Chapter 4.

TYPES OF PARAGRAPHS

The Persuasive Paragraph

The purpose of a persuasive paragraph is to try to persuade or convince others
that they ought to believe or act as you wish them to believe or act. The very
fact that you make the attempt to persuade implies that there are at least two
ways of believing or acting in regard to the matter with which you are con
cerned. To be effective in your attempt to persuade, study and understand both
sides of the problem, as much as you can, no matter what you are advocating.
Then, use every device at your disposal to state your arguments honestly and fairly.
The topic sentence of a persuasive paragraph should be stated in the form of a
definite proposition, that is, a clear, exact statement of your conclusion. The
remainder of your paragraph will then give facts, examples, or reasons to support
your proposition. Therefore, every persuasive paragraph contains two parts, a
what and a why. The what is the proposition; the w hy is the reasons you give to
persuade your reader to believe in the what.
Read the following example of a persuasive paragraph and determine w hat the
proposition is and why the author believes as he or she does about it.
It is about time that schools got back to the basics of “reading, writing, and
arithmetic,” and stopped wasting time on high-interest electives. High school
graduates must be able to read, write, and do basic mathematics before they
Can be concerned with such advanced concerns as “the role of women in so
ciety,” “consumerism” and “popular culture,” all of which are examples of
non-essential courses offered in public schools today. The roles of women and
men are irrelevant if neither women nor men are literate. The concept of con
sumerism becomes meaningless if the consumer can’t add or subtract. Popular
culture is lowered to the lowest offerings on the “boob tube” if the populace is
not equipped with techniques of reading and communicating to elevate it above
the most passive role. Come on, teachers and administrators, get in there and teach
those 3 R’s!

Writing Persuasive Paragraphs. Choose one of the topics from the

list below and develop a persuasive paragraph about it. Make sure your
topic sentence states your proposition and that the remainder of the
paragraph tells why you feel as you do. You may choose a topic of your
own.

1. People who are suspected of a crime should be imprisoned immediately.

2. No private citizen should be allowed to own a handgun.
3. Public schools should be in session twelve months a year.
4. Cigarette smoking should be banned in public places.
 persuasion paragraph
Persuasion means to convince someone that your opinion on a subject is the right
one. There are many forms of persuasion, you might not even know you are being
persuaded. For example advertisements are persuading you to buy a certain
product. Or family is always trying to convince you to do something or that they are
always right. *

It is important to consider the audience as your write persuasively. Directing your

paragraph toward a particular audience can be helpful. Consider what kind of
evidence this audience would respond to. When you take your audience into
consideration, you will make your persuasive paragraph more convincing.

Methods of Persuasion

Facts- A statement of what is.

Referring to authority- An expert who can be relied on to give unbiased facts and
information.

Examples- An example should clearly relate to the argument and should be typical
enough to support it.

Predicting the consequence- Helps the reader visualize what will occur if something
does or does not happen.
»

Answering the opposition- Answering possible critics shows you are aware of the
opposing opinion and are able to respond to it.

Transitional Expressions for Persuasion Paragraphs

Give Reasons: first (second, third), another, next, last, finally, because, since, for,
although

Answer the Opposition: of course some may say nevertheless on the other
hand

Draw Conclusions: therefore thus hence consequently

Here are some examples of a persuasion paragraph:

 Persuasive Paragraph Checklist
Y ES NO
1. Is th ere an in terestin g topic sentence th at states clearly w h at the p aragraph is about?
2. Is the to p ic sen ten ce follow ed by a sentence th at states th e first reaso n ?
3. Is th ere a clear signal or transition th at this is th e first reason?
4. Is the sen ten ce co n tain in g the first reason follow ed by o n e o r tw o sen ten ces g iv in g support
for th e first reason?
5. A re th e sen ten ces su p p o rtin g th e first reason follow ed by a sen ten ce th at states th e second
reason?
6. Is th ere a clear signal or transition th at this is th e second reaso n ?
7. Is the sen ten ce co n tain in g the second reason follo w ed by one o r tw o sen ten ces giving
su p p o rt for th e second reason?
8. A re the sen ten ces su p p o rtin g th e second reason follow ed by a sen ten ce th at states the third
reason?
9. Is th ere a clear signal or transition th at th is is the third reason?
10. Is the sen ten ce co n tain in g the third reason follo w ed by on e o r tw o sen ten ces giving
su p p o rt for th e th ird reason?
11 .Is th ere a closin g sen ten ce?
12. D o es th e closin g h ave a clear signal o r tran sitio n?
13. Is the p aragraph focused; th at is, does it p resen t a clear m ain idea and stay on the topic o f
th at m ain idea? j