Persuasive Technique
Expert Opinion
Using a quote or opinion from an expert in a particular field.
Anecdotal evidence
Anecdotes can also be used to demonstrate a real-world application of a scenario the writer is presenting. By showing how an issue affects individuals, writers are able to portray the relevance, and therefore importance, of their contention.
The teachers gave me more homework than I could finish in a thousand years!
Whaling means the violent death of sentient beings
Emotive language: Here, the author's use of emotive language in the phrase 'violent death', makes the reader think of something being bloody and painful which positions the reader to be emotionally opposed to whaling.
And it is here, in the day-to-day tragedy of firearm-related homicide and suicide, that Australia's new restrictions, and perhaps equally importantly, changing attitudes to guns and gun owners, can most plausibly claim to have had the most effect.
Cause and Effect: The author's use of cause and effect attempts to draw the reader's attention to the supposed most important impact that changing gun laws have had; that is, it has made the home safer. It could be argued that, for most people, this has little to no impact, however, it is intended to make the reader feel better about the general well-being of all Australians.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is an exaggeration or overstatement, used to imply that something is better or worse, more/less important, etc.
Cause and Effect
When an author attempts to highlight or emphasise the cause and effect of something, they are trying to make the reader focus on the sole event that might have resulted in the particular effect, and not consider alternative options.
Do steaks really have a future in Australia if we ban alpine grazing?
Rhetorical question: "Do steaks really have a future in Australia if we ban alpine grazing"
Hyperbole: The author's hyperbolic statement attempts to make the reader feel outraged at the president's inaction, and therefore positions them to believe he needs to more for climate change.
‘You’re Never Alone With a Strand’ ran the slogan of the old cigarette advertisement. This should now be updated to ‘You’re Never Alone With a Mobile Phone’.
Humour and / or connotation: The author's use of humour attempts to make a connotation between cigarettes and mobile phones, thus suggesting that there is a similarity in terms of their addictiveness and potential effect on health and well-being.
Inclusive and exclusive language
Inclusive: The use of personal pronouns ‘we’ or ‘our’
Exclusive: The use of personal pronouns such as ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘them’, ‘their’, etc. to create the impression that the writer and the reader are on the same side of the issue.
Emotive Language
The use of emotional language to manipulate the reader's emotions, causing them to react more emotionally and institutionally rather than rationally; e.g. violent, massacre, poor ailing, tragedy, etc.
A woman was brutally stabbed in recent Sydney attack
Emotive language: "brutally stabbed"
They’re used to be a time when I could get on a public train with a rifle, and no one would bat an eyelid. There was a time when I could hitch-hike around Australia with a rifle clearly displayed when I was on the side of the road, and I still got lifts and no one was bothered.
Anecdotal evidence: The author's anecdote here is attempting bring the reader back to a time and show them that guns guns were more normalized, thus suggesting that they were, and are, essentially harmless.
Mobile phones have come to signify freedom, but in reality they are much closer to a leash.
Metaphor: The use of metaphor attempts to associate the supposed freedom of having a mobile phone with the the restrictive and binding nature of a leash, causing the reader to consider the way mobile phones inhibit aspects of their lives.
Alliteration & Assonance
Alliteration – a phrase with repeating consonant sounds.
Assonance – a phrase with repeating vowel sounds.
Rhetorical Question
Rhetorical questions are often used to lead the audience to a particular conclusion. Because of the nature of rhetorical questions, they make this conclusion seem natural and logical. Encourages the reader to consider the issue and accept the author’s answer, can imply that the answer is obvious and that anyone who disagrees is foolish, and can evoke an emotional response.
We extend better treatment to animals than to human beings arriving on our shores each day seeking asylum
Appeal to human rights: "we extend better treatment to animals than to human beings ... seeking asylum".
In the decade up to and including Port Arthur, Australia experienced 11 mass shootings. In these 11 events alone, 100 people were shot dead and another 52 wounded
Factual evidence: The author numbers, and therefore draws the reader's attention to the exact amount of mass shootings that occurred in Australia before gun laws were reformed. This is an attempt to position the reader to feel shocked at the amount of people who were negatively effected by gun violence, and therefore make them believe that it is inappropriate for the general population to to own them.
Whenever we hear about something terrible happening to a child our natural reaction is to demand better protection with the hope that we can prevent a similar occurrence happening again
Inclusive language and appeal to responsibility: The author's use of inclusive language and appeal to our sense of responsibility is an attempt to make her groups of readers feel we can and are able to stop harm from being done to children. This begins to position the reader to consider and accept her contention ....
Connotation
Words or phrases with Positive or negative implications. Evokes a positive or negative idea or feeling.
Emotional (Ethos) Appeals
Attempts to persuade through emotional manipulation, targeting of specific interests, values, and concerns and triggers emotional responses such as; guilt, fear, concern, pride, honour, horror, etc.
Whales are being violently slaughtered everyday because the Japanese fleet have found a way around binding international law
Appeal to Sympathy: 'violently slaughtered'
Appeal to justice: 'found a way around binding international law'
“Without increased funding for the police force, soon it won’t be safe to walk our streets at night.”
Appeal to Fear: The author is attempting to evoke fear in her readers, suggesting that they are at risk from the threat of a lack of funding. This suggests that they will then not have the required money for effective policing, thus resulting in a potential increase in crime.
“These people’s sense of justice just won’t fit in with the value of fairness that is so important to the Australian way of life.”
Appeal to nationalism: Here, the author is attempting to make the reader feel that the Australian way of life is under threat by foreign immigrants.