Persuasive Openings and Closings: Hooks, Contentions and Calls to Action — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 11 persuasive writing worksheet.
Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheetYear 11 · English · Persuasive WritingPersuasive Openings and Closings: Hooks, Contentions and Calls to Action — Answers
Part A: Types of hooks
A hook is the first sentence or two of a persuasive piece. Its job is to make the audience want to keep reading or listening.
- anecdote
- startling fact
- rhetorical question
- vivid scene
- When did we decide that silence was something to be afraid of?
- The river is brown, thick and still, and nothing moves beneath its surface.
- Last winter, my grandmother waited two hours in the cold for a bus that never came.
- The average person spends more than four hours a day looking at a phone.
Answer: anecdote → Last winter, my grandmother waited two hours in the cold for a bus that never came.; startling fact → The average person spends more than four hours a day looking at a phone.; rhetorical question → When did we decide that silence was something to be afraid of?; vivid scene → The river is brown, thick and still, and nothing moves beneath its surface.
Part B: Contentions, previews and endings
Circle the best answer.
- ASome people think school uniforms are good and some do not.
- BSchool uniforms are an interesting topic.
- CSchools should drop compulsory uniforms and allow students to dress for learning.
- DI will talk about uniforms.
Answer: Schools should drop compulsory uniforms and allow students to dress for learning.
A contention takes a clear, arguable position. The other options are neutral or only announce a topic.
- AUniforms are bad.
- BUniforms cost families too much, limit self-expression and do little to improve conduct.
- CThis essay is about uniforms.
- DMany people have opinions about uniforms.
Answer: Uniforms cost families too much, limit self-expression and do little to improve conduct.
A preview names the main reasons in the order they will appear.
- Aa startling fact
- Ba circular ending that returns to the opening anecdote
- Ca new argument
- Da rhetorical question
Answer: a circular ending that returns to the opening anecdote
The ending links back to the anecdote from the hook, which gives a sense of completion.
- Arestating the contention in new words
- Bintroducing a brand-new argument
- Ca call to action
- Dshowing why the issue matters beyond the immediate topic
Answer: introducing a brand-new argument
New arguments belong in body paragraphs, where they can be supported with evidence.
Part C: Study the models
Read each model, then answer the questions.
Answer: A vivid scene (with a metaphor: "turns into a battlefield"). The sensory details make the danger feel real and immediate, so the audience is ready to accept that change is needed.
Answer: The school must make pick-up safer (by creating a drop-off zone, closing the front gate to traffic and running a walking-bus program).
Answer: The last sentence; it suggests three arguments or proposals: a safe drop-off zone, closing the front gate and a walking-bus program.
Answer: Any three: restates the proposals in a list of three; concedes a limitation ("They will not end every traffic jam"); appeals to values (protecting the people who matter most); circular ending that returns to 3:15 and the battle image; inclusive language ("Let's"); a specific call to action with a deadline.
Part D: Your turn
Model answer: Opening: At sixteen, Mia earned her first wages. By the end of the month, she had spent all of it and could not say where it had gone. Mia is not careless; she was simply never taught. Schools should make financial skills a compulsory subject, because money decisions start early, mistakes are costly and every student deserves the same head start. Closing: Budgeting, saving and understanding debt are not optional extras; they are the foundations of an independent life. A single course will not make every student wealthy, but it will make every student wiser. Let's give the next Mia a plan for her wages before she receives them. Ask your school council to add financial skills to next year's course list.
Success criteria:
- Hook is engaging and suits the topic and audience
- Contention is clear and arguable
- Opening previews the main arguments
- Closing restates the contention in fresh words without adding new arguments
- Closing widens the significance and ends with a call to action or circular link
- Controlled, persuasive language; accurate spelling and punctuation
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.