persuasive devices

Persuasive Devices

How to influence your reader

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What are they?They are strategies that we use to try to persuade our readers to believe what we are writing.We wouldn’t use every one of them in a single piece of writing.Some we can use more than once in a single piece of writing.Some of them are harder than others!


Personal AnecdoteThis is when you write a very short story featuring something that happened to you or your family/friends.It needs to be relevant to the topic and short.Last month my Grandma was very sick and we had to visit the hospital every evening. This was upsetting enough but it was made even worse by us having to get our homework done. It put extra strain and stress on my parents and us children. If homework was banned this would not have happened.


VisualisationThis is when you ask your reader to picture something or imagine a situation.It needs to be short and relevant to the topic.Close your eyes and picture a happy family scene. Perhaps a board game is being played or some craft project is being completed. Now think of the reality which is that Mum or Dad are screaming at the children to get their homework finished. If homework was banned the former picture would be the real one.


HumourThis is when you try to get your reader on your side by making a small joke or amusing remark.It needs to be relevant to the topic and in good taste.Why did the pupil eat his homework? Because the teacher said it was a piece of cake! Sadly most homework isn’t easy, in fact it causes an enormous amount of stress to children and their families. If homework was banned we would all be able to laugh more!


Personal Belief/Well Known Fact

This is when you use a fact that everyone knows or you strongly state your own opinion.It is obvious to everyone that being a child in the modern world is very different to being one in the olden days. Life is much more complicated now and there are many stresses on modern children. I believe that homework may have been alright 50 years ago but that it is not appropriate in today’s world.


Rhetorical Question

This is when you ask your reader a question more for dramatic effect and emphasis than expecting an answer.Homework causes teachers enormous stress. These hardworking professionals are already stretched to the limit with preparation, delivery and marking of in-school work. Do you really want to see them crack under the extra pressure of homework?


Statistical EvidenceThis is when you show results from some survey or from scientific research.It does not have to be accurate or real but it needs to be believable and relevant.In a recent survey at our school it was revealed that 95% of both students and parents would ban homework immediately if they had the opportunity. They gave excellent reasons for their opinions, the main one being the disruption to quality family time that homework caused.


High Modality LanguageThis is when you use language that is imperative and shows absolute certainty. I absolutely believe that homework should be banned immediately. I have given you undeniable evidence that homework is an evil disruptor of family time, it contributes majorly to the childhood obesity problems we have and causes over worked teachers great anguish. Join me in contacting your local representative to have homework banned!


Figurative LanguageThis is when you use language to engage your reader and make them interested in what you are writing. It can be simile, metaphor, idiom, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, repetition or exaggeration.

• Homework is like an evil witch casting a spell of despair over every family in the State. It drains the joy out of family life and makes students dislike school. Homework, like evil witches, should be banned.


Persuasive Devices• Personal anecdote• Visualisation• Humour• Personal belief/well known fact• Rhetorical question• Statistical evidence• High modality language• Figurative Language


Your Turn To WriteChoose one of the persuasive devices

Write 3 or 4 sentences using that device for the argument “All school students should be supplied with a laptop computer free of charge.”

• Personal anecdote, visualisation, humour, personal belief/well known fact, rhetorical question, statistical evidence, high modality language, figurative language.

persuasive devices

Documents

extra pressure of homework

homework isnt easy

modern children

single piece of writing

teachers enormous stress

modern world

short story

piece of cake