Welcome to the World of Persuasion!
Have you ever tried to convince your parents to let you stay up ten minutes later? Or maybe you've tried to talk a friend into playing your favourite game? If so, you are already using persuasion!
In this chapter, we are going to learn how to turn those arguments into professional pieces of writing. We will look at how to write persuasively to change someone's mind and how to set out formal letters so they look official and important. These are "superpower" skills that help you get your voice heard in the real world!
1. Knowing Your Audience and Purpose
Before you even pick up a pen, you need to ask yourself two very important questions:
1. What is my Purpose? This is the why. Are you trying to get a new play park built? Are you complaining about a broken toy? Are you trying to stop plastic pollution?
2. Who is my Audience? This is the who. Writing to your best friend is very different from writing to the Headteacher or the Mayor of your town. For formal letters, your audience is usually someone you don't know personally, or someone in a position of authority.
Quick Tip: When writing for a formal audience, we use Standard English. This means avoiding slang like "gonna" or "innit" and using clear, correct grammar.
2. The Ingredients of Persuasive Writing
To make your writing really move someone, you can use these special tools from the National Curriculum:
Modal Verbs (Degrees of Possibility)
These are words like must, should, will, could, and might.
Example: "You must act now to save the library" sounds much stronger than "You might want to save the library."
Formal Vocabulary
Instead of using "small" words, try using synonyms (words with the same meaning) that sound more formal.
• Instead of "ask," use request.
• Instead of "tell," use inform.
• Instead of "enough," use sufficient.
Rhetorical Questions
These are questions that don't need an answer because the answer is obvious. They make the reader think!
Example: "Do we really want our beautiful oceans to be filled with rubbish?"
The Passive Voice (Year 6)
Sometimes, using the passive voice makes your writing sound more formal and serious.
Active: "The builders broke the fence."
Passive: "The fence was broken." (This sounds more like an official report!)
3. How to Set Out a Formal Letter
A formal letter has a very specific "look." If you get the layout right, your reader will take your ideas seriously before they even read the first word!
The Layout Checklist:
1. Your Address: Put this in the top right-hand corner.
2. The Date: Put this just below your address.
3. The Recipient's Address: This is the address of the person you are writing to. Put this on the left-hand side, slightly lower than your address.
4. The Greeting:
• Dear Mr/Mrs [Name], (If you know their name).
• Dear Sir or Madam, (If you don't know their name).
5. Clear Paragraphs: Use paragraphs to organise your ideas around a theme. Each paragraph should have one main point.
6. The Ending:
• Yours sincerely, (Use this if you started with a person's name).
• Yours faithfully, (Use this if you started with Dear Sir or Madam).
Key Takeaway: A formal letter is like a uniform for your words—it makes them look professional!
4. Making Your Writing Flow (Cohesion)
To stop your writing from sounding like a messy list of ideas, you need to link your sentences and paragraphs. This is called cohesion.
Using Adverbials
Use fronted adverbials to show the order of your points or to add more information. Remember to put a comma after them!
• Firstly, ...
• Furthermore, ...
• In addition to this, ...
• Consequently, ... (This is a great word to show the result of something).
Organisational Devices
For non-narrative writing like this, you can use headings or bullet points to make your information easy to read.
Example: "The three main reasons to recycle are:
• It protects wildlife.
• It saves energy.
• It reduces landfill."
5. Punctuation for Extra Power
If you are in Year 5 or 6, you can use advanced punctuation to make your persuasion even better:
Parenthesis: Use brackets, dashes, or commas to add extra information.
Example: "The local park (which was built in 1920) is now in a state of repair."
Colons and Semi-colons: Use a colon to introduce a list or a semi-colon to link two independent (main) clauses that are closely related.
Example: "The situation is urgent; we need your help immediately."
Common Mistakes to Avoid
• Don't be too bossy: Even though you are being persuasive, staying polite is much more effective in a formal letter.
• Watch your "I": Try not to start every sentence with "I think" or "I want." Use different sentence openers to keep the reader interested.
• Don't forget to proofread: Spelling and punctuation mistakes can make a formal letter look messy. Check your homophones (like their/there/they're) carefully!
Quick Review Quiz
1. If you start a letter "Dear Sir," how should you end it? (Answer: Yours faithfully).
2. Which modal verb is stronger: "might" or "must"? (Answer: Must).
3. True or False: You should use slang in a formal letter to sound friendly. (Answer: False! Always use Standard English).
4. What do we call the words that link paragraphs together? (Answer: Cohesive devices or adverbials).
Don't worry if this seems like a lot to remember! Just keep thinking about who you are writing to and why. If you can make your point clearly and politely, you are already a master of persuasion!