Style models analysis for persuasive text

Style model 1: ‘Renault’s sexist advert drives me absolutely mad’ by Elizabeth Day.

• The piece starts with a rhetorical question ‘what do you look for when you’re buying a car’. The use of the rhetorical question here is getting readers thinking from an early stage (straight away) which gets them immediately involved, and makes them want to keep on reading.
• ‘Erotic props’ describing the modern use of women in adverts. It is dramatic, so that it emphasizes the point of sexual objectification. This is effective on the reader because it makes them think about it, perhaps realize/be persuaded.
•  ‘Not a lot to ask.’ Snappy, simple sentence. Creates humor as it creates the atmosphere of sarcasm.
•  ‘But then Blurred Lines, a feelgood pop song with a catchy bass-line by American R&B singer Robin Thicke’ Relates to recent events which back up her point of women being presented as objects. It is effective because it shows that there is not just one thing doing it, makes more of a big deal about her point.
• ‘Like fleshy, mannequins’ Use of a simile here. It’s negative connotation and would make the reader think of the extent to which women may be being exploited to the world.
•  ‘blows smoke in her face so that she coughs. If Charles Saatchi had done that to Nigella Lawson at a restaurant table, some people would see it as abuse’ – A comparison to other situations to emphasize the point of it being out of order. Extreme emphasis on disrespect. Makes reader realize it’s a serious issue.
• ‘anonymous “good girl”’ – Adjective reflecting the non-importance of a person. Shows women are seen as nothing/disrespected.
• ‘What a guy’ – This is use of humor through sarcasm (derogatory). It is a simple sentence, snappy, and emphasizes. By making the piece humorous, the readers are more likely to agree because it entertains them.
• ‘You’ – uses direct address to the audience, which makes the readers more involved, but it kind of segregates the reader from the writer in some respect so it is both a good thing and a bad thing.
• ‘They’re demeaning’ – This is s declarative (forced opinion). This is effective because it is stating opinion as if it is fact, therefore the readers are more likely to agree because it’s put in a more direct, ‘this is how it is’ sort of way.

Style model 2: ‘The problem with education? Children aren’t feral enough’ by George Monbiot.

• ‘The 10-year-old Londoners I took to Wales were proof that a week in the countryside is worth three months in a classroom’ – The strap line. This is a characteristic that shows it is a comment article, I will be using the same in mine, to make sure it matches genre and is laid out in a professional way. The strap line has to grab the readers’ attention as well as the main title, and it is usually some sort of minor idea on what the text is written about/focusing on.
•  ‘What is the best way to knacker a child’s education?’ – The text begins with a rhetorical question. The effect is that it immediately captures the readers’ attention, immediately involves them, makes them think and want to read on to perhaps find out what the ‘answer’ is.
• ‘Force him or her to spend too long in the classroom.’ – Declarative (abrupt way of stating opinion). Shows the piece is going to be opinionated, quite serious, not very humorous. Exaggerating that it’s against the children’s will through use of the verb ‘force’. This is also the answer to his rhetorical question. But the effect on the reader is that the verb ‘force’ makes the way education is delivered to seem cruel.
•  ‘Teenage girls taken on a three-week canoeing trip in the United States remained, even 18 months later, more determined, more prepared to speak out, and show leadership, and more inclined to challenge conventional notions of femininity.’ – Monbiot only focuses on the positives after projects promoting ‘less time in the classroom’ and would persuade the readers’ due to overload of positive feedback. It also shows own knowledge to back his point, which proves to the readers’ he is reliable in a sense that he seems to know what he is talking about.
•   ‘Last week I saw the evidence myself. With the adventure learning charity WideHorizons, I spent two days taking a group of 10-year-olds from a deprived borough in London rockpooling, and roaming the woods in mid-Wales.’ – This is effective in persuading the reader because he used an adverbial phrase to confirm he has seen evidence for himself. Also, the fact he named the charity he helped with verified this because if the fact he saw for himself was fake, he wouldn’t of been able to provide it effectively.
•  ‘never been to the countryside before and had never seen the sea’ – The repetition of ‘never’ makes the readers’ feel sympathy towards the children, therefore persuades them to agree with the point of getting children out of classrooms is important.
• ‘In the woods the next day we paddled in a stream... We foster and reward a narrow set of skills’ – These two mini paragraphs are a heart warming account of his findings when he went out with the 10-year-olds. This helps persuade the readers’ because not only is it more evidence/personal experience, but he describes it in detail using details such as emotions (abstract nouns), and he does it in such a way that the reader would see that as more valuable than sitting in a classroom 24/7 therefore, makes them more likely to agree with the point.
•   ‘ “I must tell him. It’s not something he will have heard before”’ – use of dialogue backs him up even further because it is more evidence that he was there.
•  ‘In 2011 the current government published a white paper proposing “action to get more children learning outdoors, removing barriers and increasing schools’ abilities to teach outdoors’ – This is an effective counter argument as it has proof of it being true because it states a year and who and where published. Using a counter argument is effective because it proves to the reader that you’re not being bias, and shows that you are thinking from both sides. It enforces your own argument too because you can prove the positive/negative point wrong with your own point of view.
• ‘95% of all outdoor education centres have had their entire local-authority funding cut.’ – Statistical proof, backs up argument because it’s fact, shows knowledge = more believable.
•  ‘Children are being treated like geese in a foie gras farm’ – Here Monbiot uses a simile to describe how children are being treated. This is effective imagery because it is negative, and makes the readers’ relate the image of geese being treated badly, with the children (association)‘Cannot escape’ – gives picture of trapped, and having no choice, effect is readers’ sympathy towards children/feeling of wanting to support getting them out of the classroom more often.
• ‘Why shouldn’t’ – Direct. Pragmatics in a sense that it is declaring there is no reason why they shouldn’t/readers’ struggle to come up with why they shouldn’t leading to their agreement.
• Ends with a rhetorical question like at the start; ‘What kind of government would deprive children of this experience?’ The intransitive verb ‘deprive’ is effective because it is an exaggeration, it emphasizes on the negativity. Also, it is a rhetorical question so it makes the people think. The question is compelling and effective. Due to the fact it doesn’t allow people to forget the effects on treatment of the children, it doesn’t really give the readers’ a choice in whether they think that a government should or shouldn’t ‘deprive children’ because surely anyone wouldn’t wish that, so it ends with agreement.