PERSUASIVE
WRITING
6th Grade English
BE THE TEACHER
For this unit, students will become the
teachers as we complete a “jigsaw
teach” of Persuasive Writing.
You will work within your groups to
analyze a specific part of the unit. Then,
decide how to best teach the other
class members so that they have a good
understanding of that section.
You are responsible for their learning, so
make sure you understand it too!
BE THE TEACHER
I have included some Teaching Thoughts.
These are the kinds of things that teachers
think about when planning a lesson.
As you are analyzing your part of the unit, use
these Teaching Thoughts to develop your own
lesson so that your students will understand.
Use the white poster paper to define new
vocabulary, list key points, or draw visual aids.
Remember to paraphrase the material so
your students can easily read it!
I also can provide you with some graphic
organizers to help you plan your lesson.
Group 1
New Vocabulary
claim, argument, viewpoint
CLAIM
 The
writer’s position on a
problem or an issue.
 For
example, a dog lover’s claim may be
that dogs should be allowed in stores in
North Richland Hills.
 The writer may make more than one
claim in a text, but usually focuses on
supporting ONE claim.
 Teaching Thought: What does this
mean to you? What is an example
of a claim you could make?
ARGUMENT
 Speaking
or writing that
expresses a position on a
problem and supports it with
reasons and evidence
 Teaching Thought:
Have you
ever felt strongly about
something, while a friend or
family member felt the opposite
way? How did you convince that
person to see things your way?
VIEWPOINT
The author’s attitude toward
an issue
 Teaching Thought:
Think about the
issue of allowing dogs in stores.
What do you think the viewpoint
of dog owners would be? What
about the viewpoint of those who
are allergic to dogs?
VOCABULARY
claim, viewpoint, argument
 Teaching Thought:
Look at the ads
in these magazines. What is the
advertiser’s claim? How do they
argue their claim? What is the
advertiser’s viewpoint? Tear out
ads that help support your
teaching.
Group 2
New Vocabulary
proposition, support
PROPOSITION
 An
important idea, opinion or
viewpoint. Basically, a proposition is a
statement that expresses someone’s
opinion or a change that person would
like to see.
 Let’s say that a dog owner believes
dogs should be allowed in all shops in
North Richland Hills.
 He may write a statement that says
dogs should be allowed in NRH stores,
and mail it to the mayor.
PROPOSITION
A proposition is a statement.
 For example: “Because dogs are awesome,
dog owners should be allowed to bring
their pets to North Richland Hills stores.”
Teaching Thought:
What are some changes others might
propose about a social issue such as
smoking, recycling, school issues, etc.
 How would you write a proposition
about a change you would like to
see?
SUPPORT
 Information
that helps to prove a claim.
Support includes reasons and evidence.
 Writers typically give support for or
against an issue.
 Support includes things like facts,
examples, statistics, phrases like “Studies
show…” and expert opinions.
Teaching Thought: What are some
reasons people against allowing dog
owners might give to support their
claim? Where might they find
evidence to back their claim?
VOCABULARY
proposition, support
 Teaching Thought:
Look at the
magazine ads. Does the
author/advertiser make a
proposition? How do they give
support for their proposition? Tear
out ads that help support your
teaching.
Group 3
Persuasive Writing
PERSUASION
The art of swaying others’ feelings, beliefs or
actions. Persuasion convinces people to:
•Believe something or act a certain way
•Agree with a point of view
•Buy a certain product (think advertising!)
PERSUASIVE TEXT
Text written with the intent to persuade or
convince the reader of something.
PERSUASIVE TEXT
 The
writer of a persuasive essay
presents his or her viewpoint on an
issue while trying to persuade the
reader to agree with that view.
 The
writer supports his or her view
with sound reasoning, detailed
and relevant evidence, and
consideration of alternatives.
PERSUASIVE TEXT
 Sound
reasoning = using facts and
evidence to come to a conclusion
about something
 Detailed, relevant information =
using documents, statistics, facts, or
other hard evidence to support the
claim
 Consideration of alternatives =
“Seeing both sides” to an argument
PERSUASIVE TEXT
To avoid being easily swayed
by weak argument, a reader
should note the use of vague
or unclear language,
irrelevant examples, and
faulty reasoning used by
the author.
PERSUASIVE TEXT
Teaching Thoughts:
 What characteristics of a
persuasive essay make it different
from other types of writing?
 How can readers avoid being
swayed by a weak argument?
 How can readers decide between a
weak argument and a valid one?
Group 4
Persuasive Techniques
PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES
 Devices
that can convince you to
adopt a position or take an action.
 Persuasive writers appeal in certain
ways to the hearts and minds of
their readers:
•Logical appeal
•Emotional appeal
•Appeals to authority
•Personal experience
LOGICAL APPEAL
A
way of writing or speaking that relies
on facts and logic
Teaching Thoughts: Do you think
appealing to people’s emotions is a
good way to persuade someone?
