What are the elements of a persuasive essay?

In this lesson you will learn how to identify the different parts of an essay by labeling the thesis, topic sentence, supporting details and elaboration.

Let’s Review Persuasive writing is where the author states his or her opinion and then proves it true with evidence. The goal is to get the reader to agree with what he or she is arguing.

Core Lesson The littering problem should be solved because it costs our city money, makes people sick, and leads to more crime. Cities that have a littering problem end up losing more money than cities that don’t. For instance, it costs more money to clean up the streets than it does to empty trashcans. When people throw their garbage away in a trashcan, city workers only have to go to a few spots to gather it and take it to the dump. However, when the trash is all over the streets, city workers have to spend all day collecting it piece by piece in order to get it to the dump. The city has to pay the workers for the extra time it takes to do this job. Furthermore, litter makes the city look ugly. When the city looks bad, people won’t want to come to visit. This costs the city money because they can’t collect it from the tourists who come in and pay for hotels, buy food and souvenirs, and pay for entrance into museums and historical sights. Clearly, the city should solve its littering problem if it wants to have more money. Not only should our city solve the littering problem so it can save money, it should also solve the problem because it makes people sick. My little sister, for instance, got an infection when she cut herself on a rusty can sitting in the lot next to our house. Someone had taken their trash and threw it in the lot instead of keeping it until trash day and putting it out to be picked up. If they had thrown the trash in the garbage instead of the lot, my sister would not have had to get a shot and spend time out of school. In addition, litter can put bad things into the soil. If a person throws something onto the ground that shouldn’t be there, and you plant a garden, the food from your garden could be contaminated. Littering can also lead to more crime. In fact, studies have shown that areas that are full of litter tend to have higher crime rates. This may be because people don’t take as much pride in the area since it doesn’t seem that nice, so they’re more willing to do things like vandalize the buildings or public property. Moreover, when a person sees litter everywhere, he or she may think that they can get away with much more. It’s sort of like the rules at my school. The teachers give us consequences for small things, like having our shirts un-tucked. Because they do this, we understand that they’re very serious about the rules, and we’re less likely to cause a bigger disturbance. When someone sees litter everywhere, he or she may think that the rules are pretty relaxed there, and are more confident to do something that they shouldn’t. Thesis statement Body paragraphs

Core Lesson Place a “TH” next to the Thesis Statement. Place a “TS” next to the Topic Sentence. Place an “SD” next to the Supporting Details. Place an “E” next to the Elaboration.

The littering problem should be solved because it costs our city money, makes people sick, and leads to more crime. Opinion Evidence (sub points) 1 TH

Cities that have a littering problem end up losing more money than cities that don’t. For instance, it costs more money to clean up the streets than it does to empty trashcans. When people throw their garbage away in a trashcan, city workers only have to go to a few spots to gather it and take it to the dump. However, when the trash is all over the streets, city workers have to spend all day collecting it piece by piece in order to get it to the dump. The city has to pay the workers for the extra time it takes to do this job. 3 Why do they lose more money? SD Why is this true? 4 E 2 TS

Place a “TH” next to the Thesis Statement. 1 2 Place a “TS” next to the Topic Sentence. 3 “Place an “SD” next to the Supporting Details. Place an “E” next to the Elaboration. 4

In this lesson you have learned how to identify the different parts of an essay by labeling the thesis, topic sentence, supporting details and elaboration.

Guided Practice Directions: On the next slide, you will see a thesis statement and one body paragraph. Label the thesis, topic sentence, supporting details and elaboration on that essay.

Reading is important because it teaches you new things, helps you relax, and helps you connect to other people. Reading teaches you new things. For instance, if you’re interested in learning more about another country, you can easily find a book about that country. Last year I wanted to learn more about Mexico because my family was going to take a vacation there, so I went to the library and found a book about it. While reading I learned many things about Mexico’s history and culture. Reading can also help you learn important life lessons. If you pay attention to the ways the characters struggle, and how the story is resolved, you can apply those things to your own life and learn how to solve similar problems.

Extension Activities Find an editorial from a newspaper. Read it two times. The first time, just try to understand the main idea of the article. The second time, see if you can label the thesis statement, topic sentences, supporting details, and elaboration.

Let’s Review Quick Quiz Directions: On the next slide, you will see a thesis statement and one body paragraph. Label the thesis, topic sentence, supporting details and elaboration on that essay.

Let’s Review Quick Quiz There are many advantages to traveling. Traveling can help you relax, understand people who are different from you, and teach you responsibility. One advantage to traveling is that it can help you relax. When you travel, things are often out of your control. When I was traveling this summer, for instance, I got stuck at a border crossing, so the bus ride took 8 hours instead of six. Instead of getting frustrated, I was able to just accept it as a fact of traveling, which is a mindset I can also use in my everyday life. Travel can also help you learn to relax because you don’t have to worry about they typical things that you have to worry about when you’re home. For instance, if I’m in my house, I always think about all of the chores I should do. When I’m far away in another country, I don’t worry about those things because there’s nothing I can do about them.

Core Lesson Thesis statement: The part of the essay that states the author’s opinion and lays out the support he or she is going to use. Topic sentence: The sentence in the body paragraph that states the main idea. It comes directly from the thesis statement.

Supporting Detail: Evidence found in the body paragraphs. These directly prove the topic sentence true and therefore prove the thesis statement true. Elaboration: Information found in the body paragraph that clarifies the supporting detail and connects everything back to the topic sentence and thesis statement.