Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Persuasive Letters Writing to Change the Attitudes, Beliefs, or Actions of Others

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Have an Opinion Research your topic. Become an expert. (You must know more than your audience to be persuasive, so do the legwork.) Choose a side. Take a stand. Collect evidence that supports your position. Make connections to your life/modern day times.

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools It’s Not Begging! Please, please, please… may work on your grandma, but it’s not an effective persuasive technique. “Don’t use that tone of voice with me!” Never anger or offend your audience. That’ll get you nowhere fast. Consider the needs of your audience. See your issue from their perspective. Be respectful of their opinions.

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Purposes for Persuasion To arouse sympathy To stimulate concern To win agreement To support a cause To make a commitment To take action To change a situation To change a behavior or attitude To counterpoint a belief or theory

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Audiences Readers who agree and want to see their position stated well Readers who want to see more so they can be convinced Readers who want good facts to help them decide Readers who truly want to consider both sides of the issue

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Lead Get the audience’s attention and let them know why you’re writing. Be direct. When people read letters, they’re not hoping to be entertained. You can start with facts, a story, a quote… but mostly people expect you to get to the point early in a letter. In other words, state your concern/opinion in the lead. (Hint: It can make a good transition.)

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools How do you Become the Expert? Research books, articles, the internet… Interview other experts Do a survey Collect relevant quotes Collect statistics: numbers that reveal the situation Collect relevant examples and stories Brainstorm reasons, benefits, disadvantages, solutions, roadblocks

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Elaborate Once you’ve brought up their problems/concerns with your request, it’s time to counterpoint. The solutions and explanations that you present will make or break your “argument”. Remember, respect their opinions as you help them look at your issue through new eyes from a different angle—yours.

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Different Types of Supporting Details Answers New questions Facts Statistics Surveys and polls Quotes Examples Anecdotes (stories)

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Theories Principles Interviews Solutions Roadblocks Arguments Personal experiences Implications

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Organizing your Ideas Always chunk your details into categories and arrange them in ways that will make sense to your audience. A few options are-- Chronological order Cause/effect Problem/solution

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Closing There are many ways to close persuasive writing: Call the reader to action Show how the future could be better (or worse) End with a pointed question Circle back to the lead

Donna Vincent, Muhlenberg County Schools Adapted from-- Lessons that Change Writers (2002) by Nancie Atwell Write to Learn (1999) by Donald M. Murray