Component Skills for Persuasive Writing 1.Writing a paragraphWriting a paragraph Demonstration and application 2.Using transition words and phrasesUsing transition words and phrases Demonstration and application Click here to returnhere

Writing a paragraph is an important and necessary skill to have mastered in order to write a persuasive essay. A paragraph can be described as a group of sentences focusing on the same topic. Most paragraphs have three parts; A topic sentence, supporting details, and a closing sentence. In this lesson you will see how each part functions to create a complete paragraph.

Part 1 – The Topic Sentence After you have brainstormed what you are going to write about, you will come up with your first sentence. The topic sentence introduces the main idea of a paragraph, this tells the reader what you are going to talk about. The topic sentence should always be indented. Example: Over Spring Break,my family went on a hiking trip in Moab, Utah. *Main Topic

Part 2: Writing detailed sentences about your topic Next, you will describe your topic with a minimum of three sentences. These sentences should all reflect the topic sentence. In this case, the writer is recalling events that took place on a vacation. Over Spring Break, my family went on a hiking trip in Moab, Utah. We spent three days down there. The first morning we hiked to Delicate Arch and had lunch at the top. Another day we watched rock climbers scale a huge wall in Castle Rock Valley. On our way home, we drove to Dead Horse Point and looked at all the beautiful sights. Body of the paragraph

Part 3 - A closing sentence Restate the topic of the paragraph, keep it interesting, and make it a closing sentence so your reader knows this is the end of the paragraph. Over Spring Break, my family went on a hiking trip in Moab, Utah. We spent three days down there. The first morning we hiked to Delicate Arch and had lunch at the top. Another day we watched rock climbers scale a huge wall in Castle Rock Valley. On our way home, we drove to Dead Horse Point and looked at all the beautiful sights. I hope we get to go on another hiking trip next year. Closing Sentence

Now you know that a paragraph has a topic sentence, three or four detailed sentences, and a closing sentence. Let’s apply what you have learned by writing a paragraph about a given topic. Part 1: Using a word document, write one paragraph about a time when you were scared. Be sure to include a topic sentence, details about the topic, and a concluding sentence. Part 2: Highlight each part of your paragraph to similar the example provided, this will emphasize each part of your paragraph. Submit your example to Sample paragraph Over Spring Break, my family went on a hiking trip in Moab, Utah. We spent three days down there. The first morning we hiked to Delicate Arch and had lunch at the top. Another day we watched rock climbers scale a huge wall in Castle Rock Valley. On our way home, we drove to Dead Horse Point and looked at all the beautiful sights. I hope we get to go on another hiking trip next year. Sample paragraph Over Spring Break, my family went on a hiking trip in Moab, Utah. We spent three days down there. The first morning we hiked to Delicate Arch and had lunch at the top. Another day we watched rock climbers scale a huge wall in Castle Rock Valley. On our way home, we drove to Dead Horse Point and looked at all the beautiful sights. I hope we get to go on another hiking trip next year.

Transition Words and Phrases Transition words and phrases help establish clear connections between ideas and ensure that sentences and paragraphs flow together smoothly, making them easier to read. In your persuasive essays, there are many places that you can insert these words. The first part of this module you will see many different examples of transitions. Read each section carefully, then see how transition words can be used in your everyday writing.

To indicate more information: Besides Furthermore In addition Indeed In fact Moreover Second...Third..., etc. To indicate an example: For example For instance In particular Particularly Specifically To demonstrate To illustrate *These transition words fit in nicely with a persuasive essay, use them at the beginning of a new paragraph. *When telling the reader an example or story, replace the common phrase “for example” with one of these.

To indicate a cause or reason: As Because Because of Due to For For the reason that Since To indicate a result or an effect: Accordingly Finally Consequently Hence So Therefore Thus To summarize: Briefly In brief Overall Summing up To put it briefly To sum up To summarize To conclude: Given these facts Hence In conclusion So Therefore Thus To conclude

After viewing these lists, let’s take a look a persuasive essay and see where transitions have been added. Forcing well-behaved students to wear hideous uniforms is a bad idea. I disagree with the idea for several reasons. In fact, requiring students to wear uniforms can be very expensive, they do not show the results that leaders are looking for, and furthermore, uniforms take away student individuality. First of all, making students wear uniforms can actually turn out to be more expensive and difficult than buying normal clothes. Even though you are buying the same clothes, you have to buy enough of them to last you at least one week. Thus, families in poverty will have a difficult time meeting these expectations The next reason I don’t believe in uniforms is because they don’t make any difference in a students education. Many adults believe that having uniforms will help kids stay more focused, clean up there attitudes, and prevent any gang related activity from going on. This is simply not true, uniforms won’t change any of that. Finally, I want to ban any type of uniform talk it the fact that kids our age use clothing as a way of expressing them elves. Kids like to use clothing as a way of defining who they are and what they do. For instance, a basketball player would like to wear his favorite team jersey to school, but can’t because it isn’t worth getting detention. Taking on this new policy will cause great havoc at our school. Given these facts, I am anti-uniform for three strong reasons. Most importantly, they are to expensive, they don’t serve any purpose for helping students, and last, uniforms will take away the idea of self expression and individuality.

Now let’s look at the same essay without the transitions words. Forcing well-behaved students to wear hideous uniforms is a bad idea. I disagree with the idea for several reasons. In fact, requiring students to wear uniforms can be very expensive, they do not show the results that leaders are looking for, and, uniforms take away student individuality. Making students wear uniforms can actually turn out to be more expensive and difficult than buying normal clothes. Even though you are buying the same clothes, you have to buy enough of them to last you at least one week. Families in poverty will have a difficult time meeting these expectations I don’t believe in uniforms is because they don’t make any difference in a students education. Many adults believe that having uniforms will help kids stay more focused, clean up there attitudes, and prevent any gang related activity from going on. This is simply not true, uniforms won’t change any of that. I want to ban any type of uniform talk it the fact that kids our age use clothing as a way of expressing them elves. Kids like to use clothing as a way of defining who they are and what they do. A basketball player would like to wear his favorite team jersey to school, but can’t because it isn’t worth getting detention. Taking on this new policy will cause great havoc at our school. I am anti-uniform for three strong reasons. They are to expensive, they don’t serve any purpose for helping students, and last, uniforms will take away the idea of self expression and individuality. *Even though the main ideas of the essay are the same, transitions create an easier read with more fluency and tone.

One way to learn how to use transition words is being able to identify them in the text you are reading. Take a look at this excerpt and see how many transition words you can find. You may click on the back arrow to review the lists provided. When you find a word, type it in to the box below. It is extremely rare that I have enough time to eat my sandwich, fruit and dessert during the short duration you call lunch! Cutting back our lunch time from 35 minutes to 25 minutes is a horrible idea. I do not agree with this and that’s why I am writing you this letter. First of all, if you shorten lunch, students won’t have enough time to eat. Second, there won’t be enough time to get healthy exercise, and last, students will create more waste. First of all, you should not shorten lunch time is because you will be sending students back to class hungry. After lining up for lunch, walking to the cafeteria, and waiting in line for my meal. As a result, I barely have enough time to eat. There are some days that I only finish my main course, which leaves my fruit, chips, and dessert on my tray. Meanwhile, I’m still hungry, but I can’t eat because the lunch aide is asking us to leave to make room for the next grade. It is extremely rare that I have enough time to eat my sandwich, fruit and dessert during the short duration you call lunch! Cutting back our lunch time from 35 minutes to 25 minutes is a horrible idea. I do not agree with this and that’s why I am writing you this letter. First of all, if you shorten lunch, students won’t have enough time to eat. Second, there won’t be enough time to get healthy exercise, and last, students will create more waste. First of all, you should not shorten lunch time is because you will be sending students back to class hungry. After lining up for lunch, walking to the cafeteria, and waiting in line for my meal. As a result, I barely have enough time to eat. There are some days that I only finish my main course, which leaves my fruit, chips, and dessert on my tray. Meanwhile, I’m still hungry, but I can’t eat because the lunch aide is asking us to leave to make room for the next grade. Transitions

The last part of your assignment will be to insert transitions into the paragraph provided. This paragraph was taken from a previously written essay. It is the last paragraph. ______________________,I feel strongly that you should not take away ten minutes of our lunch time. We don’t have enough time to eat as it is, more food will go wasted, and students will have less time to get the physical activity they need to stay healthy. _____________, the last thing parents want to see is two large dumpsters filled up with uneaten food!