Learn2Write

Idioms have a way of teasing our expectations by going beyond the literal meaning. They are in this way a type of figurative language. Let's learn one such expression today. 


Face the music: to receive criticism, scolding or punishment for one's errors.      

Examples: 

After a two hour delay, the airline staff had to face music from the disgruntled passengers. 

"Either don't commit such silly mistakes, or be prepared to face the music," thundered the boss at the workers.

A title is a foreword to a piece of writing that arrests the audience’s attention immediately. It works as a sneak peek into the fictional universe of a creative write-up.

In fact, it can be said that titles deserve the maximum artistic endeavor on the part of an author. This is because ultimately it is the title which puts off or invites the readers to go on to read an article or leave it.

Let’s scrutinize today some interesting strategies to design succinct titles for the genre of descriptive writing.

1. Characterization

Whether it’s an unforgettable teacher, your beloved uncle or aunt, or your adorable pet, you can always enrich their descriptions with telling adjectives.

Show what perception you bear of these in your mind by using words of endearment or strongly evocative descriptions.

The below examples demonstrate how it is good to build on your character using rich vocabulary:

My Cuddly Wuddly Kitten (Describe a kitten)

Our Whizzy Gizmo (Describe your parent's smartphone)

A Duo of Kindred Spirits or Bosom Buddies: Me and My Pal (Describe a friend)

2. Punning

Playing with words is often the forte of many writers. A pun involves deliberate evocation of a substitute word which is similar in spelling and sound to the original word but contrasts totally in meaning. It gives humorous effect when placed in its specific context.

 A Case of Essentials (Describe a pencil case)

 A Motivational Step of My Step Uncle (Describe an uncle/aunt)

3. Revealing the Protagonist

Instead of always the opening paragraph, it may be the title which sometimes introduces the protagonist of a descriptive write up. An author can explore a wide range of possibilities in this regard to establish his central character or theme in the limelight, right at the start of his narration.

A Sophisticated Humanoid (Describe your favourite toy)

An Ultramodern Modular Kitchen (Describe a kitchen)

4. Cueing

What the connotative may convey, the denotative may not. A writer often goes en route the symbolic terrain before rendering his meaning in clear blacks and whites. Cues are dropped using certain representational or associative diction, closely related to the subject being dealt with.

 Here are a few sample titles carrying such intended indirect references:

 A Day with Throngs and Queues (Describe a busy day in a bank)

 A Canine Connection (Describe a dog)

 A Visage of Resplendence (Describe a grey crowned crane)

 The Auburn Royalty (Describe a tiger)

5. Alliteration

The time honored figurative techniques come in handy even in titling your write-ups.

A Place of Pots, Pans and Peelers (Describe a kitchen)

Super Stylish Super Cuts (Describe a hair salon or barber shop)

A Silent Speechless Spectator (Describe a chair in a waiting room)

Titling in descriptive writing is not limited to the above discussion alone. One may go far and wide scouting for the most suitable title for his creative write up. Be as unique, ingenious and original as possible. Remember – your title is the landmark to your literary creation.

Writing a review ought to come effortlessly to us. After all, the revolutionary age of information has made critics of each one of us. We love to form and, more importantly, express our opinions and judgments on every subject under the sun. Be it on any social media platform, reviews spur endless discussions and are good for business.

Yet when it comes to writing a review for a school assignment or exam, pens stumble and words falter. Precious moments of hesitation are followed by a writing that is too sprawled, that oscillates between a story and a descriptive piece, neither of which a review is.

A review provides valuable information to prospective users. Your critical assessment shapes the choices made by people. Like other genres of writing, reviews follow requisite conventions, structure and style.

Following are the essential ingredients of an A+ review:

1. Striking Opening

Dramatic openings are the fundamental law of writing: a review is no exception to this rule. Your opening words should make your purpose clear (what you are reviewing) and let the audience know that you have something interesting and different to say.  Avoid the familiar and drab opening such as "I am going to review" or "This review is on." Beginning straightaway with the description of the product cannot be called eye-catching either.

