THE TEN PERSUASIVE WRITING CRITERIA
Marking
criterion
Audience
Description
The writer’s capacity to orient,
engage and persuade the reader.
How-to guide!
The criterion of Audience addresses a student’s ability to understand the context of the text, and demonstrate awareness of the
relationship between the reader and the writer. Students will be provided with a general stimulus inviting them to persuade the
reader to agree with their opinions. As such, students should endeavor to control the reader/writer relationship in their writing
through techniques such as:
 Establishing a strong, credible voice;
 Using persuasive language techniques to influence and convince the reader; and
 Ensuring consideration is given to the readers’ values and expectations.
Essentially, students need to be taught how to “engage and convince the reader” of the their opinions.
TIPS:
Presenting alternative points of view is an effective way to engage and persuade the reader. Students should be cautious to avoid expressing narrow-minded views such as ‘soccer is every
boys favourite sport’. Instead students consider other possibilities – here are some helpful sentence structures to acknowledge alternate views:
 Even though
 Although
 While
 I appreciate that
 However
ACTIVITY:
In groups or individually provide students with a stimulus (statement or topic) and have them:
1. Brainstorm a defendable position related to a particular statement or topic.
2. Visualize (and communicate) the type of reader they want to convince.
3. Write a paragraph which influences what the reader knows, thinks and feels.
The NAPLAN instructions insist that students write an essay with three recognizable structural component parts – introduction,
body and conclusion. It is very important that students know what belongs in each component.
Text structure
The organisation of the structural
components of a persuasive text
(introduction, body and
conclusion) into an appropriate
and effective text structure.
The introduction should clearly indicate the issue and the writer’s point of view.
The body should take the reader through the thoughts of the reader – using a series of points with detailed supporting evidence.
To prove their point, students can use techniques such as: arguments for and against, comparing and contrasting, showing
problem and solution, showing cause and effect, and listing and describing part. This section should include multiple paragraphs
each containing a separate idea with a corresponding topic sentence.
The conclusion should reinforce the writer’s position through strongly repeating what they believe with a summary of the reasons
why. A call to action might be appropriate if the topic and the approach taken in the essay leads to such a call.
ACTIVITY:
Understanding the structured writing scaffold:
 Get your students to explore and practice persuasive text structures with Spellodrome’s Writing Fun by Jenny Fahey
Students are required to write their own opinion and to draw on personal knowledge and experience when responding to test
topics.
Ideas
The selection, relevance and
elaboration of ideas for a
persuasive argument.
The way a student presents their ideas will indicate to the marker their level of capability.
 Lower order thinking: students write their opinion about a certain topic and give reasons for it.
 Higher order thinking: students write a comparative side response, looking at the positives and negatives of both sides of
the argument and arguing to take one side. Alternatively, student could explore the cause and effect of a particular topic
to persuade the reader. More competent students will even look to introduce other ideas besides those presented by the
question. For example, City v Country – considering a large country town and the benefits of combining country and city
life.
The selection, relevance and elaboration of ideas is also assessed based on the source of the ideas presented.
 Lower order thinking: students present themselves as the source of all, or most of the ideas. ‘I think’ ‘In my opinion’.
 Higher order thinking: students present ideas which reflect the wider world or values shared by other groups of people.
This gives greater efficacy to their thoughts, and can be achieved through referring to groups such as ‘the community’,
‘Australians’ or ‘the population’. Moreover, through referring to ‘experts’, ‘researchers’ or ‘the government’, students can
suggest that people who have knowledge or power share a certain opinion.
ACTIVITY:
#1 Teach how to effectively “brainstorm” around a topic. When students have plenty of ideas, they need to know how to select only those most relevant to the purpose and to the topic as
they have defined it.
Choose a topic and get students to generate ideas under structural headings to help broaden their idea scope. For example:
 What? Description of the issue and definition of terms used in the debate;
 Who? Affected parties – consider different groups in society who are associated with or impacted by the topic (students, teachers, adults, children, the government, schools);
 Why? What are the implications of the issues/topic for each of the identified parties?
 Other? The contending opinions and arguments.
#2 Divide the class into different groups and get students to participate in a debate where they have to argue one side of an argument.
To persuade the reader to agree with the thoughts and arguments of the writer, a range of persuasive devices must be used –
beyond simply making objective statements. Using a range of persuasive devices will assist in affirming the thoughts of the writer
and persuading the reader.
Persuasive
devices
The use of a range of persuasive
devices to enhance the writer’s
position and persuade the reader.
Stronger writers will incorporate persuasive devices into their writing in a way that is appropriate to the style of the argument, and
appeals to one or more of the reader’s reason, values or emotions.
Common persuasive devices that students should try to use in their writing include:
 Emotive language
 Leading questions
 Connotative language
 Repeated or cumulative patterns
 Empathetic and emotive arguments
 Personal anecdotes based on the writers experience
ACTIVITY:
Using exemplary persuasive texts is an effective way to communicate the vast range of persuasive devices to students. This can be through famous speeches, debates, manipulative
advertisements, posters and anything else you can think of. Get students to identify the various persuasive devices used and the different techniques that can be used to appeal to the
emotions of the reader.
The vocabulary criterion is based upon a student’s ability to use a range of precise and effective words and word groups in their
writing. Marks will also be awarded for student’s ability to appropriately match their language choice with the style of the
argument. The NAPLAN criteria classifies words into two classes:
1.
2.
Content words – i.e. those that describe objects of concepts (nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, noun groups, phrasal verbs
and verb groups).
Grammatical word classes – i.e. structural words (prepositions, articles, conjunctions, pronouns, and interjections).
Example of basic vs. advanced vocabulary:
Vocabulary
The range and precision of
contextually appropriate
language choices.
