Non-fiction writing that presents a viewpoint is judged on a clear line of reasoning, a voice suited to its form and reader, and controlled, accurate expression. Our teachers wrote the tasks below to vary the form (article, letter, speech, essay, blog).
Each gives you a statement to respond to. Plan your argument and one honest counter-point before you write, then reveal our approach and checklist.
1'Homework set after four o'clock should be banned; evenings belong to families, not schools.' Write a lively article for a school or community magazine in which you present your own viewpoint on this statement. Give your article a headline.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: An article can be spirited but still needs a spine of reasoning. Take a clear stance in the opening, then order two or three developed reasons from strong to strongest.
Fairly acknowledge one opposing point (that some skills need practice at home) and answer it. Use a confident headline, a hook and a closing line that lands, keeping the register right for a school readership.
Model opening: Somewhere between the last bell and the dinner table, a second school day begins; one with no teacher, no break and no end time. It is worth asking who this second day is really for.
Checklist:
- I took a clear position and kept a single line of reasoning
- My reasons are ordered deliberately and developed, not listed
- I acknowledged and answered at least one opposing view
- My headline, opening hook and ending all do their jobs
- The register suits a magazine reader and my expression is accurate
2A columnist has argued that public libraries are 'a fond memory we can no longer afford'. Write a letter to the newspaper's editor responding to this claim and presenting your own viewpoint. Set out your letter properly.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: A letter to an editor is formal and pointed. Open by naming the article you are answering and state your position. Then argue it with evidence and reasoning your reader will respect.
Concede narrowly if useful (budgets are real) before turning the argument. Keep paragraphs tight and the tone civil but firm. Close by telling the reader what you want them to think or do.
Model opening: I write in response to last week's column, which mourned the public library while quietly recommending we finish it off; I would suggest the writer has confused a building's quiet with its uselessness.
Checklist:
- I opened by referencing the article and stating my view
- My argument is reasoned and civil, not just indignant
- I conceded a point narrowly, then turned it to my case
- The letter is laid out and signed off appropriately
- Expression is accurate and the tone stays controlled
3Your school is debating whether every student should spend one afternoon a week volunteering in the local community. Write a speech to persuade your fellow students to support this idea. Write the words you would actually say.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: A speech is written for the ear. Plan direct address, rhetorical questions and a repeated phrase the audience can feel building.
A trial lesson can start from your child's attempt at Writing to present a viewpoint practice for OxfordAQA 9270, with feedback from an experienced teacher.
Structure it as a clear journey: a hook, two or three reasons, a fair nod to the doubters, and a rousing close. Signpost aloud, and vary sentence length so it sounds spoken rather than read.
Model opening: Put your hand up if you have ever said you were bored. Keep it up. Now imagine one afternoon each week that made that word a little harder to say: that is what I am asking you to vote for today.
Checklist:
- My speech sounds spoken, with direct address to the audience
- I used rhetorical devices deliberately, not decoratively
- The argument has a clear structure with spoken signposts
- I addressed the doubters before my strong close
- Sentence variety keeps it easy to deliver; expression is accurate
4'Social media has done more to connect young people than to isolate them.' Write an essay presenting your viewpoint on this statement, weighing both sides before making your own position clear. Support your argument with reasoning and examples from your own experience or observation.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: An essay rewards balance controlled by a thesis. Decide your overall answer first. Then weigh both sides genuinely, but shape the weighing so your conclusion feels earned, not tacked on.
Use your own examples rather than invented statistics. Link paragraphs with discourse markers, and make the final paragraph a judgement, not a summary.
Model opening: It is tempting to answer this question with a single word, but the honest reply is that the same tool that keeps me close to a cousin overseas can leave me lonelier in a room full of friends; the question is which effect wins, and why.
Checklist:
- I have a clear thesis that the essay builds toward
- I weighed both sides fairly before deciding
- I used real observation rather than invented facts or figures
- Paragraphs are linked with clear discourse markers
- My conclusion is a judgement, not a restatement
5A popular travel blog for teenagers has asked for opinion pieces. Write a blog post arguing your viewpoint on this statement: 'The best way to see a place is to put the phone away.' Write for that teenage readership.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: A blog can be informal but still needs a controlled argument. Match the register to a teenage reader (direct, a little playful) without losing your line of reasoning. Open with a relatable scene and argue two or three points.
Be honest about the other side (phones are also maps, translators and a safety line). End with a memorable takeaway the reader could share.
Model opening: You have seen it: a whole tour group filming a waterfall none of them is actually looking at, and somewhere at the back, me, doing exactly the same thing until the day I decided to stop.
Checklist:
- The register suits a teenage blog reader without going sloppy
- My argument still has a clear line of reasoning
- I was honest about the strongest opposing point
- I opened with a hook and ended with a shareable takeaway
- Expression is accurate despite the informal tone
See the method and an annotated model on the writing to present a viewpoint page for OxfordAQA 9270, or the technique in our writing to present a viewpoint skills guide.