Writing to persuade

You’ve probably learned lots of persuasive devices in English here’s a nifty way of remembering the key ones: when we write to persuade or we read writing for persuasion think about “QUES QUES FOARR”!


Q uestions - raised by the speaker to make us think

U se of names - to personalise and make sources more specific and convincing

E motive language - to connect with emotions, including using word images

S entence length - variety lengths of sentence add impact


Q uotations - from experts to add weight to the evidence given

U se of pronouns - to personalise a speech for an audience

E motive pictures - usually used in newspapers and online

S tatistics - these look impressive and can be manipulated


F acts - to support your ideas

O pinions - a crucial part of persuasion is to make these clear

A necdotes - such as relevant personal stories

R hetorical questions - to increase feeling and cause reflection

R epetition - to reemphasise and reinforce