1. Navigating NAPLAN
A Voiceless Teaching and Learning Program Years 7 & 9
Persuasive Writing
LESSON 3
Structure and arguments of persuasive writing

2. How do you start a persuasive essay?
You start by planning.
First – consider the question or statement.
What are the possible positions you could adopt in response to the question/statement?

3. How do you start a persuasive essay?
STATEMENT
It is acceptable to keep dolphins in captivity for the purpose of educating and entertaining people.
What possible positions could you adopt in response to this statement?

4. Deciding on a position Some possible positions:
It is acceptable to keep dolphins in captivity for some purposes (such as conservation), but education and entertainment of humans is not an acceptable purpose.
It is acceptable to keep dolphins in captivity for any purpose.
It is acceptable to keep dolphins in captivity for educational and entertainment purposes, but only if it is not impacting negatively on their welfare.
It is not acceptable to keep dolphins in captivity for any purpose.

5. Devising arguments to support your position
Once you have your position, you need to plan your argument to support your position.
Example position: “It is not acceptable to keep dolphins in captivity for any purpose”.
What arguments could you make to support this position?
> Read through the Dolphins in Captivity Fact Sheet.

6. Devising arguments to support your position
You need to think of the steps in your argument.
If your position is that dolphin captivity can’t be justified, then you need to outline your arguments as to why this is the case.
What arguments could be used to support this position?

7. Devising arguments to support your position
There are many possible arguments.
We will look at two:
Keeping dolphins in captivity can have negative impacts on their welfare.
Keeping dolphins in captivity is not necessary and can not be justified.

8. Devising arguments to support your position
Argument One: Keeping dolphins in captivity can have negative impacts on their welfare.
What facts could you use to support this argument?

9. Devising arguments to support your position
Possible facts:
Dolphins are very intelligent animals. Artificial man-made environments do not provide the same level of stimulation as ocean environments.
Dolphins are highly social animals. In captivity, they are removed from family groups and often live alone.

10. Devising arguments to support your position
How could you use these facts to make a persuasive argument that keeping dolphins in captivity causes negative welfare impacts?
Is this persuasive?
“Dolphins are highly social and intelligent animals, just like humans. Dolphins held in small pools and tanks live in artificial man-made environments, with very few (if any) companions to keep them company. Keeping smart animals used to roaming long distances across the ocean in small pools is like keeping a student trapped in a classroom their whole life. How would that make you feel?”

11. Devising arguments to support your position
“Dolphins are highly social and intelligent animals, just like humans. Dolphins held in small pools and tanks live in artificial man-made environments, with very few (if any) companions to keep them company. Keeping smart animals used to roaming long distances across the ocean in small pools is like keeping a student trapped in a classroom their whole life. How would that make you feel?”
What is the author trying to do here? Why are they making comparisons with human experiences? How is this persuasive?

12. Devising arguments to support your position
Argument Two: Keeping dolphins in captivity is not necessary and can not be justified.
What facts could you use to support this argument?

13. Devising arguments to support your position
Possible facts:
It is possible to research dolphin behaviour without keeping dolphins in captivity.
It is possible to enjoy watching dolphins in the wild, instead of in captivity.

14. Devising arguments to support your position
How could you use these facts to make a persuasive argument that keeping dolphins in captivity causes negative welfare impacts?
Is this persuasive?
“It is not possible to justify keeping intelligent social marine mammals in small pools simply for human research, education and entertainment. Dolphins can be observed in the wild to satisfy all of these purposes – there is absolutely no need to keep them in captivity. It is cruel and selfish to confine these beautiful creatures to such boring and stressful lives just to satisfy human desires.”

15. Devising arguments to support your position
“It is not possible to justify keeping intelligent social marine mammals in small pools simply for human research, education and entertainment. Dolphins can be observed in the wild to satisfy all of these purposes – there is absolutely no need to keep them in captivity. It is cruel and selfish to confine these beautiful creatures to such boring and stressful lives just to satisfy human desires.”
What is the author trying to do here? Why are they using such emotive language? What other techniques of persuasion have they used?

16. Considering counter-arguments
Persuading the reader that your argument is correct involves persuading them that it is the best argument.
This requires you to consider and address possible counter-arguments to your position.
What might someone argue in response to the arguments we have considered so far?

17. Considering counter-arguments
Possible counter-arguments for Argument One:
Someone could argue that there are numerous welfare benefits associated with captivity, such as access to veterinary care, guaranteed food, and protection from harm.
How would you argue against this?

18. Considering counter-arguments
There are numerous ways to respond to a counter-argument.
You could play it down (i.e. suggest it is not very important), challenge its accuracy (i.e. suggest the argument is based on flawed facts) or challenge its logic (i.e. suggest the argument is based on flawed logic).
How could you use these techniques here?

19. Considering counter-arguments
Examples:
“Although it’s true that there are some welfare benefits associated with captivity (such as access to medical care), these benefits are far outweighed by the negative impacts associated with being held in such small and sterile environments” – playing it down
“It is simply untrue to state that captivity is a positive for dolphin welfare – in fact, captivity has been associated with early deaths in dolphins” – challenging the accuracy of the statement, and providing facts to support this

20. Considering counter-arguments
Example:
“It is true that there are some welfare benefits associated with keeping dolphins in captivity. But it is absurd to suggest that this therefore means that keeping dolphins in captivity is positive for dolphin welfare. That is like saying that because smoking can relieve stress in humans, it must therefore be good for humans because relieving stress is good. The welfare benefits of captivity for dolphins are very small – for the most part dolphins experience stress, lower life expectancy and decreased stimulation and socialisation in captivity.” – challenging the logic, backing it up with facts

21. Considering counter-arguments
Possible counter-arguments for Argument Two:
Someone could argue that dolphin captivity is sometimes necessary to treat sick or injured dolphins, or to conserve particularly vulnerable endangered species.
It could also be argued that dolphin captivity is justifiable for other human purposes, because dolphins caught from the wild or bred in captivity are the property of their owners, and owners can do what they want with their animal property, as long as it doesn’t constitute animal cruelty.
How would you argue against this?

22. Considering counter-arguments
Sometimes, when you are in the planning stage you will encounter a counter-argument that you find very hard or impossible to counter convincingly.
In the face of such an argument, you may decide to alter your original argument (that’s the benefit of planning your arguments before you start writing!)

23. Considering counter-arguments
For example, you might want to now adjust your argument to argue that ‘Only in very limited circumstances, can captivity be justified – such as when a dolphin is injured and requires temporary captivity to receive medical care’.
That means that when you get to this stage of your argument in the essay, you won’t come up against a counter-argument that weakens your overall position.
In fact, you have prevented that counter-argument from being able to be raised at all.
By planning ahead and thinking through your arguments, you have strengthened them.