HOMEWORK HELP | Effective Persuasive Communication In various Contexts

Running head: UNIT 2 ASSIGNMENT 1

Unit 2 Assignment

Student Name

Purdue University Global

Please note that this is a sample Unit4 Assignment to help inspire and guide your own original writing of the assignment. Be sure to review the assignment instructions and grading rubric, complete each task in the instructions, and contact the instructor with any questions.

Commented [S1]: The title page and document are properly formatted in APA 6th edition style.

For tips on formatting, see the Writing Center’s

Citation Guides page:

https://library.purdueglobal.edu/writingcenter/cita

tionguides

UNIT 2 ASSIGNMENT 2

Unit 2 Assignment

One of the most interesting aspects of persuasion is that it can apply to so many different areas in life, from the personal to the professional to the academic. A few months ago, I had an opportunity to use persuasive writing on Facebook to help my cousin reach an important decision. She had posted about wanting to adopt a cat but mentioned that she didn’t like having to fill out the lengthy application that her local shelter required. She posted a little rant about this and ended it with, “Maybe I should just buy a kitty at the pet store. It’d be a lot less complicated!” As someone who has several rescue animals, I have strong feelings about this subject, and I wanted to address this in a message to her. I told her about my experience adopting my pets and how rewarding it was to know that these surrendered animals had found a loving home with me. I even did a little research and shared some statistics I found: Over three million unwanted cats are brought to shelters each year, and a significant percentage of them end up getting euthanized (ASPCA, 2018). Since my cousin is a very down-to-earth person, I wrote about all this in a way that I knew would speak to her: factually and straightforward, with a little humor thrown in (I included some funny stories about Tippy, my newest rescue). She ended up thanking me profusely for the message, and not two weeks later she was back on Facebook again, posting pictures of the beautiful domestic shorthair cat she adopted from the shelter.

Another equally important area of persuasive communication is that which occurs in a professional context. As a future psychologist, I will likely be responsible for proposing treatment plans and collaborating on treatment plans in a team setting as well. For the time being,

I am working in a call center, and I recently had a firsthand experience with persuasive workplace communication. My coworkers and I had been talking among ourselves about how nice it would be to have “Casual Fridays” where we could have the option of wearing jeans to Commented [S2]: This is a specific example of persuasive writing in a personal context.

Commented [S3]: This is a great example of how statistics can help you prove a point, and since the student included a citation, the reader can evaluate the credibility of the statistic, too.

Commented [S4]: Note how this example of professional persuasion stems from the student’s current workplace but also mentions the type of writing she is likely to do in her future profession.

UNIT 2 ASSIGNMENT 3

work instead of our usual business casual attire. I decided to broach this subject to my boss in an email. Even before I started writing it, I knew I wanted this email to be precise, clear, focused, and respectful in tone. I also wanted to pitch the idea in a way that would make it appealing.

After some thought, I came up with the idea of making Friday a “Dollars for Denim” day where each employee could donate one dollar in exchange for wearing jeans; the money we collect would go to one of the charitable organizations our company has supported in the past, such as the March of Dimes. I described my idea and added another persuasive element by discussing how a Dollars for Denim day could help with morale boosting and team building, which are two things I know my boss cares about. Once the email was written, I proofread it carefully to ensure that everything was correct, that my word choices were appropriate, and that my message kept a positive tone throughout. My boss ended up liking the suggestion so much that she approved my proposal and asked if I would like to be responsible for sending a company-wide email and making a flyer to promote it.

In contrast to personal writing and professional writing, academic writing carries with it an expectation of deeper critical thinking and the ability to produce and cite evidence to support a claim. When I took CM107, I was fortunate to have a couple of classmates who were generous with their feedback on the Discussion Boards and always offered constructive advice. At times this advice led me to perceive my own ideas in a whole new light and gave me more than one “a-ha!” moment. I specifically remember one classmate who helped me out with my thesis statement when I was struggling a little with my draft work. I had been thinking of writing a paper about PTSD because it directly relates to my future career field; however, I couldn’t decide whether I wanted my thesis to focus on changing perceptions of PTSD or new treatments in PTSD, such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). My classmate

Commented [S5]: Note the transition here that shows this example will contrast with the earlier ones.

Commented [S6]: Thinking about one’s audience is always critical. Defining an acronym is one way to do this. The student realized that readers would know what PTSD is but be less likely to know what EMDR means, so she explains the acronym.

UNIT 2 ASSIGNMENT 4 mentioned some of the possible advantages and disadvantages of writing about each aspect of the topic and referenced the unit Learning Activities to remind me of the criteria for a good working thesis statement. Ultimately, he suggested that the topic about treatment might be more relevant to my work and would better suit the assignment criteria. After reviewing his suggestions, I could see that he was right. The benefits of this ended up being twofold. My classmate’s helpful tone and use of textual evidence persuaded me to visualize my topic and purpose more clearly, which led to composing a successful assignment. Even more importantly, the classmate’s feedback served as an example of excellent discussion work, which I have tried to emulate in my responses to other classmates ever since.

UNIT 2 ASSIGNMENT 5

References

American Society for the Protection of Animals (ASPCA). (2018). Pet statistics. Retrieved from

https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics

Commented [S7]: Note that since the student included a reference to a source in her paper, she included a citation on the references page. For tips on formatting the references page, see APA Style Central as well as the Writing Center’s Citation Guides page here:

https://library.purdueglobal.edu/writingcenter/citationguides