Persuasive Writing Intro
Task 1: Define what persuasion is? Why do we persuade people?
Task 2: Imagine you are a sales person. Come up with reasons as to why your
customer should buy this car. How do you persuade them?
Task 3: READ the 3 separate examples of persuasive speeches. They all form parts of
three different opening speeches for a historic moment.
King George VI: Radio Address.
In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in history, I send to every household of my
peoples, both at home and overseas, this message, spoken with the same depth of feeling for
each one of you as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself.
For the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at war. Over and over again, we have
tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now
our enemies, but it has been in vain.
Winston Churchill: We shall fight on the beaches.
…we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the
beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the
streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do
not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and
starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet,
would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its
power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
John F Kennedy: The decision to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade
and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are
hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our
energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to
accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win,
and the others, too.
Task 4: Analyse each one and explain why they are persuasive. Use the questions
below to help you.
King George VI: Radio Address.
1. What makes this a powerful speech – find one example and explain the effect?
2. Find an example of a superlative and explain the effect?
Winston Churchill: We shall fight on the beaches.
1. What makes this a powerful speech – find one example and explain the effect?
2. Find an example of an active verb or phrase and explain the effect?
John
1.
2.
3.
F Kennedy: The decision to go to the moon.
What makes this a powerful speech – find one example and explain the effect?
Find an example of a repetition and explain the effect?
How does the speaker use sentence structure for effect?
Task 5: Write a paragraph analysing which speech is the most persuasive and why?
Use evidence to support your ideas.
The most persuasive speech is ……….. by …………. It is persuasive because the speaker ……..
In the text it says ……….. The use of the ……….. creates the effect of………..
In addition, they also say ……. This is persuasive because……….
Extension: Write an introduction to persuading the school that they need to have
more variety of food choices during lunch time?
Plan:
Good morning …… and ………, and welcome to my speech.
I am giving this speech today in order to tackle the ……………………… We are a fantastic school, but we
have a problem with ……….. I am here to persuade you that we need to ………………. in order to make
our school even greater!