9-11 is a date that will forever be synonymous with tragedy. On that day in 2001, the world came to a crippling stop.

Transcription

1 Historical Events 9-11 is a date that will forever be synonymous with tragedy. On that day in 2001, the world came to a crippling stop. Metaphor Our house slab after the hurricane was a replica of my bedroom floor. With clothes, odds and ends, and debris scattered everywhere, the resemblance was uncanny, even to the look of despair on my Mom s face. Dialogue I hate living in a small town! There s nothing to do! These words are spoken by small town kids across America. Quote When Martin Luther King, Jr. said, In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends, he wasn t describing MY friends, or so I thought until today when I waited in vain for my friends to defend me. Choose one of the thesis statements that you wrote over the following prompts: a. Write an essay stating your position on whether it is important to hold on to your past as you move forward in life. b. Write an essay stating your position on whether wealth is more of a benefit or a detriment in a person s life. Write 1 of the types of hooks to introduce the topic you chose. Remember that a hook must lead into your thesis. If the thesis you wrote needs revision in order to connect to the hook, make the necessary changes.

2 Snapshot Persuasive Writing Body Paragraph Format and Evidence Types of Evidence- Make your evidence BHIP! Books B- H- History In the news I- Personal/People you know P- DON TS Don't use false or incorrect evidence (facts and statistics) Don't use "I think" or "I believe" Body Paragraph Format A good way to look at the format of a body paragraph is to think of an OER. A body paragraph should contain each part that an OER does. FOR EXAMPLE: ANSWER- this is the topic sentence of a body paragraph. Ask yourself the question, What is my first body paragraph over? Then provide the answer to that question as the topic sentence. Let s refer to the example topic, Write an essay stating your position on whether it is important to take risks or play it safe. Here s the thesis for this topic: Life is more rewarding when risks are taken. A risk not only can improve the condition of a single life, but it has the power to change all of society. So, what will the first body paragraph be over? ANSWER- A risk can improve the condition of a single life. That s the topic sentence!

3 BACK IT UP- this is the evidence you will use to prove your claim. Just like in an OER, you must have proof. Make your evidence BHIP! CONNECT AND CLARIFY- This is your concluding sentence that provides your final commentary so that your reader fully believes your point. Here are two ways to conclude your body paragraphs: 1. Return to your position (RTP statement)- write a sentence that connects back to your position. This keeps you focused on your objective, which is to prove your position and to make the reader believe you. RTP Stems: It is clear that (state your position)/clearly, (state your position) It is evident that (state your position) proving that (state your position) clearly illustrating that (state your position) for that reason (state your position) Example: Here is an example from a body paragraph of an essay over whether it is important to recycle. Manufacturing products using recycled materials consumes considerably less energy than the industrial processes used to create products from virgin resources. This process drastically reduces greenhouse gas emissions that pollute the air, which clearly illustrates the importance of recycling. (RTP statement) 2. rhetorical question- this is a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer. Example: Here is the same body paragraph that ends with a rhetorical question instead. Manufacturing products using recycled materials consumes considerably less energy than the industrial processes used to create products from virgin resources. This process drastically reduces greenhouse gas emissions that pollute the air. Isn t recycling worth creating an environment where children do not have to gasp for air? (rhetorical question)

4 DON TS Don't begin your body paragraphs with reason 1, reason 2, or first, second Colorful Language Choosing your words carefully is crucial in a persuasive essay. You want your reader to believe your point. USE: o Specific words Shakespeare s quote, They have been at a great feast of languages, and stol n the scraps, is a perfect example of poor word choice. So many specific words comprise our great language, but when you use words like thing(s), stuff, or very, you are filling your essay with scraps. No one wants the scraps. Give your reader the good food and use stronger wordswords that reflect a great feast of our language. EXAMPLE: Find the scraps in the following sentence, and revise it so that it is delicious. Look for the weak or general words and make them specific. Love is a thing that everyone wants in life. REVISION: USE: o Words that evoke emotion/make people feel (pathos) EXAMPLE: "If we don t move soon, we re all going to die! Can t you see how dangerous it would be to stay?" What emotion is appealed to? Fear Highlight the words that help to establish that emotion.

5 Look for weak and general words, like those below, in your writing and replace them with stronger, more specific ones. It will make your writing tasty and delicious! anything something thing(s) everything great a lot good very pretty really stuff bad fun everyone

6 Example Persuasive Essay Topic: Write an essay stating your position on whether it is important to take risks or play it safe. Whoever first said, Without risk, there s no reward, could have spoken from a deeply personal experience or could have simply made observations of the many gambles in our history that had a huge return. It is true; life is more rewarding when risks are taken. A risk not only can improve the condition of a single life, but it has the power to change all of society. A risk can be the difference between life and death for a person, as Dr. Kent Brantley knows. The husband and the father of two small children contracted Ebola while in Africa treating those with the virus. He felt his life slipping away, and he knew that a distance far greater than the U.S. and Africa might come between him and his family at any moment. In a risky move, he was evacuated to the U.S. and administered a highly experimental drug- a drug that had never been tried in a human being. Despite not knowing the full effects of the treatment, doctors took a risk, and now Dr. Brantley has recovered and is back in the arms of his family. Without taking a chance however, he might have never hugged his children again. Hook- quote Topic sentence Concluding sentence Position Evidence I- in the news Some risks are powerful enough to reach far beyond that of a single individual. The risks taken by Martin Luther King Jr. affected an entire society. He spoke out against the injustices of segregation and fought for equality for all. His non--violent protests led to his multiple arrests, and his pursuit for equality ultimately led to his assassination. His significant risks sparked the civil rights movement, ended segregation, and forever changed race relations in American society. A risk has the twofold force of improving individuals and even all of society, so feel its power. Be one to say, Without risk, there s no reward, from personal experience and fully see how the chances taken today can lead to rewards enjoyed tomorrow and many days to come. Just imagine life without risks, without the use of experimental drugs that save lives, without activists who fight to better society. What kind of life would that be?