informational and persuasive writing

Most of my English classes have had a focus on literature. I would have been more likely to write and informational or persuasive letter in my history classes. I personally have never enjoyed writing in this style because of the research involved, so I know that students of mine will also shudder at these assignments. Jago's suggestions seem like they may be very helpful tools to get students to write better papers. Her example of self-exploration when writing an informational essay is a great place to start.
I found that looking for inspiration in a newspaper to be a good way to limit the number of possible ideas, while also allowing the student freedom to choose from multiple genre's. I have had to write papers and either been too directed, and not interested in the subject, or told to look up one controversial topic and expore it when there was so much information out there it was hard to sift though everything. Jago explains how even sports or entertainment can produce valid topics of persuasion. This is a great way to encourage students to write about what they enjoy, and even see how writing can be useful and perhaps used as a profession in such areas of content.
*Other classroom tips that I will try to use are to use writing as a way to promote class discussion, and using short writing conferences to inhance student writing.