If you are reviewing a book or a movie, you can begin with a memorable or funny quote from it. You can also startle readers with some interesting trivia or pique their curiosity with a favourite scene. Summarising your experience in a few memorable lines works best for reviews on restaurants, theme parks, tourist places, toys, gadgets etc.

There may be a hundred and one great places to eat in London, but it’s rare that you come across somewhere so fantastic that you begin plotting your return whilst still paying the bill.  (Rosie Paterson, Review of 45 Jermyn St)

When the strains of "You've Got a Friend in Me" swell up in "Toy Story 3," Randy Newman's now-classic song speaks for the toys, as always—for Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head and all the other treasured playthings who have basked in the love of their owner, Andy, and given the little boy their devotion in return. . . Fifteen years after "Toy Story" burst upon the scene as the first full-length animated feature created completely on computers, the third film of the trilogy turns out to be gorgeously joyous and deeply felt.  (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal)

2.  Personal Tone

A review is a personal point of view on a topic or a product. Generalisations have no place in it. Readers relate with specific personal experiences, not with bot-generated verdicts.  The "I" should be pronounced right at the beginning or in the introductory paragraph with confidence and authority. You can tell your audience a small anecdote to explain why you like or don’t like a particular product or service.  Be careful that the entire review doesn’t take the shape of a story.

A few weeks ago, I ate the second-best steak of my life. (Toby Keel, Review of The Pointer, Brill)

It took the fourth book in the famous Harry Potter series to turn me into a Potterhead.

 3. Opinions

“Now, what I want is, Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else.” (Hard Times, Charles Dickens)

Fortunately, not in a review. As a piece of evaluative writing, a review is less concerned with the presentation of facts. What matters is what you think and feel about those facts. Detailed descriptions of the product under review should be restrained to a paragraph or two at most. If you are writing a review of a book, don't reveal the whole plot. If you are reviewing a restaurant, don’t write the entire menu. Instead, write about what makes the book a lively read, a toy your new best friend or the restaurant a place to visit again and again. 

I've had many a Nando's during these last 14 years yet I couldn't tell you a stand out nor disappointing dish because this is one of the most consistent restaurant chains you will ever go to. (Lynda Moyo, Nando’s)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had me entranced from the very first chapter: the book is dark, complex and mysterious.

4. Descriptive Language  

A review is your personal space. Use plenty of precise descriptive words and figurative expressions to paint a vivid picture of your experience and make your writing compelling.

Metaphors, hyperbole and alliteration are powerful persuasive tools that catch readers' attention and evoke interesting comparisons by drawing a parallel between a product and an image or idea.

A carnival of flavours burst into my mouth with the first bite of the perfectly grilled salmon. (Metaphor)

The time spent in the queue at the famous theme park seemed to stretch forever. I could not feel my legs after some time. (Hyperbole)

 5. Balance

Remember nothing is perfect. Be fair and reasonable in your writing. Gushing praise should be checked by a few shortcomings as well. Similarly, outright condemnation can seem savage and unrealistic. Give equal emphasis to strengths and weaknesses to sound believable.

Despite the exquisite food, there was one thing amiss: quality service. (Review of a restaurant)

The innovation behind the toy doesn’t match its longevity. The materials used are cheap and flimsy at best. A five-year old will take it apart with great delight. (Review of a toy)

 6. Comparison

Familiarity with other products often becomes an instrument of judgement. Before you conclude, place the object of your review in a larger context. Compare and contrast your product with others of similar nature to understand how well it fares.

What a shame that the sequel doesn’t live up to its predecessor in cinematography and sound effects. (Review of a movie)

Why do we find penning a formal letter daunting? When given a choice between a letter and a story, why do students often opt for the latter? This shying away from formal writing in fact manifests at all ages. The reasons behind it are not difficult to comprehend.

The informal genres such as stories and recounts conform to the natural, less pretentious and less fussy spoken language. Formal writing, on the other hand, observes decorum. Unfortunately, in a texting-crazed world, the boundaries between formal and informal writing have broken down. Colloquial styles of expression have entered the formal arena of writing to the dismay of our literary forefathers and linguists. 

