Letter to the Editor Activity
Persuasive Writing Lesson Teaches Students Presidential Politics
Students learn about persuasive writing and citizen involvement in national presidential elections with an authentic letter to the editor assignment.
Persuasive Writing in an Election Year
Persuasion is indeed a hallmark of democracy. What would America have become had the founders not been schooled in persuasive writing? The ideals of the fledgling nation were penned by the likes of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton who used elements of Aristotelian rhetoric in order to determine a new course for the fledgling American colonies.
Students need to be taught how, through the presentation of well crafted arguments, they can become actively involved in the democratic process today.
- Content Areas: civics, persuasive writing, current events, computer research, typing skills
- Materials: multiple examples of letters to the editor, a list of presidential candidates for each student, computer lab
Rhetorical Rhombus
Explain to students that all writing occurs within the context of what is known as the "rhetorical rhombus." To illustrate, draw a large rhombus on the board and label each point of the design with the following:
- Author
- Audience
- Topic
- Purpose
Persuasive Appeals
Define the three types of persuasive appeals used in persuasive writing:
- Ethos: Based on ethics or morality, the writer appeals to the reader's sense of right and wrong in order to persuade.
- Pathos: The writer uses emotions like humor, fear, pity, or pride to change a reader's opinion.
- Logos: Facts, statistics and examples along with inductive or deductive reasoning cause readers to draw logical conclusions.
Modeled Writing
Before students are asked to write, they should be presented with models of various quality. Because writing is a metacognitive skill, evaluating writing samples will help students to make their own writing choices.
- Break students into small groups. Present each group with example letters to the editor from local and national newspapers.
- Ask students to work within their groups to determine the author, audience, topic and purpose for each letter.
- Now ask student groups to rate the writing samples by effectiveness. As a class, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each piece, and determine why one piece is better than another at achieving its purpose.
- Ask students to come up with a list of attributes that they would find in a successful letter to the editor.
Researching Presidential Candidates
Now discuss how students can use the power of persuasive writing to make a difference in presidential politics by writing letters of support to local newspapers. Provide students with a complete list of candidates from various parties (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, Reform, Unity, etc.). Provide class time for online research of the various candidates. Once students have had time for research, assign a letter to the editor.
Letter to the Editor Writing Assignment:
Choose a local or state newspaper for which to write a letter to the editor. Following that newspaper's guidelines for word count, write a letter in which you use at least one ethical, one emotional and one logical argument in support of any one presidential candidate from any political party. Students who truly have no preference should take this time to educate themselves on a candidate they know nothing about. The writing should show a good understanding of the relationship between the author, audience, topic and purpose.
Grading the Writing:
Be sure to provide students with a specific assessment rubric before they write. This rubric should include elements from the class discussion.
Encourage process writing by allowing students to peer edit and to work through several drafts of their letter.
Finally, publish the letters in a classroom newspaper so that students can read about a variety of candidates.
