Year 10 - English
Planning a speech and building your counter-argument
Non-fiction: changing views
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils develop their non-fiction reading and writing skills. They look at a range of nineteenth century and modern texts in tandem, and practise comparing viewpoints. They then practise emulating different techniques from the texts in order to develop their speech and opinion writing.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to structure your speech around a central message and use a counter-argument to strengthen your overarching argument.
Key Notes
- Take a clear stance for or against the statement - alternative arguments should be refuted at least once in the piece.
- Contrast creates a robust sense of a writer's perspective, by demonstrating feeling towards all angles of an argument.
- Use rhetorical questions, direct address and hyperbole to expose the flaws of the opposition in an emotive way.
- Carefully sequence and vary subtle and dramatic shifts in tone, to draw reactions from the reader.
Vocabulary To Learn
- authorial voice: the language a writer uses to communicate their perspective- this could be serious, hopeful or fun etc.
- rhetorical question: questions posed for effect, not requiring an answer, to emphasise a point
- refute: to prove something wrong or untrue
- hyperbole: exaggerated claims not meant to be taken literally, used for emphasis
- direct address: speaking directly to the audience using 'you' to engage and involve them in the message
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Refuting counter-arguments is enough to create an impact.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Take a clear stance for or against the statement - alternative arguments should be refuted at least once in the piece. Contrast creates a robust sense of a writer's perspective, by demonstrating feeling towards all angles of an argument.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'authorial voice'
the language a writer uses to communicate their perspective- this could be serious, hopeful or fun etc.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Refuting counter-arguments is enough to create an impact. Correction: Although it is good practice to refute counter-arguments, we can also use language devices when we do so to make them even more powerful.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Analysing and comparing language techniques in non-fiction writing Study Guide
- Considering and analysing attitude in non-fiction writing Study Guide
- Considering and analysing the use of anecdotes in a non-fiction text Study Guide
- Considering and emulating onomatopoeia and alliteration in speech writing Study Guide
- Considering and emulating the use of anaphora in speech writing Study Guide
- Considering and emulating the use of direct address in the opening of a speech Study Guide
- Considering and emulating the use of extended analogies in non-fiction writing Study Guide
- Considering and emulating the use of hyperbole in opinion writing Study Guide
- Considering and emulating the use of rhetorical questions in opinion writing Study Guide
- Considering and emulating the use of similes in non-fiction writing Study Guide
- Considering and understanding the attitude of a non-fiction text Study Guide
- Crafting an effective comparison of non-fiction texts Study Guide
- Developing reading skills and personal responses to non-fiction texts Study Guide
- Using colons, dashes, and semicolons effectively in opinion writing Study Guide
- Using comparatives and superlatives to effectively compare non-fiction texts Study Guide
- Using inference and embedded quotations to craft effective summaries Study Guide
- Using rhetorical devices to write an effective speech Study Guide
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