Analysing argument is a distinct writing genre with its own conventions, structure and metalanguage. In VCE Unit 4, your written analysis of persuasive texts is assessed on how well you demonstrate understanding of how a text positions its intended audience — not on whether you agree or disagree with the argument’s content.
Your analytical response aims to:
- Identify the contention and supporting arguments
- Explain how specific language techniques, visuals and structural choices position the intended audience
- Demonstrate understanding of why these techniques are effective for this particular audience
- Maintain a dispassionate, analytical register — you are not a reviewer or advocate, you are an analyst
The response should state the author’s contention clearly and precisely — in your own words, not paraphrase — near the beginning. This establishes the framework within which all subsequent analysis operates.
‘In this piece, [Author] argues that [specific claim], addressing an audience of [audience] in the context of [context].’
Before examining individual techniques, establish the overall argumentative structure:
- How is the argument sequenced?
- What is the first move and why?
- How does the argument build toward the contention?
This is the core analytical unit. For each technique identified:
1. Name the technique precisely (emotive language, rhetorical question, concessive structure, visual appeal)
2. Quote or describe the specific example
3. Explain the intended effect on the audience
4. Connect to the overall persuasive strategy
Model sentence structure:
‘By [technique], [author] [intended effect], positioning the [specific audience] to [specific response].’
Every observation about technique must be tied to its effect on the specific intended audience. A rhetorical question about parental concern will function differently in a parenting magazine than in a political broadsheet. Reference:
- The publication and its readership
- The values and concerns of that readership
- Why this technique is designed to resonate with this audience
Where relevant, acknowledge the context of publication and the author’s identity and how these shape reception. This does not mean lengthy biographical background — one or two sentences of contextual framing that clarify why the text appears when and where it does.
If the text contains images, cartoons, graphs or layout elements, analyse these as part of the argument. Use visual metalanguage and explain how the visual works in relation to the verbal text.
| Category | Terms |
|---|---|
| Contention and argument | contention, supporting argument, rebuttal, concession, premise, claim |
| Language techniques | emotive language, inclusive language, rhetorical question, tricolon, anaphora, hyperbole, modality |
| Appeals | appeal to ethos/logos/pathos, appeal to authority, appeal to shared values, appeal to fear |
| Positioning | positions the reader to, constructs the audience as, invites the reader to align, frames the issue as |
| Tone | authoritative, alarmist, measured, sarcastic, earnest, indignant, conciliatory |
| Structure | juxtaposition, concession and rebuttal, escalation, framing, problem-solution |
| Visual | salience, composition, framing, camera angle, juxtaposition |
Analytical responses use:
- Third person (‘the author’, ‘the reader’)
- Present tense (‘[Author] argues’, not ‘argued’)
- Precise metalanguage — not ‘the author uses language’ but ‘the author’s use of high-modality verbs (must, will)…’
- Analytical verb choices: positions, constructs, invites, appeals, implies, suggests, reinforces, undermines
- No personal evaluation of the argument’s validity or worth
VCAA FOCUS: The top band in VCAA Analysing Argument assessment requires sustained, insightful analysis that explains not merely what techniques are used but how and why they function to position the specific intended audience. Depth of analysis of fewer techniques is always preferred to a catalogue of superficially noted observations.
