Contributor: Rebecca Hann. Lesson ID: 10995
If you get into a discussion or debate, do you know how to support what you think? Have you listened to the other side before opining? Clever videos and continued practice prepare you to write essays!
Persuasive Writing Tip #2: Consider opposing views. Responding to these points will give you the chance to explain why your viewpoint or recommendation is the best one. No fighting!
Hello, and welcome back to the series, Persuasive Writing.
As you know from the first lesson, found under Related Lessons in the right-hand sidebar, the purpose of persuasive writing is to convince a reader to agree with you or to accept your recommendation.
The goal of this series of lessons is to create a well-designed piece of persuasive writing. This will be completed in pieces because each lesson will focus on one of the five steps of the writing process.
It is very important that you keep your writing pieces from one lesson to the next because they will be combined to create the final essay.
OK, let's get started!
Since your prewriting is already completed, the next step is to take your organized thoughts and ideas and turn them into writing. If you do not have your prewriting handy, you should make it available now.
A good first step is to create your thesis. A thesis statement is a statement in the opening paragraph (usually near the end), that clearly states your position and usually includes your reasons.
Take a look at these two videos for some more information on how to craft a thesis statement:
Writing a Persuasive or Argumentative Thesis (in response to a prompt) from EnglishClass212:
How To Write A Killer Thesis Statement by Shmoop:
Once you have created your strong thesis statement, the rest of your paper will begin to take shape. The reasons you give in your thesis statement will become the body of your writing, as you discuss them further.