Five Paragraph Essay

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Five Paragraph Essay

• 6/A
• PAPERS

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Persuasion in Daily Life

• Imagine that you overslept this morning but still
  managed the following achievements 
• You persuaded your mom that she should give you
  some money to buy breakfast on the way to
  school. 
• You persuaded a friend to give you a ride to
  school. 
• How were you able to do all of this? You used
  your skills of persuasion to win another person
  over to your viewpoint. 

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Persuasion in Daily Life

• Probably without being aware of it, you have
  developed skills of persuasion. These are skills
  that you will need throughout your life.
• At work you will need to negotiate with your
  colleagues, employers, and customers.
• Socially, you will often want to persuade your
  friends to do what you want to do, such as going
  to a particular movie.
• You may want to persuade your parents about the
  ideal place for the family vacation or convince
  them that they should extend your curfew.
• Other people, in turn, will seek to persuade you,
  both those close to you and those far removed,
  such as politicians, advertisers, and the media.

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Forms of Persuasion

• Persuasion can take many forms, including ads,
  editorials, speeches, debates, phone calls,
  conversations, letters, memos, e-mail, pamphlets,
  and essays, just to name a few.
• This PPT focuses mainly on the most common
  persuasive writing assignment in school the
  persuasive essay. It also describes the basic
  methods that apply to all forms of persuasion.
• Understanding these methods will help you improve
  your ability to persuade and to analyze attempts
  by others to persuade you. 

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Four Types of Persuasion

•  There are four main types of persuasion
• using logic and evidence
• appealing to authority
• appealing to emotions
• appealing to shared beliefs or identity.
• Think about what method or methods will be most
  convincing to your audience. In a way, you are
  like a trial lawyer trying to persuade a jury. 

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Logic and Evidence

• Logic is the use of clear reasoning to draw
  conclusions.
• You can use logic by supporting your argument
  with reasons backed up by evidencespecific
  statements of fact (statements that can be proved
  or disproved).
• You are trying to prove that your opinion makes
  the most sense.

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Appeal to Authority

• You can also point to authorities, just as trial
  lawyers use expert witnesses.
• When you refer to an authoritysuch as a person,
  an organization, or a bookyou expect that your
  audience will consider that source believable.
• Depending on the topic, you might even present
  yourself as an authority. 

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Appeal to Emotions

• Persuasion can rely on a variety of emotions,
  such as anger, love, pity, guilt, pride,
  jealousy, sorrow, joy, and greed.
• For example, advertisers play on children's greed
  to persuade them that they need the latest toy.
  Charities use images of starving people to arouse
  feelings of guilt and pity and to raise
  donations.
• Emotionally charged words, words that have a
  strong positive or negative slant, can also be
  effective. 

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Appeal to Shared Beliefs or Identity

• You might emphasize beliefs or characteristics
  you share with your audience.
• With this method, you imply that they should
  share your opinion because you are "one of them."
  
• A variation is to imply that if they do not
  agree, they will be excluded from the "club" to
  which you both belong. 

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Guidelines for Using Logic and Evidence

•  "That doesn't follow!" "What has that got to do
  with it?" "You're arguing in circles!" "You're
  just telling one side of the story." To help you
  avoid such criticisms, here are a few guidelines
  on using logic and evidence 
• Be fair. 
• Don't let bias or prejudice take over. You will
  be more effective if the audience sees that you
  have considered the other side. 
• Don't ignore contrary evidence. Instead, show how
  evidence for your claim is stronger than evidence
  against it. 

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Guidelines for Using Logic and Evidence

• Be clear. 
• Define your terms. If your audience is not sure
  what you mean, they won't be able to follow your
  argument. If a word has more than one meaning,
  specify which meaning you are using.  
• If you use a term in more than one way, make the
  meanings clear. 

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Guidelines for Using Logic and Evidence

• Be logical. 
• Make sure your conclusions follow from the
  evidence. An incorrect conclusion is known as a
  non sequitur (Latin for "it does not follow"). 
• Don't make unsupported assertions. 
• Make sure that the evidence is relevant. 
• Don't pose a "false choice," that is, don't
  present only two causes, explanations, or
  options, when there may be more. 
• Avoid false analogiessaying that if two things
  are alike in one way they must be alike in
  others. 
• Avoid jumping to conclusions about
  cause-and-effect. Just because one event happened
  before another does not mean that the first event
  caused the second. 
• Make sure that your reasons support your thesis
  statement rather than simply repeating it. 

