Step One: Select and Research Your Topic
In persuasive writing, a writer takes a position “For” or “Against” an issue and writes to convince the reader to believe, like, or do something, to the extent of complete conversion, incremental modification, or encourage maintenance.
When selecting your persuasive topic for your persuasive essay, your purpose is to make a statement about something. Generally, most statements are considered to be statements of (1) policy, (2) fact, or (3) value.
Statement of Policy: Advocates a specific action: Changing a policy, procedure, or behavior
In other words, you are attempting to persuade someone to do something. This action should be realistic.
Statement of Fact: Proposes whether something is true or false. You will need verifiable evidence and strong logical support for this type of statement.
Statement of Value: Evaluates people, places, things, and ideas. In other words, these statements argue whether something is good or bad, right or wrong, just or unjust, or ethical or unethical. These statements can be potentially controversial as you are really judging the “worth” of something.
It is recommended that you choose a topic that you feel strongly about. However, in order to convince your readers, you will need more than just your opinion: you will need evidence (examples, statistics, testimonials) and strong logical reasoning to back your opinion. When writing, it is important to remember that your logic and reasoning must be especially thorough as you are indicating the need for change in others–something people do not often want to do willingly. Thus, as you work to create your main points for your topic, you should ensure that everything you include (i.e., every example, statistic, and testimonial that you use) will not only help you achieve your specific purpose for this essay but will also be grounded in solid, rational reasoning that could stand up to even the most contrary of audiences. Remember, when they have finished reading your work, your audience should not require further elaboration to leave with a basic understanding of your topic, so be sure you are including all necessary information, arguments, and research to help your audience throughout the entirety of your essay.
On the topic of evidence, it is important that you have various forms of evidence throughout your speech that support your logic and arguments. For the messages in your writing to be effective, they need to give audiences more concrete evidence than simply “your word” when you deliver them. Thus, you will be required to provide and cite at least 3 sources to support your claims in your essay. To ensure that you are providing reliable evidence, at least 2 of your 3 sources must come from peer-reviewed journals, though it is recommended that all 3 sources are peer-reviewed. Remember that you should carefully select which sources will work best in both supporting your claims AND providing a balanced examination of all sides of your topic.
Your in-text citations and “References” page must also conform to APA Style for “Paper Formats”. Our Communication library page will be a valuable asset to helping you with your research endeavors (https://wwcc-wy.libguides.com/communicationsLinks to an external site.).
Step Two: Review the rubric attached to this assignment to understand how you will be graded.
Step Three: Write Your Essay
Persuasive writing follows a particular format, as it contains a(n):
Introduction (hook, intro of topic’s importance, thesis)
Body (Main points and sub-points, connected by transitions, signposts, and internal preview/summaries) and also contains your refutation
Conclusion (Summary, Synthesis, Clincher)
You may notice that there is not much difference between this form of organization and that of the speeches you have given already. Your introduction is meant to gain attention and demonstrate your topic’s importance, your body is where your argument is developed and presented, and your conclusion helps put everything together for your reader and gives them direction for how they should proceed (especially for propositions of policy). One important note is to recognize that you should have a “refutation” within your essay (i.e., a point where you address the opposing side’s argument). Though the refutation is listed above as appearing in the body (i.e., denoting the need for a 6th paragraph), this refutation may also appear toward the beginning of your essay (e.g., within your introduction of the topic). The important thing to remember is that your essay should have a refutation wherein you:
State the opposing argument and your reaction to it
Indicate what effect, if any, this opposing argument has on the strength of your case
Refute the argument and support your response with logical reasoning and evidence
Step 3. – Revise Your Essay
After writing your essay, like any other work you create, you should review it by reading and revising it. Nobody creates a work of art the first time they work on something: it takes time and effort. Though it is not required, it is recommended that you have a peer (or peers) look through and offer revisions for your essay before you submit your final product.
Before starting (and especially before submitting) your essay, it is HIGHLY recommended that you check the rubric for this assignment (found below) to see how you will be evaluated. Remember that you can always stop by and ask me questions about the entirety of this writing process too, BUT I will not simply read through your essay and “tell you if it’s okay”. Rather, you should have specific questions that can help us have a guided conversation.
Step 4. Submit Your Essay
When finished, you will need to submit your essay to Canvas as a .doc or .docx file upload with the following conditions met:
Your paper must be at least 2 pages long (i.e., carries to the 3rd page) but no longer than 3 pages.
Your paper must conform to 7th edition APA formatting standards (i.e., double-spaced, no extra spacing between paragraphs, cover page, in-text citations, and a references page). You should review APA Style Paper FormattingLinks to an external site. requirements for the most up-to-date requirements and sample student paper formats.
