Alliteration - Repetition of a sound, particularly at the beginning of words;often used in headlines
- Captures attention
- Adds emphasis to the writer’s points
- Draws attention to key words
Analogy: compares one thing or situation with another
- Explains a complex point in more familiar terms
- Makes the contention look simple and obvious
Anecdote: a brief personal account or story
- Often entertaining or humorous
- personal angle engages the reader
- as ‘true’ stories, they carry weight with readers
Appeal to a sense of justice: speaks to people’s belief that everyone deserves fair treatment.
- positions the reader to agree that punishment should fit the crime
- arouses anger at a perceived injustice
Appeal to being modern and up-to-date: based on people’s desire to be progressive and part is the ‘one crowd’
- suggest that the new is always better than the old
- appeals to the desire to be thought of as ‘ahead of the pack’
Appeal to family values: based on the belief that traditional family arrangements are the best foundation for individuals and society
- leads the refer to view traditional families as the most desirable arrangement
- positions the reader to feel that other arrangements threaten the ‘moral fabric’ of society
Appeal to group loyalty: uses the desire of people to belong to a group in order to persuade them to agree with a viewpoint or take action
- can play on peoples guilt, sense of obligation, fear and sentimentality
- convinces people that the interests of the group require their support
- can also appeal to the belief the ‘little people’ can make a difference
Appeal to hip pocket nerve: relates to people’s concern about the financial well-being
- provokes sting emotions such as outrage at being taken advantage of
- positions readers to fall indignant about those who want to raise prices and suspicious of their true motives
Appeal to patriotism: draws on national pride and people loyalty to their country
- positions reader to feel that it would be disloyal to their country to disagree with the writer
- arouses strong emotions of pride and loyalty; in this example it appeals to our alleged positive attitude to immigrants as well as egalitarianism
- can sometimes be used to arouse anger, guilt and fear
Appeal to self-interest: suggests the one’s own interests should be placed abouve others
- often divides people into ‘them’ and ‘us’
- suggests that the interests of others are in competition with and threaten the readers
Appeal to tradition and custom: places a high value on the past and one’s heritage; suggests that abandoning tradition is damaging to society.
- encourages the reader to resist change and to feel that links with the past should be retained
- sometimes romanticises the past and rejects the modern ways of doing things
attack: used to denigrate an opponent and, by implication, their point of view
- draws attention away from reasoned argument
- positions the reader to agree that if an individual is flawed, their message must be too
cliche: a familiar but overused expression that carries a range of associations
- conveys meaning in an economical way
- can help the reader feel more comfortable with an idea
connotation: association or implied meaning of a word
- arouses feelings and attitudes that position the reader to like/dislike, accept/reject a group, an idea or viewpoint
- the word ‘sheep’ has connotations of low intelligence and inability to think independently
- cumulative impact is one of contempt for such unbelievable behaviour
emotive language:
deliberately strong words used to provoke emotion in the reader
- positions the reader to react emotionally, rather than rationally
- leads the reader to share the writer’s feelings on the subject
evidence: facts, intormation or expert opinions; often from an authoritative source; may be used selectively
- gives the writer’s argument more credibility as it is apparently objective and/or supported by experts
- note that the context of this extract implies that smoking marijuana has increased as smoking cigarettes has decreased
generalisation: the idea that if something is true of some people, it is true for all members of the group to which they belong
- appeals to commonly held prejudices and attitudes
- positions the reader to judge others according to stereotypes
inclusive language:
involves the reader directly in the issue by using such words as ‘we’ or ‘us’
- makes the reader feel included and that their view counts
- encourages the reader to agree, since this view is apparently shared by the group as a whole
metaphors and similes: comparisons that describe one thing in terms of another
- capitalises on associations with a vivid image
- evokes emotion in the reader that matches the emotion of the writer
overstatement, exaggeration and hyperbole: using dramatic, forceful
language to exaggerate the real situation
- arouses emotion in the reader
- can be humorous
- worst case scenario plays on the readers.
pun: a play on a word or phrase that gives it multiple meanings
- often humorous - as in the play on ‘a load of bull’
- gains the reader’s attention and emphasises the writer’s point
Reason and logic: involves a clearly stated main contention and an argument that is supported by evidence or deduction; that is by drawing a conclusion from something generally known or assumed to be true
- gives the writer’s viewpoint credibility for being apparently objective
- can consider opposing viewpoints and argue logically against them
Repetition: repeating words, phrases or ideas for emphasis
- emphasises the writer’s viewpoint and captures attention
- in this example, it increases admiration for the young man
- makes the point more memorably
rhetorical question: a question that requires no answer, as it is a yes/no answer, usually because the answer is implied
- positions the reader to agree by assuming their answer will be the same as the writer’s
- engages the reader by addressing them directly
