Developing Persuasive Writing Skills: Analyzing Techniques and Creating Essays, Study Guides, Projects, Research of World Music

Download Developing Persuasive Writing Skills: Analyzing Techniques and Creating Essays and more Study Guides, Projects, Research World Music in PDF only on Docsity! National 5 Persuasive Writing Unit By completing this unit, you will develop your skills in a number of areas. Some of these areas are noted below. Reading  You will be able to find, sort, summarise, link and use information from different sources (Lit 4-14a)  You will be able to make notes and organise them to develop your thinking (Lit 4-15a)  You will be able to recognise some of the techniques used to influence opinion (Lit 4-18a) Writing  You will be able to select subject, purpose, format and resources to suit the needs of your audience (Lit 4-20a)  You will use a range of resources and strategies independently and ensure that your spelling and vocabulary are accurate (Lit 4-21a)  You will be able to review and edit your writing independently (Lit 4-23a)  You will be able to engage and/or influence readers through your use of language, style and tone (Eng 4- 27a)  You will be able to persuade, argue, evaluate, explore issues or express and justify opinions with a convincing line of thought (Lit 4-29a) Talking and Listening  You will be able to make relevant contributions when engaging with others and to respond in ways appropriate to your role (Lit 4-02a)  You will be able to communicate detailed information, ideas or opinions (Lit 4-09a) Persuasive writing involves dealing with a topic which you are personally interested in and knowledgeable about. The key here is to use facts and experiences to put across a series of points to support something you believe. Your aim is to persuade the reader to agree with you. Researching your Topic Before you begin writing your essay, it is important to do some research on the topic you have chosen. The more knowledgeable you are about your topic, the more convincing your essay is likely to be. There are various sources of information, including: * the internet * newspapers *books *magazines *journals When reading information about your topic, you will find it helpful to make notes. Your notes will help you to recall valuable pieces of information when you come to write your essay. So how do you make notes? Below is a section from a newspaper article and overleaf there are some notes. Read over these to help you develop an understanding of how to form notes of your own. Notes Mystery patient – treated – hospital Injuries –  bruises  fractured ribs Treated by more than 40 people Mannequin for training students ‘Dies’ each week Dummy runs that end in death A mystery man lay unconscious in intensive care, his body covered in bruises. X-rays revealed eight fractured ribs. He was put on a ventilator, and lines to monitor blood pressure and feed fluids and drugs were inserted. For the next five days, he was tended by more than 40 people. Despite their best efforts, he died (yet again). His carers had included student nurses Allan Reid and Julie Thirde, who are even younger than their patient. The 21 year olds had to break the news to his parents and girlfriend, who somehow had tracked him down. Just as they will do so soon – in the real world of hospitals. Because the mystery patient is a mannequin who lives in a simulated intensive care unit at Glasgow Caledonian University. He can wheeze, even have a cardiac arrest, on demand – and, unknown to the students, was doomed from the start: killed, week in, week out, by lecturers as part of their educational process. The Herald Cut out little words like ‘is’ and ‘in’ Mark off the main points in some way:  under lining  using differ ent colou rs Gro up toge ther thin gs that belo ng toge ther Use plenty of space Experiment Now do this activity to see how well you can make notes. Follow these instructions carefully. 1. Overleaf is another extract from a newspaper article. Read it carefully and make notes. Allow yourself no more than five minutes to do this. 2. After five minutes, put your unit to one side. 3. Use your notes to retell the article in as much detail as you can. 4. Consult your unit again and check your version against the original. 5. Underneath your version, write down any important ideas you have missed out. purpose of his speech? Now, with your learning partner, read over the text of Obama’s speech and highlight or underline any emotive words or phrases used by Obama to give his speech persuasive power. This Climate Change Catastrophe Can Be Halted That so many of us are here today is a recognition that the threat from climate change is serious, it is urgent, and it is growing. Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it - boldly, swiftly, and together - we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe. No nation, however large or small, wealthy or poor, can escape the impact of climate change. Rising sea levels threaten every coastline. More powerful storms and floods threaten every continent. More frequent drought and crop failures breed hunger and conflict in places where hunger and conflict already thrive. On shrinking islands, families are already being forced to flee their homes as climate refugees. The security and stability of each nation and all peoples -- our prosperity, our health, our safety -- are in jeopardy. And the time we have to reverse this tide is running out. And yet, we can reverse it. John F Kennedy once observed that 'our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man.' It is true that for too many years, mankind has been slow to respond to or even recognize the magnitude of the climate threat. It is true of my own country as well. We recognise that. But this is a new day. It is a new era. And I am proud to say that the United States has done more to promote clean energy and reduce carbon pollution in the last eight months than at any other time in our history. Rhetorical Devices To make a speech more persuasive, speakers often use Rhetorical Devices - little language tricks which give the speech emphasis and authority.  Match the rhetorical device to its definition. First Person Plural Using the words “we” and “our” to suggest the speaker is the same as the audience. Pattern of Three Using a quote from a respected or well- liked person. Repetition Using two opposite words together (e.g. “happy or sad”, “black and white”) Quoting Words with strong emotional connotations. Contrasting pairs The repetition of a letter sound at the start of several words. Alliteration Using a word more than once to emphasise a point. Emotive Language A list of three words or phrases.  When you have done this, look back at President Obama’s speech and annotate it to show where he uses rhetorical devices. Structure of a Persuasive Essay Introduction  Introduce the topic clearly to your reader stylishly  Use persuasive techniques throughout.  Establish the tone of your essay.  Your point of view on the topic should be obvious. Main Body Paragraphs  You should write at least four main body paragraphs.  Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence and have its own specific point. o Point – a clear point that you are arguing. o Evidence – relevant and up-to-date evidence, it should be a fact, statistic or relevant opinion. o Explanation – a detailed explanation, using a variety of persuasive techniques. Conclusion • Sum up the points that you have made. • Use persuasive techniques throughout. • End in a particularly persuasive way. Tips on Style:  You may wish to use rhetorical questions to involve the reader in your essay and encourage them to consider more closely the points you are making.  Using emotive language can be an effective way of persuading the reader to agree with your opinion.  You may wish to use repetition to emphasise important points.  It can be effective to use an anecdote to engage the reader.  You should directly address the reader in your writing. An example: Conclusion Overleaf you will find a sample paragraph and a conclusion which have been taken from an essay on censoring music videos. Working with a partner, discuss and comment on the effectiveness of each paragraph, using the annotations above as an example. In conclusion, factory farming must be saved. To ban factory farming would mean that we poorer people would not be able to afford food. To ban factory farming would mean that farmers would have a lower standard of life, working all day for a pittance. To ban factory farming would mean that Britain’s farming industry would fall back into the dark ages! We must protect this industry and ensure that the benefits of factory farming are not lost. Ending  Good use of emotive language “must”  Does not engage the audience. Does use first person plural but should have used “you” to directly address the audience. Opening  Good use of short, effective sentence which clearly expresses writer’s opinion. Summing up  Excellent use of repetition.  Arguments made in essay are succinctly summarise d.  Essay is held back because topic is not up-to-date. Secondly, current pop music promotes a way of life and an attitude to relationships that is unhealthy and damaging. Take Rihanna’s latest effort in which she belts out that she “Found love in a hopeless place”. Forgive me if I’m wrong but shouldn’t love be a positive emotion that enhances your life? Not something that can be found in the depths of despair. Her music video isn’t much better as she cavorts around in dilapidated flat taking drugs with her blond haired boyfriend, before she has an overdose of some sort. Rihanna isn’t the only culprit, in an early Britney Spears video she can be seen slitting her wrists. This is not a great image to set to the young people that make up half of their fan base. Even though they have the ‘radio/TV friendly’ lyrics, they don’t change the video at all. It could be on at any time of the day, with anyone, no matter how young watching it. Not only are the