Why?
What other examples of emotional
appeal have you seen?
LOGICAL APPEAL
Can you tell the difference between
logical appeal and emotional appeal?
LOGICAL APPEAL
EMOTIONAL APPEAL
 Uses
strong feelings, rather than facts or
evidence, to persuade
Teaching Thoughts: Do you
appealing to people’s emotions is a
good way to persuade someone?
Why?
What other examples of emotional
appeal have you seen?
APPEALS TO AUTHORITY
 Tries
to persuade the reader on the
basis of the author’s expertise
Teaching Thoughts: How can a
dentist sell toothpaste? How can a
celebrity sell skincream?
Do you think this type of persuasion
is effective? Why?
What other examples of appeals to
authority have you seen?
APPEALS TO AUTHORITY
LOADED LANGUAGE
Relies on words with
strongly positive or
negative associations
LOADED LANGUAGE
POSITIVE WORDS
 Brings
to mind something
exciting, comforting, or
desirable.
NEGATIVE WORDS
 Call
up unpleasant images,
experiences, and feelings
Can you find the loaded language in these ads?
Group 5
Public Service
Announcements versus
Propaganda
PUBLIC SERVICE
ANNOUNCEMENT (PSA)
Non-commercial media or
print advertisement that
seeks to generate public
awareness of a social issue,
such as safety, health or
education
PUBLIC SERVICE
ANNOUNCEMENT (PSA)
To summarize…
PSAs are created to generate
public awareness of a social
issue.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
PUBLIC SERVICE
ANNOUNCEMENT (PSA)
Teaching Thoughts
Can you recall any PSAs that you have
seen?
What are some social issues you can
think of that the public should be made
aware of?
Why do you think PSAs are even
necessary? Shouldn’t people just be
learning about these issues on their
own?
PROPAGANDA
Any form of communication
that is so distorted that it
conveys false or misleading
information to advance a
specific belief or cause
PROPAGANDA
PROPAGANDA
 Persuasion
is the art of leading others to
accept a certain idea or take a specific
action by appealing to both the mind and
emotions of the reader.
 When persuasion becomes extremely
one-sided or unreasonable, it becomes
propaganda.
 Propaganda may include bandwagon
appeal, stereotypes, celebrity
endorsements and name-calling.
PROPAGANDA
Bandwagon: Tells readers, “Everybody else is
doing it, and so should you!”
PROPAGANDA
Stereotypes: A widely held, oversimplified
idea or image about a particular type of
person or thing
PROPAGANDA
Celebrity endorsements: When a well-known
person uses his/her fame to sell a product
PROPAGANDA
Name-calling: The use of abusive language to
take support away from the competitor’s
product or claim
PROPAGANDA & PSAs
Teaching Thoughts:
What is the difference between
propaganda and PSAs?
Why would name-calling and
stereotypes be considered
propaganda?
Why would a celebrity endorsement
be considered propaganda?
Group 6
Faulty Reasoning
FAULTY REASONING
 Claim
based on information that is
incorrect, biased or doesn’t make
sense
 Include hasty generalization,
overgeneralization, circular
reasoning or false cause.
FAULTY REASONING
 This “wrong
way of thinking” (or
trying to persuade others) is often
based on:
• Exaggerated statements (a statement
that overstates or represents more
than what’s true
• Misleading statements (a statement
that falsely informs the reader)
FAULTY REASONING
 Since
advertisements are intended
to generate sales, a reader cannot
assume that all the information
presented is trustworthy.
 When
examining an advertisement,
look for logic or correct reasoning
backed by reasons and evidence.
FAULTY REASONING
Overgeneralization:
Statements that are so
general that they
oversimplify reality
FAULTY REASONING:
Hasty generalization
jumping to conclusions
FAULTY
REASONING:
circular
reasoning
When the writer tries to
begin with what they are
trying to end with.
FAULTY
REASONING:
false cause:
misleading info
FAULTY REASONING
Teaching Thoughts:
 Have you ever seen any ads or
commercials that seemed just wrong?
What did you notice about those
commercials?

Why is it important to differentiate
between logic and faulty reasoning
when reading an advertisement?
GROUP ACTIVITY
You will make a claim about the environment,
negative or positive.
1.
On your index card, write your appeal and
the names of those in your group.
2.
Collaborate with your group to take a
position on a specific environmental issue. On
the index card, write a sentence stating your
claim.
3.
Use persuasive techniques to support your
claim.Your support must be based on your
assigned appeal! (emotional, association,
loaded language).
Debrief questions
1. How does an author craft an effective argument?
2. How does a reader avoid being easily swayed by a weak
argument?
3. How do authors use persuasive techniques to make an
argument for or against an issue?
4. Why is it important for a reader to read multiple sources
on the same topic?
Writing response:
To avoid being easily swayed by weak argument a reader
should note the use of vague or unclear language, irrelevant
examples, and faulty reasoning used by the author.