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The ideal in persuasive writing is to let your reader know your bias, but do not let that bias blind you to the primary components of good argumentation: sound, thoughtful evidence and a respectful and reasonable address of opposing sides.
Facts are statements that can be definitely proven using objective data. The statement that is a fact is absolutely valid. In other words, the statement can be pronounced as true or false. This expression identifies a true statement, or a fact, because it can be proved with objective data. Opinions are personal views, or judgments. An opinion is what an individual believes about a particular subject.
However, an opinion in argumentation must have legitimate backing; adequate evidence and credibility should support the opinion. Consider the credibility of expert opinions, as experts in a given field have the knowledge and credentials to make their opinion meaningful to a larger audience.
For example, you seek the opinion of your dentist when it comes to the health of your gums, and you seek the opinion of your mechanic when it comes to the maintenance of your car. Both have knowledge and credentials in those respective fields, which is why their opinions matter to you. But the authority of your dentist may be greatly diminished should he or she offer an opinion about your car, and vice versa.
In your writing, you want to strike a balance between credible facts and authoritative opinions. Relying on one or the other will likely lose more of your audience than it gains.
The use of I in writing is often a topic of debate, and the acceptance of its usage varies from instructor to instructor.
It is difficult to predict the preferences for all your present and future instructors, but consider the effects it can potentially have on your writing. Be mindful of the use of I in your writing because it can make your argument sound overly biased, for two primary reasons:. The use of I is no different. The insertion of I into a sentence alters not only the way a sentence might sound but also the composition of the sentence itself. I is often the subject of a sentence. If the subject of the essay is supposed to be, say, smoking, then by inserting yourself into the sentence, you are effectively displacing the subject of the essay into a secondary position.
In the following example, the subject of the sentence is bolded and underlined:. In the first sentence, the rightful subject, smoking , is in the subject position in the sentence. In the second sentence, the insertion of I and think replaces smoking as the subject, which draws attention to I and away from the topic that is supposed to be discussed. Remember to keep the message the subject and the messenger the writer separate.
You can use Checklist The word prove is frequently used in the discussion of persuasive writing. Writers may claim that one piece of evidence or another proves the argument, but proving an argument is often not possible.
No evidence proves a debatable topic one way or the other; that is why the topic is debatable. Facts can be proved, but opinions can only be supported, explained, and persuaded. Adding visual elements to a persuasive argument can often strengthen its persuasive effect. However, remember you want to use them to make a bigger impact for your reader, so you need to make sure they are:.
When making a business presentation, you typically have limited time to get your idea across. Providing visual elements for your audience can be an effective timesaving tool. Quantitative visuals in business presentations serve the same purpose as they do in persuasive writing. They should make logical appeals by showing numerical data in a spatial design.
You will find that many of the rhetorical devices used in writing are the same ones used in the workplace. Every day when I pick up my newspaper I read about crime. What strikes me as tragic in these discussions is that the solutions which are proposed are simply more of the same: bigger threats, more punishment. Few people ask more basic questions about whether punishment ought to be our main concern. Even fewer seem genuinely concerned about victims and what they need. Prisons are massively crowded, and the call for a return to the death penalty is back with a vengeance.
The costs to us as taxpayers keep soaring. Actually, there is good reason why we ignore victims and focus instead on more punishment for offenders. It has to do with our very definitions of what constitutes crime and what justice entails. If you have been a victim, you know something about the fear, the anger, the shame, the sense of violation that this experience generates. You know something about the needs that result: needs for repayment, for a chance to talk, for support, for involvement, for an experience that feels like justice.
Unfortunately, you may also know from personal experience how little help, information and involvement you can expect from the justice process. If you have experienced crime, you know for a fact that you yourself are the victim, and you would like to be remembered in what happens thereafter. But the legal system does not define the offence that way and does not assume that you have a central role.
Legally, the essence of the crime lies in breaking a law rather than the actual damage done. More importantly, the official victim is the state, not you.
It is no accident, then, that victims and their needs are so often forgotten: they are not even part of the equation, not part of the definition of the offence! If so, how much punishment does he or she deserve? Justice establishes blame and administers pain through a contest between offender and state.
It assumes that punishment or pain, usually in the form of a prison term, is the normal outcome. This process concentrates almost exclusively on offenders, but, ironically, does not hold them accountable. To be accountable, offenders ought to be helped to understand and acknowledge the human consequences of their actions. Then they ought to be encouraged to take responsibility for what happens thereafter, including taking steps to right the wrong.
