Organ Donation

In Need of an Organ

General Purpose: To inform/persuade

Specific Purpose: To inform the audience about the importance of organ donation in the United States

Organizational Pattern: Topical

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Attention Getter: Imagine sitting in a sterile room in a hospital, holding the hand of a loved one. Helpless to do anything, your loved ones fate rests with the death and kindness of a stranger but not just any stranger, a stranger that matches your loved one in many aspects.

B. Relevance to Audience: In the United States today, there are over 89,000 people waiting for in organ transplant. With about 300 people added to this list each month, the need for organ donors is at an all time high. According to Donate Life, only about 23,000 of those people on the waiting list will receive the organ needed.

C. Credibility Statement: Coming from a large family, I have personal seen the benefits of organ donation. My grandfather smoked these [show cigarettes] for the better part of his life. He never saw anything wrong with it until one day when he could barely walk out to get the mail in the morning without losing his breath. When he finally went to the hospital, the doctor said that he would die from emphysema unless he was able to get a lung transplant. My grandfather was able to get that transplant and is doing fine today, 3 years after the transplant

D. Thesis/Preview: To completely understand the benefits of organ donation, you must first understand the aspects of how to become an organ donor, which people need a transplant and how a donor and recipient are matched.

TRANSITION: In the world today when someone dies, the surviving relatives make all the arrangements. This includes whether the desisted will be an organ donor or not.

II. BODY

A. How to Become an Organ Donor

1. In the state of Virginia, just because you have on your license that you want to be an organ donor, doesn’t mean that you really will be an organ donor when that day...