Writing Project 3: Persuasive Essay

Overview: As a student writing in courses across the curriculum, you will be asked to present arguments of one
kind or another. Even reports that don’t make an overt argument nonetheless represent the writer’s version of
the information and suggest to readers that that version is reasonable or correct. In our class, Writing Project 1
asked you to analyze a visual text for its explicit and implicit arguments. Writing Project 2 had you research a
topic to better understand the many ways that people approach the topic and its related issues. In Writing
Project 3, you will take up a position on one of those issues, preparing you to compose critical, developed
arguments. To that end, you will write a persuasive essay informed by the work completed in WP1 and WP2.

Purpose: Your purpose is to convince your readers that your position is reasonable— though you may attempt
to persuade them to consider a certain position or to do something.

Audience: You are writing to an informed, intelligent audience, perhaps readers of the New York Times or the
Atlantic, so your stance should be thoughtful, balanced, and reasonable..

Research: In order to effectively persuade your audience that your position is worthy of consideration, you will
need to highlight the significant, compelling, and novel information you have discovered and effectively deploy
that information to support your claims. Thus, you will use your research from WP1 and WP2 to (1) teach your
audience about something of which they have limited awareness, and (2) convince them that your position is
valid and worthy of consideration.

Requirements: Your essay should be a minimum of 1600 words in length, incorporate at least 7 credible sources,
attend to the specific requirements of the assignment, and adhere to APA formatting standards

Project Submission: Much of your process work for this project will be posted to Google Classroom and/or
completed in class. Your final project will be submitted as an APA formatted document to the WP3 submission
dropbox in Blackboard.

Other Useful Chapters in the Field Guide: Writing a successful argument is a complex undertaking, so you may
find that, more than with other assignments, you’ll need to reference other sections of the Field Guide as you
generate ideas, conduct follow-up research, and draft. Related Field Guide chapters include the following:

● 5–9 rhetorical situations

● 16 evaluations, for arguments about whether something is good or bad
● 11 analyzing texts, for arguments that interpret a literary work
● 20 proposals, for arguments that propose some kind of solution
● 27 generating ideas and text
● 33 beginning and ending
● 36 arguing, for advice on crafting an argument
● 45–53 research, for arguments that call on other sources and need documentation
● 34 guiding your reader
● 28–31 drafting, assessing your own writing, getting response and revising, editing and proofreading
Characteristics of a Successful Persuasive Essay.

The Assignment
● The essay presents an argument.
● Required drafts and other related assignments are present.

The Rhetorical Situation

● The essay accomplishes its purpose.
● The essay meets the needs of its audience.
● The writer works to build common ground with the audience.
● The writer appeals to readers’ values.
● The essay fulfills the demands of its genre.
● The essay’s stance is reasonable and fair with a professional tone.
● The essay’s design is appropriate and effective (readable, clear).

The Context
● Appropriate background information is provided.
● The essay provides a clear indication of why the topic matters.

The Argument
● The position is stated clearly in a thesis statement.
● The position is appropriately qualified.
● Reasons are clearly stated.
● Reasons are adequately supported.
● Supporting evidence is accurate, current, appropriate, and sufficient.
● Counterarguments are addressed, showing an awareness of more than one point of view
● Counterarguments are effectively refuted

The Organization
● The draft is clearly organized.
● The argument is presented logically throughout.
● Transitions help the reader move from idea to idea.

Use of Source Material

● The essay includes adequate and appropriate source material.
● Sources are framed, meaning they are introduced and identified.
● In-text citations are present and correctly formatted.
● Summaries and paraphrases are accurate and avoid plagiarism.
● The Works Cited section is correctly formatted (APA).

General
● Sentences are consistently correctly phrased and punctuated.
● The language is precise, and the wording exact and accurate.
● Mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling are correct.