To Persuade or Not to Persuade?

We did a pretty long persuasive unit recently. 
First, we wrote to persuade, arguing the pros and cons of video games, particularly pertaining to violence in society. While researching, we utilized the I.C.E method in our body paragraphs, Introducing our reason, Citing textual evidence from our research, and Explaining or giving Examples from our own experiences to support our argument. 

My essay of the week packet is available HERE on TPT. 

Next, we looked at commercials and advertisements, looking at how producer try and persuade consumers. Using our knowledge of persuasive techniques, students analyzed Super Bowl Commercials.

**This is what happens when I am too lazy to pass things out! LOL. Anyone else do this? Does this make me a terrible person?

To wrap it all up, we staged our biggest persuasive project yet- a classroom DEBATE! Students worked hard in their teams to create arguments, collect research, and form strong persuasive speeches concerning the motion. 

Our Motion (or resolve) is on Manifest Destiny, our current history unit, and whether the United States had the right to Westward Expansion. 
The year is 1840, and the issues on the table include: *The annexation of Texas and potential war with Mexico and Spain*Slavery being permitted in western states being added to the Union. *The spreading of American "culture" across the country - particularly to the Native Americans*Is Westward Expansion Constitutional 
People born in the modern, "already have the knowledge of the destruction and racism that will come", politically correct era of 2017, ALL tend to side on the negative bias of Manifest Destiny. To our modern ears, the idea of conquering lands and people sounds ludicrous and the next theme for another Avatar movie. However, in debate (of which I was apart of competitivly for 3 years) it is simply a flip of the coin to see which side you will fight for. As I shared with the kids, it can be quite a fun challenge to find evidence and argue for something you don't agree with and really hones in your debating skills. And, of course, the kids rose to the challenge - we were at it for about a week, while practicing for the big event, the kids did an excellent job defending their side. They prepared statistics, jabs to give their opponents, and prepared rebuttals to share in response.