Entry 10: Persuasive Writing

As I browse my peers' writing blogs, I find myself drawn to Kayli’s ninth entry. I love the fun title (you did persuade me of your understanding :D), as well as the selection of images throughout the piece. I haven't seen the “pillars that persuade” graphic before and I think it is excellent. To me, this visual emphasizes that all three appeals are in a way, essential, to a solid persuasive argument. I don’t specifically remember learning about the three appeals until high school. Yeah, that's right…high school! But perhaps I had learned about them without attaching the ethos, logos, pathos name. I still find myself getting a bit confused between ethos and pathos. I always want to consider ethos the emotional appeal, but need to remember it is the “appeal to character…does the persuader have the expertise or personal experience necessary to endorse a product or a cause?” (Tompkins, 2012, p. 252). Kayli, like you, I found that the presentation was very informative. Engaging with mentor texts and picking out the different appeals was a valuable application of the persuasive genre's components. Additionally, I loved how they encouraged us to look for advertisements. I found one that appealed to all three. Did you have the same experience? Or did your advertisement only include one or two of the appeals?

I would like to address your acknowledgement that the persuasive genre has been overlooked by you, and I would agree that taking this writing course has been extremely valuable in helping me envision how I can teach all of the specific genres to support my students' writing. Genre specific instruction was not a part of my undergraduate studies, but Tompkins (2012) shares the resources and strategies to create strong readers and writers. Not only that, but the instructional overview is really helpful in showing grade appropriate goals for each genre. Below is the persuasive genre table, found on page 260 of Tompkins (2012).

When you share your experience creating an advertisement of sorts to persuade your peers, I think about how that experience stands out to you as a student. You were able to actively engage with the appeals, establish a purpose, and share it with your audience. When we create fun and interactive learning opportunities for our students, I think they are going to hold on to that knowledge and experience much longer and in a more meaningful way. Tompkins (2012) states, “Teachers introduce persuasive writing by showing how persuasion is used in everyday life” (p. 260). Our peers modeled this by beginning their presentation each taking on a specific appeal. The learning experience that you had in college could be adapted and given to students for the persuasive writing unit. Advertisements are all around us, students would have the opportunity to examine and evaluate the advertisements around them and use that to guide their own argument. Explicit instruction and modeling of the appeals could demonstrate how they can strengthen their argument and persuade a real audience (their classmates!). Kayli, I thank you for sharing your writing with me and giving me the opportunity to further reflect upon the persuasive genre.