The purpose of this unit is to help you become critical readers or listeners of persuasive text. Persuasive text is everywhere. We often see it in the form of advertising. In class we will be reading an article from MUSE Magazine about "Why We Buy What We Buy". We will look at modern advertising. We will also be reading about and discussing a variety of propaganda techniques. This will begin with sharing a few short videos about propaganda techniques and how they are used in advertising. There are several handouts on propaganda that we will read and talk about in class.
The newspaper has a section of persuasive text. In the Bangor Daily News, this is at the end of the front section. On these pages you will find editorials, letters to the editor, and essays. Here we will find opinions on various current events. We will spend class time reading and discussing a variety of persuasive texts from these pages and from other sources. Below is a list of various forms of persuasive text.
Forms of Persuasive Writing
Editorials- written by an editor of a newspaper or magazine, it expresses the writer's opinion on a basic news story. It is considered to be the opinion of the publication.
Editorial cartoons- expresses the artist's opinion using a dominant visual image combined with a few words.
Essay- a short piece of nonfiction writing that expresses the writer's opinion or shares information on a subject.
Letter to the editor- written to a newspaper or other publication to express an opinion on current events, compliment someone, or complain about something/someone.
Proposal- a detailed plan for doing a project, solving a problem, or meeting a need.
Persuasive speech- the purpose is to argue for or against something.
Advertisements- the purpose is to sell a product or service.
Political pamphlets- distributed by political candidates or political parties to convince you to vote a particular way or to take some action on a political issue.
We will work together on writing a Response to Persuasive Text based on a piece we read and discuss as a class. We will complete a plan sheet which you will use to write the response. You will then complete a plan sheet and response on your own using a piece of persuasive text chosen from a collection I will provide.