Persuasive Essay Introduction A Writer’s Checklist Choosing an issue Considering your purpose and audience Writing an opinion statement Supporting your position Understanding appeals Concluding with a call to action A Writer’s Model Your Turn: Write a persuasive essay

Introduction Everywhere we look, we encounter persuasive messages on billboards, in editorials, and in commercials. Advertisers, reporters, and politicians all use persuasive arguments to convince consumers to buy a product or to win the support of an audience.

Introduction You can advance your own persuasive arguments in a persuasive essay—a piece of writing in which you defend your position on an issue that has importance to you. In this type of writing, you must try to get your audience to understand and agree with your opinion on a subject.

A Writer’s Checklist When you write a persuasive essay, you should: Choose an issue that you can argue successfully. Consider your purpose and audience as you prepare to write. Write an opinion statement that strongly states your position. Support your opinion statement by using convincing evidence. Conclude your essay with a call to action that inspires your readers. 4

Choosing an issue An issue is something about which people have opposing opinions. Perhaps you already know of an issue that makes you want to write a persuasive essay. To choose an issue: Look around your community or read your local newspaper. Think of issues about which you hold strong beliefs. Learn about current events through sources such as the World Wide Web, newsmagazines, or television news programs. 5

Writing Tip: Choosing an issue It is important that you feel strongly about the issues you choose to discuss in your persuasive writing. However, at times extremely strong feelings can diminish a writer’s ability to reason clearly about an issue. In such cases, these strong feelings can actually weaken a writer’s argument. Avoid issues about which you feel so strongly that you cannot write reasonably.

Choosing an issue After choosing an issue, you should make sure that it meets the following requirements: It is arguable, or one on which reasonable people would have some disagreement. The topic is specific enough to tackle in the space of your essay. At times, you may have to narrow your initial topic in order to make it more manageable.

Considering your purpose and audience The purpose of your writing is to convince readers to share your opinion on your issue and to take action to change or correct the issue. To do this, you will need to identify and analyze your audience so that you can tailor your arguments. Ask yourself the following questions: Who are my readers? How do they feel about the issue I’ve chosen? Do most readers understand the issue, or do they need background information? What is my readers’ level of interest about my issue?

Considering your purpose and audience Julio created this chart in order to analyze his audience: Audience Response to Questions Members of the community who might become volunteers What they know: They probably already know that volunteering is admirable. What will make them care: To help them understand the potential benefits for the community and themselves. What they will want to know more about: They will probably want facts and statistics about the positive effects of volunteering. 9

Writing an opinion statement When you have chosen an issue, you can then craft an opinion statement, which states your opinion or position on the issue. Here some examples of effective opinion statements: Elected officials must vote for campaign reform. Hoover High students should support efforts to eliminate gang activity in the schools. Silver City residents have an obligation to participate in community clean-air initiatives. As you can see, these statements are strongly worded and tell readers exactly what the writer believes.

Writing an opinion statement Since Julio feels very strongly about the benefits to society of volunteering, he crafts an opinion statement for his persuasive essay about this issue. Citizens should volunteer more. Their work can provide many rewarding benefits and help the community meet difficult challenges.

Supporting your position To support your opinion statement you should offer at least three reasons for the audience to accept your opinion. To develop such reasons, ask yourself: • What values might people accepting my position be supporting? • What benefits might come from following my suggested course of action? • What are the potential consequences of not accepting my position?

Supporting your opinion Include two pieces of evidence to back up each of your reasons. The structure of your persuasive essay will be something like this: Position Reason Evidence

Supporting your position Understanding appeals The evidence in your essay can be classified as logical, emotional, and ethical appeals. Ethical Appeals Logical Appeals Emotional Appeals Speak to the reader’s ability to think by presenting reasons backed by evidence. Examples: facts, factual anecdotes, expert testimony Stir the reader’s feelings with description, connotative language, and anecdotes. Examples: analogies, rhetorical devices such as repetition Call upon the reader’s sense of right and wrong or demonstrate that the writer is fair. Examples: statements about values, discussion of the writer’s authority to speak on the issue

Supporting your position Understanding appeals A logical appeal involves presenting a reason and then using evidence to support that reason. These appeals include items such as facts and examples. One effective form of logical appeal is statistical evidence, or actual numerical data that supports your point. The city was able to save 8% of its park maintenance budget last year due to the efforts of citizen volunteers who donated a total of 3600 hours to park cleanup.

Supporting your position Understanding appeals Writers use emotional appeals to stir the feelings of readers. Language with emotional connotations--attitudes and associations--can put a positive or negative emotional spin on your arguments. How do you feel when you see trash blowing through the streets or piled around neglected litter barrels in city parks? Imagine the satisfaction and pride that you would feel on your next visit to the park, seeing clean, safe places for children to play and run.

