9 English Persuasive Unit Test

9 English Persuasive Unit Test Study Guide

1. The Elements of Persuasion

A persuasive text is when the writer attempts to convince the reader that his/her point of view on a topic is the correct or valid one. It will contain: -- THESIS statement which states the main point or purpose of the essay, usually at the beginning or end of the text -- EVIDENCE to support the point of view or opinion. It includes such things as: facts (specific detail), examples (personal or emotional observations), quotes (from texts or experts), expert opinions (authority figures), statistics (involves numbers), etc. -- EMOTIONAL APPEAL through the use of effective diction (words) to appeal to the reader’s emotions -- CALL TO ACTION asking the reader to DO something to support the writer’s cause

2. Is the essay FORMAL or INFORMAL?

This refers to HOW the essay is written. It is not asking what type of essay it is, but whether the author wrote it in a professional or relaxed manner. Formal Writing Informal Writing o Serious purpose o More personal writing o Logically organized o Casual writing style o Informative and o Slang Analytical o Abbreviations o Formal diction and o Almost a conversational writing style tone; sometimes o No slang entertaining o No abbreviations (ie. bldg. for building)

Specific examples of Formal Writing you might find:  A serious purpose (such as human rights issues, equality, justice)  Analytical information (facts, examples that support a larger idea)  Formal Diction (words choice such as: moralize, scrutinize, peril, pacify

Specific examples of Informal Writing you might find:  Rhetorical Questions (Casual Writing Style) – “What is the meaning of life?”, “Now, doesn’t that sound like fun?”

 Sentence Fragments (Casual Writing Style)– “So, like, there we were!”, “Calm down.”, “Stop!”  Brief paragraphs – statement is made, but no further explanation or development of the idea is given  Effective Diction (Slang) – “See-ya, cool!”

3. Coherence

ALL the essays we read in this unit were coherent. This means that they were focused on one main point of view (thesis statement) and were written logically and carefully organized. Coherence is shown through the following: (a.) The essay uses transitional terms. These are words that JOIN ideas together; without them, your sentences would not makes sense. For example: After lunch, I have English class and Social Studies. After school, I would like to play Xbox, however, I have a test the following morning. Therefore, I will study. Be sure to review list of transitional terms given. Common examples of transitional terms include: And, But, However, Therefore, Finally, In Conclusion, Well, Afterwards, In the meantime, First, Second, Third.

(b) The essay uses pronoun references. Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. (ie. he, she, it, we, you, they, him, her, them) For example: Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time. He recorded more points than anyone in NHL history. If I wanted to become a professional player, I would like to be as good as him.

(c) The essay has the repetition of a KEY word, a word or idea that is repeated throughout the essay. Without this word or idea, the essay lacks a focal point or meaning. For example: It is important that you study for your test on Monday. If you do not review this worksheet and study your questions, you will not get the mark you deserve on this test. Study and practice are critical to success in English.

The word “study” is the key word, but the words “review” and “practice” are also part of the same idea, that you must “prepare” for your test.

(d) The essay uses parallel structure. This is a series of ideas presented in a list, usually separated by a comma, but must all use the same grammatical form (ie. all nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs).

Look for a minimum of THREE ideas running together to have parallel structure. They should be ideas that are occurring at the same time, and use conjunctions (a word like “and”, “or”, “nor”, “both”, “either”) to connect the sentence.

For example: This morning you brushed your teeth, ate your breakfast, and got dressed for school. Or again: Running, skipping, and jumping are great exercises to get in shape. ______

Possible Short Answer Questions include:

 What is the Thesis Statement?  What is the Call to Action?  Who is the intended audience? Why do you think this?

Possible Selected Response Items include:

 What particular words in the essay mean (diction)?  Who is the target audience of the writer?  What the overall tone of the essay?  What is the purpose (main reason) the writer wrote this piece?  Types of evidence used in the essay (expert quotes, statistics, etc…)?