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Basic
Single nouns – water, award, house
Simple noun groups – a very helpful man, a tin cage
Single verbs – quick, like, run, look
Simple verb groups – did it the proper way, acted without a
thought
Adjectives and adverbs – cold, always, really, friendly
Simple comparisons – as much as she can, the best teacher
I ever had, one of the fastest
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Advanced
Single precise words – citizen, urge, budget, research
Modal adjectives & adverbs – ultimate, certain, extreme
Precise word groups – duty of care, quick-minded person, a
positive impact on society
Modal groups – it would seem that, it is unlikely that
Technical – habitat, life expectancy, politician, global
warming
Nominalisations – probability, likelihood
Figurative language – eg/alliteration, metaphor, simile,
personification
ACTIVITY:
Using synonyms can help to improve student vocabulary, however given that the topic of the writing task is unknown, it is very difficult to practice topic vocabulary. However, it is possible
to practice some of the words often used in persuasive writing – for example:
 An idea – thought, proposal, plan, scheme
 The problem – dilemma, situation, circumstances, issue
 The answer – solution, resolution
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To think – believe, consider
To say – state, claim, suggest, recommend, propose
An opinion – belief, attitude, view, viewpoint
A way – method, means, technique
To fix – improve, solve, alter
Students should practice using some of these words so that instead of always using “say” in their writing test, they can vary their vocabulary and use better words like “claim” with the same
meaning.
Example:
 Many teachers think that balancing schoolwork and physical activity is very important. They think students should spend time doing both activities in order to keep their minds
and their bodies active.
 Many teachers consider that balancing schoolwork and physical activity is very important. They believe students should spend time doing both activities in order to keep their
minds and their bodies active.
The cohesion criteria assesses a student’s ability to demonstrate continuity of ideas throughout their writing in a way that
enhances the reading experience and supports the underlying relationships across the text.
Students can demonstrate this through the consistent use of appropriate cohesive devices to signal structural relationships:
Type of relationship
Purpose, reason, cause and effect
Cohesion
The control of multiple threads
and relationships across the text,
achieved through the use
of grammatical
elements (referring words, text
connectives, conjunctions) and
lexical elements (substitutions,
repetitions, word associations).
Similarity and difference
Condition
Qualification and concession
Supplementation
Verbal ‘signposts’
Because, for that reason, thus, due to these factors, as a result
of this, subsequently, so that, since, in order to, therefore, for
that reason, consequently
Similarly, like/unlike, while, for example, as exemplified by, in
cases such as, as shown by
If, where, whereas, wherever, whenever it is the case that,
provided that, which
But, although, however, despite this, even though,
admittedly, while it is true that, undoubtedly/possibly
And, furthermore, as well as this, additionally
Using connectives can also help student to improve students writing, for example:
 In addition
 Furthermore
 Moreover
 To conclude
 In summary
*Table: Queensland Studies Authority
Paragraphing is very important to help students organize their ideas. Students must demonstrate planned division within their
writing, thereby structuring their text in a way that enhances the reader’s experience.
Paragraphing
The segmenting of text into
paragraphs that assists the reader
to follow the line of argument.
Students should focus on using topic sentences to let the reader know exactly what each paragraph is about, and should only
include one argument per paragraph.
Higher marks will be awarded to students who are able to order their paragraphs in a way that cumulatively builds argument across
their text.
ACTIVITY:
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Provide students with a stimulus and have them develop a framework for a potential essay including:
o Introduction – students to write introduction in full.
o Body – students to construct topic sentences for each of their paragraphs with appropriate cohesive devices.
o Conclusion – students to write in full.
NB: Students should be reminded to make the start of their paragraphs very clear – either through indenting a new line, leaving space between blocks of text or clearly annotating the start
of a new paragraph.
Sentence
structure
The production of grammatically
correct, structurally sound and
meaningful sentences.
The sentence structure criteria awards students for their ability to generate a variety of sentence structures using correct spelling
and grammar. Variety is demonstrated through:
 Clause types and patterns (verbless, adjectival, adverbial, multiple, non-finite)
 Dependent clause position
 Length and rhythm
 Increased elaboration and extension, and
 Stylistically appropriate choices.
Higher marks will be awarded for complex and compound sentences that express precise meaning and are consistently effective,
as opposed to using simple sentences.
ACTIVITY:
Students should revise nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, pronouns, phrases, contractions and high frequency homophones. Students should then practice putting these into practice.
For example:
Using conjunctions in a sentence will generate a more meaningful, structurally sound sentence than a long sentence with sophisticated language necessarily will.
 Simple sentence - I don’t think animals should be put in cages.
 Basic complex sentence – I think it is cruel because the animals have no freedom.
 Complex sentence with dependent clause – If animals are kept in cages or zoos all their lives, they have no chance if or when they are let out into the wild.
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Extended complex sentence (i.e. two non-finite dependent clauses embedded in an extended main clause) – That is why keeping animals in cages, disregarding their need for
open spaces, is a terrible act of cruelty and mistreatment.
Punctuation
Spelling
The use of correct and
appropriate punctuation to aid
the reading of the text.
The accuracy of spelling and the
difficulty of the words used.
Whilst advanced punctuation can demonstrate greater skill in student knowledge, it is imperative that students get the basics
absolutely correct. The appropriate use of sentence boundary punctuation such as full stops and capital letters is essential –
especially when students begin to experiment with more sophisticated sentence structures.
The spelling criterion assesses student’s spelling ability over the entire text. Marks are awarded for mastering more complex words,
however it is very important that students continually review their work for spelling mistakes to ensure minor errors are minimised.
ACTIVITY:
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Practice identifying spelling & punctuation errors in short, long, simple and complex sentences.
Recall spelling tips for unfamiliar words – (Look, Cover, Write, Check)