Writing Persuasive Essays

1. Writing Persuasive Essays Overall Goal- Win the reader over to your thinking. #1 Piece of Information to Consider: AUDIENCE

2. Questions to ask: • What does my reader know about this information? • How should I present my information to this audience? Formal? Informal? *** What counter arguments can I anticipate for my opinion? You MUST acknowledge the opposing arguments!

3. Today’s Agenda • Entrance Music Journal • Essay Structure • Thesis Statements HW: Introductory and Body Paragraph Grading

4. Entrance Music • Often, movies start with a particular song that sets the tone for the rest of the movie. The lyrics, music, or sound of the song most likely reflects the overall feel of the movie. After watching this quick clip, do the following: • Based on the song in the clip, what will the movie be like? • If a movie were made about you, what song would the movie open with? Why? • Which part of an essay does this most resemble? Why? Chariots of Fire

6. Review: Thesis Statements Write this information in your notes Quality thesis statements possess the following: • It should be a complete sentence. • It should express an opinion. • It should NOT include your main ideas (typically THREE), which eventually become your topic sentences. Those should be introduced in your focus or preview statement. • The three main ideas are called your- thesis support

7. Revising Thesis Statements- What to look for… • Multiple revisions- thesis statements are the MOST important part of your paper! You must revise them multiple times! Some ideas to ponder about thesis statements: • Do I answer the prompt completely? Reread the prompt in order to ensure you answered the prompt completely. • Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis has facts that no one would, or even could disagree with, it’s possible your thesis is simply a summary and not an argument. Make your thesis statement a “thinker, not a stinker!”

8. Revising Thesis Statements: What to look for… • Is my thesis statement specific enough? If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you can be more specific: why is it “good” or “specific”? • Does your thesis pass the “how” and “why” test? If your reader’s response is “how” or “why,” it most likely needs to be more specific or contain more guidance for the reader. So what!?

9. What did we learn? • Thesis statements are impossible to write in “one shot.” • Thesis statements require your brain to hurt. • Thesis statements must be revised repeatedly.

10. Prompt Many characters are to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. However, it’s your job to prove that only one of those characters is fully responsible for the death of the young lovers. Explain, using textual evidence, which character is the most responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet.

11. Group Assessment • Traverse the room and read each thesis statement. • For each thesis statement tell me the following: • What’s good about it? • What’s wrong with it? (It isn’t specific enough…) • Identify the best thesis statement of all 4. • Do this AFTER you’ve read each one! • If you do all of this correctly, your group will get some candy!

12. Thesis #1 It is quite apparent that Friar Lawrence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths because he gives poison to Juliet, he trusts the wrong person with a letter of great importance about Romeo, and he fled the tomb when Juliet is in trouble.

13. Thesis #2 Friar Lawrence’s bad decision making skills leads to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

14. Thesis #3 Friar Lawrence gives Juliet poison in the play. Juliet drinks the poison and it kills her.

15. Thesis #4 Friar Lawrence’s trusting demeanor ultimately forces both Romeo and Juliet into disastrous situations which result in their deaths.

16. A question / quiz • Which of these is considered a quote from a book? • A. “The ball soared through the air, and as the clock hit zero the wide receiver made the catch.” • B. “And for once it all made sense to the both of them. Their friend had betrayed them.” • C. “It’s about time,” Dwight said, “that we made the deal with the corporation tonight instead of tomorrow.”

17. ALL OF THEM!

18. Confusion • So what exactly are quotes? • Quotes are anything within the source material • We often think of “quoting a person” • Sometimes we tend to think that quotes are only the things that characters say in a story • A quote CAN be dialogue, but it can also be description or plot developments.

19. So what? Who cares? We already read the book! • Any good detective needs evidence to prove a case. • Your writing from now into junior and senior year will place a heavy emphasis on using the text as evidence. • Your personal feelings can only carry you so far. In order to get the most out of your paper (and to get a better grade) you need to use quotes to support your ideas.

20. Some tips • Your quotes will support your argument in reference to your thesis • Ask yourself, “If I had to show someone a line in the book that proves my point, what would it be?” • Think of the point you’re trying to make. For instance, if the main argument of your paper is that Eric changes from cowardly to courageous, find two quotes from the story that exemplify that point and make note of them in your graphic organizer. • Cowardly: “I was sweating like an ice cube in July.” • Courageous: “I was never going to let Sarah be ridiculed.”

21. Tips continued • Organizing your quotes like this will make it easier when it comes to writing your paper. • Always make note of the page number! We’ll go over formatting shortly. • Don’t ever. Ever. EVER. Leave a quote by itself. • As a general rule of thumb, whenever your paper brings in a NEW point or is developing a VITAL point, it’s always good to use text evidence.

22. Quote Formatting • Properly including and citing a quote is vital to your success as a writer and is especially important for your grade. • Once you use a quote from a book, you always need to cite it. • When you cite a quote from a book, YOU WILL USE THIS FORMAT: • “Blah blah blah blah blah” (Author page #).

23. An example • Quote: “My mother is a guaranteed fox.” • Eric displays his weirdness when he says, “My mother is a guaranteed fox” (Crutcher 13). • Notice how the period goes AFTER the parentheses, and NOT in the actual quotation. • Exception: If there is a punctuation mark that is not a period in the original quote, it stays. • Eric displays his weirdness when he says, “My mother is a guaranteed fox!” (Crutcher 13).

24. Quoting • When you quote something, make sure you • A. Lead into the quote • B. Explain the importance of that quote after you write it. Example: Eric is also someone that needs reassurance. He mentions, “I always looked for acceptance from friends” (Crutcher 44). By looking for the go-ahead from friends rather than from himself, it makes him a pitiful character.

25. Integrated Quotes • One thing that can propel your writing from good to great is using the most important points of a quote. • Say you wanted to use this quote: “Eric’s mother is a guaranteed fox.” • Using a portion of that quote can make your paper flow more smoothly. • Example: Ellerby has no qualms about expressing his feelings. In addition to calling Mrs. Calhoune “a guaranteed fox,” he also openly argues with Eric (Crutcher 15).

26. Brackets. • Sometimes, quoting from a book doesn’t sound grammatically correct with what you’re trying to say. • This is where the old [ ] come into play. • Whenever you use a quote, it should follow grammatically with YOUR thoughts / writing.

27. Brackets Continued • Quote: “My muscles burned like fire.” • Example using quote INCORRECTLY: And despite the fact that “my muscles burned like fire,” Jill continued to sprint the final lap (Wilson 24). • Why it’s wrong: remember, we’re talking about Jill, not you – “my” • What should we replace to make it grammatically correct? • And despite the fact that “[her] muscles burned like fire,” Jill continued to sprint the final lap (Wilson 24).

28. So in summary • Use quotes. • Use quotes correctly and professionally. • Cite the quotes correctly. • Connect your quotes to your thesis or point you’re trying to make at that moment. • Make sure the transition into and out of the quote is seamless and grammatical.

29. Your assignment • In addition to reading Chapter 19, your other assignment is: • A small write-up where you use quotes from Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes to explain someone’s characterization • 1. As an entire quote (no integration) • 2. Breaking up a quote into an integrated quote • Remember: You need to lead into and out of the quote. • This should be about 1 paragraph in length! So, 2 total paragraphs!