lyrics and videos inappropriate but this is a fake and insincere way of making music. I don’t understand how songs that are manufactured and moulded can sell enough records to get to that, once prestigious, number one spot? I think that if you are naming a track number one, it has to be made with real instruments, the songwriter must be in the band or group and the singer should be able to, well, sing, without the use of autotune. You must be able to reproduce the sound at a live gig (not just the vocals that’s probably auto-tuned and mimed anyway, the whole sound). All record companies do is create a song on a computer, get someone to write some mindless lyrics that they know will sell and give it to a puppet like Britney Spears or the latest x- factor winner and they’ve got a hit! And what’s it all about to them? It’s about making money. But the so-called ‘artist’ only cares about fame, so they will be happy to sing anything the record label throw at them. And that is the problem; no one cares about the music. The most important part. No one cares. The big ‘fatcat’ record companies have made the music industry into a long, dark, shallow money trench full of thieves, fakes and pimps. They look for the hottest girls to sing the sexiest tracks for only one reason. To make money. No longer is the music scene for the talent musicians; it’s for the businessmen that know how to sell. Sampl e paragr aph Conclu sion Linking words and phrases Listing Giving examples Generalising first, second, third for example in general first, furthermore, finally for instance generally to begin, to conclude as follows: on the whole next that is as a rule Reinforcement in this case for the most part furthermore in other words usually moreover Result/consequence Highlighting what is more as a result/consequence in particular in addition therefore particularly besides accordingly especially as well (as) consequently Reformulation in the same way because of this/that in other words not only ... but also thus rather Similarity hence to put it more simply equally for this/that reason Expressing an alternative likewise so that alternatively similarly in that case rather correspondingly under these circumstances on the other hand in the same way Deduction the alternative is Transition to new point then another possibility would be now, in other words Contrast as far as x is concerned in that case instead with regard/reference to otherwise conversely as for ... this implies that ... on the contrary it follows that if so/not in contrast turning to Stating the obvious in comparison Summary obviously Concession in conclusion clearly however to conclude naturally even though in brief of course however much to summarise as can be expected nevertheless overall surely still Sources consulted: Make a note of all websites you visit as well as all books, newspapers and magazines that you read. Recommended sources: These websites are good places to start searching for ideas and evidence. www.bbc.co.uk/news http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_index.php http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/guide/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/ When you have finished writing your essay, read over your work carefully and correct any careless errors you may have made. Then, use the self and peer assessment sheets on the pages that follow to help you evaluate your work. Persuasive Essay Self-Assessment Activity Complete the checklist below. And be honest! In my essay, I… Tick or Cross Introduced my argument clearly in the opening paragraph Used emotive language throughout to convince the reader to agree with my point of view Used topic sentences for each paragraph Used facts, figures or evidence to support my points Used persuasive techniques such as rhetorical questions, repetition, short sentences and personal pronouns Acknowledged that there are other points of view even though I disagree with them Summarised all the main points in my conclusion Checked that my spelling and punctuation are accurate If there are any areas where you feel you don’t deserve a tick, return to your essay and try to modify it accordingly. Persuasive Essay Peer-Assessment Activity Have your partner read over your work and then complete the checklist below. In my essay, my partner… Tick or Cross Introduced their argument clearly in the opening paragraph Used emotive language throughout to convince the reader to agree with their point of view Used topic sentences for each paragraph Used facts, figures or evidence to support their points Used persuasive techniques such as rhetorical questions, repetition, short sentences and personal pronouns Acknowledged that there are other points of view even though they disagree with them Summarised all the main points in their conclusion Checked that their spelling and punctuation are accurate Remember to be honest in your assessment of your partner’s work. The feedback you give will help them to constructively improve their essay.