Persuasive Writing Mrs. McNutt/ Mrs. Brown August 2007

Essential Questions What is persuasive writing? How can I use my writing to persuade others?

Persuade?? What does it mean to persuade? To cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action To convince

What about you?? What kinds of things do you convince people to do?? We encounter persuasive writing EVERYDAY! –radio announcer telling you why you should keep listening to his station –television commercial showing you the results of a specific toothpaste –magazine article examining the life of your favorite rock star –President of the United States giving the State of the Union address For example…

Persuasive Writing Now we’ll learn how to use our writing to persuade people

Goal What do you think is the goal of persuasive writing? The goal is to convince someone to agree with you on a specific issue

What must Persuasive Writing Include? You must be writing about something that has two viewpoints: one viewpoint for and one against You must have an AUDIENCE You must have a PURPOSE FACTS not opinions

Some Examples of Persuasive Writing Should Marine Animals be in Captivity?Should Marine Animals be in Captivity? Adopting a Pet from the Pound Letter to the Editor

Persuasion Map Check out this persuasion map that is available online!persuasion map

Let’s Read Another Example!

Dear Mrs. LaRue Map Ike needs to go home right away The obedience school is like a prison. There are some very BAD DOGS there. Ike has to perform meaningless tasks all day long. He has to sit still and roll over all day long. Ike is very ill. He has a limp. Ike feels queasy. He had to visit the vet.

Organizing Structure – Make a Sandwich! Introduction – bread Body – meat Conclusion – bread

Your Assignment Now that you’ve learned all about how to write a persuasive essay, it’s your turn to write! Your job is to write a persuasive letter to your Congressman (either your Georgia Senator or Representative – hopefully you remember who they are!) You need to think of a law that you would like changed or a new law that you would like to have passed. Your job is to write a letter to convince your Senator or Representative to bring your idea to Congress and hopefully get your law passed. In other words, you must persuade the Congressman to fight for your new law! Your idea must be something serious that you feel strongly about (not something silly like you only want to go to school on days that start with the letter M). Make sure you write this in LETTER form. You must follow this path to lead which will lead you to your final copy:

1. Idea Map – Gather your many topic ideas together 2. Flow Map – Take your idea and place it together with your supporting reasons 3. Rough Draft 4. Read over and edit rough draft 5. Final Draft

Parts of a Letter Heading –Address –Date Greeting –Dear Body –Your message Closing –Sincerely Signature –Your name