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Writing Persuasively at National Five

Student Guide

SQA Requirements: Outcome 1 Creation and Production

|Assessment Standard |Students Can... |Detailed Advice |

|1.1 Select significant ideas and content, using a |- can produce detailed writing that is |- Is your essay focussed on one topic or question |

|format and structure appropriate to purpose and |structured effectively |- Do you explore the relevant ideas and opinions while |

|audience |- can pay consistent attention to purpose |showing your stance/opinion? |

| |and audience |- Is your essay structured? Does it show a progression|

| | |of ideas? Have you used linking words and phrases? |

| | |- Have you used an appropriate tone for your topic? |

|Apply knowledge and understanding of language in |can employ syntax and vocabulary with |- Have you used the language of persuasive writing |

|terms of language choice and technical accuracy |accuracy |throughout your essay? |

| |can employ a variety of expression to some |- Have you considered the words and vocabulary that you|

| |effect |have used? Does the words you have chosen have the |

| |handles a range of language and structures |correct connotations for your meaning |

| |with a degree of accuracy sufficient to |- Have you used evidence effectively throughout your |

| |ensure that communication is achieved |essay? |

| | |- Have you used sentence structure for effective, |

| | |including the use of rhetorical questions |

|1.3 Communicate meaning at first reading |Can create fluent, detailed writing that will|- Have you expressed yourself in the clearest way |

| |convey its meaning clearly |possible? |

| | |- Have you checked your essay for careless errors |

| | |(including typos?) |

| | |- Is your opinion clear throughout the essay? |

| | |Does your evidence help to make your meaning clear? |

Steps To Success

Step 1 (Introduction) A one-paragraph introduction to the topic. Make clear straight away what you believe about the subject. Use your wit and passion to grab the reader’s attention from the start.

1. Provocative

Something needs to be done to stop ‘hoodies’ destroying Britain as we know it

2. Quotation

“Switch on the machine, known as the Mosquito, and in a few minutes the problem will have gone

3. Illustration

A harassed shopkeeper flips the switch on his latest gadget and within twenty minutes the trouble has gone – dispersed by the latest in ‘anti-hoodie’ devices

4. Anecdote

Last night, a seventy year old woman was harassed outside her local shop by a gang of ruthless hooded thugs.

■ Step 2 (Main Body of Essay) Using the points you’ve planned, set out your argument. Each point should be in a separate paragraph, and these points should be backed up with facts, observations or personal experiences. Use topic sentences and the PEE structure with the strongest, most convincing arguments and work your way down to the weaker ones. Although you are always defending your own position in this kind of writing, your argument will be stronger if you can show that you understand the other side’s position and can argue against it.

Your main body of your essay should include 4-5 main points (each in a separate paragraph) to get your point across!

PEE pattern.

P = Make a Point that is relevant to the topic of your essay. This point is the topic sentence at the start of the paragraph.

1) It refers to the topic of the essay.

2) It introduces the topic of its paragraph

E = Give Evidence to back up the point you are making. This should be either a fact or a relevant example you found out during your research, something you have noticed, or something you have experienced yourself.

E = Explain this. If you are writing to persuade, show how it adds to your argument.

Step 4 (Conclusion) Finally, in your conclusion, briefly sum up what you have written.

End with a strong, clear statement that shows again why you believe you are right.

You may also want to challenge the reader to think or respond.

Linking Words

The Persuader's Toolkit

Repeat yourself - don't worry about saying the same thing again and again - people forget, so repeat yourself and they will remember. Even when you think they might remember, you can always repeat yourself another time.

Be personal - using words such as "we" or "I" always sounds a lot more convincing. We all know that, don't we?

Use questions - why would you use questions? Well, they make people think. They also get your readers involved in what you are writing. So will you use them when you persuade? If not, why not?

Use feelings to push ideas - words are your ammunition. In seconds, they can make your friends laugh, or your teacher angry, so why not use them properly to persuade your readers?

For instance, don't just write "the pressure of doing school work", because there is no real feeling there. Instead, how about: "the endless trauma, the desperation and the mindless suffering that school work inflicts on students".

EXAMPLE

In this article from The Scotsman, journalist Gareth McLean argues that among the young, television is losing out in popularity to the internet. This article could be seen as an effective piece of persuasive writing.

GARETH MCLEAN ON WHY THE YOUNG ARE SWITCHING OFF.

When the BBC unveiled its latest advertisement for “the unique way it’s funded” as a schoolboy wandered through the landscape of children’s television, it appealed to every grown-up’s sense of nostalgia. From Bill and Ben to Blue Peter and Bagpuss, the Corporation unashamedly cashed in on our rose-tinted memories of listening to John Craven, hanging on Janet Ellis’s every word and even hiding from the Daleks. The subtitles were subliminal: “Remember this? You wouldn’t want the next generation to miss out on all this, would you? Of course you don’t, so cough up your licence fee.” And yes, it is the least us big people can do for “today’s little people”.

Only it seems today’s little people aren’t that interested in watching television any more. The one-eyed monster in the corner simultaneously charged with bringing violence and porn into our lives while also bringing the world into our living-rooms is having the plug pulled. A successive surveys show the decline in television audiences at its steepest among young people, it could be that it is not just programmes we will be feeling nostalgic for in years to come – it might be John Logie Baird’s invention itself.

The downward trend in TV viewing, especially among young, educated professionals, can be attributed in part to the rise in popularity of the internet.

Last year, a survey of 11,000 people by an Australian research company found that use of television fell by over half once people became internet users while American studies have shown similar results. And, according to author Don Tapscott, the next generation, today’s little people, whom he dubs “the Net Generation”, will abandon television even more quickly.

Under twenty year old, this generation embraces interactive media like the internet, CD-ROM and video games and are exceptionally curious, discriminating and more aware – technologically, globally – than any previous youth culture. They prefer interactive media to broadcast media, Tapscott maintains, and this is the reason they are watching TV less and less.

They favour the internet or PlayStations games because they are non-hierarchical and controllable. The Net Generation want to create their own stories, narratives, programmes in a way that is currently impossible on television.

So will the meteoric rise of the internet kill the television dinosaur? Rumours of its death may be slightly, if not greatly, exaggerated. Television is being forced to evolve by new technologies but its complete extinction seems unlikely.

Ironically, it’s the BBC who are leading the way in harnessing the internet. Their website is one of the country’s most visited and almost all of their programmes – from Eastenders to the news – have an internet site.

Other channels are also gearing up to use new technologies. Interactive broadcasting is being discussed by satellite and terrestrial channels and the advent of digital has opened up new horizons for the whole industry. In the next ten yea5s, television will become more like the internet and vice versa. Television sets will effectively become computers and broadcasting companies will soon move into a high gear on the information superhighway – ABC, the American television network, has already taken over an internet search engine. As the Net Generation grows up, it looks increasingly more likely that we’ll see TV-PC hybrid develop and then we’ll have to learn how to deal with a whole new animal. For the moment, perhaps we should just savour the last days of a non-interactive Blind Date…..

(Condensed from an article in The Scotsman - 18 March 1999)

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without question, without doubt, unquestionably, absolutely

thus, therefore, consequently, accordingly, in retrospect, hence, in conclusion, in brief, as a result.

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and, firstly, secondly etc., next, furthermore, likewise, in addition, similarly, also, moreover

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yet, on the other hand, nevertheless, however, although, conversely, otherwise, on the contrary.

because; for instance; since; for example; so that; despite the fact that; accordingly; although; if; though; unless

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