Here are seven common formal-letter-writing mistakes: 

1. Unclear Pronoun Reference

This one is the most frustrating for the reader. Finding the correct referent for pronouns such as this, that and it is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Symptoms of informal writing, these ambiguous pronouns  indicate a transition or flow between ideas. However, they confuse rather than clarify.

Frequent streetlight outage has led to an alarming increase in attempted thefts and road accidents. This can no longer be ignored. (What is 'this' referring to? Outage? Alarming increase?)

To avoid any confusion, write the noun or the implied idea (what "this" refers to) immediately after the pronoun (this, that, it etc.). 

Frequent streetlight outage has led to an alarming increase in attempted thefts and road accidents. This issue can no longer be ignored.

2. You

The colloquial pronoun 'you' is so comfortably entrenched in our daily vocabulary that it is often impossible to avoid it a formal letter. The appearance of 'you' at certain places (such as an appeal to the addressee in the conclusion) is appropriate.  However, using 'you' in hypothetical scenarios and rhetorical questions can be impolite, if not downright offensive. 'You' supposes the exclusion of the writer from a particular context and makes the writing appear snooty.

Would you find your lunch appetizing if the cutlery were filthy? (Letter to the head teacher complaining the lack of cleanliness in school)

Research shows that self-defence classes can enhance your confidence, muscle coordination and social skills. (Letter to request for self-defence classes at school)

The whole idea of a formal letter is to make your point without becoming personal (first example) and sounding presumptuous (second example). To correct the statements given above, we can use the universal pronoun ‘one’ or the interrogative pronouns ‘who.’

Who would find their lunch appetizing if the cutlery were filthy?

Research shows that self-defence classes can enhance one’s confidence, muscle coordination and social skills. 

3. So

Don't we so love the intensifier ‘so’? ‘So’ as an adverb means to ‘a great extent’ or ‘very.’ It is a regular feature of spoken language and informal writing. In a formal letter, it is unpardonable. 

The rise in violence against children is so disturbing. (Informal)

The rise in violence against children is disturbing. (Formal)

4. Exclamation Points

An exclamation mark is a shouty punctuation. It screams and begs for attention. Expressive of strong emotional states, exclamation marks are inappropriate in a formal letter. They can make your writing look desperate and amateurish. What works best is the familiar and reliable period.  

Newspapers are inundated with crimes against children! (Inappropriate)

Newspapers are inundated with crimes against children. (Correct)

 

5. Numbers

Numbers might form the new alphabet. They seem to be displacing words in  text messaging (as 4 replaces 'for' or 2 replaces 'two'). Writing numbers in figures or numerals is a sign of lazy and informal writing.

Write numbers up to one hundred (e.g. fifteen, sixty-five) and rounded numbers (e.g. two hundred, one thousand, three million) in words. Of course, this rule applies to the body of a formal letter (not the address details or the date). Further, use a hyphen in a compound number (formed by joining two words). Examples: twenty-one, thirty-five, ninety-nine etc.

6. Contractions

Contractions have no place in formal letters. Formed by joining two words with an apostrophe, contractions are seen as casual writing. They can often cause serious grammatical errors in the choice of homophones, such as the confusion between your, you are and you're.  So what do we do? Write 'is not' or 'they will' instead of 'isn’t' or 'they'll.' It is that simple. 

Writing a formal letter is an art that can be practiced and perfected. Keep these six mistakes in mind the next time you write one.

Red alert! We punctuate our regular series on creative writing with some disturbing breaking news. There have been reported sightings of PML (Punctuation Mark on the Loose). We are specifically talking about the colon (:). This devilishly slippery mark has been observed at almost every position in a sentence of student writing.  It seems to flout the laws of English language mechanics and refuses to be pinned down despite repeated admonishing and lecturing. Who knew these two little vertical dots could give us so much trouble?

No need to fret. We are here to set the record straight: once and for all. Pay attention students! Take notes if you wish, because the colon cannot be misunderstood anymore.

Let’s first start with understanding what a colon is and what it does to your writing. Yes, this sounds theoretical and boring, but be patient: you will be rewarded.

