how to write a persuasive essay naplan

UNDERSTANDING NAPLAN WRITING

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy, also known as NAPLAN, is a test taken by all Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 each year. NAPLAN assesses core skills in the Australian curriculum including reading, writing and mathematics, and the assessment usually happens around the second week of May each year.

The writing component of the NAPLAN test allows students 40 minutes to produce a piece of writing based on a given prompt. Students will be asked to produce a narrative text or a persuasive text.

Year 3 and Year 5 students will share the same prompt, while Year 7 and Year 9 students will have a different prompt. Students will not know which type of text they will be asked to write during the assessment, which is why it is important to familiarise yourself with writing both narrative and persuasive texts.

But how does persuasive and narrative writing differ?

Let’s take a brief look at what persuasive writing is all about.

What is persuasive writing?

Persuasive texts are written with the intent to persuade readers to agree with a point of view or idea being presented to them. Persuasive essays are written with logic and reason, to show how one idea is better than another using facts and information to back it up.

Persuasive texts need to be convincing and engaging – by the end of your response, you want the readers to agree with the opinion you have presented in your text.

Some examples of persuasive text formats include open letters, articles, debates, reviews, and advertisements.

What should a well-written persuasive response include?

NAPLAN’s persuasive writing marking guide looks at ten criteria:

• Audience – how well you have engaged with and persuade the readers (your voice in the text)
• Text structure – are all the components (introduction, body, conclusion) well developed and arranged into an effective structure?
• Ideas – type of ideas selected, how they relate to the topic and how well have you elaborated them to further your argument?
• Persuasive devices – have you used appropriate persuasive devices consistently throughout your test?
• Cohesion – flow of your writing; how well do your ideas connect in the text?
• Paragraphing – good paragraph structure that controls the pace of the text and readers attention (ex. using single sentence for emphasis at the end).
• Sentence structure – well written sentences with good structure and grammar
• Punctuation

Persuasive Writing Process

When writing a persuasive text, you should have a clear stand on the idea you want to present to the readers. This idea is typically presented to the readers in the introduction of your response. Facts, statistics, examples, or quotes should be used to support your ideas in the body paragraphs. The concluding paragraph should summarise key ideas discussed and include a call to action.

Year 3 and Year 5 students will share the same prompt, while Year 7 and Year 9 students will have a different prompt. Students will not know which type of text they will be asked to write during the assessment, which is why it is important for students to be familiar with writing both narrative and persuasive texts.

Reading persuasive texts and completing practice questions are good ways to build confidence in writing. Practice questions can help students get used to the test structure and completing a response within a given time limit.

NAPLAN – Narrative Writing

Let’s take a brief look at what narrative writing is all about.

What is narrative writing?

Essentially, narrative writing is story telling. Narrative writing is a genre that uses language techniques to construct a story that revolves around characters in scenarios that can be based on real-world experiences or fictional situations entirely made up.

Narrative texts will typically contain a character in conflict, and end with a resolution. A good piece of narrative should be descriptive and include figurative language and dialogue between characters.

What should a well-written narrative response include?

NAPLAN’s narrative writing marking guide looks at these ten criteria:

• Audience – language choice and narrative devices used to influence readers
• Text structure – writing a complete narrative while effectively using plot devices (ex. flashback)
• Ideas – well selected ideas that explore the plot/theme of the story
• Character and setting – using details/dialogues to construct a distinct character; setting is well constructed throughout the story with enough details to create atmosphere
• Vocabulary – language choice matches well to the genre of the story (ex. colloquial language, personification)
• Cohesion – flow of the story; does it show continuity of ideas throughout the story?
• Paragraphing – paragraphs are well structured to control the story’s pace and reader’s attention
• Sentence structure – well developed sentences that varies in lengths and rhythms

Narrative Writing Process

Important elements of a good narrative piece include characters, conflict, setting, plot, climax, and a resolution. A combination of these elements will ensure a story that is well-developed.

Students can also choose to write a story that follows a first person, second person or third person narrative voice.

