The Persuasive Principle

his book offers you one central piece of advice: “Whenever possible, think of your writing as a form of persuasion. Persuasion is traditionally considered to be a separate branch of writing. When you write what's usually called a persuasion paper, you pick a controversial issue, tell your readers which side you're on, and try to persuade them that you're correct: the defense budget needs to be decreased, handguns should be outlawed, doctors must be protected against frivolous malpractice suits, required freshman English courses should be abolished. Persuasion is supposed to be based on differ­ ent principles from other kinds of writing-description, narration, exposition, and so forth. It isn' t. A description of a relative, an account of what you went through to get your first job, a comparison of two brands of dishwashers-if you can approach such assignments as an effort to persuade your reader of the validity of a particu­ lar opinion or major point, you're in business as a writer. Your paper's opinion or major point is called its thesis. Your thesis may be that your relative is the most boring person you have ever met, that getting your first job was easier than you thought it would be, that a Maytag dishwasher is likely to last longer than a Whirlpool. If you have a thesis, and if you select and organize your material to support that thesis, a number of basic writing problems begin to solve them ­ selves. You have built-in purpose. You have built-in organization. You have the potential for built-in interest. Aside from a few obvious exceptions, such as newspaper reports, encyclopedia articles, instruction manuals, recipe s, and certain types of stories, poems, and plays, all writing can benefit from a commitment to the persuasive principle: Develop a thesis, and then back it up. There is no better way to demonstrate the effectiveness of the persuasive principle than to take a close look at what goes on, or ought to go on, as a paper is being planned.

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2 CHAPTER 1 THE PERSUASIVE PRINCIPLE

G EN ER A L S U B J ECT

“Write something worth reading about ” In essence, all writing assignments­ for students, business executives, Nobel Prize winners, and everyone else-begin this way, though ordinarily, the directions aren't that frank. Let's start from scratch and assume that your instructor has left the choice of subject mostly up to you. You may be entirely on your own, or you may have a list of general subjects from which you must make your selection. Imagine that you have to write something worth reading about one of the following topics: education, prejudice, politics, television, or sports. You make your choice, if you're like the majority of people, by deciding what you're most interested in and infom1ed about or what will go over best with your audience. Let's say you pick education. You now have a subject, and your troubles have now begun. You have to write 500 words or so on a subject to which tens of thousands of books have been devoted. Where do you begin? Where do you stop? Will it ever be possible to stop? What's important? What's not important? Until you limit your subject, you have no way of answering any of these questions. You are at the mercy of every miscellaneous thought and scrap of information that drifts into your mind.

LIM I TED SUBJECT

Narrow down your subject. Then narrow it down some more. Narrow it down until you have a subject that can be treated effectively in the assigned length. In many respects, the narrower your subject, the better off you are- as long as you still have something to say about it. With a properly limited subject, you explore only a small part of your general subject, but you explore it thoroughly.

Gene ral Subject Education Prejudice Politics Television Sports

Lim ited Subject Professor X Religious prejudice People who don't vote Commercials Baseball salaries

A paper of 500 words on education is doomed to be superficial at best. It might be possible, however, to write 500 words that are worth reading on one of your teachers, essay versus objec tive examinations, reasons for attending col­ lege (narrowed down to just one reason, if you have enough to say), registration procedures, fraternities, and so on. With a sensibly limited subject, you have a chance of producing a good paper. You are no longer doomed to superficiality. If you write a description

THESIS 3

of one of your teachers, for example, you possess immensely more knowledge about your subject than do fellow students who have not taken a course from that teacher. Certainly, you are no longer at the mercy of every thought about education that you have ever had. Your troubles are not over, though. You've limited your subject, and you've done it well-but what now? Look at the most limited of the subjects in the preceding table. You're writing a description of a teacher – Professor X. Do you tell your reader about the teacher's height, weight, age, marital status, clothing, ethnic background, religious background, educational background? Publications? Grading policy? Attendance policy? Lecture techniques? Sense of humor? Handling of difficult classroom situations? Attitude toward technology? Knowledge of field? How, in short, do you determine what belongs in your paper and what doesn't? The truth is that you're still at the mercy of every thought that occurs to you. This time, it's just every thought about Professor X, not every thought about education in general. But until you find a thesis, you still have trouble.

