Persuasive Language Techniques
Rhetorical Appeal to the emotions
What is pathos?
What is theme?
What is the best meaning for the italicized word below?
There is a large demand all over the United States for plants indigenous to the desert. Many people in Arizona have made a good business of growing and selling cacti and other local plants.
a. native
b. necessary
c. foreign
d. alien
What is A?
This is one way an author creates tone
What is drawing a conclusion based on evidence from the text?
Piercing
Tread
Chill
Lonely
What is uneasy, chaotic, eerie, strange, or frightening?
This is the theme of the text below.
Justin was jealous when his cousin Cassie was named valedictorian of her class. "Some people are just born smart," he told himself later as he watched TV on the couch. He had not been with Cassie all of those times when she studied late into the night. Justin was also jealous when his cousin Victor was elected class president. "Some people are just more popular than others," Justin told himself while playing video games on the couch. He had not been with Victor while he tirelessly campaigned, listened sympathetically to the problems of others, and treated everyone he knew with kindness and respect. When Justin's cousin Matthew became the quarterback for the varsity squad, Justin was envious. "Some people are just more athletic than others," he told himself as he played around on his computer. Justin had not been with Matthew while Matthew trained relentlessly to develop his athletic abilities. "One day something lucky will happen to me too," Justin told himself as he snacked on junk food.
What is "never complain about something you never worked for"? or
What is "it takes hard work to achieve success"?
This is the definition of context clues.
What are hints the author gives to help readers define unknown words?
This is a synonym phrase for author's point of view
What is author's opinion, author's feelings, author's emotions?
This is an inference you can make from the passage below
“Tommy!” Mom called out as she walked in the front door. “Tommy,” she continued shouting, “I sure could use some help with these groceries. There was still no reply. Mom walked into the kitchen to put the grocery bags down on the counter when she noticed shattered glass from the picture window all over the living room floor and a baseball not far from there. “I’m going to kill you, Tommy!” Mom yelled to herself as she realized that Tommy’s shoes were gone.
What is Tommy threw a baseball causing glass to shatter?
OR
What is "Tommy left the house to avoid getting in trouble"?
The quote below is an example of which persuasive language technique.
"In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash check. When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they we·re signing· a promissory note note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men yes black men as well as white men would be granted the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
What is metaphor or analogy?
It is the line from the text that best conveys the meaning
Justin was jealous when his cousin Cassie was named valedictorian of her class. "Some people are just born smart," he told himself later as he watched TV on the couch. He had not been with Cassie all of those times when she studied late into the night. Justin was also jealous when his cousin Victor was elected class president. "Some people are just more popular than others," Justin told himself while playing video games on the couch. He had not been with Victor while he tirelessly campaigned, listened sympathetically to the problems of others, and treated everyone he knew with kindness and respect. When Justin's cousin Matthew became the quarterback for the varsity squad, Justin was envious. "Some people are just more athletic than others," he told himself as he played around on his computer. Justin had not been with Matthew while Matthew trained relentlessly to develop his athletic abilities. "One day something lucky will happen to me too," Justin told himself as he snacked on junk food.
What is ""One day something lucky will happen to me too," Justin told himself as he snacked on junk food."?
Which word below best defines the italicized word as it is used in the sentence?
Such are the vicissitudes of history. Nothing remains the same. Three hundred years of peace ended in darkness and confusion.
a. evils
b. mistakes
c. changes
d. rules
What is C?
This is one sentence from the passage best summarizes the persuasive argument Stanton uses in the sentences below.
The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her faculties, her forces of mind and body; for giving her the most enlarged freedom of thought and action; a complete emancipation from all forms of bondage, of custom, dependence, superstition; from all the crippling influences of fear — is the solitude and personal responsibility of her own individual life. The strongest reason why we ask for woman a voice in the government under which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe; equality in social life, where she is the chief factor; a place in the trades and professions, where she may earn her bread, is because of her birthright to self- sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on herself.
What is "is the solitude and personal responsibility of her own individual life"?
This can be inferred from the passage below.
Miya came out of the bathroom with tears in her eyes. She ran down to the cafeteria and asked the staff if they had any rice. Fortunately for Miya, Ms. Lucille did. Ms. Lucille filled a red plastic cup about half way with white rice grains and handed it to Miya. Miya pulled a damp phone from out of her back pocket and pushed it into the dry rice grains inside of the plastic cup. She sincerely thanked Ms. Lucille and then went back to class. She felt relieved, but she was still a little worried.
What is Miya dropped her phone in water?
Read the excerpt below. This is how the author's repeated use of the phrase "It would" contributes to the passages meaning.
