11

2017 ENGLISH EXAM

SECTION C – Argument and persuasive language

Instructions for Section C

Section C requires students to write an analysis of the ways in which argument and language are used
to persuade others to share a point(s) of view.
Read the background information on this page and the material on pages 12 and 13, and write an
analytical response to the task below.
For the purposes of this task, the term ‘language’ refers to written, spoken and visual language.
Your response will be assessed according to the assessment criteria set out on page 14 of this book.
Section C will be worth one-third of the total marks for the examination.

Task
Write an analysis of the ways in which argument and written and visual language are used in the material on
pages 12 and 13 to try to persuade others to share the points of view presented.

&
stakeholder
=afon#
y
Background information
✓
reasonable & approachable form
The Principal of Spire Primary School writes a weekly message for the school’s website.
She invites comments, favourable or unfavourable, to be posted after her message
appears. The Principal has been concerned about the amount of packaging waste she has

t
seen around the school. Her message about this concern and a response from one parent

( /
are on pages 12 and 13.

tone
f
issue stakeholder
.
= relatable

SECTION C – continued
TURN OVER
 2017 ENGLISH EXAM 12

"

. ÷÷
school
values
the

Spire Primary School environment

leading us
practising the environmental
%0a-yto.wp.ve
"" "

✓ messages the preaches

parents )
aiming

Home About Us Curriculum Newsletter Contact Us kids

Newsletter>Principal’s Message
"
Last updated 11:48 AM on 8 July 2017

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Dear parents of Spire Primary School,
✓ personae
self-aware leader yaeknowbdgment

"^|
✓
I write to you this week to introduce a new concept for us all to think about. ‘Oh, no!’ I hear you say,
‘She has got another idea!’ It is true that I often take this school down new paths, especially in areas
"" """
"
MP

÷÷
that affect the preservation of our planet. We are the only local school that has a ‘Walk/Pedal to School
Day’ once a week, rather than once a month or even once a term! We have four different bins for our

yapped
enthusiastic
WM
-

waste products, not just three! Our vegetable garden is truly organic and our pet hens scratch and roam

total shift -
↳ponsilility
as they wish! But I think we at Spire can do more. We are responsible for the future of our world.
✓ longstanding
I have become increasingly concerned
urgent
-

tear dystopian
- -

about the amount of superfluous packaging

-
exaggerated edited €É→
in our everyday lives. The newspaper in

photograph plastic, hamburgers in boxes, individual

listing
/ blew packets of tissues, little packages of rice relatable

pollution
-
sinister crackers and chips. You might say that the
material from which these HP
•
"" "
& gloomy containers are
relults
made are biodegradable or recyclable – but
connotations of
they still exist, are still clogging our binsdamage
p
and eventually, our country. If we do not risibility
do something positive about this now, the "
"& "

engag-E.IE/-ea=r-andpomaneuce
environmental damage will be irreversible.
threatening
anecdoteLast week current
I walked around the grounds at recess time, talking as I do with any student who wanted to
←_Plaahg
the blame
-

chat – many, I am glad to say. I kept seeing your children holding little plastic packets with a few biscuits
efiewly.ukea.ve
in one side and some cheese spread in the other. When the children had eaten, the little packets
well thought out proposal
became waste material! @I have found myself wondering why those biscuits could not have been spread
with cheese at home and brought to school in a re-usable container. Other children were drinking juice
" " "" "" " " " """ " " """ "" "" "
from cardboard boxes. Why not a washable plastic bottle? At our canteen I saw a child buy a sushi roll
rhetorical _q
and apply soy sauce from a cute little plastic fish. That fish ended up on the ground until I asked the
student to put it in the bin – more rubbish! Why not use a common flask from which the sauce could be

(
etching action exclamatory sentence shock -_

pumped at the counter? (For that matter, how awful are those little tomato sauce containers given with
meat pies – lethal if flipped in your eye!)
exaggeration → humorous
avoids criticisms of bialy SECTION C – continued
the canteen well
criticising as

as the parents
 ÷É÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ I
13 2017 ENGLISH EXAM

→ direct a assertive highlighting her

power &
authority
I am asking (and, in the case of the canteen, insisting) that we do away with unnecessary packaging.
B- I want the canteen to sell products that have no need for it.=
I hope to influence the staff to replace the deflect
- Lias
coffee pod machine –-0 those multiplying little pods – with a machine that filters the coffee straight into
a jug. I might even ask our teachers to bring out our old communal teapot and do away with the pretty
Capped to tradition
-

teabags! C coal
facilitatory
i.
How many nights a week do you eat takeaway? Plastic boxes of beef in black bean sauce, plastic bags of
lettuce for the paper bag of spring rolls, little plastic containers of sauces – all these things increase the
* www .w"""
listing &

repetition
6
mounds of waste products. I am told you can buy carrots ready peeled, washed and sliced – in another
-

plastic bag – but why not prepare your own snacks for the lunch box?
-
laziness
✓
acknowledgment of opposition,

feelings
I know reducing our packaging will be a challenge at school and at home but we must confront it
their children
Eiiwy
-

for the sake of future generations. I will be implementing a curriculum unit to teach students about

Evading
sustainability at every year level.

