Persuasion and Use of Language

The Gettysburg Address is a powerful text. Use it to teach persuasion and the importance of word choice. The activity detailed here includes a scaffolded background knowledge activity that includes image analysis of photos from the Civil...

There is no better sight to see than a classroom full of eager young adults, hands raised high, eager to jump into a class discussion. Get your class identifying and discussing rhetorical strategies and then debating long into the night...

A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...

Use this resource to introduce pathos and emotional appeal as slanted or loaded language in persuasive writing. You introduce the concept of slant and provide guided practice in identifying loaded language using examples that are...

Engage in an activity that focuses on the concepts of formal and informal language use. Middle and high schoolers compare and contrast each style by using a Venn diagram that includes some examples. They read and hear a passage of lyrics...

Work on using transition words in context by prompting elementary and middle schoolers to write their own persuasive essays using transition words. They explore new forms of transition words and examine how they are used in an editorial...

Students read a persuasive story study persuasive language. They then write a 50-word online advertisement for a target audience to try and sell an unusual item to a targeted audience.

Students write about ways in which they used persuasive skills in the past. They evaluate what makes a persuasive argument successful. Students list the ways in which persuasive writing can help us achieve desired goals.

Middle school writers visit the persuasive essay. Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders consider their target audience and ways to influence their decisions by using specific language. Then they read a controversial essay on child abuse,...

Students research the genetically-engineered GloFish and write essays expressing their views about the subject. They evaluate the pros and cons of genetic engineering.Students may also hold a debate about genetic engineering.