Logical appeal

1. Explain to students that logical appeals often come from scientific proof and evidence and people tend to believe experts and authorities.

2. Tell students that the three common ways to enhance persuasiveness and reliability of the texts are:

 providing statistical data,

 quoting from experts / professionals, and

 citing cases or providing real-life examples.

3. Remind students to include expert quotes and statistical data in their e-booklet.

4. Explore the critical dimension of multimodal texts with students by getting them to take note of the following when searching for suitable quotes and statistical data online:

 the authority of the person / organisation presenting the data / speech

 the timeliness of the data / speech

 whether the person / organisation has any vested interest or profit related to the data / speech presented

5. Ask students to take down the quotes, data and the sources of information for the production of the e-booklet.

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diagrams and speech bubbles) in the e-booklet. If students would like to present them in sentences in the main text, the following structures can be introduced to them:

Statistical data  A survey / report by (the organisation) in (year) showed that…

 According to the survey conducted by (the organisation) in (year), ...

Quotes  As said by (name), (post title), …

 (Name), (post title), commented / pointed out / opined that…

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1. Explain to students that the purpose of LT 3.3.1 is to give them information about the requirements of the e-booklet which they are going to produce, and that they can develop a better understanding of how to use images and typographical features to achieve certain effects.

Part A: Understanding the requirements of the e-booklet to be produced (LT 3.3.1) 1. Ask students to work in pairs to find out the requirements of the e-booklet to be

produced through decoding the messages embedded in the images / graphics provided. Use the following questions to guide students to work out the answers:

(a) Topic

 Why is the font size of the number “1” enlarged? (This is to emphasise that students should only focus on and investigate ONE environmental issue only.)

- Remind students to limit the scope of the topic in order to instigate more in-depth discussion, e.g. picking a particular type of pollution if they would like to discuss the issue of pollution.

(b) Cover and title

 How are the arrows and the eyes related to the title? (The title should be able to draw readers’ attention, i.e. an eye-catching title.)

- Elicit from students some techniques to create a catchy title if time allows. [Refer to LT 3.2.2]

(c) Content

 With reference to the mind map, what ideas should be included if you want to raise readers’ awareness of an environmental issue? (They should include severity, causes, impact and actions to be taken.)

(d) Length

 How many pages should there be in your e-booklet? (five to six)

 Discuss briefly the content of the five pages:

- Page 1 (Book cover): create a catchy title and choose a powerful image to arouse readers’ attention

- Page 2 (Background / severity): provide some background

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- Page 3 (Causes): examine why the problem has occurred

- Page 4 (Impacts / effects): discuss the consequences and in what ways people are affected

- Page 5 (Actions to be taken): suggest things to be done to alleviate / solve the problem from the perspectives of at least three stakeholders

 Tell students that they could design more than five pages if time allows and there should be a clear focus on each page.

(e) Visual and sound effects

 What images are there above the image of the book? What do they represent? (a microphone (voice-over), a music note and a picture) - Remind students to select pictures / images that appeal to readers’

senses and feelings.

- Encourage students to add audio recordings (e.g. voice-over) by reading aloud certain parts of the e-booklet with emphasis and emotions to arouse readers’ interest and enhance persuasiveness of the messages.

Part B: Planning for the e-booklet (LT 3.3.2)

1. Explain to students that the purpose of LT 3.3.2 is to help them make a plan for the production of the e-booklet.

2. Go over the different parts of the template provided:

 Food for thought

 A checklist for reviewing the language features used

 A checklist for reviewing the tactics and language of persuasion used

3. For the design of the page, remind students that they can draw, describe or stick pictures in the spaces to illustrate their design. [Refer to LT 1.4.3]

4. Draw students’ attention to the keywords under “Food for thought” on the “Content”

pages. Use the following questions to guide students to brainstorm the details to be included on each page:

 How can we design creative and thought-provoking headings and subheadings? [Refer to LT 3.2.2]

 What message do you want to express / reinforce through the pictures or images? Describe the things that should appear in the pictures or images.

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the intended messages? (e.g. “Heal the world”, a song about the importance of making a change and saving our planet by Michael Jackson can be used to talk about the actions to be taken. Remind students that they could download royalty-free music clips online for use.)

 Will voice-over be added to certain parts of the e-booklet? What effects does it create? (e.g. students could use a solemn and sad tone to intensify the worrying situation of an environmental issue.)

 What special effects can be added? How will the special effects help reinforce the messages? (e.g. students could change the colour of words, enlarge the font size of key words or highlight certain images.)

5. Remind students of the following when devising the plan:

 Be reader-friendly: Do not include too many words on each page. Make the main points concise. Supplement more complex and key messages with images.

 Be creative: Create original and thought-provoking headings and subheadings. Do not limit them to merely factual descriptions such as

“Three Causes of Global Warming”, “Actions to be Taken”. Include wordplay, special effects and layout, etc. to make the messages easy to remember.

 Be persuasive: Quote statistics, findings and speeches from authoritative organisations and respected figures. Do not rely on personal opinions and judgments.

6. Remind students to make use of the checklist at the bottom of the Content pages to note down the tactics and language of persuasion used. Tell them that the checklist serves as a tool to help review whether the e-booklet is persuasive or not. Remind them that they should also include the words to appear on each page, either by writing the words in the spaces provided or sticking a piece of paper with the words to be included, so that teachers can provide comments on them.

