Hi, I'm Mr. Buckingham, and it's so nice to see you here for today's lesson.

Today we're going to be taking a big step towards writing a letter to Sherlock Holmes in role as Sir Henry Baskerville.

and I think you'll find this lesson really useful in preparing to write that letter.

So let's make a start.

Today's lesson is called generating persuasive techniques for a letter to Sherlock Holmes, and it comes from our unit called Sherlock Holmes: Descriptive and Letter Writing.

By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to generate persuasive techniques to persuade Sherlock Holmes in a letter.

So in this lesson, we're going to come up with some ideas for a letter persuading Sherlock Holmes to take action in the case of "The Hound of the Baskervilles." If you're not familiar with that case, you might like to have a look at the previous lesson.

You'll also find an example persuasive letter that we're going to refer to in this lesson in the additional materials for the lesson.

So when you've got everything you need, let's get to work.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

My turn, your turn.

Persuasive technique.

Flattery.

Veiled threat.

Presumption.

And rhetorical question.

Well done.

So a persuasive technique is a structure or device used in writing to try to change someone's mind or behaviour.

And flattery is a persuasive technique where the writer says positive things about the reader.

Veiled threat is a persuasive technique where the writer suggests negative outcomes for the reader.

Presumption is a persuasive technique where the writer acts as if the reader already agrees with them.

And a rhetorical question is a question asked to the reader that does not expect an answer.

So let's look at our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start off by generating some ideas for flattery and veiled threats, and then we'll move on to generating some ideas for rhetorical questions and presumption.

So, Jean McAllister's letter to Sherlock Holmes is a persuasive letter because she's trying to convince him to help her.

And you can find that letter in the additional materials for this lesson.

Pause the video and reread that letter now to refresh your memory for what a persuasive letter to Sherlock Holmes might sound like.

Well done, good reading.

Now we are going to write a letter to Sherlock Holmes, in role as Sir Henry Baskerville persuading him to come and help us to solve the mystery of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and the death of Sir Charles Baskerville.

Again, if you're not familiar with that story, look at the previous lesson in this unit.

So Jean's letter that we've just read follows a clear structure and our persuasive letter will follow the same structure.

It starts off with an introduction that summarises what happened.

Then paragraphs one and two set out key reasons why Holmes should help using a range of different persuasive techniques.

And then the conclusion focuses really just on persuading him to investigate.

So we're going to generate some persuasive technique ideas for our own letter from Sir Henry Baskerville to Sherlock Holmes.

So which persuasive technique has been used in each of these examples? Is it flattery, presumption, veiled threats, or a rhetorical question? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So in the first one it says, "I'm aware that you're an incredibly important and busy man." That is flattery.

We're saying he's important and busy, we're saying positive things about him.

B says, "I already feel relieved simply knowing that you're considering the matter." Well, that's presumption.

You are presuming that he's considering it.

We don't know that for sure, so that's presumption.

C says, "Who else but the remarkable Sherlock Holmes could solve this baffling puzzle?" That is a rhetorical question.

And also you could admit, you could argue it's flattery as well, isn't it? It's both really.

And then for D, it says, "I'm certain that without your help, they will deteriorate further." That is a veiled threat.

We're saying, if you don't help, then in this case it's Jean McAllister, she's talking about her parents will deteriorate, will get worse.

So that is a veiled threat.

We're saying this bad thing will happen if you don't do something.

Really well done for identifying these persuasive techniques correctly.

We'll want to use all of those in our own letter.

So let's look first at flattery.

We'll want to include flattery in our letter to Holmes and this is where we say lots of positive things about the reader, in this case about Holmes.

So why is that an effective strategy? Pause the video and explain to your partner.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So flattery is a way of trying to get the reader on side or make them feel that we respect them, value them, and trust them.

So, here's some examples.

"I'm certain, Mr. Holmes, that you'll have more luck using your meticulous techniques and extraordinary brain power." We're saying that he's a really, really intelligent person and that might get him on our side.

It's showing respect towards him, which might make him more willing to help.

That's why flattery works.

Here's another one.

"I have heard much of your kindness to those in desperate need." Well, we're telling him he's not just clever, he's also kind and kind people will help us.

We could also say, "I'm certain that you and you alone will be able to solve this perplexing mystery." Here we're really flattering him by saying, you're the only person I trust to help solve this mystery.

That would feel good to hear, wouldn't it, if you were the reader, if you were Holmes and that might motivate you to help.

Now, I want to think about creating our own flattering descriptions of Holmes and his intelligence.

And we could do this by using expanded noun phrases made up of adjectives and nouns.

For instance, we could use adjectives like these.

We could use extraordinary, incredible, remarkable, unmatched, groundbreaking, meticulous, superior, and exceptional.

