4. Reading: Persuasive

Advertising

Advertisers are very good at using persuasive language and techniques to manipulate your emotions and thoughts.

• personal pronouns (I, you, we)

• anecdotes in commercials to make you feel emotions

• descriptions to evoke feelings and to convince you that you need it

• repetition of the idea

• asking questions to make you think more about their product

Petitions

Sometimes people collect signatures (in person) or names (online) to show support for an idea. A person writes a petition to persuade people to sign. Then, they take their petition and signatures to the government (or company) to convince them they need to take this issue seriously.

Emails & Letters

Emails and letters are commonly used for persuasive arguments. If your package arrives and it is broken, you might send an email to the company to convince them to give you a new item. When people have strong feelings about something that is happening in town, such as a new road that is going behind their house, they might write a letter to the editor of the newspaper. These are printed in newspapers and on news websites every day. That way, many other people can read them.

Subject line: tells the subject in a few words

Formal opening:

Dear Mr Lastname:

To Ms Lastname:

To Whom It May Concern: (if you don't know who)

*don’t forget the colon

Closing:

Respectfully yours,

Sincerely,

Thank you for your time,

Speech (you can read a transcription)

Speeches have been used to convince people for a long time. People prepare for a speech by writing it out and practicing it until it is memorized. A long time ago, people used to stand on a box and give speeches in a central meeting place like a park or in front of the government buildings. Now, a lot of speeches are given online, like the TED Talks we have been watching. People in government often give speeches, it's part of their jobs. When I go to conferences, I listen to many speeches from other teachers.

Posters

Posters are a great way to attract someone's attention to your cause. You have to be very careful with how you choose your words because you can't use as many as you would in the other types of persuasive texts. Generally, graphic designers choose words that are clear, descriptive, and can make you feel something. The pictures are very important (remember you can "read" those too!")