THESIS

Your thesis is the basic stand you take, the opinion you express, the point you make about your limited subject. It's your controlling idea, tying together and giving direction to all of the separate elements in your paper. Your primary purpose is to persuade the reader that your thesis is valid. You may, and probably should, have secondary purposes. You may want to amuse or alarm or inform or issue a call to action, for instance-but unless the primary purpose is achieved, no secondary purpose stands a chance . If you want to amuse your readers by making fun of inconsistent dress codes at your old high school, there's no way to do it successfully without first convincing them of the validity of your thesis-that the dress codes were inconsistent and thus do deserve to be ridiculed. A thesis is only a vibration in the brain until it is turned into words. The first step in creating a workable thesis is to write a one-sentence version of the thesis, which is called a thesis statement. For example: Professor X is an incompetent teacher. Professor X is a classic absentminded professor. Professor X's sarcasm antagonizes many students. Professor X's colorful personality has become a campus legend. Professor X is better at lecturing than at leading discussio ns. Professor X's youthful good looks have created awkward problems in class. If you need more than one relatively uncomplicated sentence, chances are that your thesis isn't as unified as it ought to be or that it's too ambitious for a short paper. Any limited subject will still produce a wide range of possible thesis

statements. Any limited subject, however, will help you keep your thesis statement focused and concise.

Limited Subject Professor X Religious prejudice People who don't vote Commercials Baseball salaries

Thesis Statement Professor X is a classic absentminded professor. Religious prejudice is the prejudice least likely to die. Not voting may sometimes be a responsible decision. Television commercials can be great entertainment. Many baseball players are paid far more than their abilities can justify.

Writing with a thesis gives a paper a sense of purpose and eliminates the prob­ lem of aimless drift. Your purpose is to back up the thesis. As a result, writing with a thesis also helps significantly in organizing the paper. You use only what enables you to accomplish your purpose. Weight problems and religion have nothing to do with Professor X's absentmindedness, for example, so you don't bother with them. Most of all, writing with a thesis gives a paper an intrinsic dramatic interest. You commit yourself You have something at stake: “This is what I believe, and this is why I'm right.” You say, “Professor Xis absentminded.” Your reader says, “Tell me why you think so.” You say, ''I'll be glad to.” Your reader says, ''I'm listening.” Now all you have to do is deliver. So far, then, we've established that a thesis is the main idea that all elements in the paper should support and that you should be able to express it in a single sen­ tence. We've established that a thesis has several important practical benefits. That's the bird's-eye view, but the concept is important enough to demand a closer look.

WHAT A THESIS ISN'T

A Thesis Is Not a Title A title can often give the reader some notion of what the thesis is going to be, but the title is not the thesis itself. The thesis itself, as presented in the thesis statement, does not suggest the main idea-it is the main idea. Remember, too, that a thesis statement will always be a complete sentence; there's no other way to make a statement.

Title: Not a Thesis Homes and Schools

James Cagney: Hollywood Great Social Security and Old Age

Thesis Statement Parents ought to participate more in the education of their children. James Cagney was one of the greatest actors ever to appear in movies. Probable changes in the Social Security system make it almost impossible to plan intelligently for one's retirement.

(continued)

Title: Not a Thesis A Shattering Experience The Fad of Divorce

Thesis Statement My first visit to the zoo was a shattering expenence . Too many people get divorced for trivial reasons.

A Thesis Is Not an Announcement of the Subject A thesis takes a sta nd. It expresses an attitude toward the subject . It is not the subject itself

Announcement: Not a Thesis My subject is the classic absentmind­ edness of Professor X. The many unforeseen problems I encountered when I went camping are the topic of this theme. This paper will attempt to tell you something about the emotions I felt on viewing the Grand Canyon. The thesis of this paper is the difficulty of solving our environmental problems.

Thesis Statement Professor X is a classic absentminded professor. I encountered many unforeseen pro­ blems when I went camping.

The Grand Canyon was even more magnificent than I had imagined.

Solving our environmental problems is more difficult than many environmen­ talists believe.

A Thesis Is Not a Statement of Absolute Fact A thesis makes a judgment or interpretation. There's no way to spend a whole paper supporting a statement that needs no support . Fact: Not a Thesis Jane Austen is the author of Pride and Prejudice. The capital of California is Sacramento . Suicide is the deliberate taking of one's own life. President Lincoln's first name was Abraha m. The planet closest to the Sun is M ercury.

A Thesis Is Not the Whole Essay A thesis is your main idea, often expressed in a single sentence. Be careful not to confuse the term as it is used in this text with the book-length thesis or disserta­ tion required of candidates for advanced degrees.

WHAT A GOOD THESIS IS

It's possible to have a one-sentence statement of an idea and still not have a thesis that can be supported effectively. What characterizes a good thesis?

A Good Thesis Is Restricted Devising a thesis statement as you plan your paper can be a way of limiting, or restricting, your subject even further. A paper supporting the thesis that Professor X is absent minded, besides taking a stand on its subject, has far less territory to cover than a paper on Professor X in general. Thesis statements themselves, however, may not always be sufficiently narrow . A good thesis deals with restricted, bite-size issues, not with issues that would require a lifetime to discuss inte lligen tly. The more restricted the thesis, the better the chances are for supporting it fully.

Poor The world is in a terrible mess. People are too selfish. The American auto industry has many problems.

Crime must be stopped.

Better The United Nations should be given more peace-keeping powers. Human selfishness is seen at its worst during rush hour. The worst problem of the American auto industry is unfair competition from foreign countries. Our courts should hand out tougher sentences to habitual criminals.

A Good Thesis Is Unified The thesis expresses one major idea about its su bject. The tight structure of your paper depends on its working to support that one idea. A good thesis sometimes may include a secondary idea if that idea is strictly subordinated to the major one. Without that subordination, the writer will have too many important ideas to handle, and the structure of the paper will suffer.

Poor Detective stories are not a high form of literature, but people have always been fascinated by them, and many fine writers have experimented with them . The new health program is excellent, but it has several drawbacks, and it should be run only on an experimental basis for two or three years.

The Columbus Cavaliers have trouble at the defensive end and linebacker positions, and front-office tensions don 't help, but the team should be able to make the play- offs.

Better Detective stories appeal to the basic human desire for thrills.

The new health program should be run only on an experimental basis for two or three years. Or Despite its general excellence, the new health program should be run only on an experimental basis for two or three years. The Columbus Cavaliers should be able to make the play-offs. Or Even granting a few troubles, the Columbus Cavaliers should be able to make the play- offs.

A Good Thesis Is Specific A satisfactorily restricted and unified thesis may be useless if the idea it commits you to is vague. “The new corporate headquarters is impressive,” for example, could mean anything from impressively beautiful to impressively ugly. With a thesis statement such as ''.James Joyce's Ulysses is very good,” you would probably have to spend more words defining good than discussing Ulysses. Even when there's no likelihood of confusion, vague ideas normally come through as so familiar, dull, or universally accepted that the reader sees no point in paying attention to them.

Poor James Joyce's Ulysses is very good.

Drug addiction is a big problem.

Our vacation was a tremendous expenence . My parents are wonderful people.

Better James Joyce's Ulysses helped create a new way for writers to deal with the unconsc10us. Drug addiction has caused a huge increase in violent crimes. Our vacation enabled us to learn the true meaning of sharing. Everything my parents do is based on their loving concern for the welfare of the family.

You may also extend your thesis statement to include the major points that you will discuss in the body of the paper. The previously cited thesis statements could be extended as follows:

Specific James Joyce's Ulysses helped create a new way for writers to deal with the unconsc10us.

Drug addiction has caused a huge increa