Essay 5
Rhetorical Patterns: Argumentation / Persuasion
Due dates:
Format:
Length:
Wednesday, December 9- Thesis and working outline
Friday- Tuesday, January 4-8– Bring all of your work to class both digital
(emailed to me or on flash drive transferred to my computer) and hard copy form.
Wednesday, January 9- Title page, outline, and essay, followed by drafts and
prewriting (in this order). Remember that there are NO rewrites of this
essay; NO PROJECTS ACCEPTED AFTER FRIDAY, January 11.
Use MLA Style, typed, Times New Roman, Size 12 font. Again, bring copies on a
Portable USB drive (thumb drive) as well as a hard copy.
4-5 pages
Models essays are online and on STWW pp. 289-294.
These steps may not apply in all situations, and you may need to repeat steps at a variety of
stages in the process. Enter the following information to plan and build your writing.
1. Select the subject for your argument/ persuasive essay, keeping the length of the assignment
in mind.
2. Will your essay be argumentative or persuasive?
3. Determine the purpose, audience, and tone of your paper.
Purpose:
Audience:
Tone:
4. List all the pros and cons of your subject. Examine each pro / con to determine its
importance and to consider what evidence there is to prove the point. Decide which point of
you can argue best.
Pros
1.
2.
3.
4. (add more as needed)
Cons
1.
2.
3.
4. (add more as needed)
Group items into categories or reasons
5. Write a tentative thesis statement. Your argumentative thesis statement should be a complex
sentence containing three parts. The first part identifies your opposition and overall
reasoning; the second part identifies your proposition, and the third part identifies your basic
reasoning. Note the following example:
Even though Ritalin supporter’s point to its beneficial effects, the drug should be limited
because of its unknown, long-term effects.
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6. Use a technique such as brainstorming, free writing, listing, clustering, or dividing to
generate support for each of your points.
 How can you show your audience how #1 is a valid reason or a persuasive point? Can
you think of or find examples and details to illustrate it vividly and persuasively? Can
you think of or find facts, statics, or quoted authorities to substantiate it?
 How can you effectively handle the opposition? For some situations, it is
appropriate to consider the following: 1) points of agreement, 2) points to concede, or
3) proposals which meets the concerns of both sides. Repeat for each point you have
generated.
Organize your main points in a logical order and outline your body paragraphs, developing one
paragraph for each major point. Add as many supports and specific reasons, facts, details,
examples, or illustrations as you need for your topic. As with organizing a compare / contrast
essay, an argument essay may be organize along different patterns as suits your needs, but an
effective essay will in all cases consider and counter or refute the opposition’s key points and
for a persuasive, provide a clear call to action. Use the following essay outline, changing it as
needed to fit your topic. See also Steps to Writing Well p. 273-285. Rogerian techniques, STWW
p. 281.
Note too that there are different ways to argue logically: by giving examples, presenting
comparison or contrast, showing cause and effect, or by definition. Therefore, you may use
various rhetorical strategies (e.g. cause / effect) within each paragraph.
Methods of organization
Introduction
Hook/Lead
Thesis:
[Basic patterns of organization:]
Pattern 1:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Pattern 2:
Y our Support Point 1
Your Support Pont 2
Your Support Pont 3
Refute opponent’s point 1
Refute opponent’s point 2
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Refute opponent’s point 1
Refute opponent’s point 2
Your Support Pont 1
Y our Support Point 2
Y our Support Point 3
Pattern 3:
I.
II.
Point 1
A. Your point
B. opponent’s point
C. refutation of opponent’s argument
Point 2
A. Your point
B. opponent’s point
C. refutation of opponent’s argument
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Use a technique such as brainstorming, free writing, listing, clustering, or dividing to generate
ideas for your introduction. How can you get your reader’s attention?
Generate ideas for your conclusion. Can you refer back to something in your introduction to
conclude your paper? Can you restate the main points of your essay? If you are writing to
persuade, what do you want to be done? How can you provide an effective call to action?
8. Working from your outline, write a draft of your argument or persuasive essay.
9. Proofread and evaluate the essay’s strengths and weaknesses. Check your organization. Is
the pattern clear and logical? If you chose another order, what is the reason for you selection?
Do appropriate transitions signal and link minor details as well as major points? Is the
causal connection clear and logical? Do you avoid logical fallacies, such as
oversimplification, coincidence, non sequiturs, and circular reasoning (STWW 283)? Do you
use effective strategies, including appeal to reason, emotion, or moral authority?
10. Get feedback on your writing.
11. Revise your writing using the feedback you received or using the revision checklist.
12. Edit your essay for mechanical errors using an editing checklist.
Be sure that you self-analyze and revise for the following:
 establish the essay’s focus in a thesis statement
 establish each paragraph’s main idea in the topic sentence
 develop your main idea with major supporting points (reasons, examples)
 use specific, sufficient, and relevant details
 organize your ideas logically and clearly(i.e. chronological, spacial, emphatic)
 use transitions effectively to link and show the relationship between ideas
 make effective word choices (specific nouns and active verbs)
 vary sentence structure
Edit carefully for grammar and mechanics
 fragments
 run-ons and comma splices
 verb errors (form or tense, subject-verb agreement, shift in verb tense, incomplete
verb (i.e. NOT- I done it. but I did it. or I have done it.)
 pronoun errors: pronoun-antecedent agreement, vague or broad pronoun
reference, pronoun case
 punctuation and capitalization
 spelling (check there / their, a lot, not a lot)
 use of apostrophes for possessives and not plurals or possessive pronouns
 parallelism
Have you personalized your edit list? Add or highlight any areas that are recurring problems for
you.
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Possible topics:
Argue for or against attendance requirements at school
Argue for or against requiring students to pass skill tests to graduate or end of course exams
Argue for or against strict penalties for academic dishonesty
Argue for or against a particular law restricting immigration
Argue for or against the death penalty laws
Argue for or against on-line education or for restriction regarding it
Argue for or against women’s in combat
Persuade someone to change a behavior
Persuade someone or a group to change a policy
Write a letter to a senator, representative, or other official persuading him, her, or it to do
something or to change something.
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