Assignment Guide: The Persuasive Letter

Assignment Prompt

For this assignment, you will be writing a letter compelling a friend or family member to change either a behavior or a belief with which you disagree. Choose your own topic, but for example, this letter could petition an enthusiastic neighbor to scale down his blinding Christmas decorations, an immature cousin to take a gap year between high school and college, a grandparent to vote to pass the new school district budget, a friend to stop drinking, or a spouse to reconcile with an estranged sibling. Because the letter will be written to an individual of your choosing, you must tailor your 
language and 
logic to the person to whom you are writing. 

Assignment-Specific Requirements:

Length: This assignment should be at least 750 words. 

Thesis

: Underline your 
thesis statement or the main 
claim of your letter.

Sources Needed: None required. 
Cite if used, following 
MLA guidelines. 

Page Formatting: Use 
MLA guidelines.  Also add an opening salutation (e.g. Dear Sarah, or Hello, Jon.), and a closing salutation & signature (Best regards, Tom or Sincerely, Liza)

MLA

 Requirements: See 
Formatting your Essay: MLA 8th Edition

Rhetorical Mode

The goal of 
persuasive writing is to get a 
reader (your 
audience) to agree with your 
point of view. 
Persuasive writing blends facts and emotion to convince the 
reader that the writer is right. This 
genre relies on opinion and emotion to a greater extent than argumentative writing, but in moving a 
reader, the successful persuasive letter also deploys logically sound 
argumentation and quite often researched support and fact. 

Rhetorical Considerations

Purpose:

The purpose of 
drafting a persuasive letter is to move your 
reader to agree with your 
point of view. 
Persuasion is single-minded; it is based on a conviction that a particular way of thinking or acting is the only way to go; all of the energy of the letter works toward this end. As a writer, you will present one side–your side. While an 
opposing point should be mentioned, it is only mentioned to be refuted or dismissed in the service of your position.  

Audience:

Persuasive writing is almost always written with a particular 
audience in mind.  For this piece of writing, you will direct your persuasive letter to one person. Thus, your 
audience is not imagined, but rather very real, and that person and their characteristics will inform many of the choices you make as a writer. The persuasive letter requires constant negotiation with another person’s mind. At every phase of the writing process, as you prewrite, draft, and 
revise, this assignment will ask you to imagine and anticipate how your 
reader feels, responds, and thinks.   

Form:

This piece of writing will be presented using a letter format.  Thus, while you still need an 
MLA–
style heading to format your work for submission, you will address your letter directly to your 
reader with a formal letter salutation. 

Five Features of a Persuasive Letter

1.
Rhetorical Situation: 
Persuasive Writing vs. Argumentative Writing: 
Persuasive writing, in a way, is a form of argumentative writing; however, the goal of 
persuasive writing is to get a 
reader or group of readers to agree with you/your 
point of view on a particular topic, and the goal of argumentative writing is to get the 
reader to acknowledge that your side is valid and is worth considering. 
Persuasive writing blends facts with emotion in an attempt to convince the 
reader that the writer is “right,” while in argumentative writing, the writer cites relevant reasons, credible facts, and sufficient 
evidence in order to convince the 
reader to consider a particular perspective. The nuances are subtle but important to consider. (Later in this course you will be crafting an argument and will see the differences in these genres of writing with greater clarity. The letter makes balanced use of the three rhetorical appeals to persuade a 
reader to change a behavior or belief.  The three appeals, which come to us from that consequential deceased Greek, Aristotle, are: 

1.

1.

Ethos

: a writer’s or speaker’s credibility. In your letter, therefore, 
ethos is you, sort of. It’s the “you” that your writing transmits to your 
reader, the sum total of your 
tone and 
language choices, and also the values and intelligence that your writing communicates. Therefore, be vigilant with your work because 
ethos is the appeal that’s most immediately harmed by faulty word choices, punctuation mistakes, and lapses in 
tone. 

2.

Pathos

: the appeal to a 
reader’s emotions and values. Get your 
reader to feel. Play (in a non-evil way) on their emotions–their compassion, their fears, their sense of community.   

2.

Logos

: the appeal to a 
reader’s 
logic or reason.  Ensure your 
claims are logical, free of fallacies, and backed with specific support.  

3.

Organization

: Organize using argumentative structure: an 
introduction with a 
thesis/main 
claim, body paragraphs that advance points in support of the 
thesis/main 
claim, and a 
conclusion. 

2.

Transition

s: Uses 
transitional phrases to connect your ideas and move the 
reader forward smoothly and logically between sentences. 

3.
Known 

Audience

: The letter’s appeals are personalized to the 
reader’s characteristics–their professional role and its obligations, as well as their values and emotions. 

4.
Formal or Informal Writing? The 
tone of the letter depends upon the recipient and your relationship and also upon 
subject matter. The 
tone should enhance the letter’s persuasive efforts, not undermine them. Always strive for a respectful approach.

Mini-Lesson on 

ETHOS

 – 

PATHOS

 – 

LOGOS

Plan to use these appeals heavily throughout your Persuasive Letter.

