Supporting & Strengthening
To publicly speak or write in favor of a specific cause, policy, or action.
Advocate
To judge or determine the significance, worth, quality, or condition of something through careful study.
Evaluate
To express complete disapproval of; to censure, denounce, or declare something morally wrong.
Condemn
To state an opinion or claim forcefully and confidently.
Assert
To express a personal opinion or view, often when not grounded in strict fact or empirical evidence.
Opine
To support, strengthen, or reinforce an argument using evidence, reasoning, or authority.
Bolster
To examine, analyze, and offer a detailed, balanced review of the merits and faults of a text, policy, or idea.
Critique
To treat someone with an apparent kindness that reveals a feeling of superiority; to talk down to.
Patronize
To validate, state, or confirm as true or valid; to declare strongly and publicly.
Affirm
To mock, ridicule, or expose human folly, vice, or stupidity using humor, irony, or exaggeration.
Satirize
To encourage, nurture, or promote the growth and development of an idea, environment, or feeling.
Foster
To modify, limit, or restrict a claim by outlining conditions, exceptions, or boundaries.
Qualify
To shock, excite, or spur people into taking immediate physical or political action.
Galvanize
To prove or show that an action, decision, or argument is reasonable, necessary, or right.
Justify
The element of rhetorical context that refers to the opportune or urgent moment to deliver a specific message.
Kairos
An environmental spokesman uses five years of peer-reviewed data and economic forecasts to strengthen his core claim before Congress.
Question: What primary action is the speaker taking toward his core claim?
Bolster
A professor writes: "While AI tutors improve math scores for high school seniors, they fail to assist elementary students who lack foundational reading skills."
Question: What is the professor doing to her overall claim about AI tutors?
Qualifying (or Qualify)
A strike leader shouts through a megaphone: "Put down your tools, lock arms, and march directly to the boardroom doors right now!"
Question: What is the leader attempting to do to the crowd of workers?
Galvanize
A newly elected mayor takes the stage to publicly confirm her commitment to the city's foundational principles.
Affirm
A veteran politician tells a group of young activists: "It's so cute that you think a petition will fix this; leave the real policy work to adults."
Question: Which term describes the politician’s tone toward the activists?
Patronizing (or Patronize)
A congresswoman publishes an op-ed urging citizens to support a new clean water bill.
Advocate
A literary critic carefully measures the overall quality and impact of a newly released historical novel.
Evaluate
A human rights committee issues an official report declaring systemic government corruption morally unacceptable.
Condemn
A city mayor releases an official memo explaining why an unpopular late-night curfew is legally necessary to keep citizens safe.
Question: What is the mayor attempting to do regarding the curfew policy?
Justify
Jonathan Swift writes an essay proposing absurd solutions to Irish poverty in order to mock wealthy landowners.
Satirize