Name ___________________________________________________________________
Higher Writing Portfolio
Discursive Writing
Persuasive Essay
Discursive Writing
Choose your topic carefully. It needs to be something which will allow you
to construct a clear and sensible argument. The more you are genuinely
interested in and engaged with the topic the better and more interesting your
writing will be.
Some research and background reading is advisable but don’t overdo it,
because simply presenting a series of “facts” does not make for an effective
piece of discursive writing. It’s your ideas the marker wants to read, not
others people’s. Remember to keep a careful record of the sources you
consult.
Try to use some of the techniques which you see (and answer questions on)
in Reading for UAE passages, for example link sentences, clear
paragraphing, effective word choice and sentence structures, etc.
The SQA, perhaps confusingly, define three types of discursive writing: persuasive essays;
argumentative essays and the report. The advice in these worksheets will consider
persuasive writing only.
Persuasive
Persuasive writing will persuade to a purpose or point of view (for
example, to sell a product, or influence opinion/belief), usually concerning
itself with a single topic or issue.
The careful handling of opinions and presentation of argument is essential to this kind of
writing. It requires skilful use of language and emotive presentation of ideas.
Selection of topic
There are several issues to consider:
1. Originality does help an essay to stand out. With this in mind, it is worth rejecting
common topics such as euthanasia, legalisation of drugs, drugs in sport, death
penalty . . .
Apart from their lack of freshness, these topics are very wide and are likely to be
covered in a superficial way in 1,300 words.
2. Select a topic which is of personal interest to you.
3. Broad topics cannot be covered in 1300 words. For example, the topic of “Global
Warming” has multifarious aspects. Narrowing the topic down to one aspect will
allow that aspect to be covered in more depth and hence show complexity of
argument. Subsets of this topic could be: issues relating to power generation; carbon
emissions; government actions. These topics alone are more than complex enough to
be successful.
4. Complex arguments do not lend themselves well to simple lines of thought (for/
against). A persuasive essay should present a depth of opinion.
5. Selection of topics from other school subjects.
SQA regulations do not prohibit this. You need to consider the limited extent to
which a piece of work from another subject will meet the success criteria for a
persuasive essay in the English Portfolio. It may well present facts/ opinions but it
has to do it in the correct way to achieve success as a persuasive. At best, you should
see prior study of a topic as useful background knowledge.
6. When looking for topics, examining current news stories can be productive. There
will be many current opinions about the subject and it is also likely to be an issue
which is of social relevance.
Select three potential topics and discuss them with your teacher
1_ ______________________________________________________________________
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2________________________________________________________________________
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3 _______________________________________________________________________
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Teacher feedback
Your final topic
Explain why you think this topic is suitable for a Higher English Portfolio. Explain why
you think it is complex and has enough depth
Which aspects of your topic do you intend to cover? These should help shape your plan
Teacher feedback
Researching the topic
1. Researching and planning is a cyclical process. If you know your topic well,
construct an essay plan before you start researching. Vague research leads to a vague
plan and a weak essay. If you are unsure about your topic, do one phase of research and
then plan in detail. If you don’t have enough, then research again.
2. Often, reading articles in the media can generate a topic. Looking at the BBC website
is helpful and it can often produce your first source of information. For example, an
article titled “Our children need time not stuff” considers the extent to which British
children live in a society where they rely on possessions for happiness and don’t spend
enough time with parents. The full article is at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14899148
3. Newspaper articles are not (and should not be) the only source used. It is essential
that your sources have credibility. The SQA suggests that sources can be:
-group handouts
and media: for example, isolation, relationships, sport.
4. It is imperative that you declare your sources on the final essay. You should keep a
careful note of sources as you study and declare them properly in the final submission.
Any source found on the internet should include the full URL, the date of publication
and the date viewed. Please note, the “internet” is not a source- it is merely a means of
finding them.
