Finding reviews

• 1). Find reviews from the Arts & Entertainment sections of several major newspapers. Nowadays, all national newspapers have an online presence, as well as an extensive archive of past editions. For example, visitors to the New York Times website (www.nyt.com) can access reviews covering every branch of the arts, from literature to modern dance.
  
  Review aggregator sites are also extremely useful. Sites like www.rottentomatoes.com collect film reviews from hundreds of critics all over the world and combine them to form an aggregate score for each movie. The visitor has access to every review used in their calculations. Another example is www.metacritic.com
  
  
• 2). Collect a sample of snippets from reviews which you feel exemplify clear persuasive writing techniques. Explain to your class the importance of learning these techniques and list them on the board (if you don't have a board, use handouts). It is advisable to limit yourself to three or four techniques if this is your first persuasive writing lesson, although you may wish to examine more if you have an especially bright class.
  
  
• 3). Distribute a handout containing one or two snippets taken from reviews of each of the three or four techniques you wish to study. Examples of techniques to focus on are hyperbole, declarative sentences, anaphora (repetition of key phrases) and rhetorical questions. The snippets should be at least a paragraph in length, and should ideally have the techniques they employ embedded within them. For instance, rather than provide an example of a declarative sentence, provide a paragraph which contains a declarative sentence. Then you have the option of asking the pupils to identify that sentence on their own.
  
  
• 4). Give your students a list of sentences and ask them to enhance them with persuasive techniques. For example, if one sentence was "I liked the scary movie", a correct response would be something along the lines of "I loved this terrifying movie. It is the best film of the year(declarative sentence). I thought my heart would literally explode (hyperbole). Would I see it again? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!" (rhetorical question and anaphoria).
  
  
• 5). Ask your students to write a review of a fictional trip (The circus is a popular choice for Middle Schoolers.) Ensure that they know the point of the exercise and that their piece must be crammed with persuasive techniques. If you have time, you can ask for volunteers to read their work to the class and ask the other students to write down the names of the persuasive techniques used.
  
  One final exercise as the students are lining up to leave is to make them leave in single-file and only allow each one to leave once they've named a rhetorical technique. Needless to say, this is only suitable for well ordered classes.