HELPFUL LINKS
A LESSON ON HOW TO WRITE YOUR ARGUEMENT
(How to follow the outline)
The structure of your required, persuasive paper should be familiar. After all, we are born, mature to engage in life, then conclude our life. The sun rises, reaches it's apogee, then sets. Stories have their beginning, middle and end. How hard, therefore, is it to understand that you need an "introduction," "body," and "conclusion" for your essay?
Say you are going to say it. That's the thesis statement, together with our introductory paragraph.
Say it. That's the body of the paper, here consisting of two examples to support the reason you stated in your thesis (what came after the "because").
Say that you said it. That is, of course, your concluding paragraph, which
should end on the same point you made at the start!
Essay writing, here, is actually a series of repetitions that expand the
original idea. In an ideal world, you could present just your thesis statement.
It establishes the side you are on--for or against; should/should not--and gives
the best reason why you have taken your side. If communication was perfect, just
saying that would be enough.
However, you are lucky if people even understand what you want to prove, let
alone agree with you. Hence, you need the introduction to reassure them that you
are speaking the same language! In your introductory paragraph, you can go in
order, using each significant word of your thesis to explain what you want to
prove and why you think you are right.
I have written a sample essay for you which follows the form exactly. You may
want to read through before you try to follow my explanation below: SAMPLE
PERSUASIVE ESSAY
Here's an analysis of the introductory paragraph from my sample persuasive
essay:
( I. A.) Students should learn to write good, persuasive essays because argumentation is the skill most needed for success in college.
B. "students" = It is surprising that, after years of schooling, so many who study composition in college still don’t know how to take a clear side on an issue and argue.
C. "should learn to write"= To the layman, an argument is as likely a fistfight in a barroom.
D. "persuasive essay" = “Persuasion,” however, is the logical presentation of evidence to prove a point.
E. "skill" = College—more advanced study—best requires students to not just learn facts, but apply them to a purpose.
F. "most needed" = The person who can find the best facts to support one or the other side on an issue, is the winner in an argument.
G. "for success in college" = It has to be of great use to argue so well that you are taken seriously—and with that a person gets what he or she wants.
What you have just read is a word-by-word breakdown of the thesis into a sentence to help explain every significant word of what I want to prove. Use the thesis itself as a mini-outline. Don't stop writing your introductory paragraph until you have created a full explanation of just what you mean to prove. Thus, without going to a dictionary to do so, you have "defined" your terms. The reader has been reassured of what you meant when you made your thesis statement.
The next, second paragraph, begins the body of your paper. It's one thing to
spell out what you want to prove. That's what the introduction has done. Now,
you have to present evidence that will convince the reader of the worthiness of
your argument. Here's an analysis of the first example I present in my sample
essay:
II. A. If we look at the requirements in courses in a literature class, we see why students should learn persuasive writing.
B. When students read stories and poems in grade school, too often they are only asked to give a plot summary to prove they did their homework. A college-level course demands critical analysis.
C. The facts, the plot, are only relevant in proving that the purpose of the literary work. A poem may be about love or loneliness but what it teaches us about those subjects is the theme—the purpose.
D. A good, persuasive literature paper, finds quotes from the reading to demonstrate the lesson the work presents.
E. Learning good argumentation can assure success in a literature class.
What you have
just read is a step-by-step adherence to the required outline form. While I
don't present actual quotes as evidence (as you are asked to do in the poetry
paper you write), I do attempt to present factual evidence, explain it further,
and relate it to the point I am trying to prove!
Once you have learned to write the first example--following the standard form
for the presentation of evidence--then the second example paragraph (your third
paragraph, III.) will follow the exact same
form.
Here is the concluding paragraph, the conclusion:
IV. A. When we look at how the same persuasive writing style and structure taught in composition class can be applied across the disciplines, we see why students should learn argumentation skills.
B. Of course, in the study of literature, good writing would be expected. However, it goes beyond the simple fact that literature teachers are English teachers. College-level work is more than just retelling a plot to prove a student read a book. The student should be able to show critical ability, applying quotes as evidence to derive the central lesson, the theme of the work.
C. Even in social sciences—psychology, sociology—college requires more than rote memorization of terminology. The purpose of knowing the facts is applying them to draw conclusions—to diagnose, to analyze.
D. A student is well and widely served in learning persuasive writing.
What you have just read is the
step-by-step review of the first three paragraphs. Each of the examples is
summarized--reduced from approximately 100 word--in a sentence or two. The essay
ends with a restatement of the original thesis.
As Porky Pig
would say... 
Learn that form and you have done a good job for the semester!