Persuasive writing
Real persuasive writing by Australian students in Years 7–10, published with their consent and credited to them. Each piece is read closely for what the writing does rather than for what it scored, and that close reading is still being completed. For what Australian assessors actually reward, and what a decade of national data shows, start with persuasive writing examples, explained.
What is taught against these pieces
The moves taught against persuasive writing, drawn from the practice's own technique record.
Contention = Position + Reason
A contention states a clear position plus the reason behind it, stated directly — never a bare yes or no.
Martin, in practice“However, when uncritical towards artificial intelligence, the helpful technology ends up doing more harm than good” closes the opening paragraph with the position and its reason already attached, so the essay has somewhere to go. Read the piece
Persuasive Technique Toolkit
A standing list of named rhetorical devices taught as a toolbox, with the rule that every sentence should carry some form of persuasive language.
Martin, in practiceRhetorical question and metaphor are layered within single paragraphs — “how does AI limit its own users?” and “the outsourcing machine seeming tireless” — rather than one device per point. Read the piece
Rebuttal / Imagined Opposition
Proactively anticipating and dismantling counterarguments before they are raised, with the rebuttal substantially fleshed out.
Martin, in practiceThe opposing case is stated fairly — AI “is praised as a device of endless knowledge” and educators “appear to work tirelessly” — before each is turned. The rebuttal is given room rather than waved away. Read the piece
Thematic Divide of Supporting Arguments
Separating supporting arguments into distinct thematic categories so paragraphs build toward separate ideas rather than repeating one angle.
Martin, in practiceMisinformation, the loss of independent thinking, and teachers’ own misuse take a paragraph each. Three different kinds of argument, so the essay widens instead of restating. Read the piece
Don't Qualify a Good Idea
Letting a strong claim stand without hedging it into softness.
Martin, in practice“Yet students continue to use it” is left unhedged. The sentence is short, flat and unqualified, and carries the paragraph it ends. Read the piece
Purposeful-Analysis Deconstruction of a Model Persuasive Text
Interrogating why an exemplar persuasive text is sequenced as it is, labelling each body point by its strategic function in order rather than naming the techniques inside it.
Audience-Targeted Persuasion / Tone-Matching
Choosing technique and register for a specific, imagined audience rather than a generic persuasive voice.
Martin, in practiceThe argument is pitched to readers who already use the technology, so it concedes usefulness before asking for limits — a register aimed at persuading rather than scolding. Read the piece
Realistic-Reform Framing (Avoid Absolutist Terms)
Arguing for a workable reform rather than an absolute position, so the case stays credible.
Martin, in practiceRather than demanding AI be banned, the essay asks that staff “model and properly enforce a balancing of AI.” The moderate ask is harder to dismiss than a total one. Read the piece
These are drawn from the record of techniques used in lessons. The full archive holds every piece published so far, and the Clinic works the same moves at the level of a single sentence.
Writing of this kind is what the NAPLAN writing task asks for in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, and the same moves are what VCE English asks for later, at greater length.
What assessors actually reward in persuasive writing — The evidence behind these techniques — what Australian assessors report distinguishes strong persuasive writing, and which skills measurably declined over a decade of national data.