Persuasive Writing Checklist—High School

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Clarity Innovations

	Consistently	Sometimes	Seldom or Never	Comments
Ideas: Student narrows the topic.	¨	¨	¨
Student clearly states a position on a multisided topic.	¨	¨	¨
Student states an overall reason in support of the position.	¨	¨	¨
Student describes the action expected of readers.	¨	¨	¨
Student persuades using appeals to reason.	¨	¨	¨
Student uses appeals to character to persuade.	¨	¨	¨
Student uses appeals to emotion to persuade.	¨	¨	¨
Student uses multiple credible sources.	¨	¨	¨
Student correctly cites multiple sources.	¨	¨	¨
Student explains why sources are credible.	¨	¨	¨
Student anticipates and addresses readers’ concerns.	¨	¨	¨
Student addresses counterarguments.	¨	¨	¨
Organization: Student states a point of view in the introduction.	¨	¨	¨
Student engages readers in the introduction.	¨	¨	¨
Student presents evidence in a convincing order.	¨	¨	¨
Student uses transitions.	¨	¨	¨
Student paces writing effectively.	¨	¨	¨
Student paragraphs effectively.	¨	¨	¨
Student concludes writing in a memorable way.	¨	¨	¨
Student emphasizes the point of view in conclusion.	¨	¨	¨
Student urges an expected action in the conclusion.	¨	¨	¨
Voice: Student conveys sincere commitment to point of view.	¨	¨	¨
Student explains why readers should take the author seriously.	¨	¨	¨
Student uses an appropriate tone.	¨	¨	¨
Student includes appropriate personal experiences to support point of view.	¨	¨	¨
Sentence Fluency: Student varies the sentence lengths.	¨	¨	¨
Student varies sentences.	¨	¨	¨
Student varies sentence beginnings.	¨	¨	¨
Student writes rhythmically and naturally.	¨	¨	¨
Student uses sentence fragments to enhance meaning.	¨	¨	¨
Word Choice: Student uses precise and accurate language.	¨	¨	¨
Student uses powerful and interesting language.	¨	¨	¨
Student uses technical terms sparingly.	¨	¨	¨
Student defines necessary technical terms in easy-to-understand language.	¨	¨	¨
Conventions: Student spells correctly.	¨	¨	¨
Student capitalizes correctly.	¨	¨	¨
Student punctuates correctly.	¨	¨	¨
Student uses Standard English.	¨	¨	¨

Learning Goals

Persuasive Writing Checklist—High School

Standards