Persuasive Writing Candy Bar Activity

Battle Bars!

Introduction You have just received a certain brand of

candy bar. For this assignment, you will argue that your brand of candy bar is the very best and provides the greatest value. We will complete this assignment together in several stages, so make sure you keep up and follow directions.

Reasoning Individually or with a partner who has the

same brand, brainstorm a list of 10 reasons why your candy bar is the best. We will write these on the board as a class, so make sure you have some good ideas! (5 minutes)

What We Came Up With Record what we came up with on the board

here (5 minutes):

Brand #1: Brand #2:

Top Reasons and Thesis Circle the top three reasons we chose as a

class for each candy bar in your chart. Now, write a thesis statement that expresses

why your brand is the best using the three reasons from above (5 minutes)

Share your thesis statements by writing them here on the board:

Creating a Body Next, write a 3-sentence paragraph that

explains ONE reason from your thesis statement. Set up your paragraph in the following way: (15 minutes)

Topic Sentence: Clearly state reason

Detail/Example: Specific information to back up your topic sentence

Explanation of Detail: What does it mean?

The Opposition Think about the opposition. What three

reasons from above does the other brand use to claim that they are the best? Write a one paragraph (3-sentence) concession that explains the opposition’s viewpoint and argues why they are wrong. (10 minutes)

Quick Poll Do you feel comfortable with the information

so far?

Do you think you could write an essay in this format confidently?

Do you feel like this activity has been helpful?

Congratulations! You are now an expert on Persuasive Writing! Now, use your knowledge of Persuasive Essay

writing to begin brainstorming for your Beowulf Essay. Fill out the table to come up with reasons for your thesis statement and your concession (opposition) paragraph.

Is Beowulf a Hero? Share some possible thesis statements that

you could use for our upcoming essay, using the reasons you came up with in your table:

Now, using what you learned from this activity, start working on your outline for your essay tomorrow.