for COLLECTION 5 WRITING WORKSHOP
page 382
TEACHING NOTES
Writing a Persuasive Essay
Differentiating Support and Practice
For All Students
The Prompts sheet provides options for students at all levels.
It includes topics for persuasive essays related to the workplace and the school environment, as well as to a variety of
content areas. Revising: Evaluate Persuasive Essays is framed
to be used by all students for both peer- and self-evaluation.
Prewriting: Persuasive Essay
Prompts, p. 44
Revising: Evaluate Persuasive
Essays, p. 47
RETEACHING An important option for use of the masters in
this book is repetition and reinforcement for students who
require it.
For Learners Having Difficulty
Using journal starters as a freewriting activity for about five
minutes will help ease these students into the writing project.
Here are a few suggestions:
■
■
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■
Writing: Writer’s Model Think
Sheet, p. 45
Writing: Draft Your Persuasive
Essay, p. 46
Do you think students should be allowed to attend classes
at home via the Internet? Why or why not?
Should students be able to send and receive e-mail on
computers at school? Why or why not?
Should work experience be a high school graduation
requirement? Why or why not?
The Writer’s Model Think Sheet gives students a framework
for responding to “Do Something Good for the Earth” to
help them in both reading comprehension and crafting their
own persuasive essays. Writing: Draft Your Persuasive Essay
provides structure for drafting.
For On-Level Learners
The graphic organizers on pages 42, 43, 46, and 48 provide a
framework for a systematic progression through the prewriting,
writing, and revising stages.
For Advanced Learners
EXTENSION ACTIVITY To provide a challenge for these students,
encourage them to imagine that they have invented or discovered something that will make a huge impact on industry. Have
students prepare a media presentation that introduces the idea
and persuades their audience of its importance and benefits.
Prewriting: Issue, Opinion,
Purpose, and Audience, p. 42
Prewriting: Gather Support and
Plan Your Draft, p. 43
Writing: Draft Your Persuasive
Essay, p. 46
Revising: Improve Your
Persuasive Essay, p. 48
SKILLS EMPHASIS Advanced students can focus on selected skills,
such as using specific rhetorical devices to support assertions;
clarifying and defending positions with precise and relevant
evidence; addressing readers’ concerns, counterclaims, biases,
and expectations.
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CLASS
for PRACTICE & APPLY 1
page 384
DATE
GUIDED PRACTICE
Prewriting: Issue,Opinion,Purpose,and Audience
DIRECTIONS Use the graphic organizer below to help you develop your
argument.
List a few issues that you care about. Then, pick the one that you have
the strongest views about and that you can defend with enough evidence.
■ Write an opinion statement that clearly states both the issue and your
position on it.
■ After explaining your purpose, answer the questions at the bottom of
the organizer to help you think about your audience.
■
Issue:
Opinion Statement:
My Audience:
■
What will make my audience care about this issue?
■
What concerns might my audience have?
■
What will my audience expect from my essay?
42
Workshop Resources: Writing, Listening, and Speaking
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My Purpose:
NAME
CLASS
for PRACTICE & APPLY 1
DATE
page 384
GUIDED PRACTICE
Prewriting: Gather Support and Plan Your Draft
DIRECTIONS Use the graphic organizer below to gather support and plan your
draft. Organize the reasons that support your opinion statement so that your
essay moves smoothly and logically from one idea to the next. Use additional
paper if necessary.
SUPPORT
Opinion Statement:
Supporting Reason 1:
Supporting Reason 2:
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Logical Appeal
Emotional Appeal
Ethical Appeal
Supporting Reason 3:
Logical Appeal
Emotional Appeal
Ethical Appeal
Logical Appeal
Emotional Appeal
Ethical Appeal
Evidence A
Evidence A
Evidence A
(analogies, anecdotes, case
studies, commonly accepted
beliefs, examples, expert
opinions, or facts)
(analogies, anecdotes, case
studies, commonly accepted
beliefs, examples, expert
opinions, or facts)
(analogies, anecdotes, case
studies, commonly accepted
beliefs, examples, expert
opinions, or facts)
Evidence B
Evidence B
Evidence B
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CLASS
for PRACTICE & APPLY 1
DATE
page 384
RETEACH
Prewriting: Persuasive Essay Prompts
DIRECTIONS Choose your own issue for your persuasive essay, or use one
of the following prompts.
WORKPLACE
Our society treats movie actors, athletes, and musicians as if they were heroes.
Do you think they are worthy of this treatment? Why or why not? Imagine that
you are a reporter commenting on this subject for a national news broadcast.
Write a persuasive essay that states and supports your point of view.
SCHOOL
Some educators believe that all students should be required to pass a home
economics course before graduating from high school. They argue that such
courses teach basic life skills that everyone needs to know, such as cooking,
sewing, and budgeting. Write a persuasive essay for your school newspaper
stating and supporting your point of view on this topic.