A colon is the calm before the storm. In other words, it is a pause before you make a major announcement or dive into an explanation. It always points the way ahead, that is, it puts the spotlight on the words that follow it. Colons introduce lists of items, make announcements and explain or elaborate points. Consider the following examples for each of the aforementioned purposes:

What makes your book a bestseller depends on three things: imagination, diligence and a bit of luck. (List)

Despite being old and derelict, the cottage was everything Emily wanted: a place to call home. (Announcement)

I’ve always hated the summer season: it is sticky, it is hot, and it smells. (Explanation)

A dexterous use of the colon takes your writing to another level by creating variation in sentence structure and evoking a pleasant cadence or rhythm (rise and fall of language).

Now, we come to the tricky and ‘misunderstood’ part: where to place the colon? Take a look again at the examples given above. What do these examples have in common? They all have the colon coming after independent clauses.

Students often get intimidated by the rather bombastic sounding expression, an independent clause. In simple words, it means nothing but a group of words which make a complete or meaningful sentence.  Let’s look at some examples:

Jim finished his homework. (Independent clause)

When Jim finished his homework. (Incomplete)

The second example is not a complete sentence. It does not tell us what happened when Jim finished his homework. By adding an independent clause (complete sentence) to it, we can turn it into a complete sentence:

When Jim finished his homework, he went out to play cricket with his friends. (Independent clause)

He went out to play cricket with his friends. (Independent clause)

Here’s another example:

Jim went to the airport. (Independent clause)

In order to see his friends off.  (Incomplete: what did he do in order to see off his friends?)

Jim went to the airport in order to see his friends off. (Independent clause)

Let’s go back to our subject of discussion today. A colon can be placed only after a complete sentence (an independent clause).

A bestseller depends on: imagination, diligence and a bit of luck. (Incorrect)

To make a bestseller you need: imagination, diligence and a bit of luck. (Incorrect)

In each of the examples above, we don’t have a complete sentence preceding the colon. A bestseller depends on what? To make a bestseller you need what? These examples can be corrected in the following way:

1. By writing a complete sentence before the colon

 What makes your book a bestseller depends on three things: imagination, diligence and a bit of luck. (The underlined part is a complete sentence)

 A bestseller depends on the following three things: imagination, diligence and a bit of luck. (The underlined part is a complete sentence)

2. By removing the colon

A bestseller depends on imagination, diligence and a bit of luck.

To make a bestseller you need imagination, diligence and a bit of luck.

So, what do you think now? Have we cleared some misconceptions? We end this post with a small test. Can you pick the sentence with the correct usage of the colon?

Copy the mail and send it to: the director, the assistant manager and the recruiting team.

Life is a game: you either win or lose.

As your new leader, I only desire: what is best for you all.

A title is like a prologue to a work of art. It gives us a brief insight into the kind of world the author intends taking readers into.

Titles are the biggest creative bait writers offer to readers. The decision to pass over or decide to read on a piece depends primarily on its title. Needless to say, a title of sorts must be sufficiently attention grabbing and catchy.

Here we present a few revelations about what makes spectacular titles for the genre of story writing.

1. Intriguing

Readers love the uncanny, the mysterious. You can tap on the eerie and craft something deliberately enigmatical. This is true particularly for the genre of fiction where fascinating titles may be a foreword to supernatural storylines soon going to unfold before their eyes.

Lewis Carroll’s ‘Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There’ (1872) and ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ (1865) are renowned novels in children’s literature with mystical titles and plots.

 You may come up with something like:

 A foray into the Fairyland (Story with the given openings – “I opened my eyes and realised where I was!”)

 A Topsy-turvy World (Story with a red car, a dragon and a school in it)

 A World of Incredulities (Story with a duck, a goose and a pumpkin in it)

2. Wordplay

Rhyming, punning or other forms of wordplay are every writer’s skill. You can put on your creative hat and create a mix and match of complementary words.

Drizzles that Fizzled (Story based on a picture - rainy day)

The Doomy, Gloomy Day (Story based on a flashback – late for school Again)

3. Reference to the protagonist

Titles may be based around and give us a sneak peek into the central character. You can disclose your protagonist’s identity in a number of interesting ways.

Create your own Lilliputian world of small and large creatures with a title such as:

What’s big and small? A Matter of Scales (Story from the point of view of an object - A doll’s house or toy car)

My Tried and True Buddy (Story based on a picture - piggy bank)

An Act of Valour (Story that ends with: Do, you want to be a superhero?” asked dad.)

The Sinister Sister (Story from the point of view of another character - one of the ugly sisters from Cinderella)

4. Symbolic

Words or language may represent something instead of directly naming an entity. It can be too bland to refer to an object by its ordinary identity. One may concoct epithets such as:

A Vestige from History (Story from the point of view of an object – a grandfather’s clock)

A Voyage along the Shore (Story with seaside as the setting)

5. Premonitory

Foretelling the bad or ominous is a recurrent motif in literary writing. Authors whet the reader’s anxiety by dropping a figurative word or expression which is supposed to predict something dreadful going to happen.

The Wrath of Nature (Story based on a picture – flood)

Your title must be your own brainchild. An author ought to give a free vein to his creativity and design something unique. Repeating humdrum terminology does not work and must be debunked. Being original means trekking through the unprecedented and giving a shot to absolutely novel, path-breaking titles. You may attempt anything from being informative, inspirational, motivational, sardonic to whatever comes to your mind, depending upon your theme and storyline.

Hope the above pointers come handy when you are struggling with titling your next story write-up. Stay tuned as we bring you techniques for titling for different genres in our upcoming blogs.

Are we not all envious of those who can make us smile and wonder at every word of their writing? Adept writers adopt charming twists and turns to hook readers’ attention. It is that perfect combination of meaty content and interesting presentation that wins you the million dollar heed of audiences.

Here we discuss a few handy techniques that can make one want to read more and more of what you write.

1. Humour

What intense knowledge can’t, probably the comic can. People love to be tickled with the witty, wacky, silly, satirical, ironical, amusing, hilarious, exaggerated and the like.

You can jostle the funny bone of your readers by writing something similar to the below examples:

‘Finally, the slaughterer took all his arms and ammunitions out, all ready-get-set-go to do the ACT!’ (Going to the dentist)

‘When the world can ban child labour, why can’t I be spared this menial work? After all, Tom bought me just a year back.’ (Story from the point of view of a school book bag)

2. Novel Figurative Expressions

No one appreciates the mundane and commonplace. Clichéd sentences may peeve your readers, driving them to distraction. ‘As green as emerald’, ‘as fast as light’, ‘the sun smiled’, ‘the wind howled’ etc. now seem time-worn and trite.

 One may try a hand at innovative, outlandish figurative techniques – no matter the subject is animate or inanimate.

 ‘For all my power, I aimed being an omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient pair of eyes, like God’s, you know.’ (Story with the given title – A pair of binoculars)

‘Mr. Incredible for all his flaws and foibles was a man of marvels and miracles.’ (Story from the point of view of another character – Mr. Incredible or Elastigirl)

3. References to current affairs or relevant social events

A well-researched, factual write-up is grounded in its immediate social reality. Every writer belongs to a certain cultural, economic, political and social milieu which reflects through his writing.

 Contemporary affairs make writing authentic and credible.

 ‘Education has always been all-important for children in our country. The Duchess of Cornwall’s recent article in the Sunday Express implores parents ahead of the World Book Day to ‘read to….children every day of the year.’  (A letter to your cousin about a child's life in England.)

 ‘We are aware of the University and College Union strikes making a great uproar out there. I hope the government intervenes to settle the agitation which is affecting student life in major ways.’ (Letter to elder sibling studying at a university, who can only visit home in school holidays.)

4. Punchy sentences

Never bombard the readers with hackneyed information. Even if you’ve thoroughly researched a topic, present the facts in a comprehensible manner. So is it with words. Fascinating vocabulary is desirable in writing; yet, remember never to overwhelm your sentences with unnecessary words. Sentences should be short, crisp and never draggy.

However, this is just the basic rule. The next step to cracking catchy sentences is to add the much wanted powerful punch. It could be your striking diction, sentence construction, literary technique, or a unique idea around which the whole sentence is framed.

‘This story is going to refute the time-honoured, established knowledge that camels got their humps due to laziness. The narration unfolds a giant camel, full of sloth, achieving the massive victory of being the most active creature on Earth.’ (Story that has in it: a giant, a sloth and a victory)

5. Expressive, candid narrator

To get the ball rolling in a write-up, you need a communicative, involved narrator. It could be a first or third person speaker, an animal, a bird or an object. The narrator must be so dynamic and animated that he enthuses your writing with a new found excitement for the readers.

 His creative energies must flow unstoppably:

‘This Sleeping Beauty was no damsel in distress; she took charge and broke the enchantment all by herself.’ (Story with a given title – The Sleeping Beauty)

“Phew! How the library staff cruelly thrusts me on jam-packed shelves,” thought the book which had just been forcibly shoved on the shelf. (Describe a library)

Incorporate these five tactics in your writing and leave a lasting impression on your audience. You can explore more such possibilities for creative play.

It's not fair! I used every literary technique under the sun. I puked half the thesaurus in my essay. I even wrote three full pages. But still I don't get an A.

- Every Disappointed Student's Rant

Sometimes even after doing every possible thing right, we just don't get what we feel we deserve. Life is definitely not fair. Fortunately, when it comes to writing, we are in less troubled waters. Students often forget that good writing is also about keeping out elements that make the words on the page lifeless and bore their readers to death. In an attempt to impress others, they are tempted to include all that they know. The result is obvious: the rant mentioned above.

So, let’s find out which is the first of these don’ts on our list.

1. Insipid Openings

"In this essay I will discuss" or "I'm now going to explain" is the bane of examiners. Keeping the introductory lines the same as the question statement is another disaster in the making. They show lack of originality or just plain laziness. Students often forget that the reader already knows the subject matter thanks to the title or question. So, dare to be more original when you start off. Alternatives at your disposal are abundant: anecdotes, shocking statistics, rhetorical questions, dialogue and many more. Click here and here for detailed posts on imaginative openings for your writing.

2. Clichés and Over-used Words

The next on our radar of yawn-inducing writing are timeworn expressions. Hackneyed words are shamelessly boring and as good as forgotten. There is nothing creative about using expressions that have become tired because of repeated use. Take a look at some of these clichéd words:

Over-used words: things, like, stuff, actually, really, basically, very, good, amazing, use, get, well, interesting, so, quite, big, beautiful.

Clichés: as cold as ice, once upon a time, happily ever after, easy as pie, better late than never, black as coal, busy as a bee, fit as a fiddle, forget and forgive, keep an eye on, quiet as a mouse, at the speed of light, think outside the box, tip of the iceberg, as cool as a cucumber.

Ask yourself whether you really need these expressions? If yes, then consult our faithful thesaurus for corresponding synonyms that convey your meaning in a more original way. Remember novelty is the hallmark of A+ writing.

3. Passive Voice 

Dynamic writing demands live action and less of "being told" or "already done." Passive voice makes writing clunky and wordy.

Keen observations about life that often go unnoticed by adults are made by kids. (Passive voice)

Kids make keen observations about life that often go unnoticed by adults. (Active voice)

Notice the difference? Passive voice slows down writing, whereas active voice keeps the momentum going, makes writing resemble spoken language and achieves the desired succinctness. Although not advisable to altogether chuck it in, one can use passive voice to ensure clarity of ideas or to avoid repetitive sentence structure.

4. Rambling

Do not express the same idea in N number of different ways. Repetition of similar ideas is not necessary. Avoid redundancy of words and ideas in your writing.

Now isn't that a waste of words? Why write a saga when you can communicate eloquently using a handful of well-chosen words? Sometimes less is more (sadly, another cliché). Don't test the reader's patience with ineffective repetition, sudden digressions and unnecessary elaboration. They deaden rather than clarify your writing (For constructive repetition, click here). Once you start rambling, the reader knows you are either out of ideas or simply inarticulate. Be precise, snappy and leave the rest to the reader's imagination. Without wasting anymore words, let's move on to the next faux pas.