As usual, your comments are welcome.

ly example indicating
,

one will
that
confront the
( challenge
" "
Denise Walker, Principal .

findicates welcoming ,
reasonable
R her stakeholderhip
:& longstanding support for Denise

)Y
Comments (1) reasonable ✓
← and care for the environment
§ Fair go, Denise. My partner and I have always supported your green ideas. We are already doing what
8
we can. Our kids walk to school every day! They are really interested in what rubbish goes where. They
/Jonah drift ✓ connotations of extremity
eat their limit
love the chooks and the garden. But mornings are chaos in our house as it is. How much worse if we
7- ignorant /out of touch
defensive

;
-

" " have to spread cheese on biscuits (and won’t they go soggy)? Have you any idea how many plastic
=
reward bottles we have lost over our time at Spire? And fillinggory
them also takes time.repulsion
imagery __

Both of us parents go to
is
not
the
work. ^¥nding member of the
community Cappeating to other
✓ dirham busy parents
worth
=syqthy

ѧ
fear
-

imam
negative
-
.

The soy sauce – what a mess little kids will make of pumping that! As I recall, the Parents and Friends
Walker is positioned as offensive and ungrateful rebuttal
-

donated the coffee pod machine for the staff – do you want it to join the hard rubbish? I would think we
had passed the days when civilised people were happy to all drink the same stewed tea.
" appeal " notation
progression
Finally, why begrudge us all the odd easy night off? Takeaway food is often a lifesaver for busy people.
crapealñrg to buy parents
Cexaggeratiar-au-a.IE
It is a great shame if, for a vague principle, our lives become more difficult and we can’t enjoy the
benefits of 21st-century living. Melusine

(
①
Louise
appeal to progression

( first name
=
personalreader toher
→ allows to
relate

END OF SECTION C
TURN OVER
Article one
contention : Walker contends that reducing
and
packaging waste advantageous
is

vital for the

future of the environment .

Author : Denise Walker →

principal
authority &
familiarity
•

purpose : persuade readers to reduce the

waste create
they
Increase the school
Issue
of waste
: in

grounds
Tone : Concerned (starts of enthusiastic

Parents school
community
Audience :
,

Language : personal
 1
spire primary has school
Argument
many positive environmental
need
initiatives
to do mere
however
they still .

If don't alter the amount

Argument
2 we

of packaging Wade created in our

everyday
lives urgently ,
the environmental damage mid
he large and irreversible

3 Walker that both

Argumentand the argues
parents canteen are to blame for
the food packaging wattage at spine primary .

4 Parents and the ✓cheol

Argument
must reduce
community
sake
of
their use
of packaging for the
their
offspring
-
Article Two
Contention
Reducing packaging
:

inconvenient and
waste will
be difficult for parents .

Author : Louise →
parent
→
relatable
levpecially to

busy parents )

purpose : make the

principal rethink her

proposal/ request

Issue : The
proposal /request made by
Denise Walker

and
Tone :
Defensive ,
forceful assertive

Audience : Walker , parents

Language : Assertive direct

,
 argues that bury
1 Louise
Argument
parents
do not have
any spare time to
dedicate to
reducing packaging waste .

will
Argument
2 Walkers proposal mean
that unable to
parents are
enjoy the benefits
of thing in the 21st
century.
 VCAA 2017 English Exam: Section C

Following the principal of Spire Primary School’s request for packaging waste to be decreased
debate has resurfaced regarding the appropriateness of waste reduction. The school newsletter
!
written by principal Denise Walker contends in a fervent tone that reducing packaging is
audience
pupae
advantageous and vital for the environment in order to persuade readers to implement more
sustainable packaging. In response to the principal’s newsletter Louise forcefully argues and
launches an attack on the proposition, rendering it inconvenient and unrealistic. Although both
pieces use different tones they maintain a semi-formal style throughout.

The newsletter commences by establishing a sense of community and inclusion by reiterating the
initiatives of Spire Primary School related to environmental preservation. To establish context
Walker acknowledges that they have already made progress for the ‘planet’ as they have a ‘Walk/
Pedal to School Day’ once a week and have ‘four different bins for waste products’. Yet, she
exclaims using inclusive language that ‘we at Spire can do more’ and are ‘responsible for the future
of the world’. This is designed to fuel the reader’s awareness of social responsibility and encourage
a wide-spread desire for reformation as the reader is made to feel that Walker’s aims are shared
by the community and that each reader is personally valuable to the cause.

