The Persuasive Essay–Part 1

From our Shakespeare plays, students can chose to practice writing a persuasive essay. Some students are familiar with writing persuasive essays already, but for those that are new to the idea here is a form you can follow, which is based on Lost Tools of Writing:

1. Pick a character in the play (ie. Don Pedro)
2. Pick an action the character did (ie. use deception)
3. Form a question using the word should (ie. Should Don Pedro use deception to make Beatrice and Benedict fall in love?)
4. Turn the question into an issue: (ie. Whether Don Pedro should use deception)

Here are more examples:

Character	Benedict	Hero
Action	listen	play dead
Should question	Should Benedict listen to Don Pedro?	Should Hero play dead?
Turn into Issue starting with word “Whether”	Whether Benedict should listen to Don Pedro	Whether Hero should play dead

Students should come to class ready to share their question. You’ll note that Lost Tools of Writing emphasizes a persuasive essay built from a “should question” which are spring-loaded with virtuous considerations which is great fertilizer for practice and learning to judge rightly. Such ponderings require students to seek for understanding and wisdom. Once students have formed their should question, they are to turn it into an issue using the word whether.

In Part 2, I’ll introduce students to a tool called and ANI chart. Affirmative, Negative, and Interesting. We’ll use the ANI chart to help us explore both sides of the issue before choosing a side and forming a thesis statement.

So stay tuned!