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Guidelines for Using Logic and Evidence

• Be thorough. 
• Check to make sure that your evidence is
  accurate. 
• Gather enough evidence to make a strong case.
  Avoid hasty generalizations based on just a few
  examples.

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Methods of Appealing to Emotion

• The core of your argument should be logic and
  evidence. However, some appeals to emotions may
  help, if used appropriately. Four common
  techniques are
• verbal irony
• Hyperbole
• rhetorical questions
• emotionally charged words. 

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Verbal Irony

• Verbal irony is the use of words to express
  something that is different from, and often the
  opposite of, the literal meaning.
• It can catch the audience's attention to
  emphasize a point.
• A famous example is Jonathan Swift's "A Modest
  Proposal," written to point out the poverty of
  the Irish working classes in the 1700s. He
  ironically suggests that the poor give up their
  babies to be eaten by the rich, producing income
  for the parents and ridding society of unwanted
  children.

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Hyperbole

• Hyperbole is exaggeration to emphasize an idea.
• Consider this example "Release of chemicals from
  factories has caused deaths in nearby cities. The
  factory owners are murdering these people."
  Calling the owners murderers is an overstatement
  designed to have an emotional effect. 

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Rhetorical Question

• A rhetorical question is one asked merely for
  effect, with no answer expected.
• For example, a politician might ask, "My opponent
  promised prosperity, and what do we have?"
• Rhetorical questions assume the audience agrees,
  without requiring proof. 

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Emotionally Charged Words

• Emotionally charged, or "loaded," words are words
  that carry strong positive or negative
  associations to get a reaction from the audience.
  I
• In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Mark Antony's
  speech after Caesar's murder effectively uses
  these techniques to sway emotions. 

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Methods of Appealing to Emotion

• Before using appeals to emotion, consider the
  possible effects.
• Irony may backfire if your audience thinks you
  mean what you say.
• Hyperbole may make you appear unreasonable.
• Overuse of rhetorical questions may annoy your
  audience.
• Use emotional appeals sparingly.

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Varying Sentence Length and Using Repetition

• Whether your argument is to be read or listened
  to, its effectiveness depends not only on the
  meaning of your sentences but also on their
  length and rhythm. A good argument may be
  weakened if it is written in a dull manner. 

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Varying Sentence Length and Using Repetition

• Mixing short sentences with long ones can help
  keep your audience's attention and emphasize your
  main points.
• Developing an idea into a long sentence can raise
  expectations of what is to come and give extra
  power to the idea. This technique becomes even
  more powerful if you follow a long sentence with
  a short one.
• Repetition is another tool to highlight your main
  ideas.
• If your sentences flow smoothly and stress your
  key points, your argument will have more impact. 

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Varying Sentence Length and Using Repetition

• The "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther
  King, Jr., is an excellent example of varying
  sentence length and using repetition to great
  effect. The most memorable part of his speech is
  the repetition of "I Have a Dream," underscoring
  his hopes for racial harmony. Those words
  continue to echo today.

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Varying Sentence Length and Using Repetition

• Winston Churchill used repetition and sentence
  variety effectively in his famous "We Shall Never
  Surrender" rallying speech during World War II.
• He repeated the pronoun we to emphasize the
  nation's unity in a common purpose.
• The clause "we shall fight" is used seven times
  in this short speech.
• Starting the last sentence with "we shall" sets
  up the expectation for another front to fight on.
  Then the switch to "We shall never surrender," a
  short sentence after a long one, gives even more
  force to the message.  

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Planning for your Essay

• Planning is the KEY to anything involved with
  writing. Even the most experienced writers must
  develop a plan before they sit down and write
  anything. Think about what teachers have to do
  before they come and stand in front of you. We
  would be completely ineffective if we didnt
  PLAN.
• The same strategy applies to you as a writer.

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The 5-25-5 Plan

• Hint Once the essay prompt has been passed out
  to you, go ahead and start reading through the
  prompt immediately. Why?
• Your brain is a complex and wonderful muscle.
  Without your permission or say so, by reading the
  prompt, your brain will start generating ideas
  for you to write about. Then, when the teacher
  reads the prompt to you, you will have a better
  understanding of the topic.

