Persuasive Essays - Creating a Title
The title of your persuasive essay will be the first words the marker
reads. Your title sends a strong signal to the marker about the
quality of your essay.
A title can:
• create immediate impact • show your intelligence • give information
• make the reader think • provoke emotion - anger, shock, disgust
• be humorous • convey your opinion • make your issue clear or
provide a combination of these.
Common language techniques which gain the reader's attention:
alliteration • questions • puns • rhyme • odd spelling •
repetition • emotive language • command • creative
punctuation • unusual use of words
Many modern autobiographies have titles using these techniques.
Examples of language techniques creating effective titles in
persuasive essays:
Title
Technique
The Nuclear
Nightmare
alliteration
KO is not OK
pun
Bent Business of
the Banana Trade
alliteration,
pun
Abortion - The
Silent Holocaust?
emotive lang
question
Effect
view on nuclear power clear, emotive
language
view against boxing clear, unusual use of
words, humour
humour, issue made clear, view made
clear
provokes shock/anger, issue made clear
Universities should
be Universal
pun
issue made clear, view made clear
Attack of the
Clones
pun
issue made clear, view made clear
There is Sense
in Defence
rhyme
issue made clear, view made
clear
Writing your Introduction
• After the title, the words you write in your introduction will be the
first that the marker reads.
• You should, therefore, consider carefully how you are going to
start your essay.
• This Section gives you constructive suggestions.
• Your Introduction should:
• capture the reader's attention
• show you can write with style
• make your issue clear
• make clear what you are arguing for
→ an effective introduction will impress the marker
Types of Introduction
• Examples of different types of introduction are explained below. You
can choose the type that you think works best for your essay.
• To help you understand the effectiveness of each type of introduction,
all the examples given here are introductions to a student's
persuasive essay with the title: "Increase the tax on tobacco - NOW!".
• The types of introduction explained in this Section are:
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Banner Headline
Person-in-the-street Quote (Vox Pops)
Statistical
Emotive
Personal Experience
• Whichever type of introduction you choose it is essential that
you link it to your point of view.
Banner Headlines
• You create your own newspaper banner headlines. Three will be
sufficient. Again, you must link them to a statement of your point of
view on the issue.
• This introduction immediately:
catches the reader's attention
places the reader in a dramatic situation
gives the reader information about the issue
makes the reader think
The appropriate conventions for headlines are:
block capital letters
inverted commas (".... ") or italics
exclamation marks (!)
list form
Banner Headlines - Example
"Lung cancer rates a major concern!"
"Teenage smoking - worrying statistics!"
"Smoking related illness - NHS under pressure!"
These types of headlines are common in newspapers today
as society battles against the tragic effects that smoking has
on the UK population. There is no doubt that these headlines
address a major problem about tobacco use. For too long it
has damaged the health of our population and the time has
now come to reduce the demand for tobacco by increasing
the tax on it...
Vox Pops Quote Introduction
• This introduction creates immediate impact by using typical
expressions heard about your issue.
• As always, you must link the quote to a statement of your view on
the issue.
• Use the appropriate conventions when setting out the quotes:
inverted commas ("......... ") or italics
exclamation marks (!)
list form
Vox Pops Quote Introduction - Example
"Addicted? No way! I could give up any time!“
"I'm dying for a fag!“
"My aunt smoked 40 a day all her life and lived till she was 85!“
These statements on smoking that we hear in our daily lives reveal
that some people in society have not accepted the dangers that
smoking can cause. Some smokers will only respond to the
immediate impact a price rise has on them. It is now time to
increase taxation on tobacco.’
Statistical Introduction
• This introduction presents a list of statistics gathered from your
research.
• These statistics:
show you have done research
show you have knowledge of your subject
provoke thoughts and emotions in the reader
The appropriate conventions in presenting the
statistics are:
all statistics must contain numbers
list form
Statistical Introduction - Example
Smoking causes 90% of deaths from lung cancer.
Smoking related diseases cost the NHS 2.7 billion pounds
a year.
Globally, there are 600,000 deaths a year from passive
smoking.
114,000 smokers in the UK die annually as a result of their
habit.
These statistics are a great cause for concern as they show
the widespread problem that the destructive effects of
smoking are having on the population. Now is the time to
increase taxes on tobacco to prevent more harmful effects
and pay for dealing with the harm already done.
Emotive Introduction
The Emotive Introduction is used to:
make the reader feel angry/shocked/sympathetic etc.
make clear what the issue is
show that your view is sincerely held
provide a link to your argument
Emotive Introduction - Example
Think about this. You have a cough most of the time. You are
always short of breath. You cough up phlegm with signs of blood in
it. It is sore when you breathe or cough. You have lost your appetite.
You feel permanently tired. You are losing weight. You would hate
this to be you but, unfortunately, this is what sufferers of lung cancer
have to face on a daily basis. Not all lung cancer is caused by
smoking but there is no doubt that in many cases smoking tobacco
has been the main factor. Raising revenues by increasing taxes on
tobacco will reduce demand and is an act of humanity.
Anecdotal Introduction
• In this introduction you write about your personal experience
of any aspect(s) of your issue.
• It is used to:
show your personal experience of the issue
show your knowledge of the issue
show you have thought about the issue
show you are an individual
provide a link to your argument
Anecdotal Introduction - Example
When my aunt Annie, who lived alone, died last year, my
sister and I helped to clear out her house. I took a family
picture off the wall in her living room. Where the picture had
been a perfect white square was left. I had always thought
that the wallpaper in her living room was a light brown colour
but I then realised it was, in fact, white. Her lungs must have
been a similar colour when she died because she smoked 40
cigarettes a day sitting in that room for thirty years. What
makes someone risk their health in this way? If cigarettes
had been more expensive would she have used them so
much? It is time to increase price through a tax rise on
cigarettes.