I don't know if I'm the only person having this issue, but it seems difficult to me to find an example of argumentative writing that isn't simply an advertisement or a product packaging. It could be that I'm drawn to these things because of my interests in visual media, but I'm convinced (nay, I'm persuaded!) advertisements are the natural move if you're looking for a persuasive piece — that's what they're designed to do!
Anyway, I was wondering what other pieces people are finding — not that I want to "steal your ideas" or anything (heh...), and I'm sure that I'll find out on Thursday at the latest, but really...what else is there? I could think of a few scholarly essays, and we talked about the State of the Union Address, but those are also relatively clear examples. I kind of want to find something that doesn't immediately announce "this was designed to persuade you."
This whole process of argument gathering has made me think a lot about what I value in a persuasive piece. We also talked in class about how lots of us tend to think we're swayed most commonly by reason & supporting evidence, but emotional factors and "gut reactions" also come into play. Maybe I'm just not that good at finding my persuasion "soft spots." I guess an interesting point is that I'm only marginally aware of what affects my opinions. If I could pinpoint exactly what persuades me, I would probably be a lot harder to convince...or at least I wouldn't own as many shoes as I do.
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also find myself gravitating towards advertisements, Katie. Many advertisements work on both the textual and visual levels, so it's a double whammy that hits the viewer immediately.
The first thing that popped into my head as a persuasive text was (not unpredictably) a poem. For me, a poem works on a variety of complex levels via emotion, powerful/surprising imagery, the nearly unconscious effect of rhythm, etc. On a similar note (ha!), I considered using a piece of music as a persuasive argument, which also draws on sound and imagery to sway the listener.
I'm drawn to a lot of works that incorporate humor as well. Any essay that incorporates intelligent humor usually impresses me, as my jokes are inevitably of the 4th grade variety.
I've found myself looking at opinion articles. I'm planning on having my students use them next year, and they seemed like a good place to start when looking for arguments about issues that matter to me.
As an opinion columnist at KSU, I found myself having to be much more aware of the genre than I'd ever been before. You have to have a good opener to catch the reader's eye; my editor generally made me rewrite this part. You want to have a strong, memorable conclusion. Humor helps keep people interested (especially in a college paper). Having good evidence is always a plus, too...
When I tried to think of a piece of argument "that I value" as the assignment suggests, I initially thought of famous speeches. Having seen "Good Night and Good Luck" during the last year, I found myself searching out the RTNDA convention speech that Murrow made which was used in the movie. I also thought of newspaper editorials. For some reason, the "Yes Virginia There is a Santa Claus" editorial came to mind. Luckily, I was able to find both of these pieces of argument online.
I am actually having some problems with finding good persuasive texts too. The types of persuasive texts I can think of are used in commercials and advertisements (sure!), also in political campaigns, in court speeches. As for newspapers, besides opinion articles, many of pieces are not persuasive but just give some information or, if they present a controvercy, aim to show a discussion in process rather than its results.
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