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The 5-25-5 Plan

• Once your time starts, take no more than 5
  minutes to brainstorm ideas on your prompt
  sheetwriting down everything that comes to
  mindand organizing your thoughts in a logical
  way that makes sense. Make an outline, list,
  Venn diagram, cluster, or other technique.
• Persuasive Essay Choose your position and come
  up with a minimum of three supporting arguments.

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Outlining Your Argument

• After you are comfortable with your position, you
  are ready to outline your argument. Effective
  organization helps you to structure your ideas
  and avoid later problems.  
• State at least three reasons for your argument.
  Each should be distinct from the others and
  should support, rather than repeat, the thesis
  statement. A reason can defend your position, or
  it can refute an opposing reason. 
• Place your reasons in a logical order. Order of
  importance is often most effective, ending with
  the most important reason. 
• Plan to devote one paragraph to each reason,
  explaining and supporting each reason with
  relevant and specific evidence.

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The 5-25-5 Plan

• After you have used no more than 5 minutes to
  brainstorm and organize, use the largest portion
  of your time writing your essay. This should
  take about 25 minutes. Make sure that you are
  utilizing a different supporting argument in each
  body paragraph.

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The 5-25-5 Plan

• We are now up to 30 minutes. What should you do?
  
• Proofread and edit your work! Always leave a
  little bit of time to read over what you wrote.
  This way you can make changes or corrections
  before the time is called.
• Do not get a lower score on the essay due to
  careless mistakes. Always proofread and edit
  your essay.

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Paragraph 1

• The introductory paragraph sets the tone and
  should capture your audience's interest
• SENTENCE 1HOOK
• Restate prompt in form of a question, scenario
  (Imagine), anecdote, or strong introductory
  statement.
• Example Are school uniforms beneficial, or do
  the place unnecessary restrictions on students?
• Example Imagine a school environment where
  every student looks the same and students are
  unable to express themselves.
• Example Imagine what it would be like to sleep
  later every morning because there is no need to
  find something to wear to school.
• SENTENCE 2RESTATE PROMPT
• ---Whatever the topic, state it here and whether
  you agree or disagree!
• Example School uniforms are unnecessary for
  several reasons.

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Paragraph 1

• Sentence 3 Thesis Statement
• One sentence that gives your three (3) reasons
  for OR against the topic!
• A thesis statement for a persuasive essay is also
  called a position statement, proposition, claim,
  or contention. 
• Example Uniforms are uncomfortable, expensive,
  and inconvenient for students.
• Example Uniforms promote safety, prevent
  stereotyping, and prepare students for a work
  environment.

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Paragraph 1

• Read the example that follows.
• Hook, restate prompt, and give three reasons!

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EXAMPLE of Paragraph 1

• Do speed limits prevent accidents or are they
  unnecessary deterrents? The posted speed signs in
  the student lot must be obeyed. Following the
  speed limit keeps students safe, prevents student
  car accidents, and allows everyone to leave
  school expediently.

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Writing the Body Paragraphs

• The body of your argument should contain at least
  three clear and distinct reasons that make your
  opinion the correct one.
• Each reason should be explained clearly and be
  supported with evidence.
• It is better to develop a small number of reasons
  in depth than to skim many reasons
  superficially. 
• Reasons are typically opinions, beliefs that can
  neither be proved nor disproved. Therefore, they
  cannot stand on their own but should be supported
  by statements of fact, statements that can be
  proved or disproved.
• If you have accurate statements of fact as
  supporting evidence, your argument will be more
  convincing.

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Paragraph 2 5-7 sentences

• Begin with a transitional word.
• -Primarily,
• -First,
• -One reason/instance
• Then, state your first reason.

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Paragraph 2 5-7 sentences

• Sentences 2, 3, and 4.
• Give three (3) good, concrete examples to
  support your first reason from your thesis
  statement.
• Use a combination of the four types of persuasion
  (an appeal to emotion and an appeal to authority,
  for example).

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Paragraph 2 5-7 sentences

• Sum up the paragraph.
• You need a good, concluding sentence to end your
  2nd paragraph.
• Remember to limit your linking verbs (is, are,
  was, were, etc.) Use action verbs.

