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Nonmetals also have high electron affinity. This means that it is energetically favorable to add an electron to a nonmetal. So, nonmetals can be easily reduced. Metals tend to have low electron affinity so it is more difficult to add electrons (or reduce them). In short: Metals have low ionization energies and low electron affinities so they are readily oxidized. Nonmetals have high ionization energies and high electron affinities so they are readily reduced.
By assigning oxidation numbers, we can pick out the oxidation and reduction halves of the reaction. Aluminum is oxidized to Al2O3 in this reaction, which means that Fe2O3 must be the oxidizing agent. Conversely, Fe2O3 is reduced to iron metal, which means that aluminum must be the reducing agent. Because a reducing agent is always transformed into its conjugate oxidizing agent in an oxidation-reduction reaction, the products of this reaction include a new oxidizing agent (Al2O3) and a new reducing agent (Fe).