1. English 122: Essay #1 Persuasive Essay Genre: Argument Length: 3-5
English 122: Essay #1Persuasive EssayGenre: Argument Length: 3-5 pages Format: MLA or
APA (your choice)Assignment Write a persuasive essay that aims to convince the reader to
support a non-profit organization of your choice. Locate the non-profit organization’s
website and gain background knowledge on their work. The organization’s website is a
required source for this essay; in addition, you must also find at least one other source (or
as many as three others, at most), that either support or refute the facts in the
organization’s website. In other words, you are to generally believe that what they say is
true, but use other facts to show that they are correct. You must include at least one direct
quote, one paraphrase, and one summary (each with an in-text citation) from the website.
You will also include a Works Cited page. If you are not sure which non-profit organization
to select, consider reviewing this website for a list of non-profit organizations in Michigan:
Michigan Nonprofit OrganizationsYou can search this website by state, city, or issue, and
most of the listings will then offer a link directly to the organization’s website.Prewriting
First, identify one social issue that is important to you and locate a reputable non-profit
organization focused on the issue. For example, if you are interested in assisting victims of
domestic violence in the Lansing area, you might consider the organization Eve, Inc. You
most likely have many non-profit organizations in your area or a non-profit organization
that you have supported for a long time.Once you have chosen the issue and organization,
visit their website. The organization’s website must include enough information so that you
can understand their mission, importance of their work, and how to support their
work.Next, begin to construct your argument. As you write, remember that your mail goal is
to convince the reader to support this organization, not to summarize their website. Avoid
unnecessary summary. Creating an outline for this essay will help organize the body of your
essay. Each main point in your outline should be original and should support your thesis
statement. Each main point in your outline will become a body paragraph in your
essay.Introduction As always, the introduction should include necessary background
information. For this essay, the background information should include the organization’s
name and a brief summary of their history and mission. As the introduction narrows
towards the thesis, remember that you are presenting only one argument: why the reader
should support the non-profit organization you have chosen.Body Paragraphs Each body
paragraph for this essay should introduce, explain, and support (i.e. present the argument
for) one main point. Since you are only incorporating one source for this essay, each main
point with support must come from you—this means you are utilizing your rhetorical skills

2. to persuade your audience, so incorporate plentiful detail (including examples) to develop
each body paragraph.Conclusion The concluding paragraph for this essay should: • Wrap up
your argument by answering any unanswered questions • Reinforce the importance of
supporting the non-profit organization you selected.Source Incorporating direct
information from the website is important, as well. You must include at least one direct
quote, one paraphrase, and one summary. Each of these must include an in-text citation.
Remember that direct quotes, paraphrases, and summaries should always be concise and
add to your essay. They are not a way to fill space, but a way to vary your method of
incorporating support. Incorporating this single source add to your credibility as an author.
Things to Keep in Mind:Audience and Purpose are VERY important in this paper. The
organization’s website is your only real source of information, but its audience and purpose
are quite different from yours, so be careful how you incorporate the information. In most
cases, the websites assume that people visiting them already support the cause; they don’t
need to persuade you that the issue is important. If you didn’t already think so, you
wouldn’t be visiting their website. So their Audience is people who are already inclined to
think their issue is important. Their purpose is (usually) to offer resources to people in need
(often links to ways they can get help), or requests for people to give money or volunteer
their time.Your paper is written towards an audience of people that do not necessarily think
the issue you’ve chosen is important, or maybe don’t even know that it exists. Even once you
convince them that it is important they are still unlikely to donate their time and money. So,
you have to figure out what you DO want your reader to do…is it just to recognize the
issue’s importance? Is it something else?MAKE SURE that you are using information from
the websites wisely. You cannot just lift chunks from it, because (again) its Audience and
Purpose are different from yours. You will need to figure out how to use the information
from the website, but adapt it to your needs.