KEY STAGE THREEREVISION NOTES
PAPER TWO
Writing to Argue, Persuade and
Advise, including Advertising
Have a WATCH and
TIME yourself!
• SECTION A Non Fiction Leaflet: 40
minutes
• READING TIME: 10 Minutes
• Section A, Question 1: 3-5 Minutes
• Section A, Question 2: 5-7 Minutes
• Section A, Question 3: 20 Minutes
Have a WATCH and
TIME yourself!
• SECTION B Writing to Argue, Persuade and Advise:
35mins
• BRAINSTORM your title, think of possibilities
for your topic: 3 mins
• PLAN your work-develop one point of argument
per paragraph. 2mins
• Use the rhetorical devices that are part of
persuasive writing in your answer, e.g, rhetorical
questions, repetition, exaggeration etc.
Audience
• AUDIENCE-the group of people that
will read your piece of writing.
• E.g., FHM-the audience would be
males in their late teens to twenties.
• E.g., The Rugrats Annual-the
audience would be young children
aged five to ten year olds.
Audience Continued…
• We know when a piece of writing is aimed
at a young audience as the sentences will
be short and simple with a limited
vocabulary.
• Teenagers are most difficult to write for
as they need advice on certain things but
do not want to be talked down to.
Purpose
• PURPOSE-the reason you are writing the article
or piece of writing.
• Reasons-to inform, entertain, explain, describe
etc.
• E.g., Sports Page-to inform readers about the
latest sporting events.
• E.g., Harry Potter Books- to entertain readers of
all ages.
• E.g., Recipe Instructions-to describe how to
bake/cook something.
Brochures
• Brochures are booklets which provide us
with information.
• The language of a brochure is important as
it needs to get the message across of
what the brochure is about easily.
• It is used to advertise new cars,
supermarkets, charities and holidays.
• Brochures are designed to inform and
persuade.
Leaflets
• Leaflets are small sized texts (1-2 sides of A4)
• The language is an important part of the text in
order to allow the reader to know what it is about
quickly.
• Leaflets are aimed at a clear audience.
• E.g., Risks to Health from Smoking-aimed at
smokers.
• E.g., MMR Vaccinations-Aimed at parents of young
infants/toddlers.
Writing to Persuade…
• When writing to persuade you aim is to convince
the reader about a certain topic or idea.
• There are a number of techniques that we must
recognise and must use in persuasive writing.
• These techniques are known as RHETORICAL
DEVICES and include; bias including (emotive
language, selection, underplaying and
exaggeration), repetition, short sentences,
rhetorical questions and the use of ‘we’ or ‘you’
in the text itself.
Bias in Persuasive
Writing
• When a referee ignores a foul by a team
he/she likes, then he/she is described as
biased.
• The referee is judging unfairly because
he/she likes one team more than another.
• When news reporters allow their own views
to affect the way they write about the
news, this is also bias.
Bias in Persuasive
Writing
• Bias does not mean lying about the
facts-just presenting them in an
unbalanced way.
• There are three main types of bias:
– Emotive Language
– Selection (Leaving things out)
– Exaggeration and Underplaying
Persuasive Writing
Continued…
• Emotive Language creates an emotional
reaction in the audience.
• It gets the reader involved in the topic
discussed.
• Emotive words; anger, fury, shocking, kill,
freedom, horrific, fabulous.
• E.g., In Africa terrible poverty is
depriving children of good health-they are
dying and need help.
Look at the following
examples:
• Read the following two slides.
• Which slide grabs your attention and
makes you feel threatened by the
dangers of smoking?
• Can you explain why one passage
works better than the other?
Example One-Smoking is
not Good for you!
• Smoking is not good for you.
Cigarettes contain nicotine and this
hurts your lungs very badly. The
smoke is not good for you either. It
can even dry up your skin so that
when you are thirty you look much
older. Smoking can lead to serious
diseases.
Example Two-Smoking is
not Good for you!
• People who are hooked on cigarettes
forget some things. They forget the
foul smell in their clothes, hair and
teeth. They forget the way the
smoke creeps silently into their skin,
drying it from the inside. They
forget the agony that disease will
bring to them and their family.
The Explanation…
• The second slide grabs our attention for a
number of reasons.
• It uses emotive language to give the
message more power, e.g., ‘…hooked…foul
smells…smoke creeps
silently…ignore…agony…’
• It uses repetition, e.g., ‘They forget…they
forget…they forget…
Selection in Persuasive
Writing
• Selection in persuasive writing means
including some of the facts while
leaving out others.
• Look at the following example, what
difference would it make if the
words in bold were left out?
Selection in Persuasive
Writing…
• The school has never had an exam failure
because none of its pupils have ever
taken an exam. It has a well equipped
computing centre but no classrooms or
teachers.
• What kind of school is described above
when we take away the bold writing?
• This is known as selection.