5. You should try to include a range of sources. Four news articles on the same topic
may not provide a complete picture of a topic. From the example in point 2. above, it
was possible to explore the main report about children’s wellbeing from the United
Nations at:
http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publications/rc9.pdf
The article also hints at some parental behaviour as bordering on neglect so looking at
what the main children’s charity (NSPCC) say about neglect seems an obvious next
step. It can be found at:
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/help-and-advice/worried-about-a-child/talking-to-ourexperts/types-of-child-abuse/neglect-definition/neglect_wda75435.html
As you explore a range of sources, you should be aware of issues of bias. A biased
source can be used. You just need the ability to recognise it as such. They might also use
many of the persuasive techniques that you hope to employ.
6. You also need to consider the quality of the source. Information about government
policy sourced from the government’s own website is authentic and has authority.
Information gleaned from blogs/ publicly generated sources (like Wikipedia) may be
less authentic and in some cases incorrect. It does not mean that they can’t be used but
you have to recognise that any opinion or “fact” taken from them needs to be treated
with care. These types of sources should certainly not be your main supply of
information.
7. When using search engines, such as GOOGLE, frame your search with a specific
question. Searching with key words such as “children” or “material goods” will
produce masses of results which are unfocussed. Searching with a question like “do
British children spend enough time with parents?” was particularly productive. Frame
your questions carefully and you will get faster and better results.
8. Plagiarism. Passing off other writers’ ideas as your own will not be accepted by the
SQA and it will incur severe penalties. There are several issues to consider:
 As you research, take notes by putting ideas into your own words. Copying from
sources or highlighting is ineffective as it may lead you to use selected phrases without
any attempt at changing them.
 Copying statistics is not plagiarism. You will acknowledge sources at the end of your
essay.
 Quoting is not plagiarism as long as you identify the source.
 Plagiarism will not lead to a well written essay. Bolting together a range of writing
styles (some of which may be very informal) will not lead to the measured, formal tone
needed for a Higher English argumentative essay.
9. All bibliographies should be in alphabetical order and referenced as follows:
BOOKS
Authors name(s) in italics, Title of Book, Publisher, Date of publication
WEBSITES
Name of website with date of production (if known) in brackets, name of article (if known), full
URL with [date accessed in square brackets] e.g.
BBC (23rd Sept 2011), IOC chief demands 2012 boxing bribe evidence from BBC,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/15033864.stm [accessed 14th October 2011]
List your sources with full references (at least four)
For at least two of the sources, explain how they were useful to you. You might summarize
the information and opinions or explain how they helped bring force to your argument.
Also, you could refer to any ways in which these sources might be biased.
Planning
The main requirements of the persuasive essay are that it will:
through cajoling to pressurising
information, claiming necessity/exclusivity, flattering, employing technical jargon/rhetoric.
Sample Plan
Essay title – “Britain should abandon nuclear power”
Paragraph aim - To explore the issues relating to nuclear waste. Overall, I will persuade
the reader that the nature and problems in relation to nuclear waste make nuclear power
unacceptable.
Plan – I need to find out how waste is disposed of at present and the length to which it
remains harmful. I will manipulate this information to claim
necessity that we have
to stop nuclear dumping now. I expect to find that sources such as the government, nuclear
energy companies claim that current practice is safe but I will find disproof or counter-
argument from those opposed to nuclear energy. I intend to use the first person plural to
emphasise how this issue affects everyone. I can use a rhetorical question to ask how can we
pass our toxic problem on to future generations.
Detailed planning like the above is essential for success. Simply stating the topic/ sub-topic
in a short phrase is not effective planning. The paragraph plan above shows the thought
processes behind effective planning and it shows a line of thought which begins with
presenting facts and leading to a persuasive conclusion of its own. It also sets up research
and shows how the essay might reach the SQA’s success criteria for persuasive writing.
Your opinion and evaluation must permeate the essay. It is no good to tag your opinion onto
the end so make sure that all paragraphs are about your arguments and not just a
presentation of other people’s ideas. On the next two pages, construct a detailed plan for
your essay.
Essay Plan
Teacher feedback on planning
The Writing Process
