Persuasive Writing
Techniques
AFOREST and FAP
Persuasive Writing
It means how would you
persuade someone to do or not
to do something, or to buy an
item or service?
What does this stand for?
Persuasive Techniques
A
F
O
R
E
S
T
A
ANECDOTE (STORY)
F
FACTS
O
OPINIONS
R
RHETORICAL QUESTION
E
EMOTIVE LANGUAGE
S
STATISTICS
T
TRIPLETS
Find & extract examples
of AFOREST in the
‘Smoking’ Essay
Anecdotes
Facts
Opinion
Rhetorical questions
Emotive language
Statistics
Triplet
Anecdotes
‘His name is John. He is smoking that
is a disgusting habit, which at times
makes me question whether I want to
be his friend’
Anecdotes make things real – they give
a real life example of what you are
explaining
Facts
‘In fact, the chances of getting lung
cancer if you smoke is 40% higher
than if you do not smoke’
They are concrete proof which support
what you are saying.
Opinions
I think it is wrong for teenagers to
smoke.
An exposition requires you to state
your opinion, so you should make it
clear.
Rhetorical Questions
Do you have a friend who smokes?
So why should we not smoke?
Don’t you think education is more
important than smoking?
Makes the reader think, designed to
‘hook’ them into your text
Emotive language
Disgusting
Terrible
Rot
Dangerous
Costly
Bitter
It creates effect & drama!
Statistics
A standard pack of cigarettes costs $7,
which if you smoke one a day adds up
to $42 per week.
Cannot be argued with and makes
everything more persuasive
Triplets
‘It can cause diseases, it costs a lot of
money and can result in poor oral
hygiene.’
People remember things in threes.
E.g. Mars had ‘helps you work, rest
and play’
Persuasive techniques
• These are the things that show that you
are trying to persuade your audience and
make things very real for them.
• They are excellent ways to start your
essay, link paragraphs and end an essay.
AUDIENCE – who you are aiming at
– different audiences will be looking
for different things e.g. ‘cool’ has a
different meaning to a young and a
mature audience.
FORM e.g. letter,
poster, leaflet,
newspaper article
Every form will
require different
features/language
conventions e.g. a
poster will need to
be constructed
differently to a
leaflet.
FAP
PURPOSE - why you are
writing – are you
persuading? Informing?
Explaining?