persuasive essay writing strategies

persuasive essay writing strategies

 Persuasive Essay Writing Strategies

1. Introduction

Rereading what has been written so far, the budding filmmaker will find that he may possess extensive knowledge and experience in the fields of writing and teaching and yet maintain a feeling of being lost and bewildered. Visual communication is a most unusual art. It presupposes the ability to communicate verbally or in writing and then it augments that communication with concrete visual imagery. If you feel that your prowess in the written or spoken word is insufficient, it is of utmost importance that you disregard this fact. A little practice and study will enable anyone to express their ideas with clarity and precision. Remember that spoken and written language is where the conveying of ideas begins and that thought is not truly developed until it has been expressed in verbal terms. Once a firm grasp on the use and production of visual imagery is attained, many ideas will be found to fall into place and become crystal clear. Visual imagery is the lifeblood of film and to understand its usage is to understand film itself.

No one enters into the movie-making business without a clear goal, to be heard, to be seen, to be understood. The difficulty is that that goal is not always attained. Visual storytelling always seems easy, until you try to do it. Before making a motion picture, you must do a number of things. Ask yourself what it is you wish to communicate. What specific point do you have in mind? A general idea may often be quite clear in your own mind, but when you try to express it to others, it becomes muddled and indistinct. Often you will discover that it is quite difficult to express even a clear idea in purely verbal terms. In all such cases, it is well to resort to pen and paper and prepare some sort of written outline. This may take the form of a detailed theme or merely some scribbled notes. It does not matter how primitive the form of expression is as long as it achieves the desired result. In your own mind, “preproduction” may occupy only a few minutes’ time, but in terms of effort saved in construction and shooting, it is bound to be equivalent to many days.

2. Choosing a Strong Thesis Statement

The thesis statement should have a narrow focus. This will help you to stay on track and will prevent your essay from becoming a generalized essay. In your thesis, you really need to take a standpoint. A reader will have a stronger personal investment in reading your essay if he feels that the point you are arguing is subjective. If someone could argue against your thesis, there’s a chance that they may not even consider your persuasive essay. Finally, make sure that you can argue your thesis. If you cannot find ample evidence to support your point, chances are you will not be able to convince the reader. Overall, a good thesis statement will help you and your reader. It will give you confidence and save you time in the long run, and it will also prevent your reader from getting confused about what you are trying to convince them of.

Your thesis statement is the foundation of your essay. It should convey the end goal of your persuasive attempt. Your thesis should be placed at the end of your introduction paragraph, clearly and concisely stating the point that you are going to attempt to persuade your readers of. The rest of your essay will then serve to support, explaining in depth how and why your point is valid.

3. Supporting Arguments with Evidence

Once you have generated and collected plenty of persuasive ideas for your essay, you have to be able to support them. The strength of your evidence and the quality of your example will have a direct bearing on the strength of your overall argument. You should always look for the most direct and powerful way to convey an idea – meaning using logic, reasoning, and of course plenty of evidence. Always support your claims and the suggested change to your audience with solid evidence. Whether in a convincing letter, a debate, or a full-blown argument, if you can offer up hard evidence in support of your position, you will further cement your stance in the mind of your audience. Try using the following questions to help you think of ways to support your ideas with evidence: – What would be the best way to show x? Are there particular examples that everyone can relate to? – Is there a cause and effect involved in your claim? If so, what caused this x to occur? What was the end result? – What kind of physical or measurable proof would there be for your claim? – What will come of simply ignoring this issue? – Is there a story you can tell which will help explain your point?

4. Addressing Counterarguments

Failure to address the opposition demonstrates that you may not be confident in your stance. Or you may have thoroughly considered your position and still should consider that addressing views that do not support your own can only make your argument stronger. You need to consider any possible objections to your argument and then use evidence and analysis to move from the objections to your own argument. This may occur in saved locations and rather than refuting them you should have many iterations of the term which will allow you to edit and produce a 5 sentence minimum for each. By placing the counterarguments into the paragraphs of the first draft, you will see if the argument has been addressed above the place where the counterargument is introduced. Always clearly label the counterargument so you do not change the opposition’s position. In many cases, the warrant in one of your basic assertions in your argument will be invalidated by a counterargument. You should recognize and rewrite the Rogerian copy persistently directs me to join the counterarguments and find concessions to them in order to better establish the common ground between myself and readers. Enticsell suggested that I place a simple list of counterarguments and refutations to examine the strength of my argument and whether I can invalidate counterarguments or express a lack of confidence in my ability to argue against certain objections.

5. Concluding with a Powerful Call to Action

Many people miss the mark with a weak call to action that fails to move their audience to take effective action. The conclusion to your persuasive essay should primarily be a restatement of your position combined with a statement that demonstrates the importance of your issue. If the reader is to change his opinion, it will be a long-term process requiring you to plant the seed of your viewpoint within his mind. Painting a vivid picture of how this change will benefit him will leave the reader inspired. This can be done by correlating your issue to an action. For example, if you were supporting a cleaner environment, you could suggest the reader to try to drive less in order to reduce air pollution. Discomforting the audience by pointing out an obvious solution to their problem can be an effective motivator. Using logical pathos is vital to bringing your audience to see things from your point of view, and thus a stronger call to action will make it easier for your audience to make this transition. By clearly stating and urging the reader to take action, you can greatly increase the impact of your persuasive essay.