Free Year 11 Discursive and Persuasive Writing for Senior English
Senior English asks students to write persuasively (to argue a position) and discursively (to explore an idea from several angles). This guide sets the two forms side by side, then shows how to build a persuasive argument, how to open and shape a discursive piece, and how to end each one well. Worked examples and the common mistakes that cost marks in HSC/VCE-style writing tasks are included.
Instant download · No sign-up · Free for personal, classroom and homeschool use
- Year
- Year 11
- Subject
- English
- Topic
- Persuasive Writing
- Difficulty
- Level 2 · Standard
- Estimated time
- 30 minutes
- Curriculum
- Australian Curriculum
- Answers
- Not applicable
- Format
- PDF (A4) + print
Students will practise
- distinguishing the purpose, voice and structure of persuasive and discursive writing
- building a persuasive argument with contention, reasons, evidence and rebuttal
- opening and developing a discursive piece through anecdote, pivot and multiple perspectives
- controlling modality, tone and endings to suit the form
Curriculum: Australian Curriculum. We show specific outcome codes only where they have been verified against the official curriculum document.
What's next?
Completed: Discursive and Persuasive Writing for Senior English
You've reached the end of this topic — next up: Text Analysis & Essays
How to use this study guide
- Read it together first, pausing at each worked example to try the step before reading the answer.
- Attempt the "Check yourself" questions at the end without looking back.
- Then practise with a worksheet from the pathway above and finish with the topic test.
Common questions
Who is this study guide for?
Year 11 students (typically ages 16–17) working on persuasive writing. It is pitched at level 2 · standard.
Are the answers included?
This is a study guide, so there is no separate answer sheet; the 'Check yourself' questions include answers.
How long does it take?
About 30 minutes. Short, regular sessions work best: two or three a week beats one long one.
Do I need to sign up to download?
No. Click Download Free PDF and it opens immediately. It is free for personal, classroom and homeschool use.
What should we do next?
Move on to Text Analysis & Essays.
Preview
Year 11 · English · Persuasive Writing
Discursive and Persuasive Writing for Senior English
Student name:
Date:
What you need to know
Senior English asks you to write in forms other than the essay. Persuasive writing argues a position and wants the reader to agree or to act. Discursive writing explores an idea from several angles, often through personal reflection, anecdote and example, and does not have to settle on one side. Both are assessed on control of voice, structure and language, and both are stronger when they sound like a thinking person rather than a template. The most common failure in each form is drifting into the other: a discursive piece that starts arguing, or a persuasive piece that hedges.
| Feature | Persuasive | Discursive |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Convince the reader to accept a contention or take action | Explore an idea, offer perspectives, invite the reader to think |
| Voice | Confident, assertive, often public (a speech, an opinion column) | Personal, curious, reflective; often conversational or essayistic |
| Structure | Contention stated early; arguments in a deliberate order; rebuttal; call to action | Opens with a moment, image or question; moves between perspectives; often circles back to the opening |
| Modality and tone | High modality ('must', 'will', 'cannot'); urgent or authoritative | Low to mid modality ('perhaps', 'it seems', 'I wonder'); tentative, wry, thoughtful |
| Evidence | Facts, statistics, expert authority, examples the reader can check | Anecdote, observation, cultural reference, personal experience, 'what if' cases |
| Ending | Returns to the contention; names an action and who should take it | Returns to the opening image, changed; offers an insight or an open question |
| Typical forms | Speech, opinion piece, letter to the editor, editorial | Personal essay, feature article, reflective column |
Persuasive writing
Building a persuasive piece in five steps (topic: every Year 11 student should complete a term of work placement)
- Write the contention in one sentence of high modality: 'Every Year 11 student must spend one term in a structured work placement.'
- Choose the audience and the form, because they set the register: a speech to a school assembly is warmer and more inclusive than an opinion column for a newspaper.
- Order three arguments and plan the rebuttal: (1) students discover what they are good at before they choose subjects; (2) local employers and the community gain; (3) the objection, 'a term of lost class time', answered by evidence that engagement rises when study has a visible purpose. Put the clearest argument first and the strongest last.
- Draft each paragraph with a claim, a piece of evidence or a concrete example, an explanation of why it matters, and a return to the contention. Use devices with a job to do: anaphora to build urgency, inclusive language to make the audience allies, one rhetorical question at the turn.
- End with a call to action that names a specific step and a specific actor: 'Timetable it. Fund it. Ask us what we learnt.'
Discursive writing
Opening a discursive piece in four moves (idea: have we forgotten how to wait?)
- Begin with a concrete moment, not the idea: 'The bus was eleven minutes late and I had, for the first time in months, nothing to look at.'
- Pivot from the moment to the idea: 'It occurred to me that I no longer knew how to wait.'
- Signal that the piece will explore rather than argue: 'I have been trying to work out whether that is a loss, or just a change.'
- Choose two or three angles to move through: what my grandmother did in queues; what attention researchers say about boredom; the counter-view that impatience is what gets things built. Each angle gets a section; none of them gets the final word by itself.
- Signal shifts in thinking with phrases such as 'and yet', 'perhaps', 'I used to think ... now I wonder', 'there is another way to see this'.
- Include at least one perspective you do not share, and treat it fairly; the reader should feel you have genuinely considered it.
- Use anecdote as evidence, then step back from it: a story is not a point until you say what it reveals.
- Vary paragraph length. A one-sentence paragraph can act as a turn or a breath.
- End with an insight or an open question, not a verdict; the reader should leave thinking, not nodding.
Crafting an ending for each form
- Persuasive, move 1: return to the contention in new words. 'A work placement is not a term off; it is a term on.'
- Persuasive, move 2: name the action and the actor. 'Principals can timetable it. Parents can ask for it. Students can demand it.'
- Discursive, move 1: return to the opening image, changed by what the piece has explored. 'The bus came, eventually. I let the next one go.'
- Discursive, move 2: offer the insight without closing the question. 'Waiting, it turns out, is not empty time. It may be the only time we are not being told what to think.'
Check yourself
- What is the main difference in purpose between persuasive and discursive writing?
- Which form usually uses high modality? Write one high-modality sentence on any topic.
- Rewrite this as a discursive opening: 'Social media is harmful to teenagers and should be regulated.'
- Name two kinds of evidence suited to a discursive piece.
- What should a persuasive conclusion contain that a discursive conclusion usually does not?
- A student's discursive piece considers three perspectives and ends: 'Therefore we must ban phones in schools.' What has gone wrong?
Answers: 1. Persuasive writing aims to convince the reader to accept a position or act; discursive writing aims to explore an idea from several angles and leave the reader thinking. 2. Persuasive. e.g. 'The council must fund the pool before summer.' 3. e.g. 'My sister deleted every app on her phone last winter and, for about a week, became impossible to live with. I have been trying to decide since then whether she was unhappy because of what she had lost, or because of what she could suddenly see.' 4. Any two of: anecdote, personal experience, observation, cultural or historical reference, a hypothetical case. 5. A call to action naming a specific step and who should take it; a persuasive ending closes the question while a discursive ending leaves it open. 6. The piece has switched into persuasive mode: the high-modality verdict ('must ban') contradicts the exploratory purpose. A discursive ending should offer an insight or a question that holds the perspectives in balance.
Preview — the PDF contains the full resource.
About this resource
- Created by
- Success Tutoring
- Last reviewed
- 1 October 2026
- How it was made
- Written by our team
Free to print and share for personal, classroom and homeschool use. Please don't resell. Spotted an error? Let us know.