5. Unvarying Sentence Structure

Same sentence starters are more successful than even the most powerful lullabies in putting the reader to sleep. If consecutive sentences begin with the same nouns or phrases like ‘this is, it is, there is, based on, that is,’ it is time to raise a red flag. Besides being mind-numbing, these generic sentence openings show acute deficiency of writing skills in one.

There have been repeated incidences of customer dissatisfaction. There is a need to recognise our shortcomings.

There have been repeated incidences of customer dissatisfaction. Recognising our shortcomings is the need of the hour. 

6. Weak Organisation

A writer who can't get his act (composition) together impresses no-one. Scattered ideas can turn your writing into a frustrating game of ‘connect the dots to see what you get’ for the reader.  Order your ideas into coherent paragraphs that flow smoothly until you have said ‘goodbye’ to your readers.  Invest constructive time during the planning phase in chalking out a definite body for your ideas. Trust us, it is worth the effort.

We come to the end of six taboos of good writing. Keep them in mind when you write next and see a marked difference in your grades.

What is that mysterious quality that makes certain lines truly memorable? Why do we remember and cherish those opening words of Marc Antony’s speech so well?“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” (William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar). Antony’s character is legendary for his great oratorical skills. He is able to mesmerize the audience with words that make an immediate impact.

Let’s try to grapple today with the fine art of the rhetoric. It is essential in persuasive writing with students being continually asked to frame rhetorical questions.

Here lies the answer to their immense significance: rhetorical questions are forceful assertions in favour of your argument. They reinstate your cause loud and clear. You may quote statistics, reproduce a famous maxim, rely on universal truism or use some other technique to make your audience consent to your argument.

Rhetoric is a proclamation. Different from traditional sentences, it carries the add-on advantage of sounding more confident. It is the writer’s declaration that something is really the case. The audience is jolted off their comfort zone and urged to heed to what is being delivered.

Therefore, it is important to design your rhetorical questions with utmost creativity. Essentially, oratorical in nature, rhetorical questions must sound well prepared, yet natural. These should be crafted skillfully, sound inspirational, yet connect you with your audience in a tie of intimacy.

Let’s try a hand at some of the techniques of the rhetoric one by one.

1. Statistics: Appalling figures may convey what words cannot. Numbers are always remindful of an abject state of affairs. They ring a bell in the mind of the listeners/readers, as well as substantiate your write-up with well researched data. Here are some examples to assist you in quoting statistics as rhetorical questions.

Do you know that one million children around the world have been diagnosed as malnutritioned by WHO?

Does it surprise you that 25% of the cases registered for eye weakness in children owe to overuse of gadgets?

2. Maxim: Established sayings win sure shot credibility. A maxim is a simple-to-repeat line, quote, rule or advice aiming an individual’s betterment. It is highly motivational and thought provoking in character. For the purpose of your writing, you need to pick a relevant maxim and tweak it to your end.

Isn’t ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’ a well acknowledged truth?

Why aren’t children encouraged to participate without giving a thought to victory first?

3. Universal truism: Let’s now return to the folds of collective knowledge. Generally accepted truths give your answer an edge. Bank on truism and turn it craftily into rhetorical questions.

 Isn’t a decent lifestyle the birth right of every being born on the face of Earth?

4. Quotes: You can always chant the wise words of renowned men, adding a twist of rhetoric to them.

‘Do more than belong: Participate; Do more than believe: Practice; Do more than dream: Work.’ Why do parents forget this age old wisdom to instill in kids an acquisitive attitude?

5. Arresting questions: The last of our tactics seeks to directly relate to your audience. In a one-on-one encounter, you can probe them with regards to the matter at hand.

 Did you plant a tree this year? Are you caring enough for Mother Nature?

 What does it really take to be grateful for a favour, apologize for a mistake and request for an act of kindness? Probably, just ethics!

Hope you utilize the above strategies to formulate rhetorical questions in your persuasive write-ups. Depending on which suits a case the most, choose a trick which garners maximum notice from your audience.