Organizing the Persuasive Essay

Part A

Read “Organizing the Material,” on pp. 374-384 in Ch. 12 of Elements of Argument. 

Consider the thesis and research question you are creating for your Week 4 Persuasive Essay.

Review Option 1 and Option 2 below for organizing an essay.

Choose one of the following options as your strategy for organizing your Persuasive Essay:

Option 1: Organization Strategies

• Which of the four organizational strategies (defending the main idea, refuting an opposing view, finding the middle ground, or presenting the stock issues) will you use, and why have you selected that strategy?
• How does the strategy you selected align with your thesis statement? 

Option 2: Contention

• In what order will you unfold your essay’s main contentions?
• What is your strongest and most persuasive contention?
• Why is it more appropriate to place your strongest contention in the emphatic position (either first or last)?

Write a response of at least 350 words total to the corresponding questions from the option you selected above.

Part B

You will now start your Persuasive Essay, due in Week 4, by beginning with an outline.

Outline your paper in at least 350 words, using the 

Persuasive Essay Instructions

 as a template. Be sure to use complete sentences for each component of the paper (i.e., introduction, body, and conclusion).

Format any citations within your assignment according to appropriate 

course-level APA guidelines

.

Submit Part A and Part B of your assignment to the Assignment Files tab