Persuasion and Use of Language

The power to convince others of your argument lies in your knowledge of rhetoric! A thorough packet covers the basics of persuasion, including logical appeals and fallacies, and applies strategies to letters to the editor,...

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

Advertisers know how to use persuasive techniques to create powerful visuals that inform and influence others. Class members examine these techniques and then demonstrate their knowledge as they craft posters, flyers, collages, etc. for...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

Young scholars 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,...