Can you see how all of these are positive, flattering adjectives? And we could use them to describe nouns like these intelligence, abilities, methods, mind, brain-power, techniques, intellectual prowess, and observational skills.

So the nouns are features of Holmes or features of his intelligence, and the adjectives would describe them in a flattering way.

So, we can make word pairs using them.

We can match them up together.

Pause video and see if you and your partner or on your own, you can come up with some word pairs matching these adjectives and nouns to create expanded noun phrases.

Have a go.

Well done, great effort.

So, we could take those word pairs like incredible abilities and groundbreaking methods and put them in a sentence like this one.

I have long admired your groundbreaking techniques and extraordinary brain-power.

Let's try that now.

Use the nouns and adjectives in the list to create expanded noun phrases to complete this flattering sentence.

Your blank and blank have earned you the title of the greatest detective of our times.

So in each blank space, make an expanded noun phrase using nouns and adjectives.

Pause the video and see what you can come up with.

Well done.

Good job.

So you could say something like this, your meticulous techniques and unmatched intellectual prowess have earned you the title of the greatest detective of our times.

Can you see how that would be a very flattering sentence for Sherlock Holmes to read? And that would make it very persuasive.

So let's do our first task for this lesson.

Using the expanded noun phrases and the sentence ideas, I'm going to show you in a moment, I want you to write four flattering sentences you could write in your letter.

So you could use, I have always admired your blank and blank.

You could use with your blank and blank, you will solve this crime in seconds.

How could the blank of Sherlock Holmes fail? And your blank will make all the difference.

And in each gap you can use an expanded noun phrase made from the adjectives and nouns.

For example, your unmatched intellectual prowess will make all the difference in solving this case.

Can you see I've extended that last sentence slightly to make it personal for myself.

So, pause the video and see if you can come up with four flattering sentences.

Have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

Here are some examples of flattering sentences you might have written.

I have always admired your meticulous methods and your extraordinary abilities, and I'm sure they will allow you to easily solve this mystery.

I have also written with your groundbreaking techniques and your superior intelligence, you will solve this crime in seconds.

How could the unmatched observational skills of Sherlock Holmes fail? And finally, your remarkable mind will make all the difference.

So we'll also want to make some veiled threats.

This is where we'll tell Holmes what will happen if he doesn't help.

So, why do we not want to threaten Holmes outright? Why do we not want to say help or else? Why would that be a bad thing? Pause the video and discuss it with your partner or have a think on your own.

Well done, good thinking.

So we're trying to get him to help us.

We just wanna make him feel a bit guilty.

We don't want him to feel actually threatened because then he's definitely not going to help us.

So here's an example.

I'm certain that without your help, they will deteriorate further.

Here, the threat is the risk of Jean's parents getting more upset.

That comes from my letter we've read, doesn't it? Here's another one.

It would be a great shame if you were to tarnish your impeccable reputation by refusing to help in this instance.

What's the threat here? Well, the threat is that the risk that his reputation is going to suffer, that his reputation will be damaged if he doesn't help a person in need.

So we are not trying to threaten the person and make them feel scared.

We are trying to show them, if you don't help, here's a possible negative thing that could happen.

So when we write veiled threat, we have to think about the possible consequences of Holmes not helping us.

So, can you match up the ideas correctly to show sentences that include a veiled threat? Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Great thinking.

So for A, we would say, "If you are not willing to help, then I'm concerned that great harm will result." For B we could say, "It will be a terrible shame if this awful situation we're allowed to continue." And for C, "I fear that without your help, our community will suffer greatly in the weeks to come." Can you see how each of those suggests a negative effect if Holmes chooses not to help.

Really well done for matching those correctly.

Now we can use certain sentence openers and certain consequences to create our veiled threat sentences.

Let's see how we could do that.

Well, we could use some openers like this.

It would be a terrible shame if.

I'm sure that you would not want.

If you decline to help, that means refuse to help, I'm afraid.

And I fear that without your help, this will happen.

Can you see how those openers are hinting at, oh, there's going to be a problem.

So, we could use consequences and I've written these just as notes.

The situation might worsen.

Further suffering might result.

There might be dire consequences.

The criminals could get off scot-free.

There could be grave consequences.

The community could suffer, matters could get worse, and the mystery could remain unsolved, especially in the case of "The Hound of the Baskervilles." So, we could write a sentence like this.

If you decline to help, there's one of my openers, I am afraid these ruthless criminals will get off scot-free.

And here I've said, it will be a terrible shame if, one of my openers, this awful situation were allowed to worsen further.

So I've taken my openers and my consequence and I've made a complete sentence.

So, can you use those same ideas to create your own veiled threat sentence? Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Fantastic, Heather.

So we could say, "I am sure that you would not want to have the dire consequences of another incident on your conscience." So I've used my opener, I'm sure that you would not want.