Exaggeration is best
explained by an example…
• The Liverpool striker found a gap the size
of a battleship in Sheffield’s defence and
torpedoed the ball into the net. The
Sheffield goalie looked as if he was about
to start blubbering like a two year old.
• The reporter here has exaggerated (gone
over the top) in relation to what happened
at the football match.
Underplaying is best
explained by an example
• The arrest of the Prime Minister’s son for trying
to burn down Buckingham Palace has been a slight
temporary setback for the government. A
government spokesman blamed ‘youthful high
spirits’ and added that ’This sort of thing happens
all the time in politics.’
• Underplaying is the opposite of exaggeration.
• It means making something smaller or less
important than it really is.
• E.g., The world ending tomorrow is seen a a slight
setback for Prince Charles’ wedding.
Repetition in Persuasive
Writing
• Repetition is the repeating of words and
phrases in a text in order to emphasise a
point.
• Often patterns of three are used for
effect in the text, e.g., They forget was
used three times in the smoking example.
• Martin Luther King’s famous ‘I have a
Dream’ speech repeats ‘I have a dream..’
eight times in closely linked paragraphs.
Short Sentences in
Persuasive Writing
• Short snappy sentences are often used in
persuasive writing in order to have an
impact with the audience or for
emphasising a point.
• E.g., Stop. Look. Listen. Live. These are the
words of the recent advertising campaign
for Road Safety persuading young people
to be careful on the road.
Rhetorical Questions in
Persuasive Writing
• Rhetorical Questions are questions used in a
text where the writer does not expect to
get an answer.
• E.g., Where in the world would you expect
to find a car as smooth as the new Toyota
Avensis?
• The question has been used as a means of
drawing the reader in and the writer knows
that nobody will answer the question.
The use of ‘We’ and ‘You’
in Persuasive Writing
• Writers often use ‘We’ to show that they
have something in common with the
reader/listener.
• ‘E.g., ‘We help children suffering from all
types of diseases.’
• Writers often use ‘You’ to address the
reader directly in order to get their
attention.
• E.g., ‘Without your help these children do
not have a chance of survival.’
Writing to Argue
• When we write to argue we are writing in
order to express a certain point of view.
• Start off with a topic sentence that
clearly shows what side of the debate you
are on.
• E.g., People who wear fur coats should be
dragged out and shot for doing so.
• The above topic sentence shocks the
reader as well as showing what side of the
debate the writer is on.
Writing to Argue…
• Argumentative writing is similar to
persuasive writing in that is uses emotive
language and rhetorical questions to help
get the point across.
• However argumentative writing should also
include a mixture of facts and opinions to
help with the argument.
• E.g., I believe that anyone who wears fur
is barbaric. (Opinion)
• E.g., Almost 150foxes are slaughtered in
order to create one fox coat. (Fact)
Writing to Argue…
• Argumentative writing also allows the
writer to include some anecdotal evidence
or personal stories to help support their
point.
• E.g., I saw how one animal was chained to
a fence and starved to death in order that
the fur would come off easily when it was
time to make the coat.
Writing to Advise
• Writing to advise means telling the
reader to carry out something for
their own benefit or safety.
• E.g., Stop Smoking, Change Your
Eating Habits.
• Writing to Advise is easy to
recognise because of the following:
Writing to Advise Key
Points
• Writing to advise includes the imperative
verb, i.e., a verb giving an order.
• E.g., Do…Stop…Give…Open…Turn
• It also includes modal verbs, i.e., verbs
that suggest something.
• E.g., You May…Must…Should…Could…
• The writer uses ‘I’ or ‘You’ as a means of
speaking directly to the reader.
Writing Letters
• There are two types of letter you may be
asked to write.
• Formal Letter-a letter written when
applying for a job or a place on a course or
to express a point of view to a newspaper.
• Informal Letter-a letter written to a
friend or relative to stay in touch.
Formal Letters
• Formal letters have a fixed layout that you
must follow to show that it is a formal
letter.
• If you know the person you are writing to,
write Dear Mr.Sharvin and sign off with
Yours sincerely.
• If you do not know the person you are
writing to, write Dear Sir/Madam and sign
off with Yours faithfully.
• Look carefully where the addresses and
date is placed on the following letters.
Formal Letter Layout-you know who you are writing to…
De La Salle High
Struell Road
Downpatrick
Co. Down
30/09/05
29 Struell Road
Downpatrick
Co. Down
Dear Mr. and Mrs. McLoone,
I am writing to let you know that your son has been expelled….(Detail of first
paragraph)
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me…(Detail of
second paragraph)
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Sharvin
Formal Letter Layout-you do not know who you
are writing to…
De La Salle High
Struell Road
Downpatrick
Co. Down
30/09/05
CGP Publications
Main Street
Downpatrick
Co. Down
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing in relation to the books I ordered recently from your company…(Detail
of first paragraph)
Please let me know if you can solve this matter as it is urgent…(Detail of second
paragraph)
Yours faithfully,
Mr. Sharvin
Informal Letters
• Informal letters are written to friends or
relatives.
• You need to include your address and the
date.
• You do not need to include the address of
the person you are writing to.
• Start with Dear John and finish with Best
Wishes…Love from…Lots of Love…
Informal Letter Layout
29 Struell Road
Downpatrick
Co. Down
30/09/05
Dear John,
It’s Jim here. I hope you and your family are keeping well… (Detail of first paragraph)
You’ll never guess what? I scored the winning goal…(Detail of second paragraph)
I have to go now, I will call you soon. Don’t forget to write back!
Best wishes,
Jim
Key Stage Three Letter
Writing
• Getting the correct letter layout is
important however what you say is most
important.
• A good letter should be clear with a good
structure, appropriate to audience and
purpose.
• In your exam you may be asked to write a
formal letter to a magazine or newspaper
explaining your point of view on something.
Arguing in Letter
Writing…
• To argue convincingly you need to make a
series of clear and logical points.
• Use anecdotal evidence (personal stories),
facts, opinions and examples to support
your point.
• You can give your argument more impact by
using emotive language, rhetorical
questions, repetition etc.
Writing an Article…
• You may be asked to write a newspaper or
magazine article.
• There are a number of steps you can take
to prepare you for your article.
• Look at the following and complete
yourself in relation to the heading;
There is not enough for teens to do in
our area.
Take the following steps
in writing an article…
• Brainstorm ideas on a page-What can teens do?
Where do they go during the day? Where do they
go at night?
• Select five key points that you can develop into a
paragraph.
• Use examples, facts, opinions and anecdotal
evidence to support your argument.
• E.g., 200 teens between the age of 15 and 17 live
on my estate and have nowhere to go to chill out.
• (The above fact may not be true but show that
you know to use facts etc in your argumentative
writing).
Writing an article
continued…
• Make sure you have a strong opening and
ending to your article.
• Use a rhetorical question, a quote from a
song/poem or make a statement.
• E.g., Children today need somewhere to
hang out other than street corners!
If you are writing a
newspaper article…
• Follow the same steps as shown before.
• Make sure you have a catchy heading for
your article. E.g., LEAVE THEM KIDS
ALONE!
• Use sub headings if you need to and make
sure you use paragraphs.
• Re-read your article to ensure it makes
sense and to check for errors.
Advertising
• The aim of the language of advertising is
to get a product or service noticed.
• An advertisement wants to persuade us
that his/her product is the best available
so the language of advertising is quite
often exaggerated.
• E.g., Gilette the best a man can get!
• E.g., Carlsberg, probably the best larger in
the world!
The Language of
Advertising
• Advertising often use clichés. Clichés are
well known and often over used phrases.
• E.g., Sun kissed beaches…Miles of golden
sand…Sun, sea, sand and surf
• Notice the four s’s in the last example.
Having consonants that are the same
beside each other is known as alliteration
and used in writing for impact; to make it
catchy.
When looking at an advertisement
consider the following:
• What takes up the most space? Is
there a reason for this?
• Look at the colours. Do they suggest
anything? Red-Danger…BlackSerious/Death…Green-Nature
• What is in large print?
• Is anything in bold or italics?
When looking at an advertisement
consider the following:
•
•
•
•
Can you find a fact?
Can you find an opinion?
Can you find an example of exaggeration?
Are there any pictures? If so, what is
their purpose?
• What is the purpose of headings,
subheadings or bullet points if there are
any included?
Language we associate
with Advertising:
• WORDSNew…Free…Amazing…Miracle…Magic
…Quick…Easy…Improved…
• PHRASESNew Improved…Added Value
…Country Fresh…Best Money Can Buy!
Language we associate
with Advertising:
• COMPARATIVESFaster…Better…Happier…Brighter…
• SUPERLATIVESFastest…Best…Happiest…Brightest…
• COMPARATIVES– What’s so different about our music?
– Why is everybody talking about Cool FM?
Language we associate
with Advertising:
• IMPERATIVES–
–
–
–
–
Try it today!
Go on, Give it a go!
Treat yourself
Relax
Sit back
All of the above talk directly to the
reader/audience
Language we associate
with Advertising:
• SLOGANS-are catchy phrases that help us
to remember a product or service.
• Slogans often use rhyme, alliteration or
puns.
• E.g., You can do it when you B&Q it!
(Rhyme)
• E.g., Cool, crisp, clear Carlsberg
(Alliteration)
• E.g., Currys always cutting prices! (Pun)
Language we associate
with Advertising:
• LOGOS-are often used in advertising by
advertisers in order to help us remember
the product/service.
• They are most often symbols or emblems
that represent the company or product.
• E.g., The Coca Cola Ribbon
• E.g., The Nike Swoosh
Revision-Familiarise
yourself with the following:
•
•
•
•
Audience and Purpose
Features of Leaflets and Brochures
Rhetorical Devices & Biased Writing
Features of Writing to
Argue/Persuade/Advise
• Letter Layout and Article Layout
• Features of Advertising