Persuasive Essay First Draft
This essay explores the persuasive mode, one of the more common kinds of writing you’ll experience throughout your college and professional career. Your goal is to persuade your audience to consider your position on a controversial, two-sided subject.
This five paragraph persuasive essay (introduction, 3 body paragraphs and a conclusion) is made up of the following:
· A clear persuasive thesis statement in the first paragraph after the topic is introduced and the importance of the issue is clear to the reader
· Logical transitions between the into, the body, and the conclusion
· Body paragraphs that support the persuasive thesis with evidence as well as address the opposing viewpoints
· A conclusion that wraps up all the information presented in the body
Utilize your pre-writing and outlining strategies from week two to help you organize and plan your essay. It is not required to have research and source material for this essay, though it can greatly help support your argument. Using sources shows how your ideas build upon the ideas of previous writers and why your claims merit consideration — because they are supported by credible experts in their field. If you do use source material from the EBSCO library or any other source such as an online source or a hard copy source, please give credit to the author with in-text citations and a references page using APA formatting.
Criteria
The rough draft of your essay should contain the following basic features:
· A well-defined issue that is controversial by nature
· A clear thesis statement that demonstrates the position you will be taking throughout the essay
· A counter argument defending the opposing viewpoint
· A refutation to or compromise with the counter argument
In addition to the above, the rough draft of your essay should be:
· From 500 to 800 words in length, double-spaced, with one inch margins
· Written primarily in third person
· Edited for spelling, mechanical, grammatical, and typing errors
Please note: you will have the opportunity to revise and perfect this essay, but you should do your best to make this draft as complete as possible so you can receive more relevant feedback from your instructor.
