Writing a Persuasive Essay Higher Folio Contents

Writing a Persuasive Essay Higher Folio

Contents

• 1) Getting Started
• A) Facts and Opinions
• B) What issue should I write about?
• C) Steps towards creating a Persuasive essay
• 2) Types of Evidence
• A) Using Anecdotal Evidence
• B) Using Facts
• C) Using Statistics
• D) Using Someone's Opinion
• 3) Research and Note taking advice

• 4) Creating a Catchy Title
• 5) Suggested Essay Structure
• 6) Writing your Introduction
• A) Playlet Introduction
• B) Banner Headline Introduction
• C) Vox Pops Quote Introduction
• D) Statistical Introduction
• E) Emotive Introduction
• F) Anecdotal Introduction

Contents

• 7) Making your Argument
• 1) Forms of Evidence
• 2) Recommended Structure
• 3) Rebutting Counter Arguments
• 8) Using Techniques
• General Approaches
• i) Take ownership
• ii) Provide information on the history of your issue
• iii) Provide information on the geography of your issue
• Specific Techniques
• 1) Use a Rhetorical Question
• 2) Use Statistics
• 3) Use Personal Experience
• 4) Use the Language of Persuasion
• 5) Ask a question and answer it
• 6) Use Emotive Language
• 7) Set out quotations correctly
• 8) Repetition
• 9) Create Flow (Link Words)
• 10) Using a one sentence paragraph to finish
• 11) Link conclusion to the introduction
• 12) Finish with a quotation

• 9) Writing your Conclusion
• A) Basic Conclusion
• B) Effective Conclusion
• C) Advanced Conclusion
• 10) Bibliography
• 11) Persuasive Essay Features Checklist
• 12) Persuasive Essay Model
• Exemplar Link

1) Getting Started

• CONTENTS

Introduction

• When you write a Persuasive essay you form arguments and present them for or against an issue.
• You have a strong personal stance and aim to persuade the reader that your view on the issue can be fully supported.
• It is important, however, to be clear about the difference in writing a Persuasive essay, as outlined above, and in writing a Discursive essay (sometimes called Argumentative Writing).

Difference between Discursive and Persuasive

• In writing a Discursive essay the writer examines both sides of an issue in a balanced way, without a clear personal stance and (usually) in a formal neutral tone.
• In a Persuasive essay the emphasis is on a more personal, more emotional way of writing.
• This is why in a Persuasive essay you are encouraged to use techniques. Techniques help convey emotion.
• Think of your essay as 50% argument and 50% emotion. This should help you write an effective essay.
• Please note that each type of essay has its own individual structure.

FACTS AND OPINIONS

• CONTENTS

FACTS AND OPINIONS

• When you write your persuasive essay you will be writing both facts and opinions so it is important to know the difference between the two.
• Facts are things known for certain to be true.
• The following are facts:
• • Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland.
• • The main character of J K Rowling's novels is Harry Potter.
• Opinions are things believed to be true.
• The following are opinions:
• • Edinburgh is a great city.
• • J K Rowling is the greatest living novelist.

Continued…

• These are opinions and not facts because facts are true regardless of people's view.
• For example, a person living in Edinburgh may not consider it to be "great", and many people prefer other writers to J K Rowling despite her huge success.
• In a convincing persuasive essay opinions are supported by facts. This makes an argument.

What issue should I write about?

• CONTENTS

What issue should I write about?

• Before you can choose your issue you have to think about your own opinions.
• The list below shows you the kind of issue students have written about in recent years:
• the war in Afghanistan, voting at 16, size zero modelling, abortion, Scottish Independence, downloading music on the internet, film classification, testing cosmetics on animals.
• Choose an issue that you genuinely feel strongly about. This can help your writing.

Issue Types

• Your choice could be about:
• • an international issue (...Third World poverty)
• • a national issue (...student fees at universities)
• • a local issue (..the building of a new bridge over the Forth)
• • a personal issue (...your school should be given better facilities)
• Once you have decided on the issue to write about you have to form arguments which you use to present your case.
• → some issues overlap in categories, for example, a local issue could also be a national issue

Exemplar

• In this PowerPoint, whenever we look at the idea of persuasive writing, we will do this in the context of a student who is arguing the issue that the tax on tobacco should be increased.