See: Arguments and Persuasive Language .
2007 VCA English exam
Mrs Jane Brown condemns parents who are overprotecting their children, which, she believes, stops (hinders) their personal growth. As a retired principal, Ms Brown seeks to earn parents’ trust and confidence by sharing her professional experience about students’ growth and development. She opens her piece with a rhetorical question, “How much longer will we ‘protect’ our young people”?, which has an exasperated tone to alarm parents about the dangers of being too protective. She lists many actions performed by over-anxious parents which are intended to shame them and make them appear foolish. Such actions such as completing “their homework” and “blindly” searching for a “lost jumper” are also likely to shock naïve parents. She discredits those who think that their children will be more “perfect” if they do everything for them and accordingly hopes that all parents will reflect upon their parenting style.
VATE 2011 Trial English Exam:
The website authors recommend that students take a gap year because it can be a rewarding and life-changing experience. (technique and purpose) In the caption, Hayley recounts her own personal experience in Bangkok to encourage all like-minded young adults to share her enthusiasm for a different and exciting type of experience. (technique and purpose) In particular, she appeals to a sense of adventure and uses phrases with positive connotations such as “remote magical jungles” and “camping under the stars” to point out the benefits of the gap year. These positive descriptions draw attention to just how much more fun the students will have travelling overseas. (explain purpose/audience) Students who are thinking of going to university are likely to feel that they will miss out on a very unique opportunity. (Technique and purpose) The visual image of Haley and the two African children draw attention to their warmth and sense of fun. They are depicted as loving and smiling people who are close and intimate. The image reinforces Haley’s personal recount and shows that the gap year can be a very rewarding experience for all those who are prepared to take the risks.
2014 VATE English Sample Exam
The speaker criticises digital natives who are so obsessed with social media that they do not communicate in a personal way. The speaker’s first slide, with its caption “how connected are you”, asks young adults to think about their connections and relationships with others. (t / p) The slide depicts teenagers who are staring at the screen and not communicating with each other. Their mouths are covered by the devices which invites us to see the lack of communication and their sense of disconnection. Also the speaker uses statistics that relate to the enormous amount of information people receive each day, which is 100,000 words. This shows just how obsessed young people have become. In doing so, they are encouraged to reflect on their behaviour and think about the alternative ways of communicating. (t/p) The rhetorical question with its provocative tone focuses on a relatable example. It challenges young adults to think about their interaction with their parents. It compares real life and digital communication and would certainly shame those who are too lazy to communicate on a personal basis. This laziness is reinforced by the speaker’s own, and relatable, behaviour and her own parents’ angry reaction which makes her young adults trust her advice.
Some Tips
- Usually the first paragraph will start with an attitude such as the author’s disapproval: the author criticises, disapproves of, condemns, discredits OR the author’s approval: the author defends, justifies, recommends, approves of.. .
- Use rhetorical questions with tone (angry/exasperated; provocative; challenging;)
- Use inclusive language with a moral tone word; moral appeal or upstanding/moralistic tone
- Other tone words: to the point; blunt, forthright/ assertive
- If the author uses real-life or professional experience, make sure you quote their descriptions and/or emotive language
- Look for comparisons. (The author compares X and Y. In doing so, he/she draws our attention to …)
- The author uses XX words to “position the reader”: think about a variety of alternative expressions
- Try to be more specific about “reader”: who is the audience? (concerned members of the public; members of the school community; commuters)
- Rather than states/argues or contends: use a verb that shows attitude: state + negative = criticises, discredits, condemns/disapproves of; states + positive = approves of, recommends, justifies, supports
- Most common impacts: are to shame, to alarm, to provoke anger and sympathy; provokes antagonism/contempt; gains the public’s admiration/respect for something/ elicit concern/shoppers would have reservations about/would be sceptical of/ would be reluctant to buy/gain confidence.
- You can get deeper by grouping a couple of similar comments together. Then you can analyse the purpose more deeply.
- Try to start with big picture – evidence/personal recounts/professional experience/persona; comparisons; values/appeals.
- Try to focus on parts of the text that are “busy”, that is there may be 2-3 techniques/word choices that reinforce each other.
- Where possible “embed” the technique/language: he appeals to the health and wellbeing of children. (Purpose) He encourages parents to pay more emphasis to a child’s health and well-being.
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