Analysing Persuasive Techniques in Advertising — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 9 text analysis & essays worksheet.
Year 9 · English · Text Analysis & Essays
Analysing Persuasive Techniques in Advertising — Answers
Part A — Name the technique
Read the advertisement carefully, then circle the best answer for each question.
Wattle & Wave. Carry the coast with you.
Every year, Australians throw away millions of plastic bottles. Most of them end up where you least want them: on our beaches, in our rivers, in the bellies of seabirds. You've seen the photos. You've felt that twist in your stomach.
Now imagine something different. Imagine a bottle built to last a lifetime, not a lunchtime. The Wattle & Wave bottle is crafted from recycled Australian steel, keeps your water icy cold for 24 hours and comes with a promise: break it and we'll replace it. Free. Forever.
Nine out of ten owners say they've stopped buying bottled water altogether. Marine biologist Dr Hana Reyes carries one on every dive. Shouldn't you?
Join over 200,000 Australians who've made the switch. Order before Sunday and we'll plant a tree in your name.
Wattle & Wave. Because the ocean can't wait.
(This advertisement, the brand and the people named in it are fictional and were written for this worksheet.)
- Astatistics
- Bemotive language and direct address
- Cexpert opinion
- Dalliteration
Answer: emotive language and direct address
The short sentences address the reader directly ('you') and name a physical feeling of distress, pulling on emotion rather than reason.
- Aan anecdote
- Ba statistic
- Ca metaphor
- Dhyperbole
Answer: a statistic
A figure is used to make the claim sound measured and trustworthy. Note the ad does not say how many owners were asked.
- Abandwagon
- Brepetition
- Cexpert endorsement (appeal to authority)
- Drhetorical question
Answer: expert endorsement (appeal to authority)
A named expert is used to lend credibility; if a scientist trusts the product, the reader is positioned to trust it too.
- Aa rhetorical question
- Ba command
- Ca statistic
- Dan exclamation
Answer: a rhetorical question
The question expects no answer; it nudges the reader to agree that they should follow the expert's example.
- Adescribe the product
- Bcreate urgency and prompt immediate action
- Cappeal to authority
- Dexplain the price
Answer: create urgency and prompt immediate action
A deadline plus a reward is a classic call to action: it pressures the reader to act now rather than think it over.
- Asave money
- Bbelong to a group (bandwagon)
- Clearn new facts
- Davoid danger
Answer: belong to a group (bandwagon)
Bandwagon appeals suggest that because many people are doing something, the reader should too.
- Asimile
- Bcontrast with alliteration
- Conomatopoeia
- Da statistic
Answer: contrast with alliteration
The two 'l' words are set against each other to make the product sound durable and disposable bottles sound wasteful.
Part B — Explain the effect
Answer in one or two full sentences. Quote the text where you can.
Answer: 'our beaches, our rivers' positions the reader as a fellow Australian who shares ownership of the coast and therefore shares responsibility for protecting it.
Answer: 'Imagine ... Imagine' or 'Free. Forever.' The repetition and one-word fragments slow the reader down and make the promise sound emphatic and certain.
Answer: The ocean is personified as something that is waiting and running out of time. It turns buying a bottle into an urgent moral act rather than a shopping decision.
Answer: It sells an identity: owning the bottle connects the buyer with the beach and an outdoor Australian lifestyle, not just with staying hydrated.
Answer: Environmentally aware Australians, probably teenagers and young adults. Evidence: the focus on plastic pollution and seabirds; the reference to 'Australians' and 'our beaches'; the lifestyle slogan; the tree-planting offer.
Part C — Match the terms
- emotive language
- inclusive language
- appeal to authority
- bandwagon
- call to action
- words chosen to stir feelings such as guilt, fear or hope
- telling the reader exactly what to do, often with a deadline
- 'we', 'our', 'us' used to make the reader feel part of a group
- suggesting the reader should act because many others already have
- using an expert or trusted figure to support a claim
Answer: emotive language → words chosen to stir feelings such as guilt, fear or hope; inclusive language → 'we', 'our', 'us' used to make the reader feel part of a group; appeal to authority → using an expert or trusted figure to support a claim; bandwagon → suggesting the reader should act because many others already have; call to action → telling the reader exactly what to do, often with a deadline
Part D — Analytical writing
Model answer: The most effective technique is the emotive opening, because it works before the product is even mentioned. Images of bottles 'in the bellies of seabirds' and the line 'You've felt that twist in your stomach' make the reader feel personally implicated in the problem. For a young, environmentally aware audience this guilt is powerful, and the advertisement then offers the bottle as a quick way to relieve it. The statistics and expert endorsement that follow simply confirm a decision the reader has already been pushed towards.
Success criteria:
- Names one technique clearly
- Quotes the text accurately
- Explains the effect on the specific target audience
- Gives a reason why this technique is stronger than others
- Four to five well-constructed sentences
Model answer: The Wattle & Wave advertisement positions readers to buy its bottle by making them feel responsible for the problem and then offering the product as the solution. The opening uses emotive language and direct address, describing plastic 'in the bellies of seabirds' and telling the reader 'You've felt that twist in your stomach', so that readers start from a position of guilt. Inclusive language such as 'our beaches' deepens this by framing the coast as shared property that the reader has a duty to protect. The advertisement then shifts to reassurance: the statistic that 'nine out of ten owners' have stopped buying bottled water and the endorsement of 'marine biologist Dr Hana Reyes' make the purchase seem both popular and expert-approved. Finally, the call to action, 'Order before Sunday and we'll plant a tree in your name', adds urgency and allows readers to feel virtuous rather than simply persuaded. Together, these techniques move the reader from discomfort to relief, and position buying the bottle as an act of care for the ocean rather than a consumer choice.
Success criteria:
- Topic sentence answers the question directly
- At least three techniques identified by name
- Accurate, embedded quotations
- Each technique's effect on the reader is explained, not just labelled
- Linking sentence returns to the question
- Formal, analytical register (no 'I think')
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.
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