JEM (narrator:)
So I'm just looking at advertising phrases "Buy one, get one free.""New year, a new you.""Hurry now while stocks last."
Just thinking about how advertisers use their key words and imagery to push their brand out.
"Persuasion. No wonder they call it an art."
I don't think song-writing is quite as out there as that. I think songwriters try and bring you into their world in a more subtle way. But it's fundamentally, I think, still the same linguistic devices that are being used - just for a different effect.
"And a word can change the world. A speech can change your mind. Change your mind!And a question can make you seek. seek until you find. Yay-hay… I have a dream.History was made in words that day."
In writing this song, it's sort of an analysis of the way people use persuasive writing in order to get your point across.I think - so for example when I started with that 'persuasion' it needs to be sharp, it needs to be on point straight away because you're trying to get the audience on your side. So you have to be really sure that your thoughts are organised right from the beginning.You can't afford to meander, so you need to be straight in.
"Seek and you will find.It's lovely looking back at these amazing historical moments. Speeches like Churchill's "We will fight them on the beaches."To me that sounds like an incredible line from a song or poem.Martin Luther King, "I have a dream." Amazing opening line. And almost when you think about his delivery you know the rhythm and stuff, it sort of could almost be a song in itself.
"Win with your heart."
If you look at the protest movement, "We shall overcome." It's so simple. It's so clear.It's really important that you kind of almost treat your writing like an essay.So personally for me, as a songwriter, I need to make sure that I've got my key ideas down for what persuasive techniques I'm going to use because I want to get the audience on your side.
This short film is suitable for teaching KS3 English and covers persuasive writing techniques in song-writing.
Jem, a singer-songwriter, discusses some of her lyrics and performs with piano accompaniment.
She explains how, through one song in particular, she explores the effect of persuasive writing techniques used by advertisers and speechwriters.
Jem compares song-writing to these other text forms and discusses how, although not always to the same effect, songwriters use the same techniques, such as imagery, rhythm, repetition and direct quotation.
She highlights how these techniques are used in advertising slogans and the opening to Martin Luther King's famous speech 'I Have a Dream'.
As she is speaking, key words and phrases appear as captions throughout.
Teacher Notes
Teachers could use this short film as a stimulus to start a lesson or a series of lessons on persuasive writing.
Teachers could screen-shot a still from the clip, asking students to annotate the image with everything they think is relevant to persuasive techniques as they are watching it.
Teachers could then collect feedback and keep it as a checklist on the classroom wall throughout the unit, ticking as devices or text types are understood and adding other ideas not covered in the clip.
Curriculum Notes
This clip is relevant for teaching English Language at KS3 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and third and fourth level in Scotland.
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