Persuasive Language Techniques
Persuasive Language Techniques
1. Attacks
Attacks are a version of playing the man, not the ball. If you can make your opposition seem less credible, you may be more likely to get a reader to agree with your side of the argument. At the least, attention can be taken away from the issue itself and put on to the personality. Attacks can attempt to belittle or embarrass or just plain insult an opponent. The idea is that the weaker you can make your opposition appear, the stronger you and your contention will appear.
Example text:
That’s the sort of suggestion I’d expect from a nose-in-the-air toff like Turnbull.
2. Colloquial Language
Colloquial (slang) language can be used in different ways. It can set the writer up as knowledgeable, on the inside of a social group. A writer may also use slang …show more content…
This involves using such words as us, we, you, our.
Example text:
It is time for us to show our belief in the value of mateship and a fair go, and give generously to the Good Friday Appeal.
5. Rhetorical question
A rhetorical question is one in which the answer is so obvious it is not required. The idea here is not to receive an answer, merely to reinforce a point.
Example text:
Should footballers be treated as above the law?
Persuasive Language Techniques
6. Exaggeration
A writer may describe a situation in forceful, overblown language in order to make the issue seem more important or urgent than it may otherwise be considered. Exaggerating the scale of an issue can draw an emotional response from a reader. Also known as hyperbole.
Example text:
Councils are losing the war against vandals.
7. Emphasis
There are three types of emphasis that writers use to draw the reader’s attention to a specific point or idea: Repetition; Cumulation and Alliteration
Repetition
Repeating a single word a number of times over is repetition.
Example
1. Attacks
Attacks are a version of playing the man, not the ball. If you can make your opposition seem less credible, you may be more likely to get a reader to agree with your side of the argument. At the least, attention can be taken away from the issue itself and put on to the personality. Attacks can attempt to belittle or embarrass or just plain insult an opponent. The idea is that the weaker you can make your opposition appear, the stronger you and your contention will appear.
Example text:
That’s the sort of suggestion I’d expect from a nose-in-the-air toff like Turnbull.
2. Colloquial Language
Colloquial (slang) language can be used in different ways. It can set the writer up as knowledgeable, on the inside of a social group. A writer may also use slang …show more content…
This involves using such words as us, we, you, our.
Example text:
It is time for us to show our belief in the value of mateship and a fair go, and give generously to the Good Friday Appeal.
5. Rhetorical question
A rhetorical question is one in which the answer is so obvious it is not required. The idea here is not to receive an answer, merely to reinforce a point.
Example text:
Should footballers be treated as above the law?
Persuasive Language Techniques
6. Exaggeration
A writer may describe a situation in forceful, overblown language in order to make the issue seem more important or urgent than it may otherwise be considered. Exaggerating the scale of an issue can draw an emotional response from a reader. Also known as hyperbole.
Example text:
Councils are losing the war against vandals.
7. Emphasis
There are three types of emphasis that writers use to draw the reader’s attention to a specific point or idea: Repetition; Cumulation and Alliteration
Repetition
Repeating a single word a number of times over is repetition.
Example