Reading novels or short stories and completing practice questions are good ways to build confidence in writing. Practice questions can help students get used to the test structure and completing a response within a given time limit.

How to Write a Persuasive Essay

The ancient art of rhetoric dates back to the Classical period of ancient Greece, when rhetoricians used this persuasive form of public speaking to address their fellow citizens in the Greek republics. As time went on, rhetoric remained at the center of education in the western world for nearly 2,000 years. In our modern world, rhetoric is still an integral part of human discourse, utilized by world leaders and students alike to argue their points of view.

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The definition of rhetoric is the “art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing,” where language is used to have a convincing or impressive effect on the audience being addressed. 

At some point in every student’s academic career, instructors will deliver the assignment to write a persuasive essay that argues for or against a certain topic. Whether or not you’ve taken a course in rhetoric, students can apply the principles of rhetoric to write an effective persuasive essay that convinces the audience to accept a certain viewpoint.

To be as convincing as Aristotle on the stand, your persuasive essay must be based on sound logic and factual evidence that support the overall argument. As you begin to think about writing a persuasive essay, here are several tips that will help you argue your topic like a true rhetorician. 

Choose a position you’re passionate about

The first step in writing a persuasive essay is choosing a topic and picking a side. If the topic is something you believe in, it will make the entire experience of researching, writing, and arguing your perspective more personal. Choosing a topic that appeals to you on an emotional or sentimental level will make its defense easier. Plus, chances are you’ll already know a good deal of information about the topic, so you won’t be left scrambling when it’s time to start your research.

Thoroughly research both sides

Every argument has a counterargument—this is one of the staples of rhetoric. To convince your reader to agree with you, you must be knowledgeable of the opposing side. As important as it is to thoroughly research your topic, identifying and studying both sides of the argument will help you develop the strongest supporting evidence possible. During the research process, gather as much information as you can about the topic at hand. Use your school’s resources like the library, academic journals, and reference materials. With a full understanding of your topic, you’ll be able to readily counter the opposition and assuage any follow-up questions that might cast doubt on your claims.

>>READ MORE:  7 Essay Writing Tips

Draft your thesis statement

One of the most important elements of your persuasive essay is your thesis statement , which should tell readers exactly what your stance encompasses. Without a forceful thesis, you won’t be able to deliver an effective argument. The construction of your thesis statement should include the “what” and the “how” of your argument—what is the argument you are trying to convince your readers to accept? And how will I convince my readers that the argument is sound? While the “how” may become clearer as your essay progresses, your thesis statement should set up the organizational pattern of your essay while presenting your position.

Create a working structure or outline

Outlining your paper will give you a clear view of your argument and the way it develops. Think critically about the strengths and weaknesses of your argument—where would it be most effective for you to introduce your strongest supporting evidence? For rhetoric’s sake, it’s probably not wise to save the best for last. Instead, use your outline to get organized from the outset, anchoring each point in evidence, analysis, and counterargument. List out all of your major claims and the research that supports each point. Creating a working structure will allow you to break down your argument in a logical and concise order, which will make the writing process more straightforward.

Write with integrity and empathy

The most successful rhetorical arguments draw on three main elements: ethos (ethical reasoning) , logos (logical reasoning) , and pathos (passionate reasoning). If amassed perfectly, these three components will make your argument so powerfully robust that nobody could disagree. However, this is easier said than done; even master rhetoricians struggle to find a balance of these three elements. Ethically, you’ll want to make sure you aren’t misleading or manipulating your argument. Logically, your points must be based in fact and progress in a way that makes sense. Passionately, you should emphasize your evidence and use strategic repetition to compel your audience. The key is to find a harmony or balance among these three elements, writing with integrity and empathy.

>>READ MORE:  How to Write Better Essays

As Eben Pagan said, “You can’t convince anyone of anything. You can only give them the right information, so that they can convince themselves.” In the spirit of the ancient Greek rhetoricians, knowing how to write a persuasive essay is an essential function of human discourse—and a true art form when done correctly.

Persuasive writing is about much more than PEEL, TEEL, NAPLAN, the HSC – or any other acronym!

If you can convince other people that your opinion is correct, you have a big advantage in life.

Learning to write strong, persuasive arguments can help you to participate and succeed, including as a student, employee, business owner, consumer, vendor, and citizen. It’s a useful skill in many face-to-face and in online settings, including in community meetings and on social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. 

In a democracy, communities, states, and nations benefit from the spirited interactions of informed individuals exchanging different perspectives with arguments that acknowledge and evaluate different views rationally, supported by evidence. Sadly, this is often not the case, with increasing levels of political polarisation and a decreasing tolerance for rational debate around a range of important social, economic, health, scientific, religious, intellectual, human rights, and environmental issues.

For students, learning to write arguments has an additional and more concrete benefit: it’s the main form of assessment in many school subjects, including many humanities subjects in the Higher School Certificate ( HSC ). In general, argumentative essays become more frequent and important for students as they progress through school.

In Australia, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy ( NAPLAN ) has a big – and some think outsized – influence on how argumentative essays are taught and tested. NAPLAN requires students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 to write an argument or a narrative in response to a provocative prompt, e.g. that “Too much money is spent on toys and games”. 

In practice, many teachers dedicate lots of class time preparing students for NAPLAN writing tests. Some teachers are expected to “teach to the test” by reverse-engineering NAPLAN writing tasks by reference to marking criteria. 

1. How do teachers in Australia evaluate whether an essay is persuasive? 

There are many ways of assessing writing quality. For example, in our speech pathology practice we use norm-referenced, standardised writing tests , informal discourse level probes (e.g. adapted from researchers like Koutsoftas and Gray), and our own in-house criterion-referenced test to look at students’ writing strengths and challenges. We then work with clients and families to set functional writing goals, and to plan intervention, using an explicit, direct approach to teaching writing .

In Australia, we also look at the NAPLAN Persuasive Writing Marking Guide and the Australian Curriculum: English. These documents are both influenced by an academic theory of language and argument called systemic functional linguistics ( SFL ). 

I doubt many people outside the education sector know much about SFL. Even as a speech-language pathologist, I didn’t know much about the extent of its influence on how writing is taught and tested in Australia until I read a terrific recent paper by Damon Thomas from the University of Queensland (reference below).  

It’s worth looking at SFL and its claims, briefly, because the theory has a real world effect on the way that many primary and secondary students are taught to write essays in Australia. It also helps us to understand the jargon used to describe and evaluate persuasive writing.

2. We write differently for different purposes 

In (very) simple terms, SFL looks at the relationships between language and its functions in different contexts. It shares many common features with models of oral language used by speech pathologists in oral language therapy , including Bloom and Lahey’s famous model of language form, content and use . 

SFL is often depicted like this:

Source: Thomas (2022)

Without doing a deep dive into all the jargon, this is not the clearest model – unless you are a linguist.

In basic terms, SFL seeks to connect language structure (e.g. phonology, syntax) and content (e.g. vocabulary and semantics) with its purpose (function) in different real world situations and cultural contexts (e.g. real world social or academic situations). A detailed analysis of SFL and its claims is beyond the scope of this article, but you can read more about it here , here and in the research referred to below.

3. We write things for three main purposes: to engage, to inform, and to persuade

In SFL, written texts are typically grouped into three broad categories, based on function or purpose:

• Texts that engage , e.g. recounts and narratives ;
• Texts that inform , e.g. explanations and reports ; and
• Texts that evaluate , e.g. arguments and responses that persuade .

Over time, writers of written genres (types of text) have evolved different structures to achieve their different purposes. To become effective writers, students should be taught about these different structures, and practice writing different types of texts that are appropriate for the purpose and context. This insight has a big effect on the way the Australian Curriculum approaches writing instruction – from Kindergarten to the end of Year 12.  

4. There are four sub-types of persuasive writing

In this article, we’re focused on the structure of one subcategory of texts that evaluate: argumentative texts, also known as persuasive writing or persuasive texts . According to SFL, there are four sub-types (or genres) of these texts, which again differ in structure based on their purpose:

• Analytical expositions , written to persuade readers to believe one perspective on an issue. For example, a student might be asked to explain their views on whether mobile phones should be allowed in the classroom. 
• Hortatory expositions , written to persuade readers to take some action based on the writer’s position. For example, a student might be asked to write an essay to persuade (“exhort”) others to stop using plastic straws. 
• Discussions , written to discuss an issue from more than one perspective and to persuade readers to agree with one position. For example, a student might be asked to consider and evaluate arguments for and against Australia becoming a republic and to reach a well-reasoned conclusion. 
• Challenges , written to rebut an established position. For example, a student might be asked to argue that the minimum age for voting should be reduced to 16 years in the jurisdiction in which they live.

5. How many Australian students are taught to structure their persuasive writing responses: The five-paragraph structure and ‘PEEL’ paragraphs  

The structures of analytical, hortatory, discussion and challenge expositions are all slightly different, reflecting their different purposes. For example, the discussion text explicitly requires students to look at issues from multiple perspectives. Despite these differences, however, effective persuasive writing across the different genres typically involves writing texts with five main parts (or stages), in the following sequence:

• An introduction or thesis , usually including a statement of the student’s position and a preview of the arguments supporting it. 
• P oint or T opic of the argument;
• E laboration and explanation of the point;
• E vidence for the point, including examples; and
• L inking sentence, which connects the point back to the student’s thesis and/or to the next paragraph.  
• A conclusion or reiteration composed of a review of the main arguments, and a restatement of the student’s thesis or position. 

This observation, derived from SFL, has led many Australian teachers to focus on teaching their students:

• the so-called five paragraph essay structure; and
• PEEL (or TEEL) paragraph writing structures for their arguments in essays, made up of P oint (or T opic), E laboration, E vidence, and L ink. (I prefer ‘PEEL’ over ‘TEEL’ as it helps some students to distinguish the specific p oint being made in an individual argument/paragraph from the overall t opic of the essay.)

In Australia, many high school teachers focus on teaching PEEL paragraph-writing to students. It is especially common to see students practising PEEL paragraph writing as they prepare for NAPLAN tests in Years 7 and 9. 

6. An example PEEL paragraph

Let’s say a student in Year 7 decides to disagree with the prompt that “too much money is spent on toys and games”. In the first paragraph, she states her position (her thesis ) and then previews her main arguments, stating that “Many toys and games help children to develop skills and fitness (argument 1), do not cost much money compared to other expenses like food and housing (argument 2), and can help bring families together, improving family life (argument 3). In paragraph two, the student might write a PEEL paragraph to state her first argument: 

7. There is much more to persuasive writing than the five-paragraph structure + PEEL

Unlike with speech and oral language, we are not biologically primed to learn to write . Students need to be taught how to do it. We’ve long advocated for explicit, sequenced writing instruction for all students, starting in Kindergarten . However, while explicit teaching of essay structures and PEEL can be helpful for beginners, it has also been criticised. 

Some researchers think an over-emphasis on the five paragraph structure and PEEL:

• constrains students’ writing development, forcing students to write ‘colour-by-number’ essays that slavishly follow predictable ‘formulae’ that dictate what they should write sentence-by-sentence;
• forces teachers to teach it as ‘the correct way’ to maximise NAPLAN and HSC results by gaming the marking criteria; and
• may even have contributed to declines in writing outcomes. 

In practice – working mainly with children with language and learning difficulties – we sometimes see students come to us trying to apply the PEEL formula without understanding the question. From time to time, we meet students who arrive at language therapy with pre-prepared, memorised essays (complete with quotes), with rigid plans to dutifully copy them out regardless of the question asked! This is – obviously – a terrible misuse of PEEL.

In writing, there is no single correct way to persuade – or, for that matter, to entertain, instruct, or explain things. Generations of students have learned to write persuasively without SFL concepts like PEEL. 

In the recent study cited below, Thomas looked at the structural features of 60 high-scoring arguments written by students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 as part of NAPLAN. He found, amongst other things, that many high-scoring students used the five-stage structure for their essays. However, he also found that many of them used a wider range of techniques and structures for their arguments and produced arguments that were longer and more nuanced. Further, many high scoring students didn’t include all elements of PEEL in their arguments. Notably, only three of the 60 essays included Link phrases. 

Expert writers go far beyond PEEL. For example, take a quick look at the different structures and approaches used by essay-writing masters in this very small and unrepresentative selection of essays:

• “ Does Truth Matter? Science, Pseudoscience and Civilisation ” by Carl Sagan
• “ Death of the Moth ” by Virginia Woolf
• “ The Meditations ” by Marcus Aurelius
• “ How to use the Power of the Printed Word ” by Kurt Vonnegut
• “ On the Vanity of Words ” by Michel de Montaigne
• “ Once More to the Lake ” by E.B. White
• “ How to Do What you Love ” by Paul Graham
• “ On Self-Reliance ” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

8. The cognitive demands of persuasive writing

In contrast to the expert essays linked above, many primary and high school essays are one-sided and poorly supported. It takes a lot of time and effort for students to develop the cognitive skills necessary to write sophisticated argumentative essays. 

Many students need to be taught explicitly how to look at issues from multiple perspectives. Many are likely to require significant teacher modelling and scaffolding to start with. For example, research tells us that:

• primary school-aged students rarely consider alternative perspectives when writing persuasive texts;
• many adolescents struggle to integrate multiple perspectives in their essays; and
• many older adolescents are unable to acknowledge and respond to counter-arguments in their writing.

Using our example above, our Year 7 student might have several good arguments to support her thesis against the idea that “too much money is spent on toys and games” but find it difficult to acknowledge in her essay that:

• other people think that too much money is spent on toys or games; and 
• there are good reasons to think they might be right, e.g. amount of annual toy waste, high average number of toys owned by children, money could be spent on other things like education, health and family experiences.

Many people finish school and reach adulthood without learning to look at issues from more than one perspective or to anticipate or rebut counter arguments with evidence and reasons. We see the adverse effects of this problem play out daily in social media exchanges, especially on Twitter and Facebook!

To write persuasively, a student must learn:

• to accept that different people think different things from the student about all kinds of issues;
• to reflect on biases and the limitations of the student’s knowledge;
• that many real world issues are complex and nuanced, requiring sophisticated responses, trade-offs and an understanding of real world constraints;
• to use high quality evidence and reason to formulate, state and substantiate their position on a position; and
• anticipate, consider, and rebut counterarguments respectfully and with humility.

Over time, students (and adults) must learn how to consider different perspectives and arguments, to appraise multiple sources of (sometimes conflicting) evidence of varying quality, and to evaluate and make judgments between contrasting views. 

9. The many language demands of persuasive writing tasks

In high school, persuasive writing tasks, including many NAPLAN and HSC exams, require advanced and higher level language skills. To even understand the question, students need:

• oral comprehension skills , including well-developed background knowledge and inferencing skills, phonological, syntactic and semantic knowledge; and
• adequate reading skills , including work recognition skills. 

In addition to understanding the structure of argumentative essays, students need to plan and structure written responses using appropriate:

• simple , compound and complex sentences , and other complex syntax like relative clauses , that help provide the ‘machinery’ for students to express complex, nuanced ideas like “Although some people think that too much money is spent on toys and games, the better view is that money is often well spent on toys and games for several reasons including…”;  
• well-formed paragraphs (see also, paragraph models , and descriptive paragraphs , and recounts );
• rhetorical devices, like logos, pathos, ethos, rhetorical questions, repetition, anaphora, onomatopoeia, and synecdoche;  
• other higher level language and figurative language techniques like similes and metaphors , idioms , sayings , alliteration, assonance, personification, analogies , allusions, and hyperbole;
• humour, irony and sarcasm;
• vocabulary, including use of key academic verbs , and specific nouns and verbs and academic vocabulary generally ;
• cohesion, including verbal reasoning practice, linking ideas in different ways, e.g. with different combinations of because/but/so , before/after/until , if/while/although , despite/in spite of , and otherwise conjunctions and adverbs, transitions , and referring words (like pronouns , articles , determiners like “much” and “many” ), categories and semantic features ;  
• punctuation, e.g. capital letters and full stops , proper noun capitalisation , quotation marks ); and
• spelling .  

In some subjects, students also need to understand the language used in the text they are writing about , e.g. narrative structure for novels in English; as well as how to understand their school texts as a condition to writing about them.

This is all no small feat – especially for students with developmental and other language disorders , specific learning disorders (reading and/or writing)  – and other neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD or autism, and some students with lifelong communication disabilities.

Bottom line

To prepare students for school success, the workplace, citizenship, and adulthood we need to teach them good argumentative writing skills, including how to tackle persuasive writing tasks at school. We’ve outlined some of the theories that underpin many teachers’ approaches to teaching and testing persuasive writing in Australia. We’ve also highlighted some of the cognitive and language challenges that make persuasive writing tasks so challenging for many students – especially in high school. 

Teaching beginners the five-paragraph essay structure, and the ‘PEEL’ paragraph writing strategy may assist. However, as students master the basics, they should be encouraged to look beyond these supports, to look at issues from multiple perspectives, and to use a greater variety of language structures and devices flexibly to improve the effectiveness of their writing and the persuasiveness of their arguments.

Main source and recommended further reading : Thomas, D.P. (2022). Structuring written arguments in primary and secondary school: A systemic functional linguistics perspective, Linguistics and Education, 72 , accessed online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2022.101120 .

This article also appears in a recent issue of Banter Booster, our weekly round up of the best speech pathology ideas and practice tips for busy speech pathologists, providers, speech pathology students, teachers and other interested readers.

Sign up to receive Banter Booster in your inbox each week:

Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.

Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language

Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.

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NAPLAN cheat sheet: Score better on the writing test with this step-by-step guide

Australia’s NAPLAN writing test has come under heavy criticism from Dr Les Perelman in his new report  Towards a New NAPLAN: Testing to the Teaching.  Here is his step-by-step guide to achieving a top-scoring NAPLAN essay.

1) Memorise the list of Difficult and Challenging Spelling Words and sprinkle them throughout the paper. Feel free to repeat them, and do not worry very much about the meaning.

2) If you are not sure how to spell a word, do not use it.

3) Repeat the language and ideas in the Writing Task throughout the paper.

4) Begin at least one sentence with the structure, “Although x (sentence), y (sentence).” For example: “Although these instructions are stupid, they will produce a high mark on the NAPLAN essay.”

5) Master the five-paragraph form. a) Have a minimum of four paragraphs, preferably five. b) Each paragraph, except the last one, should have a minimum of four sentences. Do not worry about repeating ideas. c) The first paragraph should end with your thesis sentence. d) The next-to-last paragraph should modify your thesis sentence by taking the other side of the issue in special cases. e) The last paragraph should begin with “In conclusion” and then repeat the thesis sentence from the first paragraph. Then just re peat two or three ideas from the other paragraphs.

6) Increase your score on the “Audience” and “Persuasive Devices” categories by addressing the reader using “you” and ask questions. For example: “So you think you wouldn’t mind writing a stupid essay?”

7) Use connective (Velcro) words such as “Moreover,” “However,” “In addition”, “On the other hand” at the beginning of sentences.

8) Begin sentences with phrases such as “In my opinion”, “I believe that”, “I think that” etc.

9) Repeat words and phrases throughout your paper.

10) Employ the passive voice frequently throughout your paper.

11) Use referential pronouns, such as “this”, without a reference noun following it. For example, “This will make the marker think you are a coherent writer”.