And then I've referred to this idea of dire consequences and I've also mentioned his conscience, which is our little voice in our head that tells us what's right and wrong.

So that would be a good thing to mention as well in relation to a veiled threat.

Really well done with your ideas there.

So let's do our second part of this task.

Using the openers and the consequences we've looked at, can you create two sentences, a veiled threat from your letter in role as Sir Henry Baskerville to Sherlock Holmes? Here's an example.

You could say, "If you decline to help, I am afraid that the whole community will suffer and there will be grave consequences." So I've kind of used two ideas from our consequences list there.

Pause the video and see if you can have a go at writing your two sentences.

Have a go.

Well done.

Great effort.

So here are some examples of veiled threat that you might have come up with.

I've said, "It would be a terrible shame if the situation were to worsen further.

I'm sure that you would not want any further suffering on your conscience.

If you decline to help, I'm afraid that matters may get worse and there may be further suffering." And finally, "I fear that without your help, this mystery will remain unsolved forever and the community will continue to suffer." So we're really trying to make Sherlock Holmes feel a little bit guilty there without threatening him, without making him not want to help us.

Really well done with your great ideas.

Okay, so we've generated some ideas for flattery and veiled threat for our letter.

Let's move on to looking at presumption and rhetorical questions.

So presumption is a persuasive technique where we act as if someone has already agreed to help us so that they feel obliged to do it, they feel like they have to do it.

So, what might we presume that Holmes would do for us? What are the things which we might be presuming he has done as we write our letter or is doing as he reads our letter? Pause the video and have a think with your partner.

Well done.

Great ideas.

So maybe he might find the case intriguing.

We could assume that he's gonna be interested in this mystery.

Maybe we can assume he's going to consider the matter or that he agrees with us that it needs investigating.

So we could presume all those things.

So we could use some examples like this from Jean's letter.

"I'm certain that you will have more luck using your meticulous techniques and extraordinary brain power." So here Jean is presuming that he's going to engage in solving this case.

So using that word will shows that presumption, doesn't it? It shows that we're presuming he's going to be involved in this.

We could also say, "I know that you will be desperate to help a family in great distress." Again, we're presuming to know what he's thinking and feeling.

We're presuming that he wants to help this family and that creates that obligation, that feeling that he needs to be involved in this.

So again, we can use certain sentence openers to try and show presumption.

So, we could use one like this.

I am already looking forward to hearing.

I know that you will.

I'm sure that you agree that.

I have absolutely no doubt that you.

I am certain that you will not.

So we could use those like this.

We could say I am already looking forward to hearing your solution to this mystery.

I know that you will be desperate to help end our suffering.

I am sure that you will agree that this mystery must be solved.

So you can see I've completed the sentences to show that presumption, to show what we're presuming he's going to help us with.

So notice how we're using our empathy skills again to imagine Holmes' thoughts.

We're imagining that he'll be desperate to end our suffering.

We're imagining that he will want this mystery to be solved.

We're getting inside his head, we are empathising with him.

So, can you match the openers and endings of these sentences correctly to show presumption? Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Good job.

So for A, we would say, "I'm already looking forward to hearing your brilliant solution to this puzzling problem." For B, we could say, "I'm sure you will agree that this suffering cannot be allowed to continue." For C we'd say, "I have absolutely no doubt that you will want to resolve this matter as quickly as possible." So we've made presumption sentences where we're assuming certain, something about what Holmes is thinking or feeling.

Really well done for matching those up.

So let's do our first part of this task.

Using the openers below and your own ideas, I want you to write two pieces of presumption that you could use in your letter to Sherlock Holmes.

So we've got our openers there we could choose.

And remember, we are presuming that Holmes wants to help and that he agrees with us that this mystery needs solving.

Here's an example.

We could say, "I know that you'll want to solve this mystery as quickly as possible in order to help the community recover." Pause the video and see if you can come up with your presumption ideas now.

Well done.

Really good job.

Here's some examples of the presumption you might have come up with.

Maybe you said, "I'm already looking forward to hearing your ingenious solution to this perplexing problem.

I know that you'll be anxious to help our community.

I am sure that you would agree that this terrible situation must be resolved immediately.

I am certain that you will not permit this suffering to continue." And finally, "I have absolutely no doubt that you're as desperate as I am to see this matter resolved." So we're really trying to make him feel obliged to help by presuming that he wants to do so.

Great ideas.

Well done.

So, let's move on to our final persuasive technique.

The final one we're going to use in our letter is a rhetorical question.

And this is where we ask questions that don't require an answer, but they're designed to make the reader think and often the answer's kind of given inside the question.

So for instance, would you not agree that this is a most puzzling matter? Here we're saying that it's clear that Holmes would agree with this, that it is definitely a puzzling matter.

