Improving your opinion article on Gothic literature
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use new knowledge to improve my own writing.
Key learning points
- Rhetorical questions need to be ‘targeted’ - personalised to the situation or moment, and used with an aim in mind.
- Using emotive language in rhetorical questions can be a very effective way of making them more targeted and purposeful.
- Direct address can be used to motivate and empower the reader to make changes or speak up.
- Repeating ‘you’ too many times can be quite accusatory, which can actually make your reader resistant to your message.
- Try being more subtle with direct address- speak to an imagined reader by name or address readers collectively.
Keywords
Subtle - not too obvious or noticeable.
Accusatory - indicating that a person has done something wrong.
Personalised - designed to meet individual or specific requirements.
Empower - to encourage and support a person’s ability to do something.
Common misconception
Students think that using lots of the pronoun 'you' is an effective use of direct address. They tend to do this a lot in rhetorical questions.
Using 'you' too many times can create an accusatory tone that can actually make the reader defensive. Sometimes, it can be better to approach direct address more subtly, by speaking to an imagined reader or addressing the readers collectively.
Teacher tip
It would be good to draw attention to the fact that direct address is often used poorly in rhetorical questions, so students can use learning from both parts of the lesson to improve both their rhetorical questions and their use of direct address. The two often go hand-in-hand.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is being described here: 'a question that is asked for effect rather than an answer.'?
Q2.What type of pronoun is the word 'you'?
Q3.What method is being used in this example: 'You should go and enjoy the great outdoors!'?
Q4.What is the purpose of opinion writing?
Q5.What does the word 'subtle' mean?
Q6.What might the word 'empower' mean?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is not a purpose of a rhetorical question?
Q2.What makes a successful rhetorical question?
Q3.When something is it is designed to meet individual or specific requirements.
Q4.When using direct address, you want to motivate, inspire and your reader.
Q5.What might be the effect of using 'you' many times in an opinion article?
Q6.How can you be more subtle when using direct address in your writing?
To help you plan your 8 English lesson on: Improving your opinion article on Gothic literature, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 English lesson on: Improving your opinion article on Gothic literature, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 English lessons from the A monster within: reading and writing Gothic fiction unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.