JOURNALISM
Every day, editors all over the world decide which stories should or should
not be covered in their newspapers. Are there subjects that are unacceptable
for public newspapers? Should there be limits to freedom of the press for
some topics? Write a persuasive essay for your local newspaper that answers
each question.
The president of the United States employs many advisors who state and
support their opinions. The president evaluates these opinions, analyzes the
supporting information, and then decides on a course of action. If you were
a presidential advisor, what opinion would you offer about a current policy
or situation? What supporting facts and ideas would you provide for your
opinion? Write a persuasive essay that summarizes and supports your views.
BIOLOGY
Many species of plants grow and thrive only after a fire has burned everything to the ground. Wildfires caused by lightning once burned forests and
plains regularly, enabling these plant species to flourish. Some biologists
believe that fires in national parks should be set deliberately to clear land and
encourage new species to grow. Do you think this policy is wise or foolish?
Write a persuasive essay that states and supports your opinion on this topic.
Share your essay with your biology teacher.
44
Workshop Resources: Writing, Listening, and Speaking
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SOCIAL STUDIES
NAME
CLASS
for PRACTICE & APPLY 2
DATE
page 386
RETEACH
Writing: Writer’s Model Think Sheet
DIRECTIONS Complete the graphic organizer below to get a better understanding of the structure of a persuasive essay. Use additional paper if necessary.
■
■
Re-read “Do Something Good for the Earth.” The notes in the margin will
help you identify important elements of a persuasive essay.
As you respond to the questions, think about the use of language, the
organization of information, and the strategies used for developing ideas
and elaborating on them.
QUESTIONS
RESPONSES
1. What opinion is expressed
in the essay?
2. Which reason best
supports the opinion?
3. What evidence supports
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
the reason?
4. What action is suggested
in the essay?
5. Does anything else catch
your interest or seem
important? In what way?
Collection 5
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NAME
CLASS
for PRACTICE & APPLY 2
DATE
page 386
TEMPLATE
Writing: Draft Your Persuasive Essay
DIRECTIONS Complete the graphic organizer below, and use it to help you
write your first draft. Use additional paper if necessary.
INTRODUCTION
How will you grab your readers’ interest?
What background information will you provide?
What is your opinion statement?
What is your first reason?
What is your second reason?
What is your third reason?
What evidence supports
this reason?
What evidence supports
this reason?
What evidence supports
this reason?
CONCLUSION
How will you restate your opinion?
How will you summarize your reasons or include a call to action?
46
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BODY
NAME
for PRACTICE & APPLY 3
CLASS
page 388
DATE
PEER- AND SELF-EVALUATION FORM
Revising: Evaluate Persuasive Essays
DIRECTIONS Use the following questions to evaluate your persuasive essay
or that of one of your classmates.
■
■
■
Make brief notes to answer the questions.
Rate the parts of the essay. The lowest score is 1, and the highest is 4.
Make at least three suggestions for improving the essay.
1. What is the opinion statement?
Rating 1 2 3 4
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Suggestion:
2. How many reasons are cited in support of the
opinion? Are they logical, emotional, or ethical
appeals?
Rating 1 2 3 4
3. Is enough evidence used to support each
reason?
Rating 1 2 3 4
4. How logical and effective is the organization
of reasons and evidence?
Rating 1 2 3 4
5. What possible reader counterclaims are
addressed?
Rating 1 2 3 4
6. How effective is the conclusion in restating
the opinion and bringing the essay to a close
through a summary or a call to action?
Rating 1 2 3 4
7. What fresh, original expressions are used
instead of worn-out, overused expressions?
Rating 1 2 3 4
Suggestion:
Suggestion:
Suggestion:
Suggestion:
Suggestion:
Suggestion:
Collection 5
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for PRACTICE & APPLY 3
DATE
page 388
THINK SHEET
Revising: Improve Your Persuasive Essay
DIRECTIONS Use the rubric in the chart to help you improve your persuasive essay.
DO THIS
1. Does the introduction
express a clear opinion
statement?
Bracket the opinion
statement.
2. Do at least three reasons
support the opinion statement? Do the reasons include
logical, emotional, or ethical
appeals?
Underline each reason.
Label logical appeals with
an L, emotional appeals
with an E, and ethical
appeals with an H.
3. Is each reason supported
by at least two pieces of
evidence?
Circle each piece of evidence.
4. Is the organization logical
and effective?
Number each reason with
a rank (1 for strongest, and
so on).
5. Are possible reader counterclaims addressed?
Put a plus sign by any
sentence that addresses a
reader counterclaim.
6. Does the conclusion restate
the opinion and include a
summary of reasons or
a call to action?
Put a box around the
restatement of the opinion.
7. Does the essay include any
worn-out, overused
expressions?
Draw a line through
clichés.
48
CHANGES YOU MADE
Draw an arrow from the
evidence to the reason
it supports.
Highlight the summary of
reasons or the call to action.
