In VCE English, there are three main areas of the course: text response, crafting texts, and analysing argument. Argument analysis makes up a lot of unit 2 and 4 content. As Section C of the exam, it also counts for a third of your year 12 exam score.
In argument analysis, you are assessed on three things:
· How good your written ability is
· How well you can understand the arguments someone is making, and
· How well you can explain what persuasive techniques they use and their intended effect.
The introduction is the first part of your essay. This means it’ll be your first chance to impress the assessor, so it makes sense to do a good job of it! Thankfully, writing an introduction is pretty straightforward if you have a bit of guidance. Let’s get right into it.
An introduction doesn’t have to include any analysis. It also doesn’t have to be fancy. You just have to tick off a few key elements:
· Context or background issue
· Publication details
· Text type, or form
· Author
· Tone
· Contention
· Audience
· Intention
Then, you have to fit them all together in a scaffold which you can use repeatedly.
Let’s break each of them down:
NOTE! Before we go any further, this advice is based on exam reports. If your school wants you to do something different for the SAC, make sure to follow what they say. They’re the ones grading you, after all!
This is just a short sentence where you outline what has been going on recently. What’s the big issue everyone’s debating right now? For example, it could be whether a local council should replace a fence, or whether a shopping centre should expand its carpark.
Here, you say where the piece was published. Optionally, you might also add the date it was published. For example, that it was published in ‘The Australian’, or that it was posted on the popular blog ‘Happy Days’ (25June 2025).
You should also add the form of the piece. Is it an editorial, an opinion piece, a blog post, a social media post, a podcast, or something else?
Make sure to put the author’s name, too, if it’s included. If not, you can refer to them as ‘the author’, or perhaps ‘the editor’ if it’s an editorial. Be sure to check!
Some students like to add tone to their introductions. Just make sure if you do so that you either
a) add why the tone is used, or
b) show some awareness that the tone can change throughout the piece.
Why? In the 2023 exam report, the VCAA assessors specifically criticised pieces that labelled tone without doing one of these. Try not to label your piece with a tone that does not accurately reflect the article as a whole. We’ll take a closer look in the example below.
What is the author’s argument? What is their main point? This can be a tricky one for students to find. If you’re stuck, ask yourself two questions:
1. What is the overall issue here, and does the author think it is good or bad?
2. What are they saying that SHOULD happen?
The first one will give you something like this:
The author contends that the building of the fountain is a waste of valuable resources that could be better used by other segments of the community.
The second one will look like this:
The author contends that we should replace the old carpark before it further damages the accessibility of the shopping centre.
It’s always good in the introduction to talk about who would be reading a piece like this. You can cite just one audience, e.g. ‘locals’, or you can expand and list a few. For example: “the author addresses mostly excited students, but also wary parents and teachers who may not yet be ready to accept the new scheme.”
This is a little bit optional if you already have the contention, but some people like to include it. You want to explain the intention behind the piece. Why would someone write such a thing? What do they want to leave their audience thinking or feeling?
For example:
This piece is intended to leave the audience feeling inspired to support the new fountain.
Great! Now that we have all these elements, it’s time to put them together.
Here’s an example which VCAA published as a “successful introduction” in the 2023 exam report:
Recently a group of High School musicians have sought to achieve greater opportunities to perform in their local community of Narrow Valley. Published in various social media platforms, newspapers and displayed in local businesses, the Student Music Leadership Group fervently advocates for this cause, asserting their performances will reinvigorate the sense of parochial community for all. Appealing to a myriad of Narrow Valley residents, from conservatives, economically minded sceptics to proud locals and music enthusiasts, the writers ultimately seek to instil the readers with anticipation and enthusiasm for their musical performances, to reinvigorate the local community for the benefit of all.
Let’s note the structure:
Recently [context and background issue]. Published in [publication details + text type], [author] [tone-ly] advocates for [contention]. Appealing to [audience], the writers seek to [intention].
Super simple! You just need to create your own version of this, memorise it, and you’ll have the basic structure ready to go for any test or exam.
You can if you want, but you don’t have to! As you can see above, the VCE English assessors in 2023 liked this introduction so much that they featured it in the exam report. That said, every school has their own system. If your teachers want you to include something particular, it’s always a good idea to follow that. For SACs in particular, you want to do what your teachers like - because they'll be grading you!
Around 80-120 words is ideal. It doesn’t need to be any longer than that. As long as you have something which includes the above elements, you’ll be fine. This one here is only 101 words.
We hope you found this breakdown of how to write argument analysis introductions useful! If you found this helpful, send it to a friend.
Errors or questions?
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