Hello I am new to this but I am preparing for the SAT essay by practicing on Khan academy. Prompt and my Essay below.
As you read the passage below, consider how Todd Davidson uses:
Evidence, such as facts or examples, to support claims.
Reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and evidence.
Stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, to add power to the ideas expressed.
Write an essay in which you explain how Todd Davidson builds an argument to persuade his audience that the US government must continue to fund national parks. In your essay, analyze how Davidson uses one or more of the features listed above (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage. Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Davidson's claims, but rather explain how Davidson builds an argument to persuade his audience.
When creating a passage, writers implement many different strategies to improve their writing. In 2013 Todd Davidson wrote a passage about why governments should preserve national parks and uses a variety of ways to improve the persuasiveness of his writing. Todd uses evidence, reasoning, and persuasive elements to help enhance his arguement.
Todd incoporates evidence and facts to support his claims which creates a more persuasive arguement. Todd's arguement is furthered by his use of facts about how national parks generate a large amount of money and jobs. Todd frequently shows the large amount of money the parks generate to show it's benfits. He also appeals to the reader by saying that it benefits the nation's economy and potentialy benefits the reader too. In the passage it says, "In addition to supporting the U.S. travel and tourism industry, which is a cornerstone of the U.S. economy that represents $1.8 trillion in economic output and supports 14 million American jobs." Todd supports his claim by using evidence on the numerous jobs national parks support to give readers an example of the parks benefits. Simultaeously he appeals to readers empathy when he shows how the governement is doing less to support national parks and makes them realize that an enormous amount of people could lose their jobs. He uses examples of many famous places located in national parks such as Crater Lake or Yosemite Valley to establish that these places are important and gives readers a reason to value them. By doing this he gives readers more reason agree that the parks should be preserved.
Todd uses reasoning to explain his evidence to support his claim. For example, after showing statistics about the large amount of money produced by parks he furthers his claim by clarifying how it benefits: "National parks are veritable economic engines critical to supporting the livelihood of businesses and communities across the country." He uses evidence and goes on to reason how it is good which creates a more persuasive passage. This explanation is crucial in creating a persuasive paragraph. It explains what the evidence means and how it connects to the main idea. By doing this Todd creates a persuasive arguement and brings it up a notch.
Lastly, Todd demonstrates great use of word choice to help portray certain things he wants. Todd utilizes positive words and associates them with the national parks to portray them in a positive light. This makes them seen as a positive thing and tries to make them seem necessary for the good of the audience. He goes on to connect these national parks to the audience by explaining how they boost our economy. This further persuades readers to favor national parks and support them.
All in all, Todd uses evidence, reasoning, and word choice to create a persuasive arguement. His message persuades readers to support and care for national parks.
What is good and bad about my essay and how can I improve it? Any advice on how to improve my writing in general?