Persuasive Writing

We are learning to:  Identify and write/assess our persuasive essays What we are looking for today  able to consider both sides of an argument  able to use appropriate linking words/phrases  Able to use evidence effectively  Able to reach a reasoned conclusion

What do we know about Persuasive Writing already?

Are cats good or evil?

Cats are greatCats are evil

What is a Persuasive Text?  A persuasive text favours one side of an argument  It considers another opinion (but disproves it)  It comes to a conclusion based on evidence.  It persuades others to agree with this conclusion.

Features of a Discursive Text  Structure  Paragraphs  Introduction  Body  Conclusion  Persuasive Language  Evidence  Linking words  Sentences that introduce each point

Introduction  Introduce your argument  Give some general background information (for those of us who are not walking encyclopaedias)  Explain what you will be talking about in your essay.  Do all this without saying ‘my’, ‘I’, ‘our’, ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘me’, ‘you’, or ‘this essay’.  Try writing your introduction in your jotter now.

1 Argument per Paragraph  S - Statement  Give your argument a topic sentence that introduces the argument and uses an appropriate connective.  E – Evidence  Give us the benefit of all your (researched) wisdom on the topic and tell us why we should believe you.  A – Analysis  All this information’s nice, but what has it got to do with the overall argument.

Conclusion  By this point, we’ve pretty much forgotten what you were saying in the first place so remind us of what the essay was about again.  While you’re at it, can you also remind us what arguments you talked about again? (avoid doing this all in the same sentence though, because we get confused.)  We want to know what YOUR opinion is, so make a decision and tell us about it (without mentioning yourself).

Connectives  Connectives (also called a conjunction) are words and phrases that link different ideas together.

Connectives  They are particularly useful when placed at the beginning of a paragraph to introduce what that paragraph will be about (also called a topic sentence).

Connectives  For example:  “Firstly, it has been said that phone use in classrooms can promote reading.

Connectives (can you think of any)

According to To begin with First of all First and foremost With regard to It is often said that To start with As far as -- is concerned

IMPORTANT: If there is no way you can link a point you are making, you should think about whether it really belongs there!

Connectives As well as Moreover Further /Furthermore Additionally Besides What is more Similarly Equally Alternatively In contrast Conversely This said On the contrary However Despite Even though