Major Points of Writing the Body in Persuasive Writing

If you think of your persuasive writing as going out to a restaurant, then your introduction is the menu, because it shows you what is coming to you. The conclusion is the bill, showing what you just digested, and the body is the meat and potatoes. The body is where all the points are, where all your information is, and where you make your arguments of why you want the reader to come over to your side.

Paragraphs in your body should number about four in total. Each paragraph should cover the main point you are using to back up your argument and idea. In each paragraph, you need to have three to four smaller points that defend the larger point of the paragraph. To understand how this will look, we will break it down:

First sentence. This carries your main point of the paragraph.
Second sentence. This contains the minor point that backs up the major point of the paragraph.
Third sentence. This contains the second minor point that backs up the major point of the paragraph.
Fourth sentence. This contains the third minor point of the major point of the paragraph.
Fifth sentence. This is the sentence that is the transition to your next point in the next paragraph.

In the body, you are supporting your thesis with those paragraphs. The body is proof that you have researched all the information and you have examined the topic completely. All the facts and figures of your persuasive argument are going to be in the body. For example, if you are going to be talking about how you deserve a raise in the persuasive letter body, then you are going to need to outline the statistics of why you deserve the raise. You will mention how few sick days you have taken, the rising cost of living, and the growing revenues of the company in the body. In fact, each paragraph can be centered on the major point of one fact or figure.

In the body, you want to restate the facts of your case that you mentioned in the introduction, and then you prove your thesis with the arguments you make in the next paragraphs. In addition, you need to disprove the arguments of your opponent within the body. This may seem very difficult to do because there is so much you need to do in only three or four paragraphs; but when done effectively, it is one of the best ways to convince someone to agree with your point of view and side with you.

Here is an effective method to get all the information contained in the body out to your reader. Follow this pattern to support the most of your argument so that you have the easiest time convincing your reader that you are right and that they should agree with you.

First, you need to have a statement of facts, which can include summaries concerning the problem you are discussing. It is in this part of the body that you should support all the information without stating your point of view, or trying to get the reader to agree with you.

Next, remind the reader of events or emotive illustrations that show the significance of the topic you are talking about. This should be quite clear and vivid, but brief. Do not obscure any of the information in this paragraph otherwise you could hurt your case. If you are looking for a raise by sending a persuasive letter to your boss, then this is where you will evoke emotions about how you care about the company, the raises you have received in the past, and even what the boss would do if they were in your situation.

Once you have gone through the facts in the previous paragraph, you should prove your thesis with arguments. This is the longest part of your body and it is essentially the central part of your persuasive argument. Your reader will already be paying attention, due to the previous paragraph where you detailed the facts and emotions behind your thesis. Now you show them why your position concerning your point of view is the right one, and that it should be accepted by those reading your persuasive argument.

In the next paragraph, you need to prove that the opposing argument is wrong. This is one of the most difficult parts of the body, because you have to not only prove the person reading the persuasive argument is wrong, but you have to do it in a respectful way that won't offend the reader by how you word the sentences. You should take your time writing this and really look at it from the other person's point of view. When you do this right, your reader will actually agree with what you are saying before realizing that they just blew their own argument out of the water.

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If you choose to have one extra paragraph, then you should make your strongest argument here, because you want to leave the reader thinking about your best argument when they put down the persuasive work. That way, your most logical and effective argument is what stays in their mind the most.

Finding the Winning Argument

Your conclusion is very important to your entire persuasive argument, because a conclusion that stays in your reader's mind will help you convince them that your point of view is the right one.

Your conclusion is an integral part of your persuasive writing. By essentially tying everything up in the end, you greatly increase the effectiveness of your argument. Your conclusion needs to be memorable and thought-provoking. You want the reader to put your persuasive essay down and think about what you wrote, what you said, and begin to realize why you may be right.

Here are a few tips that can help you with your conclusion and winning argument.

Your introduction and conclusion are the bread of your persuasive sandwich. The body is the ham between the slices of bread. Like the bread, your introduction and conclusion should be similar to each other, in a way, mirror images of each other. In your conclusion, you are working to remind the reader about what you said in your thesis statement. You are not wasting your time with the conclusion; you are getting right down to work showing why you proved your thesis statement in the body. All this is done in the conclusion.

Like you did with your introduction, where you wrote several different introduction types depending on your strategy, you can do the same with your conclusion. You should write several conclusions to see which one works best with what you wrote in the introduction and body. You want to make sure your conclusion doesn't contradict anything that you said in the body.

In the conclusion, you should restate your thesis statement, reworded slightly, and then you should go over the main points in your body. The reason that you go over the main points of the body in the conclusion is because you want the reader to recall those main points of your position. When you watch commercials, they will often say the name of the product over and over. This is done because humans learn through repetition. By repeating something, it is more likely that what you said will stick in the reader's mind, and therefore, there is a greater chance they will side with your position.

Another way to conclude your persuasive letter is to write a personal comment in it, or even a call to action. The types of things you could include in this last part of your conclusion are:

What you will predict will happen when you are proven right with your position.
- "With a raise, my productivity will go up and by extension, the productivity of my entire department."
You can put in a question that will give your reader the ability to make their own prediction about what will happen.
- "Would you work harder for more money? Or harder for less money?"
You can also put in your own recommendation on how to solve the problem.
- "With your signature on the forms I have provided, you will see the productivity of the department increase."

Generally, the last line of your conclusion is called the tag line and it is important that you give it special attention. Other forms of tag lines that we know of include the tag line of movies. Generally these tag lines are written in such a way as to entice you to want to see the movie. The same holds true with the conclusion. Using the tag line there are three important things that it must do in your persuasive letter:

It must make the reader agree with you, or at least be better disposed to agreeing with you.
It must magnify the points you made in the body.
It puts your readers in the proper mood to agree with you.

Lastly, to make your conclusion the most effective that it can be, it should accomplish the following tasks:

It will remind the reader about the most important parts of your conclusion.
It will creatively restate the main idea of your essay, which is your position and what you want the reader to agree with.
It will leave the reader more interested in the idea that you are trying to convince them to support.
It brings up a call to action for the reader.

Your conclusion is very important, so take the time to word it the best way possible. A strong conclusion has the ability to fulfill your persuasive writing completely and make a large impact on your reader.