Unlocking the Secrets of the Persuasive Essay

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Unlocking the Secrets of the Persuasive Essay

• Hints on how to make your essay be its very best

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What really matters

• The first thing to remember that your audience is
  a person who likes very much to be interested in
  and even entertained by what you have written.
• Once you have the audiences interest, the next
  thing to do is have your essay be well organized
  with all the necessary parts in their proper
  place, using correct grammar, punctuation and
  spelling.
• You must be sure that your essay is easy to
  understand that it is clear and coherent.
• The thing you want to avoid most is being
  confusing.

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From the beginning

• The most important sentence in your essay is the
  first sentence, the lead-in, for this is when you
  grab the readers attention.
• Lets say your topic is Should the Death Penalty
  be abolished?
• Your lead-in could be Right now, in America, 37
  of the convicts on death row are innocent and
  will be unjustly executed for no good reason!

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More about the beginning

• After you have given your lead-in, you need to
  show that you can see both sides of the issue,
  the pros and conswith 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.

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Now tell what you think

• After you give the pros and cons, now its time
  to say what you think in the Thesis Statement and
  give your three reasons to support your opinion
• I believe that the death penalty should be
  abolished because many innocent will be unjustly
  executed, it is against the Bibles commandment
  thou shalt not kill and it is forbidden by the
  US Constitution as a cruel and unusual
  punishment.

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Now, the support paragraphs

• The next three paragraphs support and elaborate
  on the reasons that you stated in your thesis. Be
  sure to be specific and dont generalize.
• For instance, 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 didnt
  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.

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Finally your conclusion.

• 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 imageof 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 tag
  line.
• The tag line is the last line of your essay and
  is the second most important line after the
  lead-in because this is where you leave the
  reader with your final thought.

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Your conclusion continued

• 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.

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About statistics and quotes

• 37 is not a real statistic, it is pretend and
  made up for the class or test essay.
• When you are writing your essay, if you want to
  make up numbers out of your imagination, it is
  OK.
• If you want to make up a quote from a magazine,
  newspaper or TV show fine, go ahead and do it.
• Nobody is going to check up on you. The only
  thing that matters are that your numbers or quote
  seem reasonable and help to support the point you
  are making.
• On the other hand,if you are writing a real
  research paper, then, of course, you need to use
  genuine, valid information.

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Now remember A Good Essay

• Is interesting.
• Is well organized.
• Uses proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
• Has all the elements in the right place.
• Has a powerful grabber lead-in sentence.
• 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 tag line to
  remember.