Developing a Persuasive Essay in Your Disciplinary Field of Study

Reflecting on Your Passion for Your Field of Study

Write a persuasive essay on a topic you are learning about in your disciplinary field of study.

You chose your major, your field of study, for a reason, right? Think about that reason for a moment. Pause and reflect upon what it is you love about your field of study. What was it that first called you to the vocation, the disciplinary field? What specifically is so compelling to you about your field of study that you would like to spend your life as an educator, or a physicist, an economist, a CEO, a social worker, a psychologist, a dancer, an artist, a sociologist, an anthropologist, an historian, a political scientist, a biologist, a kinesiologist, human resources specialist, a damage control expert, a coder, a criminologist, a linguist, a marketing expert, a chemist, a philosopher, a film-maker, a musician, a writer, a professional writer?

What called you to the field? What sparked the urgency to study in the field? Was it a book, a film, a science experiment in middle school, a parent, a particular experience? And what specific topic - or issue, or theory, or concept, or equation, or approach, or way of seeing – has caught your attention since you have begun studying in your field. You are going to develop a thesis that not only promises to demonstrate why your theory or concept or equation matters, but also how it has implications for the future: how might the theory or concept or equation you are writing about make us better? How might it, once we read about its significance, its implications, change our thinking or change our habits, behaviours, even beliefs, and make us be better and do better? More critically aware? More  empathic, ethical? More socio-politically astute? More ecologically mindful? More collaborative? More connected? Even more playful?

On the first page of your argument, before your introductory paragraph, provide bibliographical information of the essay you are “thinking with” – if you are unsure about the essay you’ve chosen, talk to your TA. You only need to use this one source to develop your argument; you
may, if you like, also use other sources, but your informed opinion and your persuasive voice should shape the majority of the argument.    

To write a persuasive argument based on your chosen topic, you will need to:

• Provide proof that your topic is an issue in your field of study (see above)

• Develop a specific thesis

• Organize your main points in the most persuasive order, which means deciding what order works best for your argument

• Consider what balance of ethos, logos, and pathos works best for your argument

• Use a variety of sentence structures

• Craft clear, cliché free prose and avoid overly wordy, redundant, or vague phrasing;make every word count and every sentence meaningful

• Search for the best nouns, verbs, and adjectives for your purpose – every word should be working strategically for you and your argument.

• Select the best examples of quotations or points from your source text