1. PERSUASION Convincing someone to do or believe something.

2. Definition

3. Persuasion  Learning how to persuade someone is a very important skill because whomever you are one day you will find yourself in need to persuade someone in order to reach a goal or to get something that you want.  To get a job.  To get a girlfriend/boyfriend.  To get your parents to buy you something.  To get anything you want, from anyone!  All of these require persuasion.

4. Persuasive Essay  In a persuasive essay you are trying to convince your reader to do (or not to do) something or believe (or not believe) something.  The difference between Argumentation and Persuasion is the purpose, a good argument may be very logical and true, but that doesn’t mean it will persuade someone.

5. Persuasion  Cats make good pets because they are low maintenance, they are easy to potty train and they provide good companionship. LogicalEmotional

6. Know Your Audience: Who do you want to Persuade?  When you write, you should always think about your audience, the reader(s) of your essay.  The audience are the people whom you want to persuade.  For your persuasive essay, you may choose who your audience is going to be, the more specific your audience is, the easier it will be to write arguments to persuade them.

7. Know Your Audience: Who do you want to Persuade?  Ask yourself these questions about your audience:  Who is your audience?  What do they already know about this subject?  Focus your persuasion towards your audience:  A group of scientists might be more persuaded by facts and numbers.  A group of young parents might be more persuaded by a story of an injured child.  Remember, the audience is usually selfish.  If you can persuade them that your topic personally effects them, they will be more likely to be convinced.

8. The three appeals to the Audience  Ethos: the source's credibility, the speaker's/author's authority  Logos: the logic used to support a claim (induction and deduction); can also be the facts and statistics used to help support the argument.  Pathos: the emotional or motivational appeals; vivid language, emotional language and numerous sensory details.

9. The three appeals to the Audience  Ethos (Credibility) refers to one’s own character, image or reputation in the eyes of an audience.

10. The three appeals to the Audience  Ethos (Credibility)  Example: Dr. Dean Rippily, a cardiologist at Harvard medical school, stated that Smokers are twice as likely to suffer a stroke as nonsmokers. Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the United States, claiming over 150,000 people every year.

11. The three appeals to the Audience  Logos (Logical) means persuading by the use of reasoning and logical arguments. It involves giving persuasive reasons to back up your claims. Giving reasons is the heart of argumentation, and cannot be emphasized enough.  Logic involves:  Facts  Numbers  Specific examples  Cause and effect

12. The three appeals to the Audience  Logos (Logical)  Example: Lung Cancer causes more deaths than any other kind of cancer among both men and women. A staggering 87% of all cases of the disease are related to tobacco use, which means that this all too common.

13. The three appeals to the Audience  Pathos (Emotional) means persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions.  Language choice affects the audience's emotional response, and emotional appeal can effectively be used to enhance an argument.

14. The three appeals to the Audience  Pathos (Emotional)  Example:

16. Modal Verbs Language Focus

17. Language Focus: Modal Verbs We use modal verbs to try to persuade someone to change their behavior.  An example is when giving advice:  You should give up smoking because it is bad for your health.  or when pointing out that someone has an obligation to do something:  You must help if you see an old person who has fallen on the ground.

18. Language Focus: Modal Verbs Suggestions and advice:  We use should to make suggestions and give advice:  You should send an email.  We should go by train.  We use could to make suggestions:  We could meet at the weekend.  You could eat out tonight.  We use conditionals to give advice:  Dan will help you if you ask him.  Past tenses are more polite:  Dan would help you if you asked him.

19. Language Focus: Modal Verbs Obligation and necessity:  We use must to say that it is necessary to do something:  You must stop at a red light.  Everyone must bring something to eat.  You can wear what you like, but you must look neat and tidy.  I’m sorry, but you mustn’t make a noise in here.  We use had to for this if we are talking about the past:  Everyone had to bring something to eat.  We could wear what we liked, but we had to look neat and tidy.

20. Language Focus: Modal Verbs  Look at the following statements. Which statement is the strongest? Which is the least strong? How would you respond to each statement? 1. You could get up early to study for your exam (suggestion) 2. You must get up early to study for your exam (command) 3. You should get up early to study for your exam (advice)

21. Language Focus: Modal Verbs  Fill in each of these spaces with the appropriate modal verb. 1. If you want to stay healthy you _______________ eat healthy food. (advice) 2. You _______________ finish this exercise for homework. (command) 3. If you like I _______________ help you with your English. (suggestion)

22. Language Focus: Modal Verbs  When trying to persuade, use strong language:  Should  Must  Ought to

23. How to Write a Persuasive Essay

24. Brainstorm  Writing a persuasive essay is very much like writing an ordinary paper. Before you begin, you have to come up with a good solid view, a foundation on which you can base your entire paper.  Write about something you really believe in. If you write on a topic you don't care very much about, it will show in the quality of your arguments.  Write on a topic that you're passionate about!

