Question 1
Is this really the future we want for our children?
💡 This question doesn't expect a literal answer — it's designed to make the reader reflect and feel implicated.
Year 7 — Writing
Persuasion
Use persuasive techniques (rhetorical questions, repetition, emotive language), structure a persuasive argument, address a counter-argument, and write a persuasive conclusion.
Understand
Persuasive writing aims to convince a reader to agree with a viewpoint or take an action. Effective persuasion combines specific techniques — rhetorical questions (that don't need an answer, but make the reader think), repetition (for emphasis), and emotive language (words chosen for emotional impact) — with a clear structure: a strong opening claim, supporting points, acknowledgement of the opposing view, and a powerful conclusion.
“How much longer can we ignore this? Every single day we delay, another opportunity is lost — an opportunity we cannot, we must not, let slip away.”
This combines a rhetorical question ('How much longer...?'), emotive language ('opportunity is lost'), and repetition ('cannot, we must not') to build persuasive pressure — each technique reinforces the others, creating a much stronger effect than any single technique used alone.
Spot it
Identify the persuasive technique used in each example.
Question 2
We must act. We must act now. There is no more time to wait.
💡 Repeating 'we must act' builds urgency and drives the point home through deliberate repetition.
Question 3
Children are suffering, families are being torn apart, and still nothing changes.
💡 Words like 'suffering' and 'torn apart' are chosen deliberately for their strong emotional impact on the reader.
Think about it
Why might acknowledging an opposing viewpoint (a counter-argument) actually make a persuasive piece MORE convincing, rather than weakening it?
Try it
Identify how the writer addresses a counter-argument.
Some will argue this change is too costly. But what price can we truly put on a safer future for everyone?
Question 1
How does this passage handle a counter-argument?
💡 Notice how the passage first states the objection ('too costly') before responding to it.
Practise
Identify the persuasive technique or structural element in each example.
Question 1
"Can we really afford to look away any longer?" Technique?
Question 2
"This isn't just wrong — it's unforgivable, unjust, and utterly unacceptable." Technique?
Question 3
"Together, we can. Together, we will. Together, we must." Technique?
Question 4
In one word, what do we call briefly acknowledging the opposing side of an argument before responding to it?
💡 It's the topic of the Think About It section.
Question 5
Why is a strong conclusion important in persuasive writing?
Question 6
A persuasive piece should generally be structured as...
Apply
Read the passage, then answer the questions below.
Some say recycling makes little difference on its own. Perhaps, taken alone, one household's effort seems small. But small efforts, multiplied by millions of households, become a movement too powerful to ignore. Is convenience today really worth the cost tomorrow? The answer, surely, is no — not when the alternative costs so much more than the small inconvenience being asked of us now.
Question 1
How does this passage address the counter-argument that recycling 'makes little difference'?
💡 Look at how the passage moves from 'Some say...' to 'But small efforts, multiplied...'.
Question 2
"Is convenience today really worth the cost tomorrow?" is an example of which technique?
Question 3
Quote the phrase that directly answers the rhetorical question posed in the passage.
💡 It follows immediately after the rhetorical question.
Challenge
Explain in two or three sentences why addressing the counter-argument ('some say recycling makes little difference') near the start of this passage, rather than ignoring it, likely makes the writer's overall argument more persuasive to a sceptical reader.
Review
A quick mastery check — 3 questions.
Question 1
A rhetorical question is used to...
Question 2
Why address a counter-argument in persuasive writing?
Question 3
"We must change. We must change now." This uses which technique?