DO NOT LOSE THIS COPY!

Name: _________________________________ DOS and DON’Ts of Persuasive Writing:

GRADE 12 WRITING CLASS Do:
• Divide into 5 paragraphs (6 if you plan on adding a
paragraph with a counter argument)
Persuasive Writing • Have a thesis statement in your introduction
Clent Daryl C. Balaba, LPT, MA-CAR
• Come up with 3 main points to support your argument—
these will be your 3 body paragraphs
 Persuasive writing is writing that tries to convince a • Show the “counter -argument”
reader to do something or to believe what you believe • Have a conclusion that has a “clincher statement”
about a certain topic. • Come up with a catchy title
 It takes a position for or against something.
Don’t:
• Don’t begin with “Hello my name is___ and I’m going to
write about____”
• Don’t use the word “I “(Instead of “I think we shouldn’t
wear uniforms” say “Uniforms shouldn’t be required.”
• Don’t be wishy-washy. Pick a side!
• Don’t forget to support your opinions with facts and
examples

The Great Introduction…

What makes a good introduction?
• It grabs or “hooks” the
reader’s attention by using
one or more of the following
strategies:
– An anecdote or
Persuasive writing follows a certain format: scenario
• INTRODUCTION with a “hook” and thesis statement – A quotation
• BODY where the argument is explained – An interesting fact or
• CONCLUSION where main points are summarized and statistic
reviewed and the reader is left with something to think – A question
about. • It tells how the writing will be
organized.
First…Know Your Audience… • The author’s position is clearly stated in a thesis
• Before you start writing, you should know your statement.
audience: Grabbing Your Audience…
– Who will read your writing? Who do you need Good strategies used in introductions:
to convince? • Use an Anecdote/ Scenario
– The audience may be your friends, your – The writer provides a personal experience or
teacher, your parents, your principal, the made-up situation to introduce the position.
readers of a newspaper or the President of the • Questioning
United States! – The writer asks thought-provoking questions to
– Will you be graded? On What? capture the reader’s interest.
– Should you be casual or professional? • Interesting fact or statistic
Second… Pick a side! – The writer gives an interesting piece of
• The writer must information to grab the reader’s attention.
clearly state his/her Let’s Take A Look….
position and stay with
that position. Pick a You Could Start with a Riddle:
side! • Get your reader’s attention with a challenging thought.
• Generally, the • “What’s plain, and boring? What makes all students in a
position is stated in school building look the same and lose their
the opening individuality?
paragraph or You Could Begin with a Strong Statement:
introduction. (This is Example:
your opinion sentence) • Fast food consumption has risen 500 percent since
1970 and today reaches nearly every part of society,
including some public-school cafeterias.
Three: Do Your Research… You Could Open with a Quotation:
In order to convince the reader, Example:
you need more than just an University of Delaware professor states:
opinion; you need facts or “Advertising, including television ads, billboards, and
examples to back your opinion. other advertising, including toys in boxed meals, has
So, be sure to do the research! had an effect upon children as never before. Children
these days are growing up with low concern for their
Four: MAKE A PLAN, then health and more concern for what tastes good.”
write! You Could Open with an interesting fact:
The 6 Paragraph Essay: Example:
1. Introduction/Hook/Thesis • “Did you know that a typical child needs 2,000 calories
2. Argument 1 with support for an entire day and Burger King’s Whopper with triple
3. Argument 2 with support cheese has 1,230 calories?”
4. Argument 3 with support You Could Open with an Anecdote:
5. Show the counter-argument • An anecdote can provide an amusing and attention-
and make an argument against it getting opening if it is short and to the point.
6. Conclusion
 • “My hands felt sticky after pulling open the doors to “Big The Other Side of the Story
Bobby’s Boisterous Burger Hut”. The odor smelled of • This is where you should explain why your opposition
fried everything. I ordered a Big Bobby Combo #2. believes what they believe.
There was enough food to serve a small third world For example:
country on my tray. I nibbled at the ¾ pound burger and • “A fast food company wouldn’t agree with the points in
my chin was covered in a mayonnaise and ketchup this essay. They would have lots of reasons why fast
concoction. I asked the server if I could have a few fries food is good. They may say…” It’s convenient” or “It’s
with my salt. I left the place feeling like my stomach was fine if eaten in moderation.” These arguments just don’t
mad at me.” hold up when you take all the facts into consideration!

