Hey,
It would be way easier to explain if you posted the prompt+texts you are using, but anyway...
What I would do:
I always do ideas, then text/outside sources. Context is about ideas; less so about the texts... in the end the focus is a lot more on the outside sources.
Take a look at the prompt; break it down to keywords; find synonyms for these keywords; rewrite the prompt; question the prompt: ie do you agree, why/why not etc. ; write what comes into you head when you see the prompt: so like questions/answers to questions/random thoughts.
After a while, you will notice that what you've written should fall into about 3-4 main groups: these are your main ideas--> use these ideas in your paragraph, and segue from one to the next.
The persuasive essay is basically the same thing: you've just gotta flesh out your ideas+ back it up with examples from your text + outside resouces...
Hope that helps
