21st Century Persuasive Writing

Stuart Teicher

Obstacles

Distractions

Thinking

Organizing

Writing

ROMA

ROLE

OBJECTIVE

MEDIUM (FORUM)

AUDIENCE

Danny Devito and Mini-Me

The Father of “Plain English”“Rudy F”

(that’s what the cool kids call him)

“Take”

“Unmistakably”

Rewrite this

“The only true victim in this situation would have to be Mrs. Stafford.”

“The only true victim in this situation would have to be is Mrs. Stafford.”

Rewrite this

“It is not unlikely that the school will have to close its doors.”

“It is not unlikely that tThe school will have to close its doors.”

Weak words… “stated” or “said”

Make them

-Proclaimed-Shouted-Declared

More Intense Nouns

Vehicle…sports car…Ferrari

Piece of jewelry…family heirloom

Significant

Important

Vital

Pet Peeve

Action sentences!

It is a long standing accepted principle that the 5th amendment established the right against self-incrimination.

Years ago the Supreme Court confirmed that no citizen may be compelled to incriminate themselves.

Brian took her to the sorority mixer.

She was taken to the sorority mixer.

Anatomy Lesson, ooohhh...

Anatomy of a Persuasive Writing

Introduction

Thesis

Present the Position- Facts, Rule

Analyze

Persuade with the Facts

How would you rewrite:“Defendant indicated there was a

problem with the vehicle”

How about…

“He admitted that the brakes were broken.”

Humanize the Characters

“My friend saw his daughter at school.”

vs.

“Bob visited his 5 year old daughter, Maureen, at her Kindergarten class.”

Let’s eat Grandma.

Let’s eat, Grandma.

 

Rule 1:To separate a series.

Ex: “I have a syphilis, herpes, and a back ache.”

Common Comma Conundrums

Rule 2:Between adjectives

Ex: “He is a hairy, ugly man.”

But not all…”I want some cold ice cream” • Trick, if you can insert the word, “and”

then it gets a comma

Rule 3: Before Conjunctions FAN BOYS…For, And Nor, But Or Yet So

EX: “My wife went to the gym, and I went to Chipotle.”

• But not always….There are two sentences—only place it when there are two sentences

“I thought of eating salad but ate pizza instead.”

• Not two sentences, so no comma• Must be a sentence on BOTH sides of the

conjunction

Comma Rule #4Separate the excess: Comma off the “not needed” part of the sentence.

EX, “The Instructor who is quite handsome always shows up on time.”• Part of the sentence is not needed. Remove

that clause....if the rest of the sentence can stand alone without changing the meaning, surround the clause with commas.

REVISED: “The Instructor, who is quite handsome, always shows up on time.”• Opposite: “Everyone who is handsome should

get a prize”

Comma Rule #5 Introductory words

Use commas after words like “well, yes, no, why, oh” etc., when they begin a sentence

EX: “Yes, my Instructor is the most intelligent man I have ever met.”

Comma Rule #6 Introductory Phrases at the beginning of sentences

“Crying at the top of his lungs, the lawyer handed in his opposition papers late.”

• TIP: The first word has an -ing or -ed ending...

• THEN, Put the comma before the person/thing the sentence describes

Editing Steps…

• Edit the Words• Edit the Sentences• Edit the Paragraphs• Look down from above

The End