You Could Open with a Fact or Statistic: Conclude or End Your Essay…
Example: What makes a good conclusion?
• Thirty percent of the children in the survey ate fast food  Last paragraph summarizes your main point.
on any given day during the survey, and they ate an  End using one or more of the following strategies:
average of 187 calories a day more than those who did – Call the reader to action
not eat fast food. These additional calories could – Anecdote or scenario
account for an extra six pounds of weight gain per year, – Make a Prediction
according to Ludwig.  The last paragraph wraps up the writing and gives the
You Could Open with a Question: reader something to think about.
• How many times have you eaten fast food this month? Strategies for Conclusions
Open with an Outrageous Statement: • Call to Action
Example: – Ask the reader to do something or to make
• “Fast food is killing America!” something happen “I challenge you to watch
what you eat and to avoid fast food.”
Next: Creating a Thesis Statement • Provide a solution
• A thesis statement is one sentence at the end of your – Provide an answer to the problem “Fast food
introduction that states your opinion. It needs to be doesn’t have to be “bad food.” “Make
strong. better choices like salads, fruit and low fat
• First, choose 3 main focus points to discuss in your treats.”
essay. These points will become the focus of three • Make a Prediction
paragraphs in the body of your paper. – Explain what might be the consequences of
Let’s use fast food as an example again. action or inaction “If people continue to eat
Fast food (3 Discussion Points) lots of fast food, they put their health at
• rapidly increases weight risk. If kids don’t make better choices
• causes high blood pressure today, they won’t grow into healthy adults.”
• leads to sluggishness Concluding Paragraph:
Writing the Thesis Statement
• Now take your three main focus points and summarize
them. Put your completed thesis statement at the end
of your first paragraph.
THREE MAIN FOCUS POINTS
• I believe fast food is harmful because it rapidly
increases weight, causes high blood pressure, and
leads to lethargy.
COMPLETED THESIS STATEMENT
• I believe fast food has negative health effects.

Review: The Persuasive Essay

• A Catchy Title
• Introductory paragraph with a “hook”, three main
arguments and a thesis statement.
• One paragraph for each of your three arguments.
• Address the “counter-argument”
• Closing paragraph that re-states your thesis and
challenges the reader to think about it.
Don’t Forget:
• Make sure to read over your work and edit for
mechanics and spelling.
Three Supporting Paragraphs: • Write neatly!
• Use each of the main arguments you used in your • Include detail and great vocabulary.
introductory paragraph and expand on each giving facts • Follow proper format: Proper heading and skip lines!
and reasons.
• In our example, you would write one paragraph on how
fast food increases weight, one paragraph on how it LEARNING INSIGHT/S:
causes high blood pressure and one on how it leads ____________________________________________________
to sluggishness. ____________________________________________________
You’ll Need to Show “The Other Side…” ____________________________________________________
• How many of you have been in a discussion with ____________________________________________________
someone and you remember saying, “Yeah, that’s true, ____________________________________________________
but…” This is called a counter-argument. It’s the “other ____________________________________________________
side” of the argument. ____________________________________________________
• You’ll need to tell your reader what the counter- ____________________________________________________
argument is and prove why it shouldn’t matter. ____________________________________________________
• Let’s take a look using our example of fast food: ____________________________________________________
This copy is provided by Mr. Clent Daryl C. Balaba for Grade 12 use. Do not lose
this copy for your reference. Thank you!