Persuasive Texts

English I

NCVPS

What is a persuasive text?

A persuasive text appeals to the reader’s emotions and abilities to reason.

Do you remember when you learned about author’s purpose in Unit 1? Well, writing a persuasive text is one purpose for writing.

What are some types of persuasive texts?

Some people write and give speeches to persuade people to believe things. Think about famous speeches you have heard that convince you to believe a new thought.

Some people write books or essays to get readers to agree with them.

What are some techniques used to persuade?

In order to get you to agree with the point being made, a writer might use facts, strong language, and repetition in his text.

Look at the example on the next slide.

Example of persuasive writing:

Look at this sentence: We will never give up, we will never retreat,

we will never fail to defend our land. Do you notice anything being repeated?

Of course you did!!!

The author writes “We will never” many times. What does this do for the reader?

First, it brings attention to the point he is trying to make.

Second, repetition creates a rhythm and a sense of passion in the message being spread.

Facts

An author will use current facts to support his point.

To do this, he must do some research to learn about his topic.

Often, the facts will convince the readers to agree with the point the author wants to make.

Strong Language

A writer has to be very careful about the words he chooses to make his point.

He might write a draft of his essay or speech and then us a dictionary or thesaurus to replace some simple words with stronger, more effective ones.

Things to remember:

You need to keep in mind that one reason a writer writes is to persuade people to believe something.

In order to do this, the writer has to be careful about doing research and using very specific language to make a point.

Lots of persuasive writing can reach your emotions as a reader.