It would be foolish, however, to disguise the gravity of the hour. It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage or to suppose that well-trained, well-equipped armies numbering three or four millions of men can be overcome in the space of a few weeks, or even months, by a scoop, or raid of mechanized vehicles, however formidable. We may look with confidence to the stabilization of the Front in France, and to the general engagement of the masses, which will enable the qualities of the French and British soldiers to be matched squarely against those of their adversaries.
What is by repeating the phrase, the author creates a firm mood that echoes his belief in their army?
Answer may vary.
This explains how two themes in a text connect.
What is the idea that often multiple themes in a text are connect by a subject. Author's often relay more than one message about one subject using similar techniques such as imagery, metaphor, figurative language, conflict, characters, etc.
Define the italicized word below
The purpose of the psychiatrist is to mitigate the suffering of the patient.
What is make milder or less harsh?
This sentence from the passage best demonstrates the ills of European Imperialism in the author’s opinion?
Unfortunately, that’s not all that Britain, France,
Germany and other Europeans accomplished
during the 1800s. They also pounced like vultures
on a long-ignored continent, and collectively
wrote one of the darkest chapters on man’s
inhumanity toward man.
Their violent assault is known as “The Scramble
for Africa” and, most unusually, historians agree
that its primary author was one King Leopold II of
Belgium.2
What is "
They also pounced like vultures
on a long-ignored continent, and collectively
wrote one of the darkest chapters on man’s
inhumanity toward man" ?
This is an inference that can be made using the passage below.
Otto stuffed another candy bar in his mouth. He lay sprawled on the floor with his back against his bed. Candy wrappers surrounded him. His shirt was caught in the folds of his belly and he had melted chocolate all over his face and hands. "Ugh…" he groaned weakly as he struggled to finish chewing. Suddenly, the front door opened. "Otto, I'm home!" It was his mom. Otto rolled almost gracefully from his sprawled position and began kicking the candy wrappers under his bed. As she walked slowly up the stairs to his room, he managed to get all of the wrappers under the bed and then he threw a blanket over them. She opened the door, took one look at his face, and knew.
What is "Otto was not supposed to be eating candy"?
Read the passage below. This is one technique used to persuade in the paragraph.
We must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the presence of these armored vehicles in unexpected places behind our lines. If they are behind our Front, the French are also at many points fighting actively behind theirs. Both sides are therefore in an extremely dangerous position. And if the French Army, and our own Army, are well handled, as I believe they will be; if the French retain that genius for recovery and counter-attack for which they have so long been famous; and if the British Army shows the dogged endurance and solid fighting power of which there have been so many examples in the past -- then a sudden transformation of the scene might spring into being.
What is word choice, ethos, pathos?
This is a statement that best describes two themes represented in "Little Things"
Little Things
Little drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.
Thus the little minutes,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity.
What is "Little things matter; little moments make life valuable"?
Answers may vary.
Which definition of ineluctable best matches its meaning in the excerpt below?
We knew he couldn’t hold out much longer, because he had been doomed from the beginning. One night he met his ineluctable fate.
a. forgotten
b. inevitable
c. hidden
d. unhappy
What is B?
Read the lines from “Beowulf.
Nor will I. My lord Higlac
Might think less of me if I let my sword
Go where my feet were afraid to, if I hid
Behind some broad linden shield: my hands
Alone shall fight for me, struggle for life
Against the monster. God must decide
Who will be given to death’s cold grip.
What effect do the lines below have on tone?
A. By withholding details of his story, the narrator produces a feeling of uncertainty.
B. By comparing his story to Grendel, the narrator creates a genial attitude.
C. By describing weaknesses of his strength, Beowulf introduces a hint of humiliation.
D. By suggesting his story is based on fate, the Beowulf causes a sense of Apprehension.
What is A?
This is one piece of evidence that supports the inference "Amanda only like Michael because he was the quarter back"
Michael was the star quarterback of the football team and he was dating Amanda Barnes, the captain of the cheerleading squad. Everything was going perfectly for them until Michael was seriously injured during one of the last games of the season. The doctors told him that he would probably never play football again and that he would have to wear a large cast on his leg for several months. Amanda stayed really close with Michael immediately after the injury, but then she started to change. She would not visit him often. She would not wait by his locker or help him carry his books to class anymore. Also, he noticed that she was talking more and more with Ken Madsen, the new quarterback. This upset Michael greatly. Then one day Amanda told him that she and Michael needed to have a talk after school. Michael did not like the sound of that.
What is
- Everything was going perfectly for them until Michael was seriously injured during one of the last games of the season
or
- but then she started to change
or
-he noticed that she was talking more and more with Ken Madsen, the new quarterback.