Healthcare and Tone

Programs

100

This is the nickname - originally coined by critics - of the federal law intended to expand healthcare coverage in 2010.

ObamaCare

200

This is the federal health insurance offered for people 65 and older, as well as younger people with disabilities.

Medicare

300

This is the full legal name of the federal law intended to expand healthcare coverage in 2010.

Affordable Care Act

400

Intended to encourage people to maintain stable insurance, this was the tax penalty the people had to pay if they were uninsured.

Individual Mandate

500

This is the term for assistance money given by the government that helps people pay their monthly insurance fees.

Subsidies / Tax Credits

Insurance

100

This is a health problem you had before getting a new insurance plan (like asthma or diabetes).

Preexisting Condition

200

This is the amount you pay out-of-pocket each year before your insurance starts paying most costs.

Deductible

300

This term describes a system where one public program - usually the government - pays most medical bills, while doctors and hospitals can stay private.

Single-Payer

400

This is the amount you pay every month for health insurance, even if you don’t go to the doctor.

Premium

500

These are the smaller payments you make when you fill a prescription, schedule a visit to your doctor, or go to the emergency room.

Co-Pays

Politics

100

This term means strongly tied to one political party.

Partisan

200

This term means that a policy is supported by members of both major parties.

Bipartisan

300

This term describes a short, memorable phrase - designed to be easy to remember and share - that politicians often repeat.

Talking Point

400

This term describes a brief, quotable line from a speech or interview meant for news clips or social media.

Sound Bite

500

When political opinions are very far apart and strongly tied to party identity.

Polarization

Rhetoric

100

This is the term for the broader situation or background information surrounding an argument.

Context

200

This is the term for the problem that inspires a text or argument.

Exigence

300

This term describes a short, personal story used to make an issue feel real or tangible.

Anecdote

400

This term describes the limits on what can be said or done.

Constraints

500

This describes how a speaker sets up an issue to shape how the audience sees it.

Framing

Tone

100

This describes the way speaker's tone impacts the audience.

Mood

200

This term describes the specific word used by a speaker - typically emotionally-charged - that help establish tone.

Diction Choice / Loaded Language

300

If a speaker varies the length of their sentences or repeats certain structures to establish a tone, they're messing with this.

Syntax

400

Third-Person to First-Person or Past to Present are examples of changes a speaker can make to this in order to establish a tone.

Viewpoint / Perspective

500

This is the meaning of a word or phrase that is implied through context, not the dictionary definition.

Connotation

Tone Words

100

Having mixed feelings; undecided.

ACERBIC
AFFECTIONATE
AMBIVALENT
APPREHENSIVE

Ambivalent

200

Kind; generous; compassionate.

BELLIGERENT
BENEVