The HZ Study Guide to Argument Analysis: A Full Explanation to Exam Section C

“we love argument analysis and you should too” – The HZ English Department

Written by Alex Dinuzzo – Raw 50 in VCE English, 98.8 ATAR, school Dux. Edited by Haobo Zhang, founder of HZ Tutoring. Updated 2 July 2026.

Argument analysis is Section C of the VCE English exam: you are given unseen persuasive material and asked to analyse how its written and visual language works to persuade the audience. This guide covers the official VCAA expectations and marking qualities, a complete walkthrough of the 2022 exam paper (contention, arguments and visuals), and the persuasive techniques worth identifying. Section C is worth 20 of the exam’s 60 marks, and the same skill is assessed in the Unit 4 Outcome 2 SAC (40 marks) alongside the point of view oral presentation; the exam’s other sections are covered in our text response and creating texts guides. One precision worth knowing: VCAA’s exam specifications state you are not required to evaluate the relative merits or successes of arguments – your job is to analyse how they position the audience, not to judge whether they worked on you.

This should take around 20-30 minutes to read, but to understand and apply will be dependent on yourself. If you liked this and want more, we will have further resources available soon. Please express your interest here to stay updated!

The Expectations, Straight from VCAA

Let’s take a look back to the assessment criteria released by VCAA: All essays are marked holistically, according to this criteria:

Expected qualities for the mark range – Section C

Mark(s)	Expected Qualities
9–10	Demonstrates a perceptive understanding of contention, the development of argument(s) as constructed in the text and the point of view expressed. Demonstrates sophisticated insight into the ways in which written and spoken language and visuals complement the argument(s) and are used to persuade the intended audience. Uses sophisticated and precise language.
8	Demonstrates a thoughtful understanding of contention, the development of argument(s) as constructed in the text and the point of view expressed. Demonstrates sound insight into the ways in which the written and spoken language and visuals work together to build the argument(s) and persuade the intended audience. Uses language confidently.
7	Demonstrates detailed understanding of contention, argument(s) presented in the text and the point of view expressed. Demonstrates insight into the ways in which the written and spoken language and visuals in the text are used to persuade the intended audience. Uses fluent expression.
6	Demonstrates a clear understanding of contention, the argument(s) presented in the text and the point of view expressed. Demonstrates some awareness of the ways in which the written and spoken language and visuals in the text are used to persuade the intended audience. Uses competent expression.
5	Demonstrates adequate understanding of contention, the argument(s) presented and the point of view expressed. Demonstrates basic awareness of the ways in which the written and spoken language and visuals in the text are used to persuade the intended audience. Uses language adequately.
4	Demonstrates a basic understanding of the contention, the argument(s) and point of view expressed. Describes the ways in which written and spoken language and visuals are used to persuade an audience. Uses basic language.
3	Shows a limited knowledge of the argument(s) or point of view. Shows a limited knowledge of the ways in which written and spoken language and visuals are used. Attempts basic language.
1–2	Shows little understanding of the material. Shows only minimal knowledge of the task. Uses language that is not always clear.
0	Shows no understanding of the requirements of the task.

From the marking criteria, we can conclude that the three most important things are:

1. Understanding contention and argument
2. Understanding the written and spoken language, and visuals as support for the contention and argument
3. Analysing how the written and spoken language, and visuals will impact the intended audience

Where the contention is the author’s stance on the issue. A summary of the article is not a contention. The issue is usually found in the ‘Background Information’ The arguments is the author’s reasons which support their contention. A summary of what the author is saying is not an argument. The written and spoken language usually indicates persuasive techniques, however, note that the requirement to state them as persuasive techniques is not present. It would show further understanding of the language used, but is not strictly essential. Visuals must be analysed. The intended audience is the target audience. And I typically explain impact as: the subsequent emotion, thought or action (usually we focus on the first two). In our essay, 1 set of analysis ideally will include the technique, context (what the author is doing) and analysis. Each body paragraph should have 3 sets of analysis. Tip: For Argument Analysis, ensure you analyse how the audience will respond to the material, rather than what the author is trying to convey. The difference is:

Through the statistic describing how “80% of donations are classified as company profit,” the author portrays how the company misuses the goodwill of their clients, thus exposing the corruption within the not-for-profit industry. This may incite frustration within audiences, especially those who have donated to this company, as they realise the deceptive and dishonest operations within the company, thus further reducing the credibility and trust toward the industry.

VS

Through the statistic describing how “80% of donations are classified as company profit,” the author portrays how the company misuses the goodwill of their clients, thus exposing the corruption within the not-for-profit industry.This allows the author to further depict the deceptive and dishonest operations within the company, and establish the corrupt nature surrounding organisations which advertise themselves as charitable.

^ the second one is analysis, but not analysis on how the intended audience will be persuaded. This type of analysis we should save for Section A of the exam (text response) So in every paragraph, we should see the rainbow! From the marking criteria, we can also conclude that your mark is dependent on your depth of understanding for the above three. But the thing is, VCE is scored as a bell curve, right? And most students know how to identify language techniques. And they can contextualise the article. And I’d like to think, at Year 12, we all can identify the contention and arguments So essentially what sets you apart will mostly be your analysis.

Approaching Argument Analysis: 2022 VCE English Past Exam Paper

Introduction

If you haven’t read the 2022 English Exam, it is linked here. (go read it) This will be an in-depth guide on how you could approach this paper. We assume you have now read the entire article and have an understanding of it. Note: There is no 1 correct answer. And I am only 1 person. The first thing for us to do is approach the Background Information. This provides us with important context and the majority of your Introduction will be based on this. Different schools have different approaches to the Introduction. Generally, I recommend you to approach it this way In your introduction, you should have 9 things: 0. Broad Context

1.	Title
2.	Author	(who is talking)
3.	Text Type	(how are they delivering the talk)
4.	Tone	(how are they talking)
5.	Issue	(what are they even talking about)
6.	Contention	(what is their point)
7.	Target Audience	(who are they talking to)
8.	Purpose	(why are they talking)
9.	Visuals	(aside from talking, do they have visuals?)

and at least 5 of those is identified from the Background Information (1,2,3,5,7) General Information -> Context (author, title, text type) -> Issue -> Contention+Tone -> Target Audience -> Purpose -> Visual The logic behind it:

1. Give some general information. What’s happening in the world / What broader topic does this fall under?
2. Provide context on the article you are addressing in your essay
3. Give an overview of the article: What is the issue? What is the author’s stance on the issue? Who would care about this or who are they trying to convince? What is the overall goal?
4. State the presence of any visual material

A sample introduction could look like this: The growing global progression regarding environmental concerns has led to increased awareness surrounding the importance of preserving natural spaces. Janelle Tanley publishes the transcript to her “Hapsey Happenings” podcast on her dedicated webpage, with this episode discussing the proposed development plan by Nature+ Adventure Group to run commercial excursions into the Hapsey Wetlands. She targets her local Hapsey residents in an exasperated and ardent tone to establish that the Hapsey Wetlands must be protected from the development plan and urges them to similarly oppose the commercialisation of Hapsey’s valuable natural sanctuary. The transcript is also accompanied by an illustration and photographic material. If we’re being honest, an introduction can’t make your essay go from a 6 to a 7. It doesn’t add marks. But it does contribute to the overall coherency of your essay, so the absence of a full introduction can negatively influence your mark.

Identifying Contention and Argument

Let’s establish the contention and arguments. Issue: The proposed development plan by Nature+ Adventure Group to run commercial excursions into Hapsey Wetlands. Contention: That the Hapsey Wetlands must be protected from the proposed development plan. So, why should the Hapsey Wetlands be protected from the proposed development plan? Arguments:

1. The wetlands are a sanctuary and one of the last protected natural areas within Hapsey.
2. The development plan will bring major harm to the wetlands.
3. The developers do not truly care about preserving the natural environment.

REMEMBER THAT THE ARGUMENTS MUST SUPPORT THE CONTENTION Tip: If you aren’t sure whether the arguments connect with the contention, think of it in this formula because (argument), so (contention) applied: Because the wetlands are a sanctuary and one of the last protected natural areas within Hapsey, so the Hapsey Wetlands must be protected from the proposed development plan. OR if (argument), then (contention) applied: If the wetlands are a sanctuary and one of the last protected natural areas within Hapsey, then the Hapsey Wetlands must be protected from the proposed development plan. Personally I prefer the former, but some students have expressed the latter is easier for them to understand.

Visual Analysis

Visual analysis is ESSENTIAL. Within the transcript, Tanley has attached 2 visuals. Keep in mind that visuals are another persuasive technique – so we analyse visuals in terms of how they support the author’s argument. So you should insert them in your essay as part of the argument the visual is most aligned with. Like written language, we do not need to analyse everything about the visual – just pick out what the most relevant aspects are. When approaching visual analysis, I usually tell students to consider the contention of a visual. If you saw this visual on its own, what might be the message? Now, knowing the visual is attached to this particular article, does the message change? What does it change to? Then, we break it down. What are the elements within a visual? Pick out the parts or aspects of a visual which are visually appealing or stimulating. Does this element help to further the argument? How might it influence the audience? So essentially, when we do visual analysis you need to identify the visual type/name, contextualise the visual, then pick out an element and analyse it. Conceptually it is exactly the same as analysing written language. Now, let’s apply it.

Visual type: Illustration/graphic

Contention of the image: Support for community activities -> That Tanley supports outdoor community activites. Potential elements to analyse:

1. People / Families + The people look happy –  From this, we might assume that this illustration is community-centric
2. Bikes / Bushes / Greenery –  This may imply sustainable actions

How might the audience react?

1. The audience may understand that Tanley supports community projects and family activities.
2. The audience may understand that Tanley supports sustainable actions and an appreciation for the outdoors.

So a sample set of analysis for this Image might become: Tanley attaches a simple graphic preceding her transcript depicting cheerful community members enjoying a nature strip. This reinforces the community-centred nature of her podcast, and portrays her as appreciative of shared natural spaces. Subsequently, the audience may be reminded of her position as a fellow community member and acknowledge her respect for shared natural spaces. (wow honestly that was kinda weak. let’s try again with the next visual)

Visual type: photograph

Contention of the image: Pollution and littering in nature harms the environment -> That the development plan proposed by Nature+ will lead to increased human intervention and damage within the Hapsey Wetlands. Potential elements to analyse:

1. Photograph – Provides a realistic perception of existing damage to nature
2. Focal point:Bird holding plastic waste – Shows how animals may directly interact with and be harmed by littering
3. Environment – The natural environment should remain unpolluted

Focal point: centre of attention How might the audience react?

1. The audience may realise the type of harm and visualise the prospective interruption which may result from the development plan.
2. The audience may understand the need to retain the Hapsey Wetlands as an uninterrupted environment, and feel disgust towards those who wish to intrude and pollute the local sanctuary.
3. The setting of the image may remind audiences of the beauty of the wetlands and further deter them from supporting the commercialisation of the environment.

So a sample set of analysis for this visual might become: Furthermore, Tanley inserts a photograph highlighting the threat of pollution as an inevitability of human intervention within the Hapsey Wetlands. Through the focal point of a water bird holding plastic within its beak, this positions audiences to actualise how the development plan may harm the local wildlife, and reinforces the need to retain the wetlands as an uninterrupted natural space. Hence, audiences, especially nature enthusiasts, may further feel disgust towards those who wish to intrude and inflict detriment to the local environment. Okay, moving on.

Written analysis, Argument 1

Argument: The wetlands are a sanctuary and one of the last protected natural areas within Hapsey A sample high scoring (8+) paragraph could look like this: Tanley asserts that the Hapsey Wetlands are a local sanctuary and must be protected from commercial development. Through utilising an appeal to scarcity, she reminds her local audience that the wetlands are ‘one of the very last protected sanctuaries in this local region.’ As such, the community may begin to reflect on the importance of this space and realise the significance in maintaining nature around the Hapsey locale, inciting the desire to protect and conserve the Hapsey Wetlands. Furthermore, she directly addresses the ‘nature lovers’ within her audience and employs an anecdote of her ‘friends and I [who] frequently meet in the wetlands to relax.’ This establishes her appreciation and personal experiences as a fellow nature enjoyer, building a rapport with her audience as they may reminisce similar experiences and recall fond personal memories of enjoying the outdoors, hence reiterating the personal value provided by the Hapsey Wetlands. As she uses emotive language to describe the wetlands ‘tranquil’ and with ‘magnificence,’ she further elevates the sacred nature of the wetlands and attaches a peaceful connotation to the surroundings, imploring audiences to recognise the significance in maintaining the current state of wetlands whilst simultaneously insinuating the fragility of the wetlands. Hence, audiences may further consolidate the need to preserve the Hapsey Wetlands from external influences. A sample mid-high (6-7) scoring paragraph could look like this: Tanley describes how the Hapsey Wetlands are important to the Hapsey community. She introduces herself with a cordial tone as ‘your Host, Janelle’ to show familiarity with her audience and invites them to participate with the topic. She describes the Hapsey Wetlands as ‘one of the very last protected sanctuaries in this local region’ to demonstrate the importance of the wetlands. As such, this might remind audiences of how the community’s natural spaces are at risk, highlighting the need to preserve this environment. She then outlines the plan listing ‘bike paths, boat ramps, kiosks and cafes’ to describe the extent of intrusion Nature+ is proposing, framing how the wetlands will be drastically changed as a result. As such, the audience may begin to reject the development plan as they gain understanding of how it may inflict damage to the local environment. Furthermore, Tanley depicts the tradeoff where ‘walkers have to be careful but this means the native flora is taken care of’ and ‘native fauna can live in peace.’ Consequently, the audience is positioned to recognise that allowing the wetlands to remain undisturbed will benefit the area by naturally protecting the environment. A sample mid scoring (4-5) paragraph could look like this: Tanley describes how the Hapsey Wetlands are important to the Hapsey community. She introduces herself as ‘your Host, Janelle’ to show she is familiar with the audience. Then, she gives examples of how the plan includes ‘bike paths, boat ramps, kiosks and cafes’ which shows what the plan includes. She also states: ‘her socials have been overflowing.’ To show she is popular in the community and her opinion can be trusted. Then, she asks her audience to ‘consider our wetlands’ and uses inclusive language to include the audience with the issue. By saying the ‘paths are narrow and unpaved’ she shows how the wetlands have not been developed. Tanley also uses an anecdote of ‘my friends and I frequently meet in the wetlands to relax’ because she is involved in the wetlands and wants to demonstrate the positive impact of the wetlands. But they ‘talk softly without disturbing the wetlands’ which shows her respect and attitude, and how the wetlands should not be developed. And writing the last one was painful enough, so I won’t go any lower. See how none are wrong, but some are better? That’s essentially how examiners will grade you. These are also just some examples. A student with great analysis but poor expression or informal writing will not achieve as good of a mark. A student with acceptable analysis who did not refer to the argument or inaccurately identified the argument also won’t do as well as they could.

Written analysis, Argument 2

Argument: The development plan will bring major harm to the wetlands. Sample paragraph: In a jaded tone, Tanley further establishes that the proposed development plan will bring harm to the wetlands and destroy the local environment. By sarcastically quoting that the ‘revitalisation’ is to ‘protect the environment,’ she further insinuates that the development plan will result in destruction of the area, positioning audiences to disregard any claims of environmental conservation and view the development companies with scepticism. This may thus incite doubt within audiences and frustration regarding the implied dishonest nature of development companies. She further offers a statistic of how these ‘money-making ventures’ will only lead to the ‘destruction of the natural home of over 40 different species of grasses.’ As this statistic presents a quantifiable example of harm, audiences may feel a sense of loss and shame at the idea of wilfully allowing environmental degradation, further acknowledging their collective responsibility toward the Hapsey locale. Additionally, she compounds this through the example of ‘digging machinery’ which will ‘desecrate the home of fragile species’ ‘beyond repair,’ to accentuate recognition for the extent of destruction which will arise due to the construction and consolidate the need to protect the Hapsey Wetlands from the development plan. Through threatening that ‘this current development plan will only be the start’ and how this ‘will set in motion a chain of proposals,’ Tanley insinuates that the previously outlined damage is only a precursor, positioning her audience to recognise how the destruction may only skyrocket as an inevitable result. As such, audiences, especially the nature enthusiasts, may become urgently concerned over the spiraling impact of intruding into the Hapsey Wetlands.

Written analysis, Argument 3

Argument: The developers do not care about preserving the natural environment. Sample paragraph… Look, I’ve already done some samples for us. Why don’t you give it a go? Feel free to email us at hello@hztutoring.com your paragraph, titling it ‘English 2022 Section C Practice’ for some FREE feedback!

Conclusion

Widely considered to be non-compulsory, and will not really add or deduct marks in your final exam. Please note, this is only advice for the final exam – Your school may expect a conclusion for your SAC.

Some other important things to note

I personally hate it when students write things like: ‘the audience will agree with the author’ or ‘the audience will be more likely to agree’ Everything the author is doing is to make the audience agree. Essentially, this is not analysis of substance. This would not really gain you any marks, and is what I call ‘filler information’ or ‘a waste of words.’ What you need to write about is why theaudience will agree. ‘the audience will understand the issue/argument’ A similar idea as above, this is not analysis of substance. ‘the audience will trust/believe the author’ Once again, similar idea to the above – everything an author is doing is to make the audience trust them and believe in them. This is not analysis of depth or substance – I want to know why the audience will trust/believe the author. ‘this shows that xyz is good/bad’ You’re in year 12. Use better vocabulary than that. Ask chatgpt or google for synonyms to ‘good’ and ‘bad’ please. ‘the audience may view xyz in a positive/negative light’ Similar to above. Also, just saying positive or negative doesn’t really show any understanding or analysis. Formal Essay Language You must use formal essay language. Do not use contractions (can’t, isn’t, i’d, they’ve, etc). Make sure your essays are written in simple present tense. Do not use slang, even if you think it has been normalised. The Target Audience You should practice subdividing the target audience. When applied to the 2022 paper, this looks like: Target audience: Community members → nature enthusiasts In general, there are three ways to subdivide the target audience:

–	Occupation	e.g. students, parents, doctors, teachers, managers, etc
–	Demographic	e.g. youth, elderly, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, etc
–	Interest Group	e.g. nature enthusiasts, gamers, vegans, activists, etc

Quoting You should always embed the evidence, and if possible, only use the meaningful part of the quote. I suggest trying to keep your quoting to seven words or less, or you might risk retelling too much of the article. Tone Where possible, you should include the tone in the same sentence as the argument – the first sentence of each paragraph. What is the overall tone attached to this argument? You should also try and analyse changes in tone where relevant. The Rhetorics of Persuasion The rhetorics or modes of persuasion refer to Aristotle’s Rhetoric, and are usually referred as: Logos: Logical Persuasion Ethos: The author’s credibility Pathos: Emotional Persuasion There’s a really great guide to understanding the three rhetorics of persuasion here. And so, this is why our analysis is usually on what the audience will think (logos) and how they might feel (pathos). In most of our Section C articles, the author’s credibility (ethos) will be inherent. E.g. A principal speaking about plastic packaging in schools (2017), or a local coffee enthusiast writing about the new chain store cafe (2018), or a farmer speaking about the destructive impacts of drones on the farming community (2020), or a community member speaking about the community wetlands (2022). I have chosen not to extend into the rhetorics of persuasion as these are what I consider concepts of persuasion, rather than actual persuasive devices or techniques. They help you understand persuasion and how an argument is constructed, but I recommend against referring to logos, ethos or pathos within your essay as it often isn’t specific enough.

Identifying persuasive techniques

The great thing about studying is that you are studying. You can use all the tools available to you (Chatgpt definitely knows what a persuasive technique is). Or you could just buy our list of persuasive techniques, how to approach them and recommended keywords to analysing them here. Sample: Rhetorical Questions: Rhetorical Questions are questions where the answer is inherent or implied. This technique is often used to elucidate an ‘obvious’ answer, allowing the audience to adopt a certain idea or reasoning as their own. Keywords: Rationalise, contemplate, logical conclusion, self explanatory, obvious, evident Inclusive Language: Inclusive language is used to include an audience. Keywords: build a rapport, foster a sense of community, adopt a shared perspective, similarly align with someone/something Expert Opinion: Expert Opinions are opinions from someone with credibility, typically more credibility than the author and considered an expert or professional on the topic. Expert opinions are usually used to show how the author’s argument is agreed upon by others, especially those with more understanding or specialised knowledge on the issue. Keywords: Credibility, respect, authority, demonstrated expertise, specialist judgement, academic support, extensively knowledgeable, insightful expertise, shared judgement Do not write anything contradictory. If the author is writing about opposing the Nature+ development plan, do not say things to contradict this. For example, don’t say the audience will support the development plan. Or say that commercialisation will benefit the community. If your analysis begins to sound contradictory to any of the argument/s or the contention, you need to reconsider either: the analysis, argument/s or contention. Do not insert your own opinion. This is pretty self explanatory – don’t use your first person perspective (I, we, us) in your essay. Don’t talk about what you personally think of the article/issue. You are not the target audience. Even if the article is talking about youth or education etc, the target audience could include ‘students,’ or ‘youth’ but not you.

A Final Word

Hopefully, you now understand Argument Analysis. From your author: Whilst education is technically free, the quality of education a student receives is often … not. I believe that students deserve a chance at doing well regardless of their socioeconomic background. This is especially true for VCE English, being the most widely taken subject. Quality VCE resources are difficult to find for free, but we at HZ Tutoring want every student to perform to their fullest potential, even if you don’t engage with us beyond the free content. Of course, we have additional resources for purchase, but if you can understand and apply the information here independently, I believe you can do well in VCE English. Have you used this study guide? Did you like it? Do you have suggestions or recommendations for us? Feel free to send in any feedback to hazel@hztutoring.com!

Argument analysis is one third of the exam. If you want the other two thirds mapped the same way, our new guide to studying VCE English covers the 25/25/50 scoring split, Section A, the 2024-design Section B and the weekly writing cycle that ties them together.

Frequently asked questions

What is argument analysis in VCE English?

It is Section C of the VCE English exam: you receive unseen persuasive material and analyse how the writer’s language and any visuals work to persuade the intended audience. You are not asked to agree or disagree – your job is to explain how the persuasion works.

How is Section C marked?

Holistically, against VCAA’s published assessment criteria: assessors consider your understanding of the argument, your analysis of how written and visual language is used to persuade, and the control and fluency of your own writing.

Do I have to analyse the visuals?

Yes – visual material is part of the persuasive package. Treat illustrations, graphics and photographs as part of the writer’s argument and analyse what they contribute, as shown in the visual-analysis section of this guide.

What is the best way to practise argument analysis?

Work through past exam papers the way this guide walks through the 2022 paper: identify the contention, map each argument, then analyse how language and visuals persuade. Regular feedback on full written responses accelerates this – our VCE English tutors mark practice pieces weekly, and the free VCE English GPT can give instant feedback between lessons.