Workshop Resources: Writing, Listening, and Speaking
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QUESTIONS
Answer Key (continued)
3. When the woman who sold Li the book
tells her to keep the card, the tension is
resolved. This is the high point of the story
because the story builds up to the moment
when Li must face Mrs. Hawkins.
Collection 4
4. I didn’t expect Mrs. Hawkins to let Li keep
the card because it was worth so much.
Students should be able to provide examples from
A Writer’s Model in the Student Edition when
appropriate and to give reasonable explanations
for their responses.
5. I think the flashback about Grandpa Lang
giving back the change from the grocery
store was interesting because I had a
similar experience with my uncle.
Collection 3
Writing Workshop
p. 29 ❘ Practice & Apply 2
Writing: Writer’s Model Think Sheet
Sample answers:
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
1. Kenneth Silverman wrote the biography
about Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is an important
American literary figure.
2. Yes, I would probably be interested in the
biography because I enjoy reading “grim
and frightful tales,” and reading about
their author might also be interesting.
3. The element of setting is best explained
and supported, in my opinion. The paragraph about setting clearly lists the series
of upheavals that affected Poe.
4. The analysis is concluded with a summary
of the elements of biography and a restatement of the thesis. Both of these repeat the
information given in the analysis.
5. I was surprised at the coincidence of the
three women who were important to Poe
all dying when he was so young.
p. 37 ❘ Practice & Apply 2
Writing: Writer’s Model Think Sheet
Sample answers:
1. Network news coverage of an avalanche
is compared to the coverage of the same
event by a major online news site.
2. I got an idea of which subject is preferred
through the thesis statement. It indicates
that the online story was more complex
than the network news story. This preference is supported by the statements
that the online story had links and that it
provided more background and more
points of view.
3. “The online story provided more background information and a wider variety of
points of view than the television story.”
4. I will probably use online news sites more
since they sound like more reliable and
in-depth news sources.
5. I think it’s important to keep in mind that
television appeals to the emotions.
Collection 5
Writing Workshop
p. 45 ❘ Practice & Apply 2
Writing: Writer’s Model Think Sheet
Students should be able to provide examples from
A Writer’s Model in the Student Edition when
appropriate and to give reasonable explanations
for their responses.
Answer Key
171
ANSWER KEY
Students should be able to provide examples from
A Writer’s Model in the Student Edition when
appropriate and to give reasonable explanations
for their responses.
Writing Workshop
Answer Key (continued)
1. “Recycling is the best way to preserve
natural resources and to reduce the costs
of processing garbage.”
2. “Recycling more of our garbage can also
save precious resources” is the best
support for the opinion statement.
3. The most convincing piece of evidence is
“For example, recycling could help save
some of the fifty thousand trees that are
sacrificed every week to produce Sunday
newspapers in the United States.”
4. The suggested action is recycling.
5. I think it was important for the writer to
include expert opinions because it indicated
thorough research had been done on
the topic.
Collection 6
ANSWER KEY
Writing Workshop
p. 59 ❘ Practice & Apply 2
Writing: Writer’s Model Think Sheet
Students should be able to provide examples from
A Writer’s Model in the Student Edition when
appropriate and to give reasonable explanations
for their responses.
Sample answers:
1. The writer describes the family’s kitchen.
2. “We enjoy the sound of my stepfather
singing songs from his childhood as he
cooks, and the tangy smell of his special
hot sauce, which never seems to leave the
room entirely.”
3. The details are organized by order of
importance.
4. Many people would not think that a
kitchen is as important as it is, but for the
writer’s family, it’s a warm, wonderful
place.
Collection 7
Writing Workshop
p. 73 ❘ Practice & Apply 2
Writing: Writer’s Model Think Sheet
Students should be able to provide examples from
A Writer’s Model in the Student Edition when
appropriate and to give reasonable explanations
for their responses.
Sample answers:
1. Everyone has dreams and hopes. The
poem is about what happens when people
are disappointed.
2. The title of the poem is “A Dream Deferred”
and the poet’s name is Langston Hughes.
The thesis is expressed in this statement:
”Langston Hughes answers these questions
by using the stylistic devices of diction,
figurative language, and sound to show
that keeping people from achieving their
dreams can have destructive consequences.”
3. Sound seems most important to me
because the writer explains how sound
pulls the ideas together and builds up
their importance through repetition.
4. In my opinion, “The first simile asks if a
deferred dream dries up ‘like a raisin in the
sun’ (3)” is a strong reference that supports
the thesis. The image suggests a person
whose dreams are shriveled up and
beyond hope.
5. I thought it was important that the writer
related the themes of the poem to the
broader themes in life. “‘A Dream Deferred’
carries an idea we should all consider—not
to let our own dreams become deferred,
and not to block others in their quests
to follow their own dreams.”
5. I thought it was interesting that the writer
described the kitchen as the heart of a home.
I think of our kitchen in the same way.
172
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Sample answers: