A persuasive argument is like trying to convince your friend to trade their candy for your toy, you need good reasons and a little charm!
The Big Pieces
Every persuasive argument has three main parts: the claim, the reasons, and the examples.
- The claim is what you're trying to prove, like saying "Your candy tastes better than mine."
- The reasons are why you think that's true, maybe you say "It has more chocolate!" or "You always say it’s your favorite!"
- The examples are real-life proof of your claim, like showing off a big, gooey piece of candy or asking the teacher if they agree.
How It Works in Real Life
Imagine you're trying to convince your mom to let you stay up later on weekends. Your claim is "I can stay up later." Your reasons could be "I finish my homework quickly" and "I don’t need much sleep." Your examples might be "Last weekend, I stayed up until 9 PM and still woke up early!"
Your mom listens to your reasons and examples, if they make sense, she’ll say "Okay, you can stay up later!" Just like your friend trading candy for your toy!
Examples
- A friend says, 'You should try this restaurant because it's amazing,' and gives you a sample of their food.
- A parent argues that their child should get a new phone by saying, 'This one is broken,' and shows the cracked screen.
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See also
- How Does The 7 Building Blocks of Effective Arguments Work?
- How Does Intro to Logic Part 2: Premises vs Conclusions Work?
- How Does The Three Persuasive Appeals: Logos, Ethos Work?
- How Does Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning. Work?
- What is At its core, an argument consists of?