12) Make arguments using forms such as “We all believe that we should do X” or “We all know that Y is harmful”.

13) Always have at least one, preferably two adjectives next to nouns. Thus, not “the dog” but the “frisky and playful dog”.

14) If you are writing a narrative essay, think quickly if there is a television program, movie, or story that you know that fits the requirements of the narrative writing task. If there is one use it as your narrative, embellishing it or changing it as much as you want. Markers are explicitly instructed to ignore if they recognise any stories or plots and mark the script on its own merits as if it was original.

15) Never write like this except for essay tests such as NAPLAN

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According to Stephen King, This Is Why We Crave Horror Movies

The horror king breaks down our obsession with the macabre.

Stephen King and horror are synonymous. Are you really able to call yourself a fan of horror if one of his novels or film adaptations isn't among your top favorites? The Maine-born writer is hands down the most successful horror writer and one of the most beloved and prolific writers ever whose legacy spans generations. Without King, we might not be as terrified of clowns and or think twice about bullying the shy girl in school. One could say that King has earned the moniker, "the King of Horror." In addition to all he's written, King has also had over 60 adaptations of his work for television and the big screen and has written, produced, and starred in films and shows as well. He has fully immersed himself in the genre of horror from all sides, and it's unlikely that we will ever have anyone else like Stephen King. But did you know that King wrote an essay that was published in Playboy magazine about horror movies?

In 1981, King's essay titled " Why We Crave Horror Movies " was published in Playboy magazine as a variation of the chapter " The Horror Movie As Junk Food" in Danse Macabre . Danse Macabre was published in 1981 and is one of the non-fiction books in which that wrote about horror in media and how our fears and anxieties have been influencing the horror genre. The full article that was published is no longer online, but there is a shortened four-page version of it that can be found.

RELATED: The Iconic Horror Movie You Won't Believe Premiered at Cannes

Stephen King Believes We Are All Mentally Ill

The essay starts out guns blazing, the first line reading "I think that we're all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little bit better." From here, he describes the general behaviors of people we know and how mannerisms and irrational fears are not different between the public and those in asylums. He points out that we pay money to sit in a theater and be scared to prove a point that we can and to show that we do not shy away from fear. Some of us, he states, even go watch horror movies for fun, which closes the gap between normalcy and insanity. A patron can go to the movies, and watch someone get mutilated and killed, and it's considered normal, everyday behavior. This, as a horror lover, feels very targeted. I absolutely watch horror movies for fun and I will do so with my bucket of heart-attack-buttered popcorn and sip on my Coke Zero. The most insane thing about all of that? The massive debt accumulated from one simple movie date.

Watching Horror Movies Allows Us to Release Our Insanity

King states that we use horror movies as a catharsis to act out our nightmares and the worst parts of us. Getting to watch the insanity and depravity on the movie screen allows us to release our inner insanity, which in turn, keeps us sane. He writes that watching horror movies allows us to let our emotions have little to no rein at all, and that is something that we don't always get to do in everyday life. Society has a set of parameters that we must follow with regard to expressing ourselves to maintain the air of normalcy and not be seen as a weirdo. When watching horror movies, we see incredibly visceral reactions in the most extreme of situations. This can cause the viewer to reflect on how they would react or respond to being in the same type of situation. Do we identify more with the victim or the villain? This poses an interesting thought for horror lovers because sometimes the villain is justified. Are we wrong for empathizing with them instead?

Let's take a look at one of the more popular horror movies of recent years. Mandy is about a woman who is murdered by a crazed cult because she is the object of the leader's obsession. This causes Red ( Nicolas Cage ) to ride off seeking revenge for the love of his life being murdered. There are also movies like I Spit On Your Grave and The Last House On The Left where the protagonist becomes the murderer in these instances because of the trauma they experienced from sexual assault. Their revenge makes audiences a little more willing to side with the murderer because they took back their power and those they killed got what was deserved. This is where that Lucille Bluth meme that says "good for her" is used. I'll die on the hill that those characters were justified and if that makes me mentally ill then King might be right!