Effective planning will lead to a well structured essay with a clear line of thought. It is
important to remember the need to create a persuasive tone.
Linkage/ signposting
Importantly, …
In fact, …
Being more specific
More importantly, …
In particular, …
Furthermore, …
In relation to …
Moreover, …
More specifically, …
Changing direction or creating a comparison
With respect to …
However, …
In terms of …
Rather, …
In contrast, …
Giving an example
Conversely, …
For example, …
In comparison, …
this can be illustrated by …
Compared to …
…, namely, …
Another point to consider is …
…, such as …
Adding a similar point
Acknowledging something and moving to a
different point
Similarly, …
Likewise, …
Again, …
Also, …
Summarising
Finally, …
Lastly, …
In conclusion, …
In summary, …
Overall, …
The three main points are …
Although …
Even though …
Despite …
Notwithstanding …
Following a line of reasoning
Therefore, …
Subsequently, …
Consequently, …
Accordingly, …
As a result, …
As a consequence, …
Using Statistics in Writing
Use statistics to make things appears bigger or smaller; more or less important
depending upon your argument. Remember statistics are only part of an argument.
They are not an end in themselves.
Examples :
1. The statistic is: 43% of Scottish teenagers are clinically obese.
Now if you wish to portray this in a negative light, for example if you are doing an
essay on the dangers of obesity you could say:
i.
ii.
More than 40% of Scottish teenagers are clinically obese (this is less
precise but sounds more than it actually is)
Nearly half of Scottish teenagers are clinically obese (this sounds like a
greater amount than the reality)
If, however, you wished to use this statistic in a more positive way then you need to
reverse it:
i.
ii.
iii.
only 43% of Scottish teenagers are clinically obese
54% of Scottish teenagers are not clinically obese
the majority of Scottish teenagers are not clinically obese
2. Look at another statistic: bikes cause 32% of all traffic accidents
If you wanted to view this positively and put forward an argument against
banning the use of bikes on roads:
i.
68% of road traffic accidents do not involve a bicycle (again this simply
reverses the statistic)
ii.
The vast majority of road traffic accidents do not involve a bicycle
(vague but emotive wording)
iii.
Almost 7 out of 10 road traffic accidents do not involve a bicycle (this
sounds like a greater amount than it really is)
iv.
Only a tiny number/percentage of road traffic accidents do involve a
bicycle (slightly hyperbolic but again based on evidence – it is just used to
support and argue for your case)
3. Numbers
Numbers in an essay can be dull and boring, especially if overused. You need to
choose when, and how often, to use raw data and when to convert it into words
that can be more persuasive.
Example:
Last Saturday 2516 students took part in a protest against raising tuition fees.
(this is not such a large number that it makes an argument stronger.)
However if you write:
Last Saturday thousands of students took part in a protest against raising tuition
fees. (this instantly sounds like more people and gives an essay arguing against tuition
fees a stronger message).
You can continue this with even greater numbers:
26,734 people protested against Capitalism in Edinburgh recently.
Now this sounds like a large number and you can make it sound even larger by
writing:
i. Tens of thousands of people protested against Capitalism in Edinburgh
recently.
ii. Nearly 30,000 people protested against Capitalism in Edinburgh recently.
But if you wish to make this statistic sound weaker and less important then you
need to use contrast.
In the first example there were 2516 students protesting. A quick search of the
internet shows that there are 22,000 students at Glasgow University, 17,000 at
Glasgow Caledonian University and 25,000 at Strathclyde University. So when you
find one statistic it is often looking for others that contrast and undermine it.
Therefore if you wanted to suggest that actually very few students took part in a
protest you could work out that the number of students protesting was only 4% of
the student population in Glasgow. (2516/64000) This could also be written as:
a very small proportion of students took part in a protest against raising
tuition fees
ii. a tiny fraction of students took part in a protest against raising tuition fees
i.
A little thought and simple maths can easily strengthen an argument.
You can do the same with the information that 56,412 people in Europe caught the
H1N1 strain of flu in the last major outbreak. This is a large number. On its own it
would support an argument that more needed to be done as a huge number of
people had their lives put at risk. I
But if you wished to argue that there was an overreaction then you need to find out
a few more statistics and possibly do some simple maths.
If the total number of people who died in Europe of this flu was 679 then fewer than
2% of people died. You can also find out the number of people in Europe (733
million). Therefore only a tiny proportion of people caught it and far fewer died.
Features of effective persuasion
If you are going to persuade someone to do believe something, use some of the following
devices:

Make it sound as if it is important.

Appeal to their feelings and emotions: make them feel sympathy, empathy or feel
guilty! If you are raising money for a charity make them feel guilty if they don’t donate.

Threaten them – tell the person what will happen if you don’t get what you are asking
for. Make it sound as though their doing what you want is crucial.

Ask rhetorical questions – questions that don’t actually require an answer, like ‘Do you
want all the children in school to suffer?’, or ‘Can you really live without this
marvellous pen?’

Make use of three-part lists – three reasons, three benefits, three emotive words.

Give your audience strong statements of belief = then go on to justify and expand on
your ideas.

Use strong adjectives (‘best’, ‘most important’, ‘stunning’) and verbs (‘will’, ‘need’,
‘must’, ‘should’, ‘could’).

Use the first person (‘I’ / ‘We’) to make your writing strong and personal; use the second
person (‘You’) to involve your audience.

Show, where appropriate, that you can employ formal language. Organise your writing
in paragraphs (or use other appropriate structural devices) and link ideas by
connectives from the page before
Dramatic impact
Logic
Stylistic tricks
emotive words
quote a reliable source
clusters of three
forceful phrases
statistics
catchy phrases or slogans
contrasts
criticise the opposite opinion
figures of speech
play on the reader’s guilt
make negative points
short sentences/ paragraphs
imagery
exaggeration (hyperbole)
shock tactics
impersonal
rhetorical questions
repetition of words/ phrases
Some common flaws in writing and logic
Persuasive writing does allow for many rhetorical devices and less measured handling of
argument than argumentative writing. However, it still needs to be considered and logical in
order for it to be successful.
Generalisation
Sweeping statements based on an anecdote or one piece of evidence.
“People say that young people are no good. I saw a young person save a kitten from drowning so this
proves that teenagers are misunderstood.”
Never use vague statements.
“Some people don’t agree with smoking in public.”
Question: Which people?
public
Answer: People who don’t agree with smoking in
Rewritten: “People who don’t agree with smoking in public don’t agree with smoking in public.”
If you can’t define a group, don’t use them as evidence.
Misuse of statistics
“British exports to Germany rose by 2% last year. Our exports to Vanuatu rose by 6%. Vanuatu is
clearly three times more important to British economic growth than Germany.”
Straw man arguments
Setting up an invalid argument just to knock it down like a straw man.
“Some people believe that nuclear waste is harmless. This is clearly nonsense.”
(If it is “clearly nonsense” why are you offering it as a reasonable counter-argument?)
Associative statistics versus causal statistics
This one is complex. You have to prove that the statistic being claimed is the cause rather
than something merely associated or connected to the fact.
“Many people believe otters to be harmless. This is not so. In 2011, two people drowned whilst
hunting otters.”
“Boys are less intelligent that girls. Exam results show that 60% of girls achieved and A whereas only
56% of boys achieved the same grade.”
Ad hominem arguments (irrelevant)
“Young people can fight for their country at 16 yet we can’t buy alcohol and drink in pubs.”
There are some assumptions behind this statement.

That joining the army at 16 is correct. (Also the fact is wrong. People may join the
army at 16 but can’t see active service until they are 19).

Because someone else want to join the army, others should be allowed to drink
Beware of making irrelevant comparisons that simply don’t follow logical scrutiny.
Tu quoque arguments
Beware of suggesting inconsistency in an opponent’s argument and citing it as a reason for
invalidating it.
“Some people want the death penalty brought back for murder. The death penalty is the same as
killing and just makes us as bad as the criminals.”
Assumption – that execution is the same as murder. Is it?
Appealing (without reason)
Making an appeal is, in itself, not wrong. Just make sure that there is a connection between
the appeal and the argument.
“Most people don’t want nuclear weapons so we ought to abolish them.” (appeal to popularity) Not
everything can be decided by majority vote. In fact, most complex things can’t. The
arguments pertaining to the existence of nuclear weapons do not correspond to the number
of people who want them.
Other types of appeal could be:

Appeals to authority – someone important agrees with me therefore I must be right!

Appeals to pity – emotive appeals.

Appeals to history – we have always done this therefore it must continue
Introductions, order of paragraphs and conclusions
Introduction
You should aim for this to be no more than one-tenth of the word limit. A successful
introduction will:

Set out the topic clearly

Give an indication of the current importance of the topic

Set out a few facts which will contextualise the topic

Give some indication of the main aspects to be studied
At this level, there should be no need to make statements like “This essay will . . .”. Also
avoid any lengthy explorations of the history of your topic.
Ordering
Simple essay plans or formulae won’t work at this level. Avoid the mechanistic plan where
paragraphs are based on a single argument for or against. Your topic should be complex and
sub-topics should be the basis of a paragraph. The paragraph should then explore a view of
the complexity of the sub-topic. Every essay is different and therefore every plan should be
as well. It is generally a good idea that within each paragraph and throughout the essay the
movement of argument(s) should be as noted below:
From
To
Present
Future
Simple
Complex
Concrete
Abstract
Factual
Opinion
Problem
Solution
Conclusion
In your conclusion, include an overview of the main arguments with perhaps one main idea
from each paragraph. Don’t just list them and state where your opinion lies. Conclude
strongly by evaluating the nature of the arguments and make a final statement of conviction.
Now write the first draft of
your persuasive essay.