Lesson 11: Argumentative Essays
1. What is your own definition of argumentation?
2. What do you think makes an argument convincing?
3. What is the most important part of an argumentative essay and why?
4. In Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle, which would you prioritize in your argumentative essay?
5. Ethos, logos, and pathos—rank them in importance to an argumentative essay and explain the ranking
briefly.
6. Reasons and evidence can both support a claim. What are their differences?
7. State your claim on any topic and support your claim.
8. Explain the Aristotelian type of argument.
9. Explain the Rogerian type of argument.
10. Explain the Toulmin type of argument.
11. What do you think is the first step in writing an argumentative essay?
12. How would you write your thesis statement?
13. What do you think is the relevance of argumentation to real-life situations?
14. What do you think is a common misconception about argumentation?
15. What do you think is the most important thing to avoid in argumentation?
16. Which one do you think is more difficult, presenting an argument to a stranger or to a friend? Explain.
17. In your own words, how would you differentiate an argumentative essay from a persuasive essay?
18. In your own words, how would you differentiate an argumentative essay from an expository essay?
19. What is the most important thing to include in a good argumentative essay?
20. Among Aristotelian, Rogerian, and Toulmin, which type of argument do you prefer and why?
Lesson 12: Informative Writing Techniques
1. What makes informative writing nonfiction writing?
2. In your own words, what’s the importance of being media literate in researching?
3. Why is the thesis statement considered to be important?
4. In the informative essay outline, what do you think is the most important step? Why?
5. If you were to write an informative essay, what type of structure would you choose? Why?
6. What is the significance of writing cues in an informative text?
7. What is the important aspect of your introduction in an informative essay?
8. What do you include in the body of your informative essay?
9. How do you write the conclusion of your informative essay?
10. What does the reader get from reading an informative essay?
11. What is your own definition of an informative essay?
12. How is an informative text organized?
13. What do you think is the purpose of an informative text?
14. Explain the difference between nonfiction and informational text.
15. What is the purpose of a thesis statement?
16. Why do we need evidence in informational writing?
17. What are the features common in most informational texts? Explain the significance of these features.
18. What is the purpose of an informative essay?
19. Why do authors use special text features in writing informational text?
20. What is the significance of sentence type structures in informational text?
Lesson 13: Persuasive Writing
1. What is your own definition of a persuasive essay?
2. What do you think is the purpose of persuasive writing?
3. What do you think is the intention of an author in writing a persuasive paper?
4. Why should a persuasive writer present their opinion with an interrogative statement?
5. What is the significance of using exaggeration in proving a point?
6. What is the purpose of rhetorical questions in a persuasive paper?
7. Explain the significance of knowing both sides of an argument.
8. An effective persuasion technique is the use of empathy? Do you agree or disagree?
9. Why is it important to pick a topic that you are passionate about when it comes to writing a persuasive
paper?
10. Why do you think persuasive essay writing is a useful writing skill?
11. What do you think is/are the intention/s of an author when writing a persuasive paper?
12. How does the author share their opinion about an issue through persuasive writing?
13. What makes a good persuasive essay?
14. Why do you think appealing to emotions is an important part of writing a persuasive essay?
15. What makes a persuasive essay different from an argumentative essay?
16. What is the importance of using rhetorical devices in a persuasive essay?
17. Which do you think is the most effective rhetorical device to use? Why?
18. In one of the rhetorical devices which is the Ethos, why do you think an author needs to introduce herself as
credible?
19. In pathos, how does the author's personal experience affect her writing?
20. The tone of persuasive writing must be conversational. Do you agree or disagree? Explain.
Lesson 14: Writing Critiques
1. How do you effectively critique or analyze a literary piece?
2. Why do you think you need to focus on the meaning of lines and stanzas in critiquing a poem?
3. What is the significance of approaches in writing critiques?
4. Choose one among the four approaches in writing critique and explain the significance of that approach in
analyzing a literary work.
5. In writing critique, why is it important to state an impression on a literary piece?
6. In analyzing a literary piece why is it important to read and understand the text thoroughly?
7. What do you think is the first step in writing a critique?
8. Why is it important to choose a suitable approach suitable to the literary piece being analyzed?
9. Explain what is a literary analysis or critique?
10. Why do you think authors used approaches or lenses in viewing and analyzing a literary piece?
11. What is/are the purpose/s of a literary critique in criticizing a literary text?
12. Why are literary approaches called “lenses”?
13. In your own words, define what is Structuralist/ Formalist Approach.
14. Why does the Structuralist/ Formalist Approach veer away from external elements in criticism?
15. In your own words, define what is a Moralist Approach.
16. Why do you think a literary critique wanted to know the moral or message of a text using the Moralist
Approach?
17. In your own words, define Historical Approach.
18. Why do you think external elements or influences are used in Historical Approach?
19. In your own words, define Feminist Approach.
20. If you were a literary critique, what approach would you choose and why?