Supporting your position Understanding appeals Ethical appeals call upon a reader’s sense of right and wrong. These appeals can serve to acknowledge one’s opposition or to justify one’s authority to speak on a topic. Our city has a long tradition of active community volunteers, and is important that we instill this value in schoolchildren. In this way, they can both carry on the tradition and pass it along to future generations.

Test Tip: Supporting your position When writing a persuasive essay for an exam, you may not have time to include all of the supporting appeals you can think of. Some appeals might require extensive explanation or background information. In these cases, consider which appeals will prove most convincing. Also, evaluate which appeals you can deliver most concisely and effectively within the time and space constraints of your test.

Supporting your position One effective way to sway your opponents is to acknowledge their positions. A refutation is a response to an opposing viewpoint. If you believe that an opposing argument has merit, you may also wish to acknowledge that fact. This concession will help show that you are fair and reasonable and build credibility with your audience. Although it is true that people today are less likely to volunteer because of the many ways they can spend their free time, I would argue that few alternatives could be as rewarding as giving something back to the community

Supporting your position Present your support in the most effective order possible in order to have the best chance to persuade your audience. Opinion Statement Here is one possible method of structuring your support: Support: Logical Appeals Emotional Appeals Ethical Appeals Rebuttals

Supporting your position Strategies for Organizing Support Order of Importance Begin or end your support with your strongest reason. Cause and Effect Support or oppose a course of action based on cause-and-effect relationships. Compare and Contrast Present opposing positions along with your refutations and concessions of them. Problem-Solution Describe a problem and outline the solution that you support. 21

Concluding with a call to action When you write the conclusion of your persuasive essay, use forceful language that will resonate with your audience and help them to remember your argument. It is time for all citizens to look within themselves and consider what they might do to give back to the community.

Concluding with a call to action If your persuasive essay calls for a specific action to be taken on your issue, explain to your readers how they can best do so. This call to action can be a phrase, statement, or question that will inspire your readers to get involved. If your essay does not suggest a specific course of action, you can still leave your audience with an anecdote, question, or idea as food for thought.

A Writer’s Checklist Use this checklist as you look at the following Writer’s Model and as you evaluate and revise your own persuasive essay: Choose an issue that you can argue successfully. Consider your purpose and audience as you prepare to write. Write an opinion statement that strongly states your position. Support your opinion statement by using convincing evidence. Conclude your essay with a call to action that inspires your readers. 24

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Gandhi’s words speak to the way in which volunteerism, in addition to unselfishly helping others, can also benefit the volunteers themselves. Unfortunately, such sentiments seem to be in short supply in our community, which currently faces a shortage of volunteers. Citizens should volunteer more, as their work can provide many rewarding benefits and help the community meet difficult challenges. attention-grabbing introduction opinion statement

In recent months, our community has faced numerous budget cuts that have affected valued city programs and services. An increase in volunteer efforts could help offset these cutbacks. One recent budget change cut the number of city employees dedicated to cleaning up parks and other recreational areas in half. However, Dr. Vinay Patel, a noted city-planning expert, recently testified that a team of only ten local volunteers could provide this service for free by giving just a few hours of their time each week. logical appeal evidence/facts expert opinion

It is also right and important that the value of volunteerism be shared with young members of the community. Our city has a long tradition of citizens pitching in to make it a better place to live. Our young citizens should be taught to understand this heritage and carry it on in their own lives. Especially now—as our city faces new challenges that come with growth and change—instilling this value in our youth will ensure that they preserve this ideal in the future. ethical appeal evidence/facts statements about values

Volunteerism should also represent a source of community pride for our citizens. Some say that people today are less likely to volunteer because they have more ways in which to spend their free time. Although this is true, I would argue that few alternatives could be as rewarding as giving something back to the community. For instance, individuals who have mentored students in the city’s after-school programs have expressed a near-unanimous pride and enjoyment in the work they do. emotional appeal concession and refutation example

It is time for all citizens to look within themselves and consider what they might do to give back to the community. We face many difficulties, including ever-tightening budgets and the strains of rapid growth and change. However, these are challenges that can be met, in large part, through the efforts of hard-working volunteers. Not only will these individuals be solving problems within the community, but they will be carrying on a tradition that will bring pride to the city and to themselves. call to action restatement of writer’s opinion

Your Turn: Write a persuasive essay Write a persuasive essay in response to one of the prompts below. Then, use the Writer’s Checklist as a guide to evaluating and revising your work. Write about a local, state, or national issue about which you feel strongly. Explain why others should support your position. Suppose that your school received a large donation that would be dedicated to a school-improvement project. Write an essay to persuade school officials to use the money in the manner that you feel is best.

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