Persuasive Essay Timed Writing

Persuasive Essay Guidelines

For your first in-class writing, you will have to write a persuasive essay on the topic of marriage and co-habitation. A persuasive essay is a writer’s attempt to convince readers to adopt a particular point of view or take a specific action. The particular essay prompt question will be given to you on the day of the in-class writing.

Guidelines for writing a persuasive essay:

· Begin by making a t-chart to brainstorm the pros and cons of the debatable issue given to you.

Ex. T-chart to brainstorm ideas for a persuasive essay. It’s important to understand both sides of the issue and then decide what stance to take in your argument. Example prompt question: Should schools introduce foreign language instruction in elementary school?

Pros( For foreign language instruction in elementary school)	Cons (Against foreign language instruction in elementary school)
1. Research shows children learn new languages more easily at a younger age(before age 12)	1. Children need to focus on becoming strong readers and writers in their native language for better academic success.
2. They are more likely to gain fluency faster and become more proficient in the foreign language.	2. It would be too overwhelming and challenging for some children, especially those already struggling in school.
3. It would improve their overall cognitive skills.	3. There are not enough resources and funds for adding new education programs to schools that already have to cut back on basic education programs.
4. A long-term benefit is that it would provide them with more education and career opportunities when they are older.	5. Students may decide not continue taking the foreign language after elementary school and forget everything they learned.

· After brainstorming, take a stance on the issue and select your three strongest argument points to support your claim.

· Write a thesis statement that clearly states your claim and answers the prompt question; in addition, make sure your thesis has three main ideas to support your claim. Remember to avoid “I” in the thesis and stay in third person.

Example prompt question: Should schools introduce foreign language instruction in elementary school?

Example thesis: Schools should definitely introduce foreign language instruction in elementary school because scientific research shows that children learn new languages more quickly at a younger age, greater language fluency would be achieved, and it would improve their overall cognitive skills.

· Each body paragraph must develop the main ideas from your thesis in the same order they are presented in the thesis statement. The topic sentence of each body paragraph must introduce the main idea and include a transition.

Example topic sentence for body paragraph#1: One of the most important reasons (transition) that foreign language instruction should begin in elementary school is because it has been proven through scientific research that children can learn new languages more quickly before age 12(main idea point #1 from the thesis).

Example topic sentence for body paragraph#2: Another advantage (transition) of early language instruction in schools is that children achieve greater language fluency (main idea point #2 from the thesis).

Example topic sentence for body paragraph#3: Lastly,(transition) children can greatly benefit from increased overall cognitive skills when foreign language instruction is introduced early (main idea point #3 from the thesis).

· Develop each of your main ideas with logical reasoning and personal, testimonial, or hypothetical examples.

· Maintain paragraph focus! Make sure each body paragraph develops one specific main idea from your thesis with strong supporting details and examples.

· Stay in 3rd person, but you may use “I” when you are describing a personal experience example. Do not use “I” to convey opinion. No “I think” or “I believe” phrases.

· Close the essay with a strong concluding paragraph that emphasizes your most important point, makes a call for action, or makes predictions about the future.

· Give yourself at least 10 minutes to proofread your essay for content, organization, grammar, and punctuation(in that order).