Writing techniques

A persuasive non‑fiction piece should combine several techniques—rhetorical questions to engage, anecdotes to personalize, statistics for evidence, and expert opinion for authority—to appeal to different reader motivations. Choosing only statistics (option A) limits emotional impact and may alienate readers who need narrative context, making it a common but weak approach.

Examiners value ambitious vocabulary when it precisely conveys meaning and fits the context, demonstrating control and nuance rather than mere showiness. A list of random, frequent words can appear forced and may obscure clarity, so option A is a common trap. The longest word possible or italics do not guarantee relevance, making them unsuitable choices.

Ethos, pathos, and logos are the three classical rhetorical appeals, meaning credibility (ethos), emotion (pathos), and logical reasoning (logos) used to persuade an audience. A diagram for this topic isn't available yet — the worked example below walks the same reasoning step by step.

• !Option A confuses the terms with unrelated concepts of place, time, and character, which are not rhetorical strategies, so it is a common misinterpretation.
• !Option A begins with the clichéd 'dark and stormy night', which many learners recognize as a hackneyed opener, so it fails to impress.
• !Choosing only statistics (option A) limits emotional impact and may alienate readers who need narrative context, making it a common but weak approach.
• !Option A is incorrect because topic sentences are typically placed at the beginning of a paragraph to establish focus early on.
• !A list of random, frequent words can appear forced and may obscure clarity, so option A is a common trap.

Answer each from memory — you'll see instantly whether you're right and why.

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