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Style

  • Page ID
    184017
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    Style:

    In persuasive writing, the style the author has helps to develop an effective argument.

    Style is how the writer puts together sentences, groups of sentences, and paragraphs. Essentially, style boils down to organization and engagement for the reader.

    Style is important because if the reader can't follow your style or aren't interested, they won't be able to follow your argument or want to read it.

    Generally, an effective persuasive writer will only stick to one aspect of the argument within each paragraph, explain their evidence, and NEVER leave the reader hanging. The writer will also use transitions between sentences and paragraphs to help with the flow of the paper and also to help the reader follow the writer's train of thought. In addition, the writing will keep the reader's interest as well.

    Everything we have looked at so far (word choice, persuasive appeals, tone, and active or passive voice) can affect your style. Each of them can help your sentences and paragraphs to flow or if used improperly they can cripple your argument by making your writing disorganized. For example, if your word choice is making your sentences too complicated or your persuasive appeals are jumping around too much, it might make your argument unreadable.

    They all also affect if your writing is engaging or not. An example here would be if your tone is too serious or you are using too much passive voice, then your writing can become boring or can put the reader off.

    The following example in the slide below has several mistakes in style. See if you can spot them, then check yourself on the next slide to see if you could spot the style mistakes.

    The important thing to remember with style is that it is unique and EVERYONE is developing their style.

    Sources:

    Wheaton College. http://www.wheaton.edu/Academics/Ser...Tone-and-Voice. 14 Jan. 2014.


    Style is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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