25. Brainstorm  Begin to consider opposing viewpoints when thinking about your essay.  If you think it will be hard to come up with arguments against your topic, your opinion might not be controversial enough to make it into a persuasive essay.  If there are too many arguments against your opinion that might be hard too.

26. Choose a topic  Here are some good questions to ask yourself as you choose your topic: 1. Is this really a controversial topic that people will have different opinions about? 2. Do I have a strong opinion about this topic? 3. Do I have enough knowledge about this topic? 4. Do I have a personal connection to this topic? 5. Will my readers be interested in this topic?

27. Research your topic  A persuasive essay must provide specific and convincing evidence. Often it is necessary to go beyond your own knowledge and experience.

28. Write an introduction  Many people believe that the introduction is the most important part of an essay, because it either grabs or loses the reader's attention.  A good introduction will tell the reader just enough about your essay to draw them in and make them want to continue reading.

29. Write a hook  Start with an amazing hook. Your hook is a first sentence that draws the reader in. Your hook can be a question or a quotation, a fact or an anecdote, a definition or a humorous sketch. As long as it makes the reader want to continue reading, or sets the stage, you've done your job.

30. Write a thesis statement  Your thesis statement is a short summary of what you're arguing for. It's usually one sentence, and it's near the end of your introductory paragraph. Make your thesis a combination of your most persuasive arguments, or a single powerful argument, for the best effect.

31. Structure your body paragraphs  Write three paragraphs for the body of the essay. Each paragraph should cover a main point that relates back to a part of your argument. These body paragraphs are where you justify your opinions and lay out your evidence. Remember that if you don't provide evidence, your argument might not be as persuasive.  For example, don't just say: "Dolphins are very smart animals. They are widely recognized as being incredibly smart."  Instead, say: "Dolphins are very smart animals. Multiple studies found that dolphins worked in tandem with humans to catch prey. Very few, if any, species, have developed mutually symbiotic relationships with humans."

32. Support  When you can, use facts as your evidence. Agreed- upon facts give people something to hold onto. If possible, use facts from different angles to support one argument.  "The South, which accounts for 80% of all executions in the United States, still has the country's highest murder rate. This makes a case against the death penalty working as a deterrent."  "Additionally, states without the death penalty have fewer murders. If the death penalty were indeed a deterrent, why wouldn't we see an increase in murders in states without the death penalty?"

33. Use Transitions  Use the last sentence of each body paragraph to transition to the next paragraph.  In order to establish flow in your essay, you want there to be a natural transition from the end of one paragraph to the beginning of the next.  Example: End of first paragraph: "If the death penalty consistently fails to deter crime, and crime is at an all-time high, what happens when someone is wrongfully convicted?"  Beginning of second: "Over 100 wrongfully convicted death row inmates have been acquitted of their crimes, some just minutes before their would-be death."

34. Write your conclusion  Write in your conclusion at the very end of your essay. As a general rule, it's a good idea to restate each of your main points and end the whole paper with a probing thought. If it's something your reader won't easily forget, your essay will have a more lasting impression.

35. Proofread and edit  Use the spell checker on your computer to check the spellings of the words.  Also check your paper twice for yourself to make sure the content makes sense.  Have others check your paper. The more the essay is checked, the easier it is to find mistakes.  Give yourself a day or two without looking at the essay. If you've planned ahead, this won't be hard. Then, come back to the essay after a day or two and look it over. The rest will give you a fresh set of eyes and help you spot errors. Any tricky language or ideas that needed time might be revisited then.

36. Language Features  Use mainly the present tense.  Use logical and cause and effect connectives.  Use emotive language.  Use technical language.  Use rhetorical questions.  Dare the reader to disagree.  Try to make opinions sound like facts.  Use powerful verbs and strong adjectives.

37. Structure Opening Sentences: Hook Thesis Statement: Main idea with a plan of development: (Persuasive Arguments A, B, C) Topic Sentence: Persuasive Argument A Supporting evidence: Ethos, Pathos, or Logos Conclusion: Reinforcement of the thesis - Summary of main arguments A, B, C, & final thought Topic Sentence: Persuasive Argument B Supporting evidence: Ethos, Pathos, or Logos Topic Sentence: Persuasive Argument C Supporting evidence: Ethos, Pathos, or Logos Introductory Paragraph Body Paragraph 1 Body Paragraph 2 Body Paragraph 3 Concluding Paragraph