Perfect Persuasive Paper Checklist © 2003 University of Life Press Choose a topic where you can observe someone following your advice. A. No fair doing something too easy like writing your congressman. B. Believing or agreeing with you is not an action. C. Choose a manageable scope – widen or narrow your topic as needed. List ALL barriers! Ya gotta see this from your audience’s perspective! Get help brainstorming on these! Your paper should probably be built around these. Choose a GOOD organization BEFORE you write your paper! A. Freewriting for brainstorm first is just fine – but don’t confuse that with a paper. B. Start with your clear purpose in the first paragraph (or very shortly after) UNLESS that would turn off your audience. C. Build your paper as if investigating a possibility if taking a stand early would turn off your audience. D. After the intro, first establish the significance of your topic. Make readers care about it. Use their values in some way. E. After making readers care and want to follow your advice, take on their barriers one at a time. F. Watch Out for sentences, ideas, questions or paragraphs in places where they don’t fit the organization. G. Create Transitional Phrases between each idea, or set up for them. Transitional phrases either introduce the next idea and show how it relates to the topic (i.e. tell why you’re telling that point there) or explain the organization in advance so jumping to the next idea makes sense and comes as no surprise. Write your paper. A. Make each part of your outline/organization COMPLETE. Give it more than one sentence. Give readers time for the idea to sink in. Don’t repeat the same thing over and over, though – develop the idea by giving more facts, examples, explanations or quotes. B. Use quotes either from research or conduct your own survey to add depth, interest, credibility, and interest to your paper. C. IF you make any assertions that aren’t completely supported by explanation, you must back them up with some kind of evidence. D. AVOID saying "I think," "I believe," "I’m sure we all agree that…" or "everybody knows that…" in your paper UNLESS you first establish yourself as an expert. Otherwise, what do they care what you think? Besides, it’s redundant. Of course you think what you assert. Some of these are colloquialisms used in speech but not writing (they’re sort of two different languages, no matter how casual you get). Review your paper. A. Read it out loud to catch uncomfortable ways you expressed things. B. Get others to read your paper and mark anything confusing, unclear, weak, stupid, etc. Get them to point out their favorite parts as well. Let your paper sit for a while – at least a few days – then read it again with a fresh perspective. Take your paper to the Writing Center or get other experienced readers to point out the weakest parts.