✨ FREEBIE ALERT ✨: Grade 9 Persuasive Writing Techniques - download and memorise them:

 

Students in my GCSE Masterclass EVERY SINGLE WEEK always ask, “Miss, I’m scared, I always run out of time in exams. What should I do?”

The top piece of advice: PRACTICE MORE! A past paper a week keeps the resits away. Practice will always improve your speed.

But.. what if time isn’t on your side?

Pick the biggest mark question and write your best ever answer!

Let’s be honest - Language Paper 2 is challenging. You must read TWO INSERTS, answer those hard comparison essays and then write a clever persuasive essay. If you run out of time ALWAYS work backwards - start with persuasive writing and follow these 3 steps in every persuasive article, letter or speech that you write:

1️⃣ MEMORISE these top techniques:

You will ALWAYS get top marks if you include these techniques in your writing:

1. Rhetorical question: start your FIRST sentence with this - ALWAYS

2. Imagery: throw in one simile and one metaphor

3. Statistics: make up a statistic to show you understand how to convince your reader (ie. according to Cambridge University, 76% of people…)

4. Anecdote: another nice, convincing technique - make up a person (Sally Smith, in Year 11) who was affected by the issue you’re discussing

5. Imperative sentences: these are commands - tell your reader to do something!

6. Direct address: always use inclusive pronouns to make the person reading feel like you are speaking directly to them!

2️⃣ Have a clear structure

When I write GCSE model answers for my students in my GCSE Sunday Masterclasses for Paper 2, I always use this structure:

• Main points (your views)

• Counterarguments (critics who disagree with you)

• Closing paragraph (say why you’re still right)

3️⃣ PRACTICE!

Practice, practice, practice like your life and your grades depended on it (because they do!) And… that’s it! 😃

Don’t forget of course - you don’t have to figure it out by yourself! In my weekly SUNDAY GCSE PAPER 1 & 2 Masterclasses - we literally go over how to get top marks in your upcoming GCSE English exams: https://www.firstratetutors.com/masterclass

GCSE LITERATURE PAPER 1 & 2 REVISION:

I’ll also be running a one-off EASTER GCSE Literature week, covering how to write full mark answers for Literature Paper 1 and Paper 2 - sign up here: https://www.firstratetutors.com/literature!