Persuasive Essay
Why?




You need to write two essays for your folio
Folio accounts for 20% of final Int 2 result
Second type of writing for Unit One NAB:
you have already done Reflective.
You must pass one of these in order to
complete Unit One.
Persuasive Essay.

The persuasive essay is an essay about a topic
regarding which the writer feels very strongly.

The writer does not try to be fair, or balanced: he
or she will try to convince their reader that they
should agree with the writer’s point of view.

Many of the passages you will read for Close
Reading will be examples of persuasive writing.
Choosing a Topic.


The best essays will come from writing
about something you genuinely care
about: if you aren’t really interested in your
subject, it will show in your essay and
weaken the strength of your arguments.
Also, you should choose something topical
if you can

You must be specific in your choice of topic. For
example, consider the following as possible
topics:




M.P’s Expenses
Homelessness
War
Climate Change.
Have a minute’s thinking time and then be prepared
to comment on how suitable or otherwise these are
as topics for an essay.

Take the same topics, think about what
you have read or heard recently in the
news, and try to come up with a specific
topic linked to each of the headings.
M.P’s expenses
 Homelessness.
 War
 Climate Change

Watch the clip on I player
By reading newspapers and watching or
listening to news programmes, you can discover
the controversial issues in the news. By
choosing something current, you can make your
research a bit easier (IF you are reading
newspapers!!!!)
However,
 You may also wish to write about something that
is local to your area or personal to you or to your
family’s circumstances.

Task - How to Plan.

Once you have decided on your topic, use
your planning sheets to plan and structure
your essay.
Selecting





Look carefully at all your ideas and choose three
or four of the arguments that most strongly
support your view.
Having decided on your main points Write each
of them down as headings on a piece of paper.
Leave space between each heading.
Now under each one, write down anything you
already know that gives evidence for that point.
Then write down anything that you don’t know
but you would like to find out because it might
strengthen your argument.
This will help you direct your research later on.
Opposing Arguments



In a persuasive essay, you will spend most of
your time giving your own view.
However, it is important to acknowledge that
there are views which oppose your own. You
must do this to meet the criteria for a pass.
You don’t have to spend a long time on these
opinions but you should write about them so as
you can go onto explain why you disagree and
undermine these arguments.


Write down the most common arguments against your
point of view.
We’ll talk about this later in structure.
Research


Having thought about what you already
know and what you need to find out to
develop your argument, you can be more
focused in your research and can save
time.
You might find out something you hadn’t
thought of in your reading. That’s fine, you
can choose to include it.
Sources of Information





Newspapers
Magazines
Internet
Pressure Group Publications
Essential Articles.
Taking Notes




Don’t copy whole sections down: you may end
up regurgitating the whole thing in your essay,
perhaps without even understanding it.
Put everything into your own words, in note
form, to make sure you understand the point
being made. There is no point writing something
down that you don’t understand.
Do not print from the Internet. Put ideas into your
own words, in note form.
Write down the name of the paper, website,
leaflet you are using, as you must include a
bibliography at the end of your essay.
Rules for Using Sources




Don’t quote
Don’t mention individuals if you can
generalise from them.
Don’t go into detailed figures for no
reason.
Acknowledge sources in a bibliography.
Structure of Essay
Intro - Clear introduction explaining the
and stating your view clearly.
A paragraph acknowledging the opposing
arguments then undermining them.
Argument One supporting your view
Argument Two supporting your view
Argument Three supporting your view
Conclusion, summing up ideas and
your opinion.
Structure of your main points

Same as always!
Topic Sentence, stating what rest of
is going to be about.
Evidence backing up the point made in
topic sentence. (This should be a blend of
research that you have carried out and
own words including persuasive language
techniques) You may use linking words
connect pieces of evidence.
A sentence which sums up the idea that
have been discussing.
Style and Tone
As
this is a persuasive piece, you should use many of the
techniques you have been studying in your close reading work.
Rhetorical questions
 Anecdote
 Humour
 Sarcasm
 Hyperbole
 Sentence structure
 Emotive language.
 Linking Sentences ( not optional!)
 Use of statistics.

However…

Do not be overly abusive or sarcastic: it
may make you sound foolish and can
certainly put people off agreeing with you.
There are those, of whom I am not one, who believe that
genetics is the great hope of mankind. All disease will be
cured, all people will be fed in the Utopia of Science…
A few deluded idiots and thoughtless slaves of the
multinational gene companies hold the ridiculous
“opinion” that genetic engineering is a wonderful idea…