2. A persuasive essay is an imagery dialogue between a
reader and writer
The writer uses arguments to try to imagine how the
reader will argue against his or her arguments, and
answers those objections.
3. THE HOOK
The most important sentence in your essay is the first
sentence, the HOOK, for this is when you “grab” the
reader’s attention.
4. To catch the reader, use a hook in the introductory
paragraph.
Ask the reader a question.
Use a catchy phrase or quote or song lyrics
Create a tongue twister.
Make an exclamatory sentence.
Use a lead in sentence that entices the reader to read
on.
5. Let’s say your topic is “Should the Death Penalty
be abolished?”
Your HOOK could be “Right now, in America,
37% of the convicts on death row are innocent
and will be unjustly executed for no good
reason!”
6. After you have given your lead-in, you need to show that
you can see both sides of the issue, the “pros” and
“cons”with one short reason.
The “pros” is where you say: “Some people say yes, the
death penalty should be abolished, for it is cruel and
unusual punishment.”
The “cons” would say: “Other people say no, it should
not be abolished, the death penalty is necessary to
stop murders.”
7. After you give the pros and cons, now it’s time to say what
you think in the Thesis Statement;
Include;
The topic
Your opinion
states your position on the topic
The main reasons (argument)
8. “I believe that the death penalty should be
abolished because many innocent will be
unjustly executed, it is against the Bible’s
commandment ‘thou shalt not kill’ and it is
forbidden by the US Constitution as a cruel
and unusual punishment.”
9. Think of the introduction as having a funnel
shape:
General statement (hook)
Specific information
Thesis
10. In your body paragraph, you should have;
Counter arguments
Your argument,
Examples, personal experience, expert opinion,
analogy, facts and statistics, reasons, emotions
11. Every controversial issue has two sides.
Once you can support your position with research, you
need
to explore what others think.
12. Look at the three main reasons
for
your opinion.
What objections would others have to
each of your reasons?
Write these down under each of your
reasons. Now you have three
arguments
and three counter-arguments.
You should either start with the topic
sentence(your argument) or
counterargument.
13. Write a topic sentence and
three details that support the
reason you believe what you
believe.
Repeat the process until you
have three paragraphs with
three different reasons and
three details to support that
reason.
14. Research what people opposed to your point of
view believe. Write down three counter-
arguments to your position.
Address those arguments in a paragraph
explaining why your position is a better one.
The final sentence in each paragraph should
sum up and make a transition to the main idea of
the next paragraph.
15. To support your first reason “many innocent people
will be executed” you could say:
“Studies have shown that 37% of the people on
death row are innocent and do not belong there. Some
are there because they are a member of an unpopular
minority. Many are there because the police needed to
make an arrest and didn’t care who they arrested as
long as they had someone to blame. It is totally wrong
for the state to kill innocent people just to look good in
the papers.”
The next 2 paragraphs should do the same thing.
Remember to save your strongest reason for last to
leave the reader with your best thought.
16. Here, in your 5th paragraph, you summarize what you
said in your paper. You repeat your thesis and briefly
give your three supporting reasons again. It is a good
idea to paraphrase (say in different words) your thesis
and reasons, so that your essay is not too repetitive.
Your conclusion should be a “mirror image”of your
introduction. But you do not need to give the pros and
cons again in the concluding paragraph, just your
thesis, your 3 reasons and your “CLOSURE
The CLOSURE is the last line of your essay and is the
second most important line after HOOK because this
is where you leave the reader with your final thought.
17. Your conclusion could be:
“The death penalty has no place in modern
America. It is a throwback to older barbaric times The
death penalty causes many innocent people to be
unjustly killed, it is against the law of God given in the
Bible, and it is rejected by the “cruel and unusual
punishment” amendment of the US Constitution. I
strongly urge everyone to write to their Congressman
and demand that the death penalty be abolished once
and for all.
18. Is interesting.
Is well organized.
Uses proper grammar,
spelling, and
punctuation.
Has all the elements in
the right place.
Has a powerful “grabber”
HOOKsentence.
Shows both sides of the
issue.
Has a well-defined thesis
statement (your opinion)
which takes a definite
side.
Has three different reasons
to support the main
opinion of the thesis.
Has three well-elaborated
specific reason paragraphs.
Saves the best, strongest
reason for last.
Concludes by “mirroring”
the introduction by
repeating the thesis and the
3 supporting reasons and
leaves the reader with a
strong CLOSURE to
remember.
