Writing

Lesson Objective
In this lesson, you will practise using persuasive writing. Persuasive
writing can be used in personal or informal writing, such as letters or
reviews. It can also be used in formal speeches and academic essays.
The goal in all forms of persuasive writing is to convince people to agree
with you. Let’s start by thinking about how to win over your audience.

Warm-Up
A. Role-Play

Find a partner and role-play
the following scenarios. Try to
persuade your partner to agree
with your argument. Then switch
roles. Who was more persuasive,
and why?
1. It’s time to get a family pet. (child & parent)
2. I deserve the bigger bedroom in our new house. (siblings)
3. S
 tudents should be allowed to use mobile phones in class.
(student & teacher)

B. Vocabulary Preview

Match these words to their correct definitions.

B 1. win over
D 2. pull at one’s heart strings
F 3. stance
I 4. credibility
A 5. first-person
J 6. third-person
E 7. essentials
C 8. neutral
H 9. anticipate
L 10. contradict
G 11. precise
K 12. confidence
a)  a narrative style from one’s personal perspective, uses I or me
b)  to persuade or convince someone to agree with you or support you
c)  not on one side or the other of an argument
d)  to cause someone to feel a strong emotion
e)  the most important parts
f)  a position or attitude about an issue or topic
g)  exact
h)  to expect that something is going to happen
i)  the quality of being believable
j)  an indirect narrative style, uses he, she, or it
k)  the belief in one’s ability to succeed
l)  to deny or disagree

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 How to Write Persuasively
Writing

Persuasive Language
WINNING OVER YOUR AUDIENCE

Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher,

identified three persuasive techniques.

1. L
 ogos (logic):
provide facts that are true, use real life examples, use reasoning

2. P
 athos (emotional appeal):
convince the reader to have an emotional response, often used in
advertising, pull at the reader’s heart strings, use descriptive detail

3. E
 thos (credibility):
convince the reader of one’s authority on the subject,
establish respect with the audience, use strong language,
keep the argument simple and to the point

All of the above can be used in your persuasive writing.

Below is some persuasive language you can use to win
over your audience and strengthen your argument.

Use Reasoning Use Examples Use Emotions

• as you know • for instance • imagine if

• obviously • to illustrate • just think
• it is certain • for example • it’s inhumane/senseless to / not to
• of course • as evidence • how would you feel if
• without a doubt • in fact • put yourself in     ’s shoes

Use Organization Use Authority

• to begin with • from experience

• moreover •     says / explains / confirms
• yet another reason why • Five years as a     has taught me
• in the same way • According to    
• one last reason

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 How to Write Persuasively
Writing

Persuasive Language cont.

Below are some examples of the
persuasive language from the previous page.

• A s you know, the flu affects the young

and the elderly more than the middle-aged.

• I magine if your child got sick during the

holidays and missed all of the parties and fun.

• Just think, it only takes five minutes to get a

flu shot but up to five weeks to get over the flu.

• It is certain that flu shots are safer than getting the flu.

• Without a doubt, all health professionals

should have an annual flu shot.

•  en years working in a nursing home taught

T
me about the importance of getting a flu shot.

Task 1

Find a partner. Take turns reading the statements below to each other.
Then practise using persuasive language to convince your partner
of your personal opinion about each issue. Then switch roles.

1. The government should pay for university tuition.

2. The driving age should be 21.

3. Every school should have standardized tests.

4. Violent video games cause violent behaviour in teens.

5. It should be illegal to drive with a cell phone in your hand.

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 How to Write Persuasively
Writing

Persuasive Writing Essentials

In the next few pages, you will learn some tips for developing a
persuasive piece of writing. Whether you are writing an advertisement,
an essay, or a letter, the goal is the same: to win over your audience.

A. T
 opic and Stance Task 2

At the beginning of your piece,
identify your topic and state
your position / opinion on it.
For an academic essay, you
will usually use the formal third-
person narrative. Your teacher
may prefer that you use first-
person narrative (“I”) to practise
presenting your personal opinion.
Imagine that you are going to write an essay about the importance
of flu shots. Think of three specific topics and positions that you
could take on this issue. Write your ideas in sentence form.
Ex. Flu shots should be mandatory for seniors.
1. Flu shots save lives : they should be mandatory for everybody.
2. The flu is a highly contagious infection that can lead to death : flu shots should be obligatory.
3. Seniors have a higher risk of dying from the flu, flu shots should be mandatory for them.

Note:
Advertisers often use an editorial style of narrative
(first‑person plural, we) to establish a connection
with the audience and to appear more credible.

B. The Opposing View Task 3

After you identify your position,
you need to think about your
reader. Imagine that your
reader is neutral. He or she
is interested in the topic, but
does not agree or disagree with
you yet. Anticipate what your
reader’s top concerns might be.
Now imagine that you have chosen a stance. You are going to write about
why every child should have a flu shot. Now, think about a reader who might
disagree with this position. Write this reader’s top three concerns.
1. Flu shots only have success rate of 40 to 60 %.
2. Flu shots can only start to be active 2 weeks after the shot.
3. They can cause pain and headaches after people receive them.

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 How to Write Persuasively
Writing

Persuasive Writing Essentials cont.

C. Your Best Evidence Task 4

Present your facts and use
solid examples to support
your argument. Some editors
recommend saving your best
evidence for last. Make sure
to address and contradict
(or minimize) the concerns
of the reader above.
Now think of why the writer believes that flu shots are important
for every child. Write the top three reasons. Do some research if
necessary. Include at least one example to back up each fact.
1. Flu shots have approximately prevented 6.16 million illnesses in 2017-2018 in the United
States.
2. Young children are especially endangered to the flu. Flu shots save millions of children
lives every year.

