5.7 Positive Persuasive Letter

Learning Targets

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to say YES to the following questions.

• Can I understand how persuasive writing can be helpful to people in their daily lives?
• Can I identify how letter writing can make a difference in a society?
• Can I use writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create letters for a variety of purposes and audiences?

Persuasive Letter Writing

People write persuasive letters all the time every day...it's happening right this second somewhere in the world!

People write asking for change or an improvement in a situation. The letters can be sent to an individual, business, or government. The request can be for something small like a discounted rate on a phone bill to something bigger like asking for a neighbourhood skate park or asking the government to end human rights violations.

Knowing how to write a persuasive letter can help you make change in your environment. It can help you to convince your parent of something. It can save you money and time. It can lead to changes that provide you with greater service and satisfaction. You can also write to help others.

Go to the next page to read a true story about a simple idea that led to a global writing campaign...all in the name of love.

Love Letters

A 24-year-old woman named Hannah Brencher moved to New York after college and felt very lonely. To deal with her feelings, she took out a pen and started writing letters…to complete strangers.

She did not write about how sad she felt. She wrote happy letters saying how wonderful the other person was. She wrote messages about how terrific they were, even if no one else noticed. She told them to have a “bright day.”

Then she took her letters and dropped them off all over New York. She put them in library books, on café tables, on park benches, and on subway seats. It made her feel better to spread love. Not romantic love, but the love and kindness for fellow human beings.

Her idea spread… big time. Now there are more than 10,000 people from around the world who have joined in. She has a website called The World Needs More Love Letters. She continues to write love letters today.

Positive Persuasive Letter Assignment

You can begin thinking about writing a love letter (which will actually be more like a "kindness" letter), or to use a little alliteration -- positive persuasive letters! Your will complete your letter in lesson 5.9, but you will begin learning about it and thinking about it now.

To inspire you, here is a video clip from Hannah Brencher.

Positive Position

Before you get started on your letter, lets look at the elements of persuasive writing with regards to this assignment.

The position of the letters will be a clear message of wishing someone a good day, to stay positive or to be proud of who they are. You can have a different take on the stance of your letter, but the goal is to share uplifting thoughts to a fellow human being. You want to persuade them to be positive about life and themselves.

Position: Remember, persuasive writing shows strong support of a product, person, or idea. The text will show that the author either strongly agrees or disagrees with the topic.

Your Audience

The next thing to do is to think about your audience.

We do not know who is going to pick up and read the letter so that does make it a bit difficult.

Your writing will be a mix between formal and informal. Because this is a more personal letter, you can use shorter sentences and words. You can use contractions and have a friendly tone.

To make it easier to read and feel respectful, do not use slang or text language. 

You need to have proper spelling, punctuation, etc. as that makes the letter easier for someone to read. It also shows respect that you took time to do your best writing for them.

Convincing Reasons

You have chosen your position, you have a sense how to write your audience, and now you need to come up with some convincing reasons. As this is a personal letter, you can lean more towards an emotional (heart) appeal.

You can choose an anecdote, ask questions that draw out emotions, and use language that evokes emotion.

Include logical (mind) appeal as well. You can look up studies that show the benefits of being positive and having good self-esteem. You can look up quotes from psychologists and respected leaders that bolster your position.

In total, have at least three points with details to back it up in the letter.

Go to your Persuasive Writing Journal and do Journal #8: Words of Kindness.

Counterargument

Here is an idea for counterargument in your letter. As it is strangers who is your audience, it is harder to predict their questions. A possibility is that they might be having a difficult day, so you could address that.

E.g. On the day this letter finds you, you might be having a difficult day. It might be hard to think positive, but you can do it. Helen Keller once said, "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It's what the sunflowers do."