Essay – Persuasion

Persuasion

Draft an essay in which you persuade readers to take an action in regard to a specific issue. The issue must be something about which there is debate, not a settled issue. If you are not sure about your topic, ask.

 

Elements of the Paper

A.    Your thesis must request a specific action. What do you want to persuade readers to do?

B.     Your thesis must be specific enough to be supportable. Overgeneralized theses will create too many exceptions, which will work against your argument.

C.     Provide adequate evidence to support your claim. “Evidence,” in this context, may be anecdotal, scientific, historical, statistical, etc.

D.    Identify a target audience and tailor the content of the essay for that audience.  Demonstrate that you have given due consideration to the prior knowledge, preconceptions, and emotions of that audience.

E.     Consider the counter-argument. What reasons might a reader have for disagreeing? How can those reasons be demonstrated to be insufficient to negate the proposed action?

F.      The paper should be formal, using no first or second person.

 

Minimum Requirements

1.      The paper must be in MLA format, including Times New Roman, 12-point font.

2.      The paper must contain proper paragraphs.

3.      The paper must be a minimum of 800 words.

4.      The paper must contain a clear thesis statement, which must be underlined.

5.      The paper must attempt to persuade readers to take a specific action.

6.      The paper must focus on a specific, debated issue.

7.      The paper must provide specific evidence to support the thesis.

8.      The paper must spend at least one paragraph refuting a counter-argument.

9.      The paper must have no use of the first or second person.

10.  The paper must include at least three sources, each with named authors cited in the body and a Works Cited page.