The Persuasive Essay

1. The Persuasive Essay Tips to identifying, prewriting, drafting, and polishing your proficiency essay

2. Breaking down the Prompt • We’ve already practiced this strategy with our expository essay. • How do we break down this prompt? • “In the Crime of Sylvester Bonnard, French writer Anatole France writes: “To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.” Why might one argue that imagination is more valuable than facts? Using an example from life, history, science, film, or a personal experience, write an essay analyzing the worth of imagination.”

3. Find the Fluffy Parts • In the Crime of Sylvester Bonnard, French writer Anatole France writes: “To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.” Why might one argue that imagination is more valuable than facts? Using an example from life, history, science, film, or a personal experience, write an essay analyzing the worth of imagination.”

4. Fluff ‘n Stuff • In the Crime of Sylvester Bonnard, French writer Anatole France writes: “To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.” Why might one argue that imagination is more valuable than facts? Using an example from life, history, science, film, or a personal experience, write an essay analyzing the worth of imagination.” • Why is “In the Crime of Sylvester Bonnard, French writer Anatole France writes: “To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.” a fluffy part?

5. We NEVER Rewrite the Prompt’s Example! To do so would spell sudden death to your proficiency dreams • You never rewrite the example. • You may refer to it if necessary. • Examples are always “fluffy” because they are usually not used in what the testers want you to write about. • What do the testers want you to write about?

6. What do the testers want you to write about? • In the Crime of Sylvester Bonnard, French writer Anatole France writes: “To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.” Why might one argue that imagination is more valuable than facts? Using an example from life, history, science, film, or a personal experience, write an essay analyzing the worth of imagination.”

7. How Do We Start? • In the Crime of Sylvester Bonnard, French writer Anatole France writes: “To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.” Why might one argue that imagination is more valuable than facts? Using an example from life, history, science, film, or a personal experience, write an essay analyzing the worth of imagination.”

8. What Else Do We Have to Remember? • In the Crime of Sylvester Bonnard, French writer Anatole France writes: “To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.” Why might one argue that imagination is more valuable than facts? Using an example from life, history, science, film, or a personal experience, write an essay analyzing the worth of imagination.”

9. Strategy: T-Chart • Imagination • New ideas • Dreams come to life • Examples of things that were once dreams and now reality-flight, going to the moon, etc. • Facts • Facts are static • Facts do not inspire accomplishment • Facts are useful for research, but they do not change.

10. So, I have a T-Chart…What’s Next? • You use your T-Chart answers to help support your thesis statement. • What are you asked to write about? • Write an essay analyzing the worth of imagination. • Now, using the imagination side of your T-Chart formulate a compound-complex sentence that covers the bases for this question. This will be the basis of your essay.

11. Now What? • You can expand on your ideas by using a mind-map. • Mind-maps expand on one idea from your T-Chart. • Mind-maps help the writer form more complicated sentences test scorers look for when reading essays. • How to you set up a Mind-Map?