Persuasive Essay

Persuasive Essay 

          This essay will require you to write an essay persuading the reader to adopt a view or take action in regards to a controversial issue. Your paper should introduce the issue, outline the various sides that are being discussed, and state your opinion on the matter.

          An effective paper should include the other side’s arguments, a refutation of their arguments, and a thesis detailing your position. Make sure you are arguing a thesis that is focused enough to be defensible. You should defend your thesis with logical arguments based in fact, but feel free to also make an emotional appeal.

          This paper should be at least 700 words, and you may use up to 1,000. It will be important to cite your sources with this paper as your argument should be based in logic. Follow MLA format and include a works cited page.

          This essay will be due by email on the 9th of October (Wednesday) by Midnight. 

Rubric for Persuasive Essay

Outlines a controversial issue and presents both sides of the argument  ___

 1  2  3  4  5 

Presents a specific, strong, and defendable thesis  ___

1  2  3  4  5

Backs up claim (thesis) with evidence in the form of data   ___

1 2  3  4  5

Meets page, formatting, and citation requirements  ___

1 2  3  4  5

Persuasive Exercise

In Class Persuasion Exercise (20 points)

Think of a current topic that you feel has two clear, but opposing, sides. Examples may include immigration, gun control, the deficit, homosexuals in the Boy Scouts, legalization of cannabis, or any other topic that you feel strongly about.

Take a position. You do not have to take one of the commonly held, polemic sides, but do figure out where you stand and what you would like to say on the subject.

Gather some evidence for your position. You may use the internet, news articles, scholarly articles, or any other published and documented resource. Make sure to give credit where credit is due. Prepare a, at the most, five minute presentation of the issue, your stance, and evidence that you found. You may also feel free to make an emotional appeal, but be sure to base your claim primarily in logic. 

Be prepared to share your presentation on the 1st of October (Tuesday).

Punctuation and Mechanics Quiz (#3)

Punctuation and Mechanics Quiz

Use a comma to separate the independent clauses which are joined by a coordinating conjunction:

The department sponsored a seminar on college survival skills and it also hosted a barbecue for new students.

Use commas to break up the items in the list:

Bubbles of air leaves ferns bits of wood and insects are often found trapped in amber.

Decide if the information in italics is restrictive (necessary) to the meaning of the sentence, and separate it with commas if it is not restrictive.

Scientists who study the earth’s structure are called geologists.

Decide if the information in italics is restrictive (necessary) to the meaning of the sentence and separate it with commas if it is not restrictive.

The scientists who represented eight different universities met to review applications for the prestigious O’Hara Award.

Use a semicolon to separate the two independent clauses joined by a transitional expression.

Many corals grow very gradually in fact, the creation of a coral reef can take centuries.

Use quotation marks to set off the quote within this sentence.

In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed (225).

Use an apostrophe to indicate that a noun is possessive.

The Childrens Defense Fund . . .

Use an apostrophe to indicate a contraction between two words.

Its a shame that Mark is not here today.

Word Choice and Grammatical Sentence Quiz Review

There will be two sections on the quiz. One in which you are asked to label a sentence as formal, popular, or informal diction.

“You don't have to choose between style and usefulness.”-popular

“The research shows that you do not have to differentiate between aesthetics and function.” -formal

“It's all good, bro.”-informal


The next section will ask you to write examples of simple, compound, and complex sentences. For example:

The sky is blue. -simple

The sky is blue, but the sea is green. -compound

Because of the way that light refracts, the sky is blue. -complex