Persuasive Writing

The writer attempts to persuade the reader by trying to convince the reader to accept their point of view.

Purpose

Persuasive Writing Structure

Open with a statement of the issue being addressed.

State your position on the issue.

Main body of text contains the arguments that are elaborated with

reasons and evidence ( facts ).

End with a summary.

• Cause and effect• Opposing view• Action verbs• Repetition• Statistics and Facts• Emotive Language

Persuasive Writing Techniques

• Personal pronouns• Alliteration• Puns• Exaggeration• Rhetorical questions

Just remember… COARSE PAPER

Using words like ‘we’, ‘you’, ‘our’ and ‘us’ to make your audience think you are talking only to them.

Eg. Together, we can make a difference.

Personal pronouns

Words or phrases are repeated so that they stick in the reader’s mind.

e.g. remember what is was like to be at school; remember how much work you had?

Repetition Repetition Repetition

Repetition

Words can be used to make the reader feel a certain emotion, like sadness or anger.

e.g. We are the poor, helpless childrenwho are forced to do hours and hours

of homework every night.

Emotive Language

When information is given that is over the top, or slightly untrue.

e.g. If I get one more piece ofhomework, I am going to move to the

moon!

Exaggeration

Using questions that don’t need an answer to get the reader to think.

e.g. Could you live with yourself if you missed out on this opportunity?

Rhetorical questions

When truthful information is givento back up a point.

e.g. 95% of pupils feel that there is toomuch homework.

Facts and Statistics

Action verbs encourage the reader to do something quickly and convey a sense of urgency and command.

“When you get home, go to your fridge and have a look at the amount of sugar and fatty foods in it. Ask yourself, are you doing

the right thing for your family?”

“ I urge you all to …”

“do something now!”

Action verbs

Refuting an opposing view.

“Although some people think ……, I feel this misses the point as…”

Opposing view

Smoking leads to cancer.

Eating too much junk food makes us fat.

Speed and you will be caught.

Cause and effect

Play on words. Puns grab attention and create rapport by using humour.

Eg. If you have a fear of hurdles, you just need to get over it.

Puns

Repeating the consonant sounds at the beginning ofwords to make them stand out.

Eat Yo Yos. They’re yummy in your mouth!

Alliteration