Part C: Acknowledging sources of information (LT 3.3.3 & a sample e-booklet) 1. Explain to students that the purpose of LT 3.3.3 is for them to learn how to

acknowledge sources of information. Introduce the concept of intellectual property by eliciting students’ responses to the following questions:

 How would you feel if someone used your work as if it were their original

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away, angry)

 When do we need to acknowledge sources of information? (whenever we use an image, a picture, an idea or some specific information such as statistics in a text from the Internet or other sources)

 Do we need to cite the source if we only borrow an idea from a text or a website? (Yes. If we want to borrow an idea from an author, we should paraphrase the idea. Even if we do not use the exact wording of the author, we should still cite the source as the idea contributes to our work.) 2. Reinforce the concept of intellectual property by providing students with the

following definition and stress again the importance of acknowledging sources of information.

 Intellectual property refers to the ownership of an idea or invention. It could be an invention, a book, a song, a company name or a product design. Intellectual property rights protect someone’s idea, invention or creation from being copied by others.

3. Tell students that they should compile a list of references on the last page of the e-booklet. Go over with students the ways to cite information and pictures / images, and remind them that there are various formats to follow.

4. Consolidate students’ understanding of the features of a persuasive e-booklet using the sample, The Invisible Health Hazard. Highlight the following features when going over the sample:

(a) Language features

 Use of catchy titles and slogans

- The word “Invisible” in the book title is transparent to imply that many of us are unaware of such a ubiquitous health hazard.

- The slogan “Don’t Be Mean, Keep Air Clean” with rhyming words is used on p.5 to make the message more effective.

 Use of persuasive language

- Parallel structure is used on p.4 under “Health implications” to explain the causal relationship between pollutants and our health. (“The more pollutants we produce, the more we suffer.”)

- Inversion is used on p.4 under “Economic impact” to emphasise the negative impact of air pollution on Hong Kong’s economy. (“Not only

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likely to choose to reside in some less polluted cities like Singapore.”) - A conditional sentence is used on p.4 to talk about the economic impact

of air pollution. (“If the problem is not dealt with properly, the tourism industry, one of the major pillars of the economy of Hong Kong, will certainly be hard hit.”)

- An imperative sentence is used on p.5 stating the actions to be taken by different parties to keep the air in Hong Kong clean. (For example,

“Choose public transport over private transport.”)

 Use of headings, subheadings and bullet points

- Thought-provoking headings are used to highlight the focus of the page.

For example, instead of using the word “causes”, a question “Who is the culprit?” (p.3) is used as the heading to arouse readers’ interest in reading further for the causes of the air pollution problem.

- “The Dreadful Cost” (p.4) is used as the heading to hint on the catastrophic impact of air pollution.

(b) Emotional appeal

 Use of adjectives to add emotions to the description:

- “… the alarming air pollution problem…” (p.3) - “… lethal particulates in the air…” (p.4)

 Use of powerful images to arouse readers’ emotions:

- Cover: a man with a gas mask (to illustrate that the air quality keeps deteriorating to a level at which everyone needs to wear a gas mask to avoid inhaling toxic gases)

- Cause (p.3): the traffic jam at the entrance of the cross-harbour tunnel (to illustrate how the exhaust fumes from lines of vehicles pollute the air in Hong Kong)

(c) Logical appeal

 Use of statistics from reliable sources and quotes from experts / professionals to highlight the seriousness of the problem:

- “… pollutants in the Hong Kong air were three times higher…” (p.2) - “…there are 90,000 hospital admissions and 2,800 premature deaths…”

(p.2)

5. Demonstrate to students how to create an e-booklet using an appropriate software or app. Examples of software and app used to create e-booklets include:

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 For Android: My Picture Books

 For Windows: Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Digital Editions

Part D: Assessing the e-booklet (LT 3.3.4)

1. Ask students to review their booklet using the checklist to ensure that their e-booklet has included most of the features.

2. Guide students to upload their e-booklet to an online learning platform, e.g. Edmodo, e-Class, Google Classroom. For ease of uploading their e-booklet to an online learning platform or printing a copy of it, students may be instructed to export their e-booklet as a PDF file.

3. Show students the Assessment Form in class and elicit from them the key areas that will be assessed in the four aspects to raise their awareness of the elements of a good e-booklet.

 Content: relevant and comprehensive ideas, supporting details that are valid and help enhance logical appeal

 Organisation: coherent and logically connected ideas, effective use of headings, subheadings, bullet points and short paragraphs

 Language: catchy and effective titles, accuracy, range of vocabulary, effective use of persuasive language

 Audio-visual presentation: powerful images, effective use of music and sound effects

4. Divide students into groups of four, get them to view the e-booklets produced by their fellow group members and give comments on their work using the Assessment Form.

5. Provide feedback on students’ e-booklets using the Assessment Form and highlight the strengths and areas for improvement in the Section “Overall Comments”.

6. As a round-up for the whole activity, select three e-booklets to discuss in class.

Guide students to think about why the three pieces of work are good. Highlight key features for critical viewing skills (elements from the affective and compositional dimensions) instead of focusing only on factual description, e.g. how the images

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enhance persuasiveness, how colour and font size are utilised to show emphasis.

Then provide your feedback on why they are well-produced in terms of content and language.

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Task 1 Identifying and Researching into an