• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Rhetoric and persuasive techniques; Evaluating arguments and reasoning). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Critics claim the plan is too expensive. Yet doing nothing will cost us far more in repairs within a decade. What does the writer do in these sentences? (tells a personal story / describes a setting / acknowledges a counterargument and rebuts it / agrees completely with the critics) → acknowledges a counterargument and rebuts itPrompt: What is the writer's main claim?
2. Nine out of ten dentists recommend brushing twice a day. Which persuasive technique is used? (a rhetorical question / humour / an anecdote / statistics and expert authority) → statistics and expert authorityPrompt: What is the writer's main claim?
3. We are not asking for much. We are asking for safe roads. We are asking for clean air. We are asking for a future. Which technique is used? (understatement / repetition (anaphora) / onomatopoeia / a statistic) → repetition (anaphora)Prompt: What is the writer's main claim?

• Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
• Share the objective: Rhetorical situation: audience, purpose, ethos, pathos, logos. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which rhetorical appeal does this sentence mainly use? "Since the policy began, accidents have fallen by 38 per cent; therefore, it should be extended."
• Step 1: Persuasive writers appeal to credibility (ethos), emotion (pathos), logic (logos) and timeliness (kairos).
• Step 2: So the answer is: logos (logic)
• Answer: logos (logic)
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Which rhetorical appeal does this sentence mainly use? "As a nurse who has worked in emergency rooms for twenty years, I have seen the damage firsthand." (ethos (credibility) / pathos (emotion) / logos (logic) / kairos (timing)) → ethos (credibility)Prompt: Does it rely on who the speaker is, on feelings, on reasoning and numbers, or on the moment?
2. Which rhetorical appeal does this sentence mainly use? "If one in five bridges is unsafe and we have 500 bridges, then about 100 need urgent repair." (ethos (credibility) / pathos (emotion) / logos (logic) / kairos (timing)) → logos (logic)Prompt: Does it rely on who the speaker is, on feelings, on reasoning and numbers, or on the moment?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Which rhetorical appeal does this sentence mainly use? "Since the policy began, accidents have fallen by 38 per cent; therefore, it should be extended." (ethos (credibility) / pathos (emotion) / logos (logic) / kairos (timing)) → logos (logic)Prompt: Does it rely on who the speaker is, on feelings, on reasoning and numbers, or on the moment?
2. Which rhetorical appeal does this sentence mainly use? "Picture a child shivering in a cold bedroom because her family cannot afford heating." (ethos (credibility) / pathos (emotion) / logos (logic) / kairos (timing)) → pathos (emotion)Prompt: Does it rely on who the speaker is, on feelings, on reasoning and numbers, or on the moment?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-12.