Consider this scenario…

You are desperate to go to a party but it’s at the house of a girl your parents really do not like, and, if the truth be told, with good reason. She is a liar, she cheats on tests, is an absolutely risk junkie but your best friends are going and by all accounts this party will be sen-bloody-sational.  Your parents are working different hours so you will have to conduct “mission persuasion” in two parts: mum first and dad second. Mum is really stressed at work at the moment and is unlikely to be impressed by your pathetic whining puppy routine, but that is pure gold if and when you get dad at the right moment…  

Can you hear the deliberate nature of the arguments, approaches, persuasive strategies that will be employed; how the order of the arguments will be selected how some will work better in a very particular order.  This is the heart of this task.

The art of this task is to appreciate how persuasion happens in all its glory. You achieve this when you

• identify where the persuasion is,
• consider how the author crafts their language, orders their ideas/arguments in order to persuade / influence the variety of target audience(s),and
• explain why the audience would be influenced by each approach.

Sometimes it is useful to consider what this task IS NOT:

• persuasive technique bingo – ooh there’s some inclusive language and there’s an appeal to patriotism YUCK
• a summary of the arguments presented
• evaluation of the effectiveness of the arguments
• a place to discuss your view on this issue