Writing to persuade

Preparation and Planning

Film footage is vital in order to set the scene for the MOD context in this lesson. Ensure that you have access to an overhead projector or an interactive whiteboard to allow for display.

There are four Student Worksheets to supplement the lesson, of which you will need to make copies. Worksheets can all be used in pairs, removing the necessity for one per student.

Highlighter pens will aid with deconstruction of text in Episode 2.

If you have access to an ICT suite, you may like to ask students to word-process their letter or design a format for their leaflet in Episode 4.

Less able students might benefit from a list of structural devices useful in persuasive writing: from bullet points to sub - headings and presentational devices from capitalisation to underlining. You may like to create a support sheet for them in advance of the lesson.

About the MOD Topic

In 1994 the Pashtun Taliban began to emerge as the dominant power in Afghanistan, controlling most of the country by 1998. The Taliban were already largely isolated internationally. But after 11 September 2001 they came under immense international military pressure for their refusal to give up Osama bin Laden, the leader of the Al-Quaeda movement.

The UK was involved in the invasion of Afghanistan within Coalition forces, led by the US under Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), from the first attacks in October 2001, to the removal of the Taliban regime from Government.

Since the fall of the Taliban, UK troops, as part of the 37-nation strong NATO International Assistance Force (ISAF), have been resident in Afghanistan. Around 7,700 UK service personnel were stationed there by the end of 2007. Long term, ISAF's aim is to create a stable, self-sustaining and democratic environment for the Afghanis.

Counter-drugs activity represents a significant proportion of UK military work in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the world's leading supplier of opiates, sold as opium, morphine and heroin. The opium economy accounts for more than 30% of their GDP and represents one of the gravest threats to the long term security and prosperity of the Afghan people. 90% of the heroin sold on UK streets originates from Afghanistan.

The Taliban derive economic benefits from the drug trade. It is in their interest and that of the traffickers to undermine the Afghan Government's efforts to establish stability. In the south, they encourage farmers to grow poppy and to resist eradication of their crop.

The UK, as Afghanistan's partner nation in counter-narcotics (CN), is working with the Afghan Government and the international community to bring about a sustainable reduction in the cultivation, production and trafficking of opium. We are helping the Afghan Government in its efforts to implement its National Drug Control Strategy (NDCS) and to turn international interest for counter narcotics into support and resources.

Through the Department for International Development (DFID), we have spent over 490m (GBP) since 2001 on reconstruction and development in Afghanistan. Over the last three years the size of DFID's programme has grown substantially and further increases are planned in future years. In 2007/08 we expect to spend 107m (GBP), rising to 115m (GBP) in 2008/09.

The NDCS's main aims are:
Targeting the trafficker and the trade
Strengthening and diversifying legal rural livelihoods including alternative crop cultivation
Developing effective Counter Narcotics institutions
Demand reduction

The right institutional mechanisms are not in place to set up and administer a system of legal cultivation in Afghanistan. Opium poppy eradication and substitution with legal livelihoods are therefore at the forefront of NDCS policy. UK military personnel are heavily involved in the implementation of policy on an ongoing basis, countering illegal cultivation and working with farmers to encourage them to grow legal crops.

Further Opportunities for Learning

As a homework activity, ask students to collect as many examples as they can of persuasive writing at work. They should look to magazines, newspapers, and advertisements for source material. They should write a short paragraph for each piece collected, explaining how they identified it as a piece of persuasive writing, and outlining the text's main aim.

Students write a letter campaigning for their three most hated items in the world to be sent to 'Room 101'. Ensure that students understand that their arguments will not be acceptable if they are offensive to other people in any way.

Ask students to design a planning tool for younger students to use when producing pieces of persuasive writing. Their brief should be to make the tool as clear, easy to use and as functional as possible. They should consider format carefully. You may like to ask them to generate the tool using ICT.

Ask students to produce a poster persuading their peer group to stop smoking. Their poster should detail the health, cost and social negatives of smoking and aim to answer potential counter-arguments.

Ask students to visit the MOD website www.mod.uk and select another defence related topic to use as a springboard for their exam-practice in writing persuasively.
Ask students to write the copy for a chain email to be forwarded with a view to persuading people to sign a petition to be sent to the Prime Minister, persuading him to invest more money in subsidising farmers to allow them to stop cultivating opium poppies in Afghanistan.

Student worksheet answers

Download the teachers notes PDF to access the answers for this lesson.