Persuade: persuasion crosses over into argument. A simple persuasive focus could be taken (e.g. persuading young people to eat healthy food) and some of the features of argument adopted. Effective persuasive speeches made by speakers such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela could be used to show the use and impact of various argumentative, rhetorical and linguistic features.
Unit 1B: Poetry – narrative and non-narrative Unit 1B focuses on narrative and non-narrative poems. Some poems have been suggested, but ‘The Highwayman’ by Alfred Noyes is put forward as the main poem for study. However, teachers are free to make their own choice of poetry for study. Outline: Unit 1B begins with a focus on the poem ‘The Highwayman’ and its thematic/narrative/ballad features. This is followed by an in-depth exploration of its linguistic and rhetorical devices. The differences between narrative and non-narrative poems are managed through a comparative task. Knowledge/skills: Features of narrative and non-narrative poems; analyse and comment on poets’ manipulation of literary, rhetorical and grammatical features; reading skills of inference and deduction, textual evidence; issues of plot, character and theme; linguistic, stylistic features of diary/blog writing; note-taking; speaking and listening skills of discussion, collaboration, presentation; key sentence structure and punctuation skills. Unit 1B: Poetry – narrative and non-narrative Framework codes Suggested activities 7Ro1, 7Rx2, 7Ri1, 7Rw1, 7Rw2, 7Rw3, 7Rw4, 7Rw5, 7Rw7, 7Rv2, 7Rv3, 7Wo2, 7Wa2, 7Wa6, 7Wa7, 7Wa8, 7Wt1, 7Wp1, 7Wp2, 7Wp3, 7Wp4, 7Wp5, 7Wp7, 7Ws1, 7SL1, 7SL2, 7SL4, 7SL5, 7SL6, 7SL7, 7SL8 Getting to know ‘The Highwayman’ Read ‘The Highwayman’, asking learners to join in the refrain. In groups, learners prepare choral readings of the poem. In pairs, learners study illustrations of the poem and outline the story of the poem on a storyboard with six frames or using sticky notes. Stick these on the wall. Clarify the story and address any misconceptions. Ask learners to put forward words/phrases they do not understand. Alternatively, ask them to write these on sticky notes and hand in; clarify these later.
Texts to persuade, argue Learners write on a sticky note what they know about how to write a persuasive/informative text, e.g. an advert or leaflet. Stick these on the wall and use them to assess focus areas and clarify with learners later. Explain the following terms as necessary: antithesis – a pair of opposites placed together for effect repetition – words, phrases repeated for emphasis rhetorical question – a question where no answer is expected, and which makes it seem as if the writer is speaking to the reader triad or tricolon – a set of three words or phrases within a sentence, e.g. you need love, hope and faith alliteration, e.g. happiness and health assonance – the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words to reinforce the meanings of words or set the mood, e.g. she trailed in the wake of his frail shadow consonance – the repetition of particular consonants in words near to each other for emphasis and effect, e.g. clunk, click, I hate it personal pronouns, e.g. I, you, me, them, they, us, we, they, our emotive language, e.g. starving, homeless technical language, e.g. the sodium lauryl ether sulfate in our shampoo beginning sentences with And or But in order to simulate a conversational feel slang/colloquialisms, e.g. kids, guys, cool short sentences similes metaphors qualifying adverbs, e.g. only, just, quite comparative/superlative adjectives, e.g. better, best; further, furthest elision, e.g. they’re. Ask learners to highlight examples of the linguistic devices above in adverts, holiday brochures, estate agents’ blurbs, extracts from speeches arguing a point, etc. In pairs, learners look for just two or three devices. Learners report what devices they have found and suggest why they have been used. Discuss how the devices vary across different non-fiction texts.