The short version: Some writing reaches out and grabs you directly — a question aimed at you, an order, or a ‘we’ — to pull you onto the writer's side.
You've been on the end of this a hundred times.
A coach's team talk: ‘Do we give up? No. So get out there — together, we win this.’ A question you don't answer, an order, and a ‘we’ that sweeps you in.
Writers use the same three moves — here's each with an example:
One clear example of each
Rhetorical question
A question that isn't really asking — ‘How much longer can we ignore this?’ The answer is obvious, so it pulls you toward the writer's view.
Imperative / direct address
An order, or the writer speaking straight to ‘you’ — ‘Stop. Look around you.’ It makes the reader feel spoken to and stirred into action.
Inclusive language
‘We’, ‘us’, ‘together’ — ‘This is our town, and we decide its future.’ The ‘we’ folds the reader into one side.
The key move: Don't just say ‘a rhetorical question’. Name which move it is — a question, an order, or a ‘we’ — then say how it positions the reader (rhetorical question).
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Why it matters in the exam: These devices are easy to name but often left unexplained.
What to do
- Say how the device pulls the reader in.
- Does it nudge them to agree?
- Does it stir them to act?
- Does it make them feel part of a group?
- Not just ‘the writer uses a rhetorical question’.
Analyse the rhetorical devices: “How long will we keep looking away? This is our river, our air, our children's future. Stand up. Speak now, before there is nothing left to save.”
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Watch out: Don't just name ‘a rhetorical question’ or ‘inclusive language’. Say how the device positions the reader — nudges them to agree, stirs them to act, or makes them feel part of a group.