Walker’s tone becomes more intense and emphatic as she extends her argument to address the
consequences of school-related waste. To illustrate the extent of the wasteful packaging of the
school Walker breathlessly lists the waste of ‘newspaper in plastic, hamburgers in boxes, individual
packets of tissues’. In juxtaposition, she asserts that ‘if we do not do something positive about this
now, the environmental damage will be irreversible’ appealing to the audience’s sense of fear. The
use of highly emotive words of ‘damage’ and ‘irreversible’ negatively connoted with harm and
impairment seeks to elicit in the readers a sense of aversion towards excess packaging inspiring
them to align with Walker’s contention. This notion relates to the inclusion of the visual which
displays an endless heap of mounted plastic bags filled with waste which in conjunction with the
lack of colour emphasises the severity of this situation.

Subsequently, Walker extensively uses anecdotal evidence in order to outline the unnecessary and
harmful nature of excess packaging. She refers to witnessing students ‘drinking juice from
cardboard boxes’ and holding ‘plastic packets with a few biscuits’. Not only do these examples aim
to lend credibility to Walker’s viewpoint based on her real-life experiences but are designed to
incite shock within readers regarding the immense, futile nature of waste. Yet, Walker
simultaneously includes humor in her reference of the ‘awful’ nature of ‘little tomato sauce
containers’ which are ‘lethal if flipped in your eye!’. Through the use of humour Walker attempts to
elicit a disarming effect whereby an increasingly relaxed, informal atmosphere is established
allowing the audience to be more receptive to their viewpoint by having them enter into the joke.

Principal Walker then launches a final plea for the abolition of ‘unnecessary packaging’. She
provides solutions for waste such as a ‘communal tea pot’ instead of individual ‘tea bags’ in order
to appear as reasoned and her ideas as well-informed further inspiring individuals to take action.
Moreover, a series of rhetorical questions such as ‘why not prepare your own snacks for the lunch
box?’ instead of pre-packaged foods seeks to engage the audience on a personal level and urges
them to carefully consider their own thoughts regarding the issue. Yet, through Walker’s question
 there is the implication that the answer is obvious and anyone who does not agree with reducing
waste is foolish, thereby encouraging readers to agree with the opinions of the principal. To
conclude, she ends with a call to action that although ‘reducing our packaging will be a challenge
… we must confront it for the sake of future generations’ allowing individuals to feel empowered to
take action with Walker’s acknowledgement of the hardships that may ensue presenting her as a
balanced figure.

Contrastingly, the comment written by parent Louise rebuts the implementation of waste reduction
on the basis that it will be too difficult to achieve and cause excess hassle. From the outset Louise
attempts to frame her perspective as credible and balanced as she acknowledges that she is not in
opposition to Denise but has ‘supported her green ideas’ similar to her partner and children. But,
as she works to disprove the principal’s waste reduction propositions the piece undergoes a tonal
shift allowing for a more critical tone to be established. She exclaims that for busy parents
packaging snacks without wrapping and filling up plastic bottles ‘takes time’ and that reduced
packaging options such as a ‘pumping soy sauce machine’ would result in ‘mess’. Likewise to the
newsletter listing is used but of worst case scenarios related to decreased waste inspiring readers
to reject Denise’s suggestions due to potential perils. She further acknowledges that ‘the Parents
and Friends donated the coffee pod machine’ that Denise proposed to replace for a less wasteful
one. Through this Louise seeks to elicit a sense of anger towards the principal for prioritising the
environment over sentiment, encouraging readers to view her with disdain. Further, a flaw in
principal Walker’s argument is exposed as getting rid of a fully functioning coffee machine to join
‘hard rubbish’ is wasteful highlighting the principal’s hypocritical nature and deficiencies in
judgement. Moving to a more disparaging tone Louise rhetorically questions ‘why begrudge us all
an easy night?’ through waste removal practices further emphasizing the hardships of such
activities. The inclusion of inclusive language of ‘us all’ aims to polarise the principal whilst uniting
the parents allowing for the readers to support the view of Louise on the basis that she is a parent.
Unlike the newsletter which concludes with a hopeful statement Louise ends with a critical,
pessimistic notion that waste reduction allows for ‘more difficult lives’ and prevents the enjoyment
of ‘21st century living’. This appeal to modernity and convenience engages the audience’s desire
to be progressive and at ease positioning readers to reject the opposing view as it is conveyed as
out-dated and difficult.

It is clear that the change to reducing packaging waste in schools can be a controversial decision.
Both articles aim to persuade the reader into adopting their stance by appealing to an array of
Kingo
- -

emotions. The Newsletter from Spire Primary School advocating for waste reduction attempts to
-

invoke fear of potential consequences and uses shock tactics such as listing to highlight the
severity of the issue. Whereas the comment from parent Louise which challenges the principal’s
views on limiting packaging also uses listing but also attacks and rhetorical questions to incite

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outrage at associated perceived injustices.

Focus mere

* holistic analysis
=