Download Writing a Persuasive Essay: A Comprehensive Guide and more Study notes Logic in PDF only on Docsity! Writing a Persuasive Essay First Steps… Develop essential questions surrounding your topic! Research! Articles from credible Internet sources, books, journals, magazines, etc. Reasons Your reasons need to tell us/support why your position/thesis is correct! Logical appeal (LOGOS) speaks to readers’ commonsense and logic. Emotional appeal (PATHOS) speaks to readers’ hearts. Ethical appeal (ETHOS) speaks to readers’ sense of right and wrong. Speaker and Context Paraphrasing or quotations should be offered with speaker and context before the paraphrase or quote! Brenda Platt of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance says, “Studies have concluded that recycling costs less than traditional trash collection and disposal when communities achieve high levels of recycling.” Romeo believes that fate, and not free will, is responsible for his situation; he screams, “Damn thee stars!” to curse his ill-fated love with Juliet. “SAID is dead!”--- When USING a quote, avoid using “says”. Instead try one of these: • offers • allows • comments • argues • articulates • asserts • utters • conveys • declares • expresses • vents • shouts • states • affirms • alleges • negates • avows • holds Introduction Start with something that captures the theme and subject of your essay. A quote from the text, magazine, or a piece of literature, an interesting fact, statistic, historical event surrounding A personal connection to the topic – be specific. • Give specific details • Tell a short story • Give a startling statistic • Ask a question Offer definitions, further explanation of the topics you will introduce later Offer your thesis--- THE LAST SENTENCE OF YOUR INTRO. PARAGRAPH! Conclusion Restate thesis Explain final, concluding ideas (briefly summarize your points/beliefs) Offer brief concluding statement – what we should learn or do (call to action) Offer personal insight, what you learned from this Do not bring up a new topic Organization & Clarity Reread to make sure your paper: • reads smoothly • follows in a logical order from one idea to the next • supports your thesis statement • Uses transitions (for example, furthermore, for instance…) • provides evidence that is relevant and clearly related to your issue • has a call to action (optional, usually used in a persuasive essay) • Edited for errors, and mizpeled wurdz, etc.