Here's another one.

Who else but the remarkable Sherlock Holmes could solve this baffling puzzle? Here we're saying there's no possibility anyone else could solve it.

The only person who could solve it is Sherlock Holmes.

So the answer to the question is contained, suggested within the question itself.

The answer here is no one else could do it and that's suggested by the rhetorical question.

Now we often use negative sentence openers to create rhetorical questions, and sometimes this creates veiled threats as well.

For instance, we could use openers like this.

Would you not agree that? Not makes it negative.

Surely you would not want? And do you not agree that? So we could say things like this, surely you would not want the community to suffer any longer? That's a rhetorical question but it's also a veiled threat, isn't it? Because it's suggesting that if he doesn't help, the community's going to suffer more.

And we can also use rhetorical questions as a form of flattery.

For instance, we could say, who else but, you could do this.

Who else could and who but Sherlock Holmes could do this? Say for instance, who else but the great Sherlock Holmes could be up to the task of solving this mystery? It's a rhetorical question because the answer is contained or suggested within it.

The answer is no one else could do it.

But it's also flattery, isn't it? Because we're saying he's the only person capable of solving the problem.

So rhetorical questions can also include other persuasive techniques.

So can you match the openers and the endings here to create your own rhetorical questions? Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Great job.

So for A we would say, "Would you not agree that this puzzling problem must be solved immediately?" For B, we could say, "Surely you would not want this suffering to continue any longer?" So that one is also a veiled threat, isn't it? And C is, "Who else but you could possibly be up to this task?" That's also a form of flattery.

So let's do the second part of this task.

Using the openers below, can you write two rhetorical questions you could use in your letter to Sherlock Holmes? And remember, you can use flattery and veiled threats at the same time.

For instance, you could use these.

Would you not agree that this baffling puzzle needs a great detective to solve it? That's flattery.

And who but Sherlock Holmes could possibly tackle this perplexing mystery? Again, that's a piece of flattery as well.

So pause the video and see if you can write your two rhetorical questions.

Have a go.

Well done.

Here are some examples of the type of rhetorical questions you might have come up with.

You could have said, "Would you not agree that the suffering cannot be allowed to continue?" That's kind of a valid threat, isn't it? "Surely you would not want to have any further incidents on your conscience?" Again, a veiled threat.

"Do you not agree that we need to resolve this matter immediately? Who else but the incredible Sherlock Holmes could I contact?" That's also flattery.

"Who else could be up to the challenge of resolving this?" And, "Who but Sherlock Holmes could find the solution to this mystery." So again, those last two are both forms of flattery as well.

Fantastic ideas there.

Well done.

Okay, let's do our final part of our lesson.

You've now got a big bank of persuasive techniques built across the whole lesson from four different persuasive techniques.

So we're going to finish off by hot-seating Sherlock Holmes.

So choose one person in the room, and if you're at home, you could ask another adult to do this, or you could take on the role of Sherlock Holmes yourself to take on that role of Sherlock Holmes.

And everyone else in the room is going to be Sir Henry Baskerville trying to persuade Holmes to take on the case.

So, if you're one of the Sir Henry Baskervilles, say your most persuasive sentence to Sherlock Holmes using your most persuasive tone of voice.

Perhaps you're pleading with him.

And then Sherlock Holmes is gonna react in role and give his final verdict at the end.

Is he going to choose to help or not? So, Sherlock Holmes is going to hear lots and lots and lots of persuasive techniques from different Sir Henry Baskervilles and then he'll make his decision.

Pause the video and have a go at hot-seating Sherlock Holmes.

Really well done.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Maybe your conversation sounded a bit like this.

Maybe Sir Henry basketball said this.

"Would you not agree, Holmes, that this situation needs to be resolved immediately?" And maybe Holmes responded, "It does sound frightfully distressing, but I'm sure that the local police are more than up to the job." And then maybe another Sir Henry Baskerville replied.

"Well, it would be a terrible shame if there were to be any further incidents." And then maybe right at the end, Holmes responded, "Very well, have a carriage prepared for me and my assistant Watson immediately!" So in my version Holmes has agreed to help.

I wonder if you had the same idea.

You've done a fantastic job in this lesson.

Really well done.

Let's summarise our learning.

We've learned that we can use a range of persuasive techniques in a persuasive letter.

We've learned that each technique is designed to make the reader feel that they should help or that they should change their mind.

We've learned that flattery is designed to make the reader feel good about themselves while veiled threats are designed to make them feel guilty.

We've learned that presumption makes the reader feel obliged to act and rhetorical questions can include aspects of other persuasive techniques as well.

Really well done for all your effort in this lesson and make sure you keep your notes of these persuasive techniques for future reference.

I'd love to see you again in a future lesson.

Goodbye.