marco carries a loaded pistol to walk
his younger sister Giulia to school every morning.
Ethos.
Appeal to your audience’s sense of ethos by showing that you are well informed of your topic and that you
have chosen reliable sources to back you up. Credit famous or reputable people whose knowledge you
have used—this means you must actually type full names and credentials.

According to Anna Buono, PhD in education from Yale University, students sometimes hate writing
essays. (Mrs. Buono isn’t famous; but listing her credentials shows that she is credible)

JayZ commented that he is against the piracy of music but that he supports online file-sharing. (JayZ
is a famous rap artist and his opinion on music is relevant)
Pathos.
Appeal to your audience’s sense of pathos, or emotion, by relating stories and facts that are relatable and
emotionally stimulating. Be careful with graphic details though, especially those that involve violence or
blood and gore; these can just be a turn off.

Every day in America innocent children go to school hungry, tired, and dirty because of neglect at
home caused by a parent’s drug abuse. (Sad, neglected children elicit a strong emotion)

If you had a chance to prevent a family being torn apart by a vehicular crash by simply putting away
your cell phone, wouldn’t you do it? (Also a rhetorical question; a broken family is a sad thing)
Logos.
Appeal to your audience’s sense of logos, or logic, by leading them to logical conclusions using facts.
“If…then” statements are useful here, as are undisputed statistics.

Eighty-two percent of teenagers will cheat on an assessment at some point in their career. If each
one was punished with expulsion, then no one would be left at school.
Also: incorporate rhetorical devices into the body of your essay. See the handout and also the list
below.
1. Rhetorical question
Can we really expect the school to keep paying from its limited resources?
2. Emotive language
Imagine being cast out into the street, cold, lonely and frightened.
3. Parallel structures
To show kindness is praiseworthy; to show hatred is evil.
4. Sound patterns
Alliteration: Callous, calculating cruelty – is this what we must expect?
Assonance: A fine time we all had, too.
5. Contrast
Sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind.
6. Description and Imagery (i.e. using metaphor, simile and personification)
While we wait and do nothing, we must not forget that the fuse is already burning.
7. The ‘rule of three’
I ask you, is this fair, is it right, is it just?
8. Repetition
Evil minds will use evil means.
To succeed, we must stick together. To succeed, we must be clever. To succeed, we must fight to the death.
9. Hyperbole (using exaggeration for effect)
While we await your decision, the whole school holds its breath.
Rubric for a Persuasive Essay
Category
Description
Comments/Score
Ideas and
Content
State your point
Provide specific, valid evidence (statistics,
anecdotes, etc.) with proper credit to the source
Accurate citations
Provide examples
Address the opposition and concede or refute it
Call to action
15
Organization
Catch the reader’s attention with a hook
State your point early
Arrange your evidence in a logical order (most to
least important, etc.)
Address your opposition in a logical place
Close with a call to action
Accurate works cited page
15
Voice
Avoid overuse of “I”
Be careful with “you” so as not to sound preachy
Use appropriate level of discourse—formal or
casual?
Consider your audience
10
Word choice
Avoid wordiness or language that is too elementary
Use vocabulary appropriate to your claim
Explain terms that may be unknown to your reader
10
Sentence
fluency
Avoid short, choppy sentences as well as long,
awkward sentences.
Integrate rhetorical devices into your writing
without making your writing awkward or “clunky”
10
Conventions
15
Double spaced
Subject-verb agreement
Fragments and run-ons
Punctuation
Homonyms
Title