Convincing Your Reader

Of course, people s reasons for believing certain things are often very personal and highly debatable. While it s fine—and often effective—to use emotional arguments to convince your readers, the more logical your reasons, the more effective they will be as support. 

Be certain to give enough identifying information about each expert source to convince your reader of the importance of his or her opinion. 

Remember your outline Each paragraph of your paper in the body was carefully outlined and supported in Point 1, Point 2, and Point 3. As you write your paper and fill in your outline with aU the facts and statistics that support your thesis, you still have to write in such a way that your evidence continues to convince your reader. Again, let s imagine the courtroom. Suppose you have been hired as an attorney to defend a client in a hit and run car accident and your client has told you that... 

Writing a paper is an act of persuasion. Remember, you haven t done all this work and research just to entertain your reader. While you want to write in a lively and entertaining way, your most important task is to convince your reader to perceive a topic as you do. In other words, you are writing to enlighten your reader and educate him or her by compelling him or her to view a situation from your perspective. Keeping this goal in mind, it s important that every word you use to persuade your reader counts. To do this, you don t have to use... 

While using more immediate and diverse points of view for works of fiction might be beneficial and produce specific results, a work of nonfiction is based upon facts and the accumulation of hard evidence. Allow the evidence you have gathered to persuade your reader so that you, as the author, won t have to. Maintain a formal tone at all times, as well as an objective, or unbiased point of view, and rely on the strength of your rmique writing style to convince your reader. 

Decide what preliminary (and promising) results you will highlight to convince your readers that your proposed work is feasible. For example, perhaps you have already collected your samples, conducted calibration experiments, or tested your instrument under background conditions. Decide if you need figures or tables to present the preliminary data or if they can be adequately reported in the text. 

In a research proposal, however, such details are often omitted. This is true for several reasons. First, a journal article needs sufficient detail to allow others to repeat the work a proposal needs only to convince your readers that you can do the work. Second, proposals typically describe multiple experiments that will culminate in numerous publications. You simply do not have enough space to describe each experiment in detail. Third, you most likely do not yet know the details for many of your proposed experiments, particularly those planned for the distant future hence, it is customary to describe your work in more general terms. Finally, too many details can obscure the underlying purpose of your work. The emphasis should be on the general approach, not the minutiae you do not want to bury your readers in details that may distract them from the importance of your project. 

A journal article needs sufficient detail to allow others to replicate the work a proposal, on the other hand, needs to convince your readers that you can do the work. 

Convincing Your Reader LESSON 6 M BETTER WRITING RIGHT NOW ... 

BETTER WRITING RIGHT NOW LESSON 6 Convincing Your Reader... 

Choose one of the topics below. Then write a thesis statement and supporting reasons that you could use to convince your reader of your position on the issue. 

The introduction to your paper should set the stage for the rest of the paper. It s here that a reader will decide whether or not to keep reading. So, this is your chance to convince your reader to keep reading. It s also your chance to clearly tell your reader what your paper is about. Your introduction should accomplish two main goals. 

Both types of essay prompts call for a persuasive essay, one in which you choose an idea and show why it is legitimate or worthy. Your purpose is not to merely explain your point of view, but to convince your reader why it makes sense. In order to persuade effectively, you must base your argument on reasoning and logic. 

If you are unsure or undecided in your stance, your writing will be weak and your score will suffer. However, your opinion is not enough. Like a lawyer before a jury, you must convince your reader with evidence that your opinion is valid. This evidence consists of concrete examples, illustrations, and details. Therefore, the most important strategy for the persuasive essay is to choose the side that has the best, or most, evidence. If you believe in that side, your argument will most likely be even stronger (although, as mentioned above, you don t have to believe in it to write a good essay). 

As you draft and revise your essay, you must become a critical thinker in a second way you must become your own toughest reader-critic. To convince your readers that your essay has merit, you must stand back and try to assess objectively what you have written. Are your ideas clear not only to you but to your readers as well Will readers find your opinions well developed, logical, and supported In other words, to revise more effectively, try role-playing one of your own most thoughtful critical readers, someone who will be closely examining the ideas and evidence in your essay before agreeing with its position. 

Describe your subjects clearly and distinctly. To comprehend a difference or a similarity between two things, the reader must first be able to see them as you do. Consequently, you should use as many vivid examples and details as possible to describe both your subjects. Beware a tendency to overelaborate on one subject and then grossly skimp on the other, an especially easy trap to fall into in an essay that asserts X is preferable to Y. By giving each side a reasonable treatment, you will do a better job of convincing your reader that you know both sides and have made a valid judgment. 

Present a reasonable thesis statement. If your thesis makes dogmatic, un-supportable claims ( Medicare will lead to a complete collapse of quality medical treatment ) or overly broad assertions ( Peer pressure causes alcoholism among students ), you won t convince your reader. Limit or qualify your thesis whenever necessary by using such phrases as may be, a contributing factor, one of the main reasons, two important factors, and so on ( Peer pressure is one of the major causes of alcoholism among students ). 

Argue your ideas logically. To convince your readers, you must provide sufficient reasons for your position. You must give more than mere opinion— you must offer logical arguments to back up your assertions. Some of the possible ways of supporting your ideas should already be familiar to you from writing expository essays listed here are several methods and illustrations ... 

At this point, you should have a topic question and a thesis statement. The next thing you need is evidence to convince your reader that your judgment is sound. 

The quantity of evidence that you present depends on the nature of your argument. If your thesis is controversial, you need to present a good deal of evidence to make your argument convincing. If your thesis is uncontroversial (or if the point you are making is fairly obvious), you need to present only as much evidence as you think necessary to convince your reader. 

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