Let's get argumentative!
Natasha Thomas-Francis, Contributor

Hello all! As was promised last week, I will begin today's lesson with a follow-up exercise on correcting misplaced and dangling modifier. Please rewrite each sentence, correcting the misplaced or dangling modifier:

• Robert stubbed his toe on a stone running a victory lap in his bare feet.
• The written test only has two parts.
• Steering the ship to the south, the storm was avoided.
• The proud father announced the birth of his son with blue balloons.
• Joe's kite was caught in a tree with a long tail.

Now, we turn our attention to persuasive /argumentative writing. This lesson is particularly helpful in assisting you with section 4 of Paper 02. This section of the CXC English A paper tests your persuasive/argumentative skills, so it is important that you master these skills.

Persuasive speech or writing aims at convincing the reader to agree with a particular viewpoint. It is supported by evidence and relies on persuasive devices to make its appeal. The main focus of persuasive language is the audience, reader or listener.

So what then are the elements that you need to consider? In persuasive discourse, the writer makes use of content, rhetorical devices, structure and language. All the choices are guided by consideration of the audience.

I am sure you are familiar with the following strategies writers or speakers use to persuade their audience:

• Use of evidence
• Use of analogy
• Use of contrast
• Use of repetition
• Use of reliable sources of authority
• Appeal to emotion
• Use of rhetorical question (a question which does not require a verbal response)
• Direct personal appeal
• Irony/sarcasm
• Hyperbole (overstatement)
• Pun (a play on words)
• Metaphors and similes

There are many great public speakers whom you can emulate. I believe President Barack Obama of the United States is one of the greatest orators of all time. He tends to have a natural flair with his words. Can you think of any public speakers who inspire you?

Well, read the following extract taken from a famous speech by Martin Luther King Jr and identify the strategies employed in the speech:

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

...

I have a dream today.

...

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

Isn't this a powerful speech? How many persuasive strategies were you able to identify?

In next week's lesson, I will discuss a few strategies found in the extract. Until then, be a blessing to someone. Let us continue to keep our Haitian brothers and sisters in our thoughts as they travel on the road to recovery.

Natasha Thomas-Francis teaches at Glenmuir High School. Send questions and comments to kerry-ann.hepburn@gleanerjm.com