What Does Stephen King Mean When He Tells Us to "Keep the Gators" Fed?

At the end of the essay, King mentions he likes to watch the most extreme horror movies because it releases a trap door where he can feed the alligators. The alligators he is referring to are a metaphor for the worst in all humans and the morbid fantasies that lie within each of us. The essay concludes with "It was Lennon and McCartney who said that all you need is love, and I would agree with that. As long as you keep the gators fed." From this, we can deduce that King feels we all have the ability to be institutionalized, but those of us that watch horror movies are less likely because the sick fantasies can be released from our brains.

With that release, we can walk down the street normally without the bat of an eye from walkers-by. Perhaps this is why the premise for movies like The Purge came to fruition. A movie where for 24 hours all crime, including murder, is decriminalized couldn't have been made by someone who doesn't get road rage or scream into the void. It was absolutely made by someone who waited at the DMV for too long or has had experience working in retail around Black Friday. With what King is saying, The Purge is a direct reflection of that catharsis. Not only are you getting to watch a crazy horror movie where everyone is shooting everyone and everything is on fire, but it's likely something you've had a thought or two about. You can consider those gators fed for sure.

Do Horror Movies Offer Us True Catharsis or Persuasive Perspective?

Catharsis as a concept was coined by the philosopher Aristotle . He explained that the performing arts are a way to purge negative types of emotions from our subconscious, so we don't have to hold onto them anymore. This viewpoint further perpetuates what King is trying to explain. With that cathartic relief, the urgency to act on negative emotion is less likely to happen because there is no build-up of negativity circling the drain from our subconscious to our reality. However, some who read the essay felt like King was just being persuasive and using fancy imagery rather than identifying an actual reason why horror is popular. Some claim the shock and awe factor of his words and his influence on horror would cause some readers to believe they are mentally ill deep down. I have to say, as a millennial who rummages through the ends of social media multiple times a day, everyone on the internet thinks they're mentally ill, and we all have the memes to prove it. It is exciting and fascinating to watch a horror movie after working a 9-5 job where the excitement is low. Watching Ghostface stalk Sidney Prescott ( Neve Campbell ) in Scream isn't everyone's idea of winding down, but for the last 20-something years, it has been my comfort movie when I'm feeling sad or down. The nostalgia of Scream is what makes it feel cathartic to me and that's free therapy!

What is the Science Behind Loving Horror Movies?

Psychology studies will tell us that individuals who crave and love horror are interested in it because they have a higher sensation-seeking trait . This means they have a higher penchant for wanting to experience thrilling and exciting situations. Those with a lower level of empathy are also more likely to enjoy horror movies as they will have a less innate response to a traumatic scene on screen. According to the DSM-V , a severe lack of empathy could potentially be a sign of a more serious psychological issue, however, the degree of severity will vary. I do love rollercoasters, but I also cry when I see a dog that is just too cute, so horror lovers aren't necessarily the unsympathetic robots that studies want us to be. Watching horror films can also trigger a fight-or-flight sensation , which will boost adrenaline and release endorphins and dopamine in the brain. Those chemicals being released make the viewers feel accomplished and positive, relating back to the idea that watching horror movies is cathartic for viewers.

Anyone who reads and studies research knows that correlation does not imply causation, but whether King's perspective is influenced by his position in the horror genre or not, psychology and science can back up the real reasons why audiences love horror movies. As a longtime horror lover and a pretty above-average horror trivia nerd, I have to wonder if saying we are mentally ill is an overstatement and could maybe be identified more as horror lovers seeking extreme stimulus. Granted, this essay was written over 40 years ago, so back then liking horror wasn't as widely accepted as it is today. It's possible that King felt more out of place for his horror love back then and the alienation of a fringe niche made him feel mentally ill. Is King onto something by assuming that everyone has mental illness deep down, or is this a gross overestimation of the human psyche? The answer likely falls somewhere in between, but those that love horror will continue to release that catharsis through the terrifying and the unknown because it's a scream, baby!