English Works

How can I improve my persuasive essays?

Improve your structure and reasoning strategies 

Topic sentences: pinpoint key ideas as sharply as possible   (and make sure that there is a progression of ideas and that they do not overlap).

  • Use a combination of specific and relevant data/ information; p. 21; (think about people stories – adds interest, emotion; adds a real-life example so that we can really think about the positives or negatives) . We have to think carefully about the way that we present people; and think about the particular circumstances.)
  • Use clever reasoning and linking strategies to prove points re evidence. See reasoning strategies (yellow workbook)
  • Think about what the evidence proves: what is the best and most intelligent use of the evidence p. 27-30
  • See Chapter 2: pp 20-39.
  • How we use that evidence: common sense; logic; comparisons pp 27-28’

Exercises 5 – 10, pp. 23 – 31

  1. Exercise 5 – whose opinion do we trust the most? Some expert opinion is more trustworthy than others.
  2. Statistics – what do they prove?
  3. People stories – what do they prove?
  4. Ex 8 – the range of evidence that authors use to prove a point. What does the evidence prove? (use common sense and logic)
  5. Ex 9-10: Comparisons/analogies – they are very powerful in persuasive pieces.

Check out:  http://www.englishworks.com.au/yellow-chapter-2-reasoning/

 

Improving your expression: Blue Grammar Workbook

We will go over some simple and advanced rules of grammar in order to write better sentences; in order to keep control over our sentences and write in a more sophisticated manner.

    1. Use more sophisticated terminology/words/phrases (avoid clichés) / use sophisticated turn of phrase
    2. Vary your sentence structures; use nominals; use parallel constructions for greater variety and sophistication. (Blue workbook: nominals: p. 51; listing, p. 66)
    3. Be as concise as possible: omit phrases that are obvious/unnecessary. (If you can say it in 5 words don’t say it in 10!)
    4. Exercises 44 and 45: Subjects, predicates and objects
    5. Exercises 50 and 51: phrases and clauses (p. 46 – 47)

 

 

 

Jenny

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