3. It has been proved that flu shots allow the development of community immunity,

meaning that if enough people get vaccines, the illness will not spread through the community.

D. Credibility
Tip:
To establish authority, write with confidence. Use precise verbs and RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
nouns to say exactly what you mean. Whenever one word can replace a
few words, use it. Avoid words like possibly, usually, likely, probably, could, Do you want to suck your reader
in right away? Start your essay
may, ought to, seem to, and might. These adverbs and modal verbs will
with a rhetorical question.
weaken your argument. Always proofread and spell-check your work. A rhetorical question is a
Typos and mistakes make you less credible. question that does not need to
be answered. It has an obvious
Task 5 answer or emphasizes a point.
It also gets your reader thinking.
You can use a rhetorical question
Imagine that you are a health professional. You believe strongly in flu in the body of a piece of writing,
shots, and you want to convince your sibling to take your niece or nephew too. Read the examples and then
to the clinic for a flu shot. Compose an email to send to your sibling. Use think of a few of your own.
the persuasive writing essentials and language that you learned in this • How much does your
lesson. Find (or make up) some real-life examples to prove your point. doctor earn for your visit?
• Were you born to work 24/7?
Proofread your work by reading it out loud. • Will the sky always be blue?
Cut out any adverbs or modal verbs that weaken your argument. • Do you treat your pet
like your best friend?

Ask a classmate to pretend he/she is the parent of this child.

Your partner can proofread your letter and can tell
you whether or not your writing is convincing.

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 How to Write Persuasively
Writing

Comprehension Check-In A Checklist

Work with a partner and answer the BEFORE STARTING YOUR PERSUASIVE PIECE
following questions based on the lesson so far.
—— Did I hook my reader?
1. W
 hat are Aristotle’s three
—— Did I identify the topic?
techniques of persuasion?
—— Did I identify my stance on this issue?
2. W
 hich narrative form is usually
used in an academic essay? —— DId I stick with one narrative viewpoint?

3. Why is it useful to consider opposing viewpoints? —— Did I provide compelling evidence?

4. A
 ccording to some editors, where is a —— Did I support my argument with examples that
good place to put your strongest argument? will appeal to my reader’s emotions/rationality?

5. W
 hat type of words should you —— Did I use concise, persuasive language?
avoid using in a persuasive essay?
—— Did I conclude in a convincing way?
6. What is a rhetorical question?
—— Did I cut out all weak words?

—— Did I proofread my work?

Persuasive Paragraph
Read the example persuasive ad from a community newspaper on the
right. Then write a similar one-paragraph ad using one of these topics: Just Call
• Buy Organic • Carpool to Work • Stop Smoking If you saw a man dragging two
bikes through your backyard,
would you call the police?
What if you thought you heard
a cry from the trunk of a car?
Many people think about calling
the police but then change their
minds. Take our advice. Always
trust your instincts and call
the police. Vigilant citizens like
you help protect communities
and save lives. Let’s work
together to make Rolling
Hills a safe community.

A message from your local police

department. Proudly serving
Rolling Hills County for 85 years.

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 How to Write Persuasively
Writing

Writing Challenge
If you have already learned the important steps for writing an
academic essay from previous lessons (brainstorming, outlining,
writing an introduction, writing body paragraphs, and writing a
conclusion), then it’s time to try writing a persuasive essay.

Choose one topic that interests you from Task 1 or page 1, or come up
with your own topic. Do some brainstorming about the topic and choose
a stance. Write a persuasive essay using the tips and language you’ve
learned in this lesson and share it with your teacher.

Persuasive Essay – Outline Format

Topic:                                
Why video games don't cause violent behavior in their players.                

Stance:                                                 
I agree.

Hook:                               
Imagine a gamer causing a major crime. Just by this thought, most people make                 
the link : violent games cause violent behavior.
Well those people are mostly wrong. Video games are rarely the cause of such violent behavior.
Reason 1: (evidence and examples)
Mass shooters are often revealed to be gamers, but one point the media misses when making the comparison is that pretty much everybody is a gamer nowadays.

A gamer is just someone who plays or has played video games. Yes, the most popular video games right now involve guns or weapons, but ask everyone who has played those

types of games and you will find that only a very small percentage of those have acted violently. Most of the people who will have effects after playing such games only tend to have

aggressive thoughts that usually last about 4 minutes!

Reason 2: (evidence and examples)

Many studies have arrived to the conclusion that video games and violence have absolutely no link. For example, a study had participants play 2 video games : one with realistic

violent behavior and death, and the other having unrealistic death or cartoony violence. After a few hours of gaming, none of the participants showed any increase in violent thoughts

or agression.

Reason 3: (evidence and examples)

Now, the peak of sales of violent video games was around the year 2000. So if we take the fact that video games do cause violent behavior, the peak in the violent actions should

be around the same years, right? Well turns out that it is the opposite. When the first violent video games appeared on the market, the crime rate actually dropped! According to

different studies, whenever a new violent gaming sensation comes, the crime rate drops. So video games should not be the cause of the violent behavior!

Conclusion:                                              
The debate still goes on today, with both teams coming with strong arguments, but what about you? Do you think video games cause violent behavior?

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 How to Write Persuasively
Writing

Extra Vocabulary Practice (optional)

Write definitions in your own words. Cut up these vocabulary strips.
Challenge a partner to match the vocabulary to your definition.

win over

pull at one’s heart strings

stance

credibility

first-person

third-person

essentials

neutral

anticipate

contradict

precise

confidence

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