PERSUASIVE WRITING:

CONVENTIONS
YEAR 11 READING TO WRITE 2018: DYSTOPIA
 RHETORIC: THE ART OF
PERSUASION
GREEK PHILOSOPHER ARISTOTLE (4 B.C.) CREATED THE ART OF
PERSUASION. HE CONSIDERED THAT AUDIENCES CAN BE
MANIPULATED BY OPINION, RATHER THAN FACTS.

“THE ORATOR SHOULD BE ABLE TO PROVE OPPOSITES, AS IN

LOGICAL ARGUMENTS; NOT THAT WE SHOULD DO BOTH （FOR
ONE OUGHT NOT TO PERSUADE PEOPLE TO DO WHAT IS
WRONG）, BUT THAT THE REAL STATE OF THE CASE MAY NOT
ESCAPE US, AND THAT WE OURSELVES MAY BE ABLE TO
COUNTERACT FALSE ARGUMENTS, IF ANOTHER MAKES AN
UNFAIR USE OF THEM.” (ARISTOTLE, RHETORIC)
 OVERVIEW OF PERSUASIVE RHETORICAL
DISCOURSE
• FOLLOWING THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHERS, PERSUASIVE RHETORICAL
DISCOURSE IS CONSTITUTED BY:
• 1) THE SELECTION OF IDEAS (INVENTION)
• 2) THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE IDEAS INTO ARGUMENTS OR PROOFS (DISPOSITION)
• 3) THE CHOICE OF LANGUAGE (STYLE)
 HOW IS THIS ACHIEVED? IN ONE OF THREE
WAYS:
• ETHOS – PERSUADING BY APPEALING TO THE READERS’ VALUES (ETHICS)

• LOGOS – PERSUADING BY THE MEANS OF LOGICAL REASONING (LOGIC)

• PATHOS – PERSUADING BY APPEALING TO THE READERS’ EMOTION (PATHOS - PITY)

WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF PERSUASIVE
TEXTS?

Uses
Persuades reasoning,
the audience facts,
An argument to believe examples
your opinion and quotes to
on the topic. convince the
responder.
 WHAT IS THE LANGUAGE OF PERSUASIVE
TEXTS?
• INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE • EMOTIVE LANGUAGE

• RHETORICAL QUESTIONS • HYPERBOLE

• HIGH MODALITY LANGUAGE • SCIENTIFIC LANGUAGE (JARGON)

• INTERTEXTUAL ALLUSIONS • STATISTICS

• TONE • ANECDOTES

• POINT OF VIEW – FIRST PERSON • REPETITION

• ARGUING AGAINST THE OPPOSING VIEW BY PROVIDING • PUNS/HUMOUR

COUNTERPOINTS AGAINST THEM
• PATRIOTIC STATEMENTS
• IDIOMS
• EMPHATIC STATEMENTS
• GENERALISATION
KEY STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS OF PERSUASIVE
TEXTS
Aspect of text Description

1. Audience The writer’s capacity to orient, engage and persuade the reader

1. Text structure The organisation of the structural components (introduction,

body and conclusion) into an appropriate and effective text
structure
1. Ideas The selection, relevance and elaboration of ideas for a persuasive
argument
1. Persuasive devices The use of a range of persuasive devices to enhance the writer’s
position and persuade the reader

1. Vocabulary The range and precision of contextually appropriate language

choices

1. Cohesion The control of multiple threads and relationships over the whole
text, achieved through the use of referring words, ellipsis,
substitutions, word associations and text connectives

1. Paragraphs The segmenting of text into paragraphs that assists the reader to
follow the line of argument

1. Sentence structure The production of grammatically correct, structurally sound and

meaningful sentences
 SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS: EXAMPLES OF
PERSUASIVE STRUCTURE AND LANGUAGE
‘STOP WRITING DYSTOPIAN SCI-FI – IT’S MAKING US ALL FEAR TECHNOLOGY’ BY
MICHAEL SOLANA
“THE NEWS IS BLEAK. WITH EBOLA ON U.S. SOIL, WE ARE ONE INFECTED MONKEY
AWAY FROM THE PLOT OF OUTBREAK. RUSSIA IS THREATENING TO INVADE THE
UKRAINE. WE ARE BLOWING THINGS UP IN IRAQ AGAIN, WHERE STARVING CHILDREN
ARE BEING MASSACRED. THERE IS OVERPOPULATION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE; THERE
IS PEAK OIL; THERE IS A TRULY ALARMING SPIKE IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF AUTISM. WE
ARE A SOCIETY FACED WITH MANY PROBLEMS. THINGS, TO PUT IT MILDLY, COULD BE
BETTER.”