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F The Art of Persuasive Writing

How persuasion text works1

AIMS• Revisit the key ingredients of

persuasion text, thinking about how ituses rhetorical devices.

• Use text skeletons to help analyse thestructure of persuasion text and makenotes on its content.

In this section you will buildon your existing knowledge ofhow persuasive writing works,thinking about its audience,purpose and form andfocusing on its typical structureand language features.

Audience,purpose, form

Persuasive writing puts forward a particular view and tries to get the reader to agree withthat view. Some typical examples are:

• adverts, which try to persuade you to buy something

• political speeches, which try to persuade you to vote for or against a proposal

• newspaper editorials, which try to persuade you to agree with their point of view.

You will use this type of writing particularly in English and history and aspects of D&T.

The typical features of persuasion texts are listed below. You will need torefer to these in Section 2.

• The audience is someone you are trying to influence.

• The purpose is to change their view or to persuade them to do something.

• The form or structure of persuasion text often includes or a series of points ina logical order, supporting a single viewpoint; topic sentences to introduceeach point; visuals such as slogans or images to reinforce the key points.

Typical language features of persuasion texts are:

• emotive1 language, e.g. ‘Enjoy 3 x faster Tiscali Broadband’

• personal pronouns, e.g. ‘every time you want to use’

• inclusive phrases to encourage the reader to want something, e.g. ‘whichmeans you and your family’.

1 emotive – designed to make the audience feel something

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Annotating The first half of the advert below has been annotated to illustrate the languageand structural features of a persuasive text.

Read the text and the annotations carefully, then discuss how you would annotatethe second half to show another example of as many of the features as you can.

Task 1

Topic headings The headings act as topic sentences, introducing the focus of each section. What isthe effect of using these headings? Be prepared to share your conclusions.

Task 2

Structure –series ofpointssupportingone viewpoint

Inclusivephrase –chosen toencourage youto want theproduct

Broadband Benefits

Emotivelanguage –chosen to lureyou intoselecting theirservices

Repetition – to drivehome key points

Personalpronouns –appealingdirectly toreader, ‘you’

Heading –to emphasisekey messages

What is Broadband?Broadband is high speed, always-onInternet access. An always-on connectionmeans that you don’t have to dial up everytime you want to use the Internet, you’repermanently connected. Plus broadbandkeeps your phone line free which meansyou and your family can use the phonewhilst you’re online. With TiscaliBroadband there are no Internet callcharges so you can use the Internet asmuch as you want, whenever you want, forone low flat monthly fee.

Why should I choose TiscaliBroadband over AOL or Freeserve? Quite simply because we offer an excellentquality broadband service and a widechoice of packages at some of the mostaffordable prices in theUK! Enjoy 3Xfaster Tiscali Broadband at just £15.99 amonth (that’s the same price as AOLstandard dial-up) or choose 10X fasterTiscali Broadband at just £24.99 a month.Both products come with a free modemand completely free set-up! Tiscalicombines all the benefits of broadbandwith easy installation and a dedicatedcustomer support team.

Why is Broadband better:1. It’s faster

Enjoy Internet access up to 10 timesfaster than a standard 56kbps dial-upconnection.

2. It’s always onThere’s no need to wait to get online.You’re permanently connected until youturn your PC off.

3. It keeps your phone line freeSurf the Internet and talk on the phoneat the same time.

4. It’s easy to installThere is no need to call an engineer.Once you’ve registered we’ll send youyour broadband modem with simpleinstructions on how to set this up onyour PC.

5. It’s a new experienceTiscali Broadband changes the wayyou use the Internet. You can shop andbank online, instantly download musicand games in seconds, email largeattachments easily, watch music andfilm clips from your PC, and muchmore!

new members join now • • • • • existing members upgrade now

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Using text skeletons

In order to understand the structure of a text, it can be useful to draw a diagram or‘text skeleton’.Text skeletons represent the bare bones of a text.

The typical persuasion skeleton shows a series of main points listed down the pagein a logical order, indicated by asterisks (✳). Each main point often has a paragraph toitself in the text.The labels to the left of the asterisks tell you the focus of eachparagraph, for example ‘What is broadband?’.These labels are usually a shortened version of thetopic sentence.The lines branching to the right from each asterisk summarise statements thatback up or expand the main point, for example ‘spending more time online for less’.These areknown as ‘memory joggers’.

Using text skeletons will help you to analyse the structure of a text and plan your own writing.

Structuring Below is a half-completed text skeleton for the advert Broadband Benefits.Complete the skeleton and memory joggers so that you have a full set of notes onthe text. You may need to add more bubbles.

Task 3

1. What is Broadband? ✳

High speed, always on Internet access

Keeps phone line free

No call charges – just low, flat monthly fee

2. Why should I choose

Tiscali Broadband over AOLor Freeserve? ✳

Excellent-quality source

3x faster service or 10x faster

Free modem, free set up and customer support

3.It’s faster ✳

4.

✳

5.

✳

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Analysing The three different adverts on pages 82–83 all relate to mobile phones. Study theadverts carefully and consider these questions. (You do not need to read theannotations at this stage.)

• What sort of audience do you think each advert is aimed at? Consider eachaudience’s age, gender and whether they are mobile phone users or not.

• How does the amount of text used in each advert reflect its audience and purpose?

Be prepared to feed back your views, with evidence to support your answers.

Task 4

Composition and effect 2Learning from example

In this section you willread a persuasion textand explore how it iseffective. You willidentify and discuss itskey features, focusingon how it addressesthe audience and onthe writer’s choice ofwords and rhetoricaldevices.1

AIMS• Adapt the stylistic conventions of persuasion text

to fit different audiences and purposes and media.

• Present a case persuasively, using appropriaterhetorical devices and anticipating responsesand objections.

• Use different degrees of formality to suitaudience and purpose, recognising how thisinfluences word choice.

1 rhetorical devices – techniques used to persuade an audience,such as alliteration, emotive language and rhetorical questions(e.g. ‘anywhere and anytime’) (e.g. ‘Is there anyone who stillthinks that…?’)

Audience and purpose

As well as building up your writing skills, the following sections are good preparationfor the optional reading tests at the end of Year 8 because they help you to:

• comment on a writer’s purpose and the effects of the text on the reader

• comment on the structure and organisation of texts

• comment on a writer’s use of language

• deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas

• describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts.

If you show these skills in the reading test, you will gain a better mark.

Test watch

1 TM or Trademark – name or symbol that distinguishes a product from others 2 BluetoothTM, GPRS and PC synchronisation – top-of-the-range electronic

communication features

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Advert 1

Advert 2

Personalpronouns –(‘you’/’your’)appeal directlyto the reader

Association of ideas –these intend a would-bepurchaser to think thatif they buy this phonethey will be seen as areal business person aswell as ‘cool’

Weasel phrases –selected to persuadeand deceive

Technicalname –makesproductsoundeffective

Structure – a seriesof points supportingone viewpoint

Headings/slogans –emphasisekey messages

Repetition –drives homekey point

Clever useof language– associatesgood lookswith tradition

Emotivelanguage