Yet this rarely happens; indeed, the justice process discourages responsibility. Thus neither victim nor offender is offered the kind of opportunities that might aid healing and resolution for both. Justice identifies needs and obligations so that things can be made right through a process which encourages dialogue and involves both victims and offenders. A restorative approach to justice would understand that the essence of crime is a violation of people and of harmonious relations between them.
What should they get? What can be done to make things right, and whose responsibility is it? Restorative justice would aim to be personal. Insofar as possible, it would seek to empower victims and offenders to be involved in their own cases and, in the process, to learn something about one another.
Understanding of one another, acceptance of responsibility, healing of injuries, and empowerment of participants would be important goals. Is restorative approach practical? Preview the Persuasive Strategy Presentation and bookmark it on your classroom computer. You will be sharing this with students during Session 2 and may want to arrange to use an LCD projector or a computer with a large screen.
Student Objectives. Students will Work in cooperative groups to brainstorm ideas and organize them into a cohesive argument to be presented to the class Gain knowledge of the different strategies that are used in effective persuasive writing Use a graphic organizer to help them begin organizing their ideas into written form Apply what they have learned to write a persuasive piece that expresses their stance and reasoning in a clear, logical sequence Develop oral presentation skills by presenting their persuasive writing pieces to the class Analyze the work of others to see if it contains effective persuasive techniques.
Session 1: The Game of Persuasion. Post the chart you created where students can see it see Preparation, Step 3. Distribute sticky notes, and ask students to write their names on the notes. Call students up to the chart to place their notes in the column that expresses their opinion. After everyone has had a chance to put their name on the chart, look at the results and discuss how people have different views about various topics and are entitled to their opinions.
Give students a chance to share the reasons behind their choices. Once students have shared, explain that sometimes when you believe in something, you want others to believe in it also and you might try to get them to change their minds. Explain to students that they are going to play a game that will help them understand how persuasive arguments work. Follow these rules of the game: Have students get into their groups. Explain that sometimes when you play games the winner gets a reward and that at the end of this game the winning team will get the reward you have chosen see Preparation, Step 1.
Have each team choose a recorder, or designate a recorder for each team yourself. The recorder's job is to write down the team's arguments. Tell students that they must work together as a team for 15 to 20 minutes to come up with the best reason why the class should award their group the prize. Their reasons can be serious or playful.
Use a signal to let them know when to begin and when time is up. Have students present their arguments. Students can either present as a group or choose one person to be their speaker. Have the judge decide on a winning group or ask students to vote for a group other than themselves that had a convincing argument.
Note: While students are working, there should be little interference from you. This is a time for students to discover what they already know about persuasive arguments. Use the Observations and Notes handout as you listen in to groups and make notes about their arguments.
This will help you see what students know and also provide examples to point out during Session 2 see Step 4. Session 2: Analysis of an Argument. Begin by asking students to share their homework. You can have them share as a class, in their groups from the previous session, or in partners. After students have shared, explain that they are going to get a chance to examine the arguments that they made during Session 1 to find out what strategies they already know how to use.
Pass out the Persuasive Strategy Definitions to each student. Tell students that you are going to explain each definition through a PowerPoint presentation. Read through each slide in the Persuasive Strategy Presentation.
Discuss the meaning and how students used those strategies in their arguments during Session 1. Use your observations and notes to help students make connections between their arguments and the persuasive strategies. It is likely your students used many of the strategies, and did not know it.
For example, imagine the reward for the winning team was 10 extra minutes of recess. This is an example of pathos. As you discuss the examples from the previous session, have students write them in the box next to each definition on the Persuasive Strategy Definitions sheet to help them remember each meaning.
Session 3: Persuasive Writing. Divide the class into groups of two or three students. Have each group member talk about the persuasive strategies they found in their piece. After each group has had time to share with each other, go through each persuasive strategy and ask students to share any examples they found in their persuasive pieces with the whole class.
Explain to students that in this session they will be playing the game they played during Session 1 again; only this time they will be working with a partner to write their argument and there will be a different prize awarded to the winning team. Share the Persuasive Writing Assessment with students and read through each category. Explain that you will be using this rubric to help evaluate their essays.
Reassure students that if they have questions or if part of the rubric is unclear, you will help them during their conference. Have students get together with the partners you have selected see Preparation, Step 1.
Get students started on their persuasive writing by introducing them to the interactive Persuasion Map. This online graphic organizer is a prewriting exercise that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay.
Have partners enter their names and topics on the opening screen. The goal or thesis is the claim or stance that they are taking on the issue.
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