Directed Writing
Learning Objectives
In this unit, you will have the opportunity to:
▪ Read a brochure, a menu, articles, a short story ending, an interview,
and a charity letter.
▪ Write formal letters, an advertisement, dialogues, a flyer, a journal
entry, and an appeal letter and script.
▪ Practice analyzing style, targeting audiences, and sequencing material.
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
▪ Understand the importance of vocabulary choices in persuasive writing.
▪ Use persuasive devices, effective layout and supporting detail.
▪ Use language to evoke audience emotions.
2
Persuasive Writing
Persuasive writing aims to convince someone to do
something for their own benefit or that of the writer. It is
an important life skill. To be effective, your writing must
clearly focus on the purpose, give specific evidence, show
awareness of the audience being targeted, and choose
vocabulary to evoke the required emotional response (e.g.
guilt, sympathy or fear). To be persuasive, be firm but
polite; extreme language or abuse, even when
complaining, can defeat your objective. The acronym
VARP (Voice, Audience, Register and Purpose) is a useful
reminder of what needs to be considered when you are
planning any piece of writing, but particularly when you
need to be persuasive.
3
1.
Vocabulary
Choices in
Persuasive
Writing
A Brochure
1. Read the following extract from a holiday
brochure.
2. Find all the adjectives in the brochure
extract. Disc your partner:
a. What associations do these words evoke?
b. Which emotions does the reader feel?
c. What kind or audience Is the brochure
targeting?
d. How does the choice or language make this
passage effective as persuasive writing?
5
3. Imagine you recently stayed in the Hotel Paloma
for a fortnight with your family, and you experienced
a few problems. Consider the following questions and
make a list of your complaints.
■ Were all the facilities completed and adequate?
■ Were you satisfied with your room? And the noise
level?
■ Did the beaches live up to expectations?
■ How was the bus service, the room service, the
service generally?
■ How would you describe the catering?
Write a letter of complaint of about 350 words to
the travel agency, Triton Travel, which arranged
your holiday at the Hotel Paloma. Persuade the
manager to give you a refund or another holiday
as compensation. Refer to claims made in the
brochure and be specific about your complaints.
partner 6
Tasks Tip As
Even synonymous words have different strengths and
nuances, and it is important in advertising.
Propaganda, and any other type of persuasive writing or
speaking to pick exactly the right one to convey the
connotation required to make the product or experience
seem desirable, or the people and events deplorable. The
wrong choice could create the wrong mood or conjure the
wrong picture, and be off putting to the audience. It may
even create an unintentional and inappropriate comic
effect. Manufacturers have to be very careful to make sure
that the name of their product has only positive
connotations and will appeal to the intended market.
7
Advertisements
4. One of the most common forms of persuasive
writing is advertising. With your partner, study the
claims made by these three different brands of
toothpaste below. Which do you find the most
persuasive, and why? Can you write a one-line
toothpaste advert that is even more persuasive?
a For confidence, happiness and success, you need
'Flossy’.
b Your refreshing, bright, white smile says you are
a 'Dentigel dazzler’.
c Healthy teeth and gums can be protected by
regular brushing with scientifically proven,
carbofluoride-rich Toothsome toothpaste'.
8
▪ With your partner, decide which advert is more likely
to be successful, and why its vocabulary is more
persuasive.
▪ Write an advert of similar length for a possession, real
or imaginary, which you wish to sell. Consider
carefully your choice of vocabulary, grammar, and
order of information.
▪ When you have finished drafting and improving it, read
it to the class. Would they want to buy your object for
sale? 9
5. Decide which
word in each pair is
more emotionally Menus
powerful, and
discuss the reasons
in each case.
a. slaughter/kill
b. own/possess
c. house/home
d. attractive/
beautiful
e. reluctantly/
unwillingly
f. love/adore
g. phobia/fear
h. sad/sorrowful 10
2.
Persuasive
Devices
Magazine Articles
1. Read the magazine article.
2. Imagine you are the speaker in the
article and you are trying to persuade
a reluctant friend to join you in taking
up jogging.
a. Scan the article, locating information
that you would use to persuade your
friend that jogging is a worthwhile
activity.
b. b Now scan it again, finding points
which someone would use to explain
why he or she is not keen on
becoming a jogger. 12
Flyers
Your gym has asked you to produce a
single-sided A4 publicity flyer to hand out
to its members, to explain:
■ the physical benefits of jogging
■ the mental benefits of jogging
■ the process of becoming a jogger.
Write the text, using relevant material
from the article and any other relevant
ideas that can be inferred from it. Use your
own words and organize the points under
appropriate topic headings.
13
▪ Select the arguments
from Text A which are
for and against the
reduction of the driving
age to 16, and put them
in two columns.
14
Summarize in no more than 75
words the information provided in
the grid in Text B, beginning:
In the majority of countries, the
minimum driving age is ...
What can you infer from Text B
about:
▪ driving on an island?
▪ driving in an underpopulated
country?
What is implied by the additional
information that several countries
have:
▪ a lower driving age if
supervised by a parent
▪ a higher driving age for a
commercial vehicle?
15
3.
Evoking
Emotions
Short Story
Read the ending of a short
story below. The narrator is a
14-year-old boy in India who
loves playing cricket with his
friend Viraf, whose father is
ill. His own father is
unemployed and the narrator
is required to pluck out his
grey hairs in order to make
him look younger and so more
likely to get a job.
17
▪
Short Story
Explain in your own words the three phrases
underlined In the passage.
▪ Choose words and phrases that you found
powerful and evocative, and explain why.
▪ Contribute to a class discussion of the message
of the end o f the story, using quotations to
support your view.
▪ Plan and write a response to the passage in the
form o f a journal entry by the narrator, using
your own words. Write about 300 words. Your
response should include your thoughts and
feelings about the following characters and
their situations:
▪ ■ Viraf's father
▪ ■ Viraf
▪ ■ your father. 18
Interview
▪ Read the extract from an interview
transcript below, In which a former
Somali refugee talks to a reporter in
his new home in Melbourne,
Australia. Some of the interview
questions have been left out.
▪ Think of reasons why an interview
can have a stronger appeal to an
audience than a magazine article on
the same subject.
▪ Write the first paragraph of a
magazine article based on the case of
Abdi Aden, and give the article a title.
19
A Charity
Letter
▪ You are going to
work on a charity
project in groups
of four or five.
First read the
letter.
20
▪ What is a charity?
a. List the kinds of things which charities
raise money for.
b. List the names of as many official
international charities as you can think
of.
c. Discuss why you think charities need
to exist.
▪ Select the words and phrases in this
letter that you find the most persuasive.
Discuss why do you think the chosen
words have this effect.
21
▪ What exactly is the purpose of the
letter? Discuss in your group:
a. the kinds of material which are
included.
b. whether the content is fact or opinion,
or both
c. why you think statistics and numbers
are used.
▪ Think about the charity's name and
symbol. Why are they memorable?
a. Draw other charily symbols or logos
you can think of (e.g. the candle and
barbed wire for Amnesty lnternational).
b. What can you conclude about effective
names and symbols?
22
Thanks for your attention.
23
