DSE Chinese | Argumentative Reading: A Tutor Guide

DSE Chinese | Argumentative Reading: A Tutor Guide | Thesis Before Techniques

2026-11-03

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Secondary Chinese

Most students read an argumentative passage line by line, finish with a handful of slogans, and give four near-identical answers. This lesson reverses the order: four minutes to circle the thesis, then locate paragraphs by question, and only then name the techniques. The numbers are 1,100 characters, 4 questions, 18 marks and 32 minutes.

Objectives — Students can: (1) circle the thesis and three sub-claims within four minutes in a 1,100-character passage of six paragraphs; (2) separate factual evidence from reasoning evidence; (3) name example, quotation, contrast and analogy techniques and state their effect; (4) compute 7.3 minutes per question and 0.56 marks per minute for 4 questions worth 18 marks in 32 minutes.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Paragraph function	What does the first sentence of a body paragraph usually do?	It states the sub-claim or topic of that paragraph
Evidence type	A sentence beginning with a 2024 survey of seventy per cent is which kind of evidence?	Factual evidence, because it carries data
Technique name	Some argue this, yet the facts are the opposite. Which technique is that?	Contrast
Time budget	4 questions worth 18 marks in 32 minutes means how long each?	About 7.3 minutes

02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-8 min	Questions before passage	Copy the key words of all four questions, mark whole-text or single-paragraph	Know which question needs the whole passage
8-13 min	Two-minute sweep	Read only the first and last sentence of each paragraph	Six summaries that form one argument
13-23 min	Circle the thesis	Check title, opening and closing paragraphs, add three sub-claims	Only one thesis sentence survives
23-33 min	Unpack reasoning	Label evidence type and technique per paragraph, add one effect sentence	Technique never confused with evidence type
33-40 min	Timed answers	Push at 7.3 minutes per question, keep five minutes to return	Every answer quotes the passage
40-45 min	Exit check	Four oral answers, notes closed	Thesis and technique names all correct

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: One thesis, everything else supports it

The thesis sits in the title, the last sentence of the opening or the first sentence of the close. In six paragraphs only one sentence states the writer position. Teach students to pencil C for central and S for support beside each paragraph, then check that C appears once. The three sub-claims are the topic sentences of the supporting paragraphs, usually first, occasionally last.

Ask the student which paragraph holds the thesis and why another candidate is not it.

Scene 2: Two kinds of evidence, and the label carries marks

Factual evidence covers events, news, survey data and personal experience. Reasoning evidence covers quotations, idioms, accepted principles and the idea inside an analogy. Students label a survey of seventy per cent as reasoning because it sounds like a conclusion. Require one question before labelling: did this happen, or is it something everyone accepts as true?

Ask the student to classify all three pieces of evidence and give the reason.

Scene 3: A technique without its effect is half an answer

Example makes an abstract claim testable, quotation borrows authority, contrast sharpens a position through difference, analogy converts an unfamiliar idea into a familiar picture. The effect needs three parts: name, content, reader impact. Writing only that the writer uses an example earns half marks; adding that a local case proves the measure workable earns the rest.

Ask the student to rewrite a bare technique label into a full three-part sentence.

Scene 4: Time belongs to locating, not to finishing the passage

At 400 characters a minute the passage takes 2.75 minutes, but a 32-minute paper cannot afford ten minutes of close reading. Reading the questions first and locating paragraphs saves the real time: usually two questions cover the whole text and two cover a named paragraph. The remaining 29.25 minutes gives 7.3 minutes per question, enough for four lines plus a quotation.

Ask the student which of the four questions need only one paragraph.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Find the thesis	Asks for the writer main view	Check title, opening close, closing open, then restate in one sentence	A stance, not a topic
Classify evidence	Asks which type a sentence is	Decide event or principle, name the sub-claim supported, add one line	Both type and target
Technique and effect	Asks what technique and what effect	Name, quote, effect such as concrete or credible	All three parts present
Paragraph function	Asks the role of a paragraph	Position in introduction, body or conclusion, content, link to neighbours	Structure, not paraphrase

Sanity check (teach this): Order check: 1,100 divided by 400 is 2.75 minutes, and 27.5 means a misplaced decimal; 29.25 divided by 4 is 7.3 minutes, and 73 means the division is inverted. Mark check: 18 divided by 32 is about 0.56 marks per minute, and six paragraphs at 4.88 minutes each must add back to 29.25, otherwise one row of the plan overruns.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
Minutes per question for 4 questions in 32 minutes	About 7.3 minutes	Division the right way round
Marks per minute for 18 marks in 32 minutes	0.56 marks	Decimal point in place
Minutes per paragraph for six paragraphs in 29.25 minutes	About 4.9 minutes	Reading time not counted twice

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Reading every line closely	“I read it from the first word to the last, three times.”	“Three readings never told you which paragraph the question targets. Copy the key words first, then locate, and two of the four questions need one paragraph only.”
Mistaking the topic for the thesis	“The writer talks about tutoring, so the thesis is tutoring.”	“Tutoring is the topic. A thesis is a stance, such as whether tutoring should be regulated. No stance, no thesis.”
Confusing evidence types	“A survey showing seventy per cent support is reasoning evidence.”	“A survey is an event with data, so it is factual evidence. Reasoning evidence is a quotation, an idiom or an accepted principle.”
Naming the technique and stopping	“This sentence uses an analogy.”	“Write all three parts: analogy, what the policy is compared to, and why that makes it instantly clear. The name alone earns nothing for effect.”

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

Chinese chapter index — Revise classical word inference, then do practice questions 1 and 2
S4 Classical Chinese grammar — Question 3 uses the same locate-then-classify order
S5 Explanatory reading — Questions 4 and 5 contrast explanation methods with reasoning techniques

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
Minutes per question for 4 questions in 32 minutes	About 7.3 minutes	Error: inverted the division
Reading time for 1,100 characters at 400 a minute	2.75 minutes	Error: misplaced decimal
A survey of seventy per cent is which evidence type	Factual evidence	Error: said reasoning
Which three parts does an effect need	Name, quotation, effect	Error: name only

09 Tutor FAQ

My student reads slowly. Should I push for speed?

Push for not finishing instead. Time the same passage twice, once fully and once paragraph openings only, and compare marks. The second run usually matches the first at half the time.

Is the thesis always in the opening paragraph?

No, but nine times in ten it sits in the title, the last sentence of the opening or the first sentence of the close. Scan those three before reading every topic sentence.

Must all four techniques be memorised?

Recognise the names, but marks live in the effects. Four complete effects beat ten labels with one line each.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.