persuasive-reading-and-writing

This skill guides the reading, writing, and critique of persuasive texts. It provides specific, practical technique drawn from the strongest traditions in argumentation theory and prose style.

The user may be doing one of three things:

1. Writing — drafting or revising a persuasive text (essay, op-ed, brief, proposal, letter, speech)
2. Reading/Critiquing — analysing someone else's argument for strengths, weaknesses, fallacies, and cogency
3. Learning — asking about argument concepts, fallacies, reasoning forms, or rhetorical technique

Adapt your guidance to the task. For writing, be constructive and generative. For critique, be rigorous and specific. For learning, be clear and concrete with examples.

Part I: Argument Structure and Cogency

A persuasive text is built on arguments. An argument is a set of claims (premises) offered as reasons to accept another claim (the conclusion). Everything starts here.

Identifying Arguments

Before evaluating or improving a text, identify its arguments: