Minutes a day n e w y o r k

INSTEAD OF “ALL,” SAY:
INSTEAD OF “NONE,” SAY:
most
almost none
many
very few
just about all/just about every
with few exceptions
nearly all
only a handful
the majority of
some
–
S T R AT E G I E S   F O R   C O N V I N C I N G
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9 1
www.IELTS4U.blogfa.com

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The fairy tale statement could be revised as follows:
Little Red Riding Hood is portrayed as naïve and innocent, like many girls in fairy tales.

D o n ’ t   O f f e n d
If you want to successfully persuade your audience, don’t offend them. Students often don’t realize that something
they’ve written may be offensive—but that’s usually because they have a very specific reader in mind. That is, they
imagine a general reader who has a lot more in common with them than a true general reader might. This kind
of thinking can produce statements such as:
All people who claim to believe in the existence of alien life forms are simply unable to distinguish between fact and
opinion.
Besides being an absolute (suggesting that all people who claim to believe in alien life forms can’t distinguish
between fact and opinion), this claim is insulting to those who believe that some kind of alien life does exist on
other planets. You may believe that the existence of extraterrestrial life is an invalid theory, but many people (includ-
ing some very highly regarded scientists) do not. If your reader happens to believe that we are not alone in the uni-
verse, he or she probably won’t take your arguments seriously (no matter how strong they might be), because he
or she has been offended. Even if your audience is made up of those who share your opinions, they’re likely to bris-
tle at your insensitivity, and as a result, you’ll lose credibility in their eyes as well.

I n   S h o r t
Writers use many strategies to make their essay more convincing. They provide specific details to make ideas more
concrete, they establish credibility and acknowledge counterarguments, they don’t include assertions they can’t
support, they avoid absolutes, and they take care not to offend their audience.