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Persuasive texts

Purpose: To argue the case for a point of view

To attempt to convince the reader

Structure: Opening statement - introduce your point of view

Arguments - point and evidence
Conclusion - repeat your point of view

Features: Present tense

Connectives (logical not time) - because, however, this
shows, etc.

Language techniques:

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

 Groups of three
When three adjectives or phrases are used together to make them stand out.
e.g. Homework is boring, dull and uninteresting

 Rhetorical questions-
Using questions that don’t need an answer to get the audience to think.
e.g. Could you live with yourself if you missed out on this opportunity?

 Repetition-
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.

 Emotive language
When words are used to make the reader feel a certain emotion, like sadness or
anger.
e.g. We are the poor, helpless children who are forced to do hours and hours
of homework every night.

 Exaggeration
When information is given that is over the top, or slightly untrue.
e.g. If I get one more piece of homework, I am going to move to the moon!

 Facts and statistics

When truthful information is given to back up a point.
e.g. 95% of pupils feel that there is too much homework.
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Persuasive text

In year 7 students should be expected to complete at least one hour of

set homework each day.
Write an argument for or against this position. This essay may be read by the
school principal to the Parents and Citizens’ Association to represent an opinion of
a year seven student.

Homework, an Unnecessary Burden

Schools should not interfere with students’ time out of school hours by
setting homework.
Students already spend a great deal of their lives doing school work. By the
end of year seven, students will have done seven thousand hours of time in
school. Year seven students, being mostly twelve and under are still
technically children and it is not acceptable for children to work for over six
hours a day.
All students come from different families. Some students have to look after
younger brothers and sisters while their parents are still at work. Some
travel for over an hour to get to and from school. For some families
homework creates a lot of tension. Tired parents have the extra job of
helping children to do home work and of making sure that homework gets
done. In these situations homework is not a good thing for students or their
families.
Education is not just something which happens through school work.
Education happens through life experience. Hanging about with friends and
being part of a family or a neighbourhood provide life experiences to think
about and to write about. When students spend time doing homework they
are often missing out on all of this. Homework is therefore sometimes anti-
educational.
Schools need to appreciate the experiences students bring from home
rather than imposing school work on students’ personal and family life
beyond school.
Questions
1. What is the author’s position on homework? Provide two quotes that support your
answer.
2. What are the ‘topic sentences’ in this text?
3. Has the author supported his/her argument with facts and examples? Give an
example of this.
Activity
Now it’s your turn! Write a persuasive text, like the one we’ve just looked at, about the
following topic:
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Animals should be kept in the wild not in captivity. Write an argument for or against this
position.