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Mentor Text 2: Persuasive Devices: Writing A Dystopian-Themed Non-Fiction Article

Here is a potential 153-word introduction from the perspective of an Aboriginal person reflecting on their experiences under the White Australia policy: As a young Aboriginal boy growing up in rural Australia in the 1950s, I vividly remember the signs outside the local shops that read "Aborigines and dogs not allowed." Merely walking down the main street as an Indigenous person was an act of defiance that could result in harassment or even violence from white residents. The racist policies of assimilation meant my family and I lived in constant fear of being forcibly removed from our traditional lands. We were treated as outsiders in our own country, with our culture and identity under threat of being erased. Living under such an oppressive system that denied our basic rights and humanity

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95 views8 pages

Mentor Text 2: Persuasive Devices: Writing A Dystopian-Themed Non-Fiction Article

Here is a potential 153-word introduction from the perspective of an Aboriginal person reflecting on their experiences under the White Australia policy: As a young Aboriginal boy growing up in rural Australia in the 1950s, I vividly remember the signs outside the local shops that read "Aborigines and dogs not allowed." Merely walking down the main street as an Indigenous person was an act of defiance that could result in harassment or even violence from white residents. The racist policies of assimilation meant my family and I lived in constant fear of being forcibly removed from our traditional lands. We were treated as outsiders in our own country, with our culture and identity under threat of being erased. Living under such an oppressive system that denied our basic rights and humanity

Uploaded by

api-391585129
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mentor text 2:

persuasive
devices
Writing a dystopian-themed
non-fiction article
Mentor text 2
Living in Trump’s Soviet Union: I grew up in a dystopia - will I have to die in one,
too? By Gary Shteyngart in The New Yorker

Read it here
Tip 1: Use dramatic personal anecdotes
“When my parents lived in the Soviet Union, “It is impossible to know if the person pointing
having a Jewish-looking “physiognomy,” as it out your ethnicity and telling you to jump into an
was called, proved a daily liability. Standing in oven is an amateur troll in St. Petersburg,
line for eggs or milk or ham, one could feel the Florida, or a professional troll in St. Petersburg,
gaze of the shopkeeper running down one’s Russia.”
nose, along with the implied suggestion “Why
don’t you move to Israel already?” Why it works: horrific tales of online bullying in
Trump’s America are likened to living under the
Why it works: The opening paragraph of the Communist regime through the careful use of
article sets context, creates author credibility the second person voice to promote a sense of
and creates empathy through the use of a broader problem.
imagery, rhetorical questioning and the first
person voice.
Tip 2: use powerful rhetorical questions
“How do you read through a newspaper Why it works:
composed solely of lies? How do you walk
into a store while being Jewish? How do you It reinforces the feelings of confusion and
tell the truth to your children? How do you continual difficulty in negotiating cultural
even know what the truth is?” landscapes and acceptance, thus setting up the
notion of a continuation of dystopian
What it does: Second person voice ties the experiences at the heart of his experiences
writer to the collective experience of being
Jewish in both the Russian and American
contexts
Tip 3: use colloquial language to establish tone
“ Trump supporters on Twitter have often Why it Works:
pointed out my Jewishness. “ You look ethnic”
was one of the kinder remarks, along with the The writer places his experiences in the general
usual litany of lampshade drawings, oven context of his life and how others have reacted
photos, the “ Arbeit Macht Frei” gate at to his Jewish heritage without formality, yet
Auschwitz, and other stock Holocaust tropes” reflecting the critical tone throughout the article.

Note: “ Arbeit Macht Frei” was a sign at the


entrance to Auschwitz and other concentration
camps “ Work sets you free”

Trope- recurring theme or image in literature


Tip 4: use vivid imagery
“ The graffito “Russia is for the Russians,” “ Putin’s team has discovered that that racism.
scribbled next to a synagogue, and the words misogyny, and anti-Semitism bind people closer
“Vote Trump” written on a torched black church than any other experiences.”
in Mississippi, are separated by the cold waters
of the Atlantic but united by an imaginary Why it works
grievance…”
The accumulation of images of hatred and
Why it works: misunderstanding, demonstrates the writer’s
understanding of lingering historical justification
The comparative imagery reflecting expressions for the oppression of others, thus reinforcing the
of racial and religious intolerance are used to ominous patterns evident under the Trump
reflect expressions of extremism in its various administration to aid his argument
forms and the way that these can be connected
to a leaders values in the later example
Tip 4: self-deprecate to create a connection
“ I can understand these people. Growing up in Why it works:
nineteen-eighties Queens, my friends and I, as
young Russian immigrants, unfamiliar with the The writer alludes to the ironical fact that him
language, our parents working menial jobs, and his family were also capable of being
looked down on blacks and latinos, who were caught up in racial intolerance proliferated by
portrayed as threats by the Reagan those in power. This sets him up as fallible and
Administration and its local proxies.” makes his argument more powerful, showing the
power of prejudice.
Focus activity
1) Write the introduction to a persuasive article from the point of view of an
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person or a non-white immigrant who is
reflecting on their mistreatment under the white Australia policy. Model the
introduction to the mentor text by using a dramatic personal anecdote.
Consider the dystopian experiences to frame the response

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