Better vs worse

Analysing persuasive technique

From “the writer uses emotive language” to real analysis.

Naming a technique isn’t analysis — it’s labelling. Analysis explains the specific word or image, and the effect it has on a specific audience.

Naming only	Real analysis
The writer uses emotive language to persuade the reader.	Describing the closure as “abandoning” families rather than “relocating” them casts the council as callous, priming readers to distrust its stated reasoning before they even reach it.
The writer uses a rhetorical question.	Asking “what price do we put on a child’s safety?” forecloses any answer that isn’t “none,” pressuring readers into agreement rather than inviting genuine debate.
The composer uses statistics to support the argument.	The figure “one in four” is stated without context or source, lending a veneer of scientific authority to what is otherwise an appeal to fear.
Inclusive language is used to connect with the audience.	Repeated use of “we” and “our community” positions the writer as a fellow resident rather than a commentator, borrowing the reader’s own stake in the issue.

Technique + specific quote → what it does to the reader → why that serves the writer’s contention. Skip any step and you’re back to labelling.

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