Ethos This is an  ethical appeal. It relies on your reliability and credibility as the author.	· Includes  reliable sources · Is written from an unbiased perspective · Shows the writer’s expertise through the presentation of careful insight and research
Pathos This is an  emotional appeal. It relies on the construction of careful connection between the  claims presented and the emotions of the readers.	· Includes the writer’s values and beliefs · Uses stories or examples that convey emotion · Contains broader appeal and  focus
Logos This is an appeal to  logic and reason. It relies on facts and figures that can convince the  reader of the  claims.	· Relies on fact and opinion · Focuses on reasonable  claims and  organization of ideas · Only includes relevant material with a  narrow  focus

This week, you will complete Case Study Part 1:

SECTION 1 BACKGROUND: IDENTIFYING A PROBLEM Eleanor is a 52-year-old patient who has had a hip replacement 1 day ago who is on your assigned patient care team. You complete patient care rounds and assess Eleanor’s vital signs, comfort level, intravenous (IV) site and wound dressing. Eleanor has an IV for fluid replacement and medication administration. She also has an indwelling urinary catheter. She tells you that her pain level is a 4 out of 10 and she is reluctant to move around because of the pain. You know that the patient’s pain control is a high priority and that the physician ordered the indwelling urinary catheter until the patient is able to get out of bed easily and tolerate fluids. The urinary catheter is convenient in that the patient will not experience pain getting up to the bathroom and it provides an accurate measurement of output. On the other hand, you know that the longer the indwelling urinary catheter is in place, the higher the risk of an infection. You ask a trusted senior nurse when is the right time to remove the catheter since Eleanor is now tolerating ice chips. The senior nurse tells you that the catheter is usually kept until the patient is able to get up and ambulate independently. You wonder if there are any contraindications or problems with removing Eleanor’s indwelling catheter now. You decide to follow the senior nurse’s advice, leaving the indwelling urinary catheter in place and reevaluate for removal in the morning. 

SECTION II BACKGROUND: INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAMS AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT This section is focused on the identification of a clinical problem and the steps of forming an interprofessional team to work on fixing the problem. The intent is to understand who are the stakeholders for this problem and the importance of engaging stakeholders in the quality improvement (QI) project. Examine the problem of CAUTIs holistically to identify stakeholders. You return to work the next day to learn that Eleanor has a low-grade fever of 99.8° F that was reported to the physician. The physician ordered an immediate urine culture and removal of the catheter the previous afternoon. The urine culture was positive for Escherichia coli, representing the presence of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI). During the bedside report, you find that although Eleanor states she is tired, she is able to get up to the bathroom with a walker independently. She is also tolerating oral fluids and foods. The presence of the CAUTI bothered you enough that you spoke to your Unit Director about looking into evidence-based interventions to reduce CAUTIs. The Unit Director tells you that the rate of CAUTIs for the medical–surgical unit has steadily risen over the past year and the monthly total is twice the number from 2 years ago. You volunteer to convene a committee to work on the problem. Your first step is to identify others who should be on your team. You know that the stakeholders are individuals who influence or are influenced by the clinical problem under investigation. Review the discussion on stakeholders in Chapter 15 for guidance on selecting appropriate stakeholders. 

SECTION III BACKGROUND: LEADING A QI TEAM This section is focused on power gradients and leadership styles within an interprofessional team. Consider how to lead a team consisting of various healthcare professionals. You identified a variety of interprofessionals to include on your committee including two direct care nurses from the medical–surgical unit, one nurse from the operating room, two certified nurse assistants, a nurse supervisor, a physician, the medical–surgical clinical nurse specialist, a pharmacist, a laboratory representative, and a dietician. You feel that these individuals clearly represent all aspects of patient care. Review the information on communicating within a team and with different power gradients in Chapter 8. By working closely with the clinical nurse specialist (CNS), you are able to convene a meeting of the team.

Download and complete Case Study Part I Worksheet Download Case Study Part I Worksheet. 

Submit your completed Case Study Part I worksheet and its attachments into the drop box as one attachment. 

 

Complete the Typefinder Personality TestLinks to an external site.. For the class discussion, post your response to the following questions:  

• Did taking the test provide you with any new insight?  
• How might considering the personalities of those with whom you interact support interpersonal communication? When possible, provide examples from your own experience.  
• Discuss strategies for resolving disagreements and conflicts. Describe a time that you have dealt with a conflict or disagreement in a professional setting and how you handled the situation?  
• Could it have been handled better if you were in the same situation again?   
• Incorporate strategies found in the unit presentations, textbook, or other professional or academic sources.   

Additionally, view the TED Talk “The Power of Introverts”Links to an external site. by Susan Cain (TED, 2012). Respond to the following questions:  

• Did her talk give you any new perspective on the process or skill of communication, especially with regard to personality and interpersonal engagement?  
• Share how you may relate to her talk and/or to the material we studied for this week. 

Be sure to respond to your peers as well.  As a reminder, connect to a scholarly source beyond the TED Talk. 

Reference

TED. (2012). The power of introverts. https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts 

Due 10-11-23 @10am