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Review Paragraph 2 5-7 sentences

• Transitional word intro sentence
• 3 good examples
• Concluding sentence

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Example of Paragraph 2

• Primarily, a posted speed limit keeps students
  safe. If a student ignores the speed limit in a
  parking lot, he/she might hit another student
  walking to a car. Other cars may also be damaged
  by a speeding student. Damaging another car
  might hurt your pocketbook, but injuring another
  student could cause irreparable psychological
  damage. Students protect themselves and others
  when they follow the speed limit.

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Paragraph 3 5-7 sentences

• Start with another transitional word
• --Second,
• --Moreover,
• --Also,
• --Furthermore,
• Then, start the introductory sentence.

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Paragraph 3

• Again, give 3 really good, concrete examples.
• Watch those linking verbs (is, are, am ,was,
  were)
• Concluding sentence

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Paragraph 3

• Furthermore, following the speed limit
  prevents car accidents. Hitting another car can
  cause a big traffic jam. Then, the police arrive
  and write a ticket to the person at fault. The
  offender ends up in court and may lose his or her
  license. Additionally, insurance costs often go
  up for the responsible party. Keeping your car
  at the posted speed limit prevents many traffic
  and financial headaches.

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Paragraph 45-7 sentences

• Transitional word
• -Third,
• -In addition,
• -Finally,
• -A final reason
• Vary your transitions dont use the same
  transitions in every paragraph.
• Introductory sentence with last reason in thesis
  statement.

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Paragraph 4

• Sentences 2, 3, and 4 should again be good,
  concrete examples to support your reason.
• Watch linking verbs
• Sentence 5 concludes this paragraph.

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Example of Paragraph 4

• Finally, adhering to the speed limit allows
  everyone to leave the parking lot safely and
  efficiently. If students follow each other out
  of the lot slowly, it takes approximately 10
  minutes for the lot to clear. A student may save
  only a minute or two by cutting in front of
  others or speeding to or from the parking spaces.
  Getting to work one to two minutes earlier does
  not necessitate the risk inherent in speeding.
  If everyone heeds the speed limit, everyone gets
  home in a timely, orderly fashion.

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Writing the Conclusion

• A closing paragraph should not simply restate
  your reasons.
• Effective conclusions wrap up your main points
  and link them together.
• They help to put your argument into perspective
  and let the reader know that you have finished. 
• The introduction and conclusion should fit
  together because they emphasize your line of
  reasoning. The reader should have the feeling of
  coming full circle.

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Paragraph 5-Conclusion3 sentences

• Transitional words meaning conclusion
• --In conclusion,
• --Ultimately,
• --Overall,
• --Consequently,
• --Therefore,
• --Accordingly,
• --Thus,

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Paragraph 5 Conclusion 3 sentences

• List three (3) reasons again with attention to
  the prompt.
• Conclude with a strong sentence that leaves the
  reader with a good overall impression of your
  essay.

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Conclusion Example

• In conclusion, all students should follow the
  posted signs when entering or leaving the school
  parking lot. Student safety, prevention of
  accidents, and orderly traffic flow occur when
  students obey the speed limit. Students who
  endanger others by not complying with the rules
  should lose parking privileges.

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Five Paragraph Essay

• 21-27 Total sentences (MINIMUM)
• 3 sentences in intro and conclusion paragraphs
• 5-7 sentences in body paragraphs
• Discuss a different supporting argument in each
  body paragraph. Use specific, persuasive
  arguments!
• Limit linking verbs
• Support your reasons with good examples.
• May mention a new argument in conclusion but do
  not forget to summarize your other arguments

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Proofreading

• When proofreading your essay, check the content.
• Have you used the same argument in more than one
  body paragraph?
• Does each body paragraph include specific
  examples?
• Does each paragraph use transitions?
• Do you have the appropriate number of sentences
  in every paragraph?
• Is the essay interesting and thought-provoking?

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Editing

• When editing the essay, check for careless errors
  such as
• Commonly confused words (its vs. its your vs.
  youre affect vs. effect).
• Punctuation mistakes
• Fragments
• Run-on sentences
• Capitalization mistakes
• Errors in subject/verb agreement or
  pronoun/antecedent agreement
• Abbreviations and contractions (including etc).
  Avoid these entirely.
• Avoid second person point of view as much as
  possible (you, your).

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Scoring

• The TCAP Writing Assessment is graded
  holistically, which means that the scorer
  evaluates the overall effectiveness of the essay.
  
• The grade scale is 1-6, and scores of 4-6 are
  considered proficient.
• 4 competent
• 5 strong
• 6 outstanding