Technique or Purpose?
Identify the technique in:
“We stand at a crossroads, torn between progress and preservation.”
A Metaphor
Which text type prioritises ambiguity and interpretation?
Creative
Name one common persuasive technique that often becomes overused.
Rhetorical questions / emotive language / statistics without explanation.
What is the purpose of rhetorical questions in persuasive texts?
To engage the audience and guide them toward the writer’s viewpoint without directly stating it.
Why might a purely emotional appeal be risky in a discursive response?
It undermines balance and objectivity by privileging opinion over exploration.
Why is excessive emotive language often penalised in Advanced English?
It can appear simplistic, manipulative, or lacking conceptual depth.
Which text type most commonly integrates personal reflection while maintaining balance?
Discursive
A discursive text should imply discussion rather than argument. True or false? Explain.
True — it explores multiple perspectives rather than persuading the reader toward a fixed position.
What distinguishes a sophisticated persuasive voice from a weak one?
Control, conceptual focus, subtlety, and integration of evidence rather than overt opinion.
A writer repeatedly uses inclusive language such as “we”, “our”, and “us”. Explain how this shapes audience response rather than simply naming the technique.
Inclusive language positions the audience as aligned with the writer, creating shared responsibility and reinforcing persuasion through collective identity rather than overt argument.
Explain how tone control differs between creative and discursive texts, even when addressing the same idea.
Creative texts often shift or destabilise tone to evoke emotion or ambiguity, while discursive texts maintain measured, controlled tone to explore multiple perspectives with balance and credibility.
Identify one persuasive technique that can reduce credibility if overused, and explain why.
Emotive language can appear manipulative or simplistic if overused, weakening authority and sophistication in an Advanced response.
“This clearly shows that society is bad and people should change their ways.”
Improve it for a discursive response.
“This observation prompts broader questions about the values shaping contemporary society and the extent to which change is both possible and necessary.”
Explain why metaphors may be more conceptually powerful in a creative text than a persuasive one.
In creative texts, metaphors invites interpretation and layered meaning, encouraging reflection rather than compliance, while persuasive texts often limit metaphor’s function by directing the audience toward a specific conclusion.
Why might an examiner penalise a discursive response that reads too much like a creative piece?
Excessive imagery or subjectivity can undermine the discursive purpose of balanced exploration, suggesting confusion of text type and weakening conceptual clarity.
Explain why certainty and absolutist language (e.g. “always”, “everyone”, “undeniably”) can lower a persuasive response’s mark.
Absolutist language ignores complexity and alternative perspectives, signalling limited critical thinking and reducing the response’s intellectual credibility.
What is the single worst thing a student can do in a Reading to Write response?