Persuasive Writing Unit

Issue: Immigration

• Watch the following video clip about illegal immigration: http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/25145-discovering language-arts-persuasive-writing-video.htm

Immigration Prompt

Should illegal immigrants who are living and working in the U.S. be granted citizenship rights? Provide clear evidence and quotes from credible sources to support your position.

-or- Do you support Arizona Senate Bill 1070 that makes it a state misdemeanor crime for an alien to be in Arizona without carrying the required documents? Provide clear evidence and quotes from credible sources to support your position.

Issue: Football- Too Dangerous?

• • • Is football safe enough for children and teenagers? In general, do you think the value of playing a sport is worth any physical danger it might pose? Write a position statement that expresses your perspective.

Find two or three facts from the article to support your claim.

Two Sides

• • Find three facts from the article that support the claim that the potential injuries that can occur from football are NOT worth the risk of playing the game.

Find three facts from the article that support that claim that football is safe.

Student Example

Position Statement: The NFL, NCAA, and other football associations need to take football injuries very seriously to provide safety for all players.

One step that these organizations can take is to require teams to use HIT system helmets. This helmet allows coaches and doctors to monitor the number of blows to the head. The average lineman using a HIT helmet logs anywhere from 1000 to 1,500 hits per season (Goldman, 3).

Football Safety Prompt

• Is football safe enough for children and teenagers? In general, do you think the value of playing a sport is worth any physical danger it might pose? Provide clear evidence and quotes from credible sources to support your position.

Global Warming Prompt

An international group of scientists has announced that global warming is here and that “Humans are very likely the blame”. Do you agree or disagree with this declaration?

* If so, how and why, and what should be done to change the trend?

*If not, who/what is responsible for the trend? What can be done to change the trend?

Provide clear evidence and quotes to support your answer.

Outlining

• • • • Please write your thesis/position statement in the appropriate box on your worksheet.

Early finishers, work on filling in the other two boxes.

If you need more room, feel free to write these on a sheet of notebook paper instead. You may use your comp book, but you will need to rip it out to turn it in with your essay.

• • •

Cyberbullying

Do you think the government should draft legislation to address cyberbullying?

Should parents have their child’s internet/social networking passwords to monitor their online activity?

Is it the school administrator's responsibility to punish bullies, even when their activities have not taken place on campus? Or should children's rights to free speech be protected, even when that speech does emotional harm to another student?

Cyberbullying Prompt

• • What should the punishment be for acts like cyberbullying and online humiliation? Should parents and teachers be held accountable if they did not step in to stop the bullying? -or- If a person commits suicide because of cyberbullying, should bullies be convicted of manslaughter? Provide clear evidence and quotes from credible sources to support your position.

Animal Testing Prompt

Medical researchers, cosmetic companies, and others often perform experiments on animals. Many people feel that experimentation on animals is wrong and should be stopped immediately because animals do feel pain, and there are other alternatives. How do you feel? Provide clear evidence and quotes from credible sources to support your position.

• • • • • • • • •

Which word has the most negative connotation?

stuck up / proud wimpy / weak unmotivated / lazy unusual / weird determined / stubborn perspire / sweat junk food / fast food slow / cautious old / mature • • stare / look old / mature

Harness the Power of Language

• • • • • • • • • • • Illegal alien / undocumented immigrant bully / aggressor, tormentor, villain, violator bullying / persecuting, victimizing, tormenting testing / experimentation, mutilation, torture, cruelty animal subjects / innocent victims climate change / global warming catastrophic effects / detrimental effects skeptics / deniers concussion / brain trauma safety precautions, guidelines / rules, limitations issue / problem, crisis

Today’s Objectives

• • • • Preview persuasive essay rubric.

Watch a video that explains persuasive appeals and discuss how to apply it to your own writing.

Learn how to address the opposition in a counter-argument.

Preview persuasive writing checklist.

Types of Persuasive Appeals

• • • • • Logical Appeals a. evidence, facts, statistics b. expert opinion c. examples Emotional Appeals a. word choice / connotation b. visual details / imagery Ethical Appeals a. reputation b. sincere, honest tone Try to incorporate all of these strategies into your writing They will be putty in your hands!

Counter-Arguing

• • • • Recognize and acknowledge the reader’s concerns and objections Show the reader that their objections are invalid or irrelevant.

Your voice should be assertive, yet restrained; do not attack the reader or they will be offended and will not take your side.

Respectfully disagree with the objections using clear, logical evidence and reasoning.

Framework for Counter-Argument

• • • • • “It might be said that_______, however…” “It could be argued that______, but…” “Some people say/believe/think/feel that____ This is untrue/incorrect/not the case/ because__________ or according to_______” “While critics argue that________” “While some may say that_______,

Example

• Many people adhere to an “eye for an eye” philosophy, however, until our society is able to eradicate all possibility of human error in its judicial system, capital punishment must be banned.

What is Plagiarism?

• “Failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas. • Failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks .

• Failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words .” (Bedford Handbook, 570)

Paraphrasing: Is this Plagiarism?

Original Source

If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists.

Version A

The existence of a signing ape unsettled linguists and startled animal behaviorists (Davis, 26).

(An excerpt from an article by B. Davis) This exercise is from

The Bedford Handbook

Answer A

Original Source

If the

existence of a signing ape

was unsettling for linguists , it was also startling news for animal behaviorists .

The

existence of a signing ape Version A

unsettled linguists and startled animal behaviorists (Davis, 26).

Answer:

ape." Plagiarism. Even though the writer has cited the source, the writer has not used quotation marks around the direct quotation, "the existence of a signing

In addition, the phrase, "unsettled linguists and startled animal behaviorists," closely resembles the wording of the source.

Paraphrasing: Is this Plagiarism?

Original Source

If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists.

Version B

If the presence of a sign language-using chimp was disturbing for scientists studying language, it was also surprising to scientists studying animal behavior (Davis, 26).

Answer B

Original Source

If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists , it was also startling news for animal behaviorists .

Version B

If the presence of a sign language-using chimp was disturbing for scientists studying language (Davis, 26).

, it was also surprising to scientists studying animal behavior

Answer: Still plagiarism. Even though the writer has substituted synonyms and cited the source, the writer is plagiarizing because the source's sentence structure is unchanged.

Paraphrasing: Is this Plagiarism?

Original Source

If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists.

Version C

According to Flora Davis, linguists and animal behaviorists were unprepared for the news that a chimp could communicate with its trainers through sign language (Davis, 26).

Answer C

Original Source

If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists.

Version C

According to Flora Davis, linguists and animal behaviorists were unprepared for the news that a chimp could communicate with its trainers through sign language (Davis, 26).

Answer: No plagiarism. This is an appropriate paraphrase of the original sentence.

A Summary of Proper Citation

•

Exact phrases

– Quotation marks around the phrase – Cite the author in the text (author’s last name, page number); include the source on your Works Cited page.

•

Paraphrasing

– Change the wording AND sentence structure – Cite the author in the text; include the source on your Works Cited page.

•

Ideas

– Cite the author in the text; include the source on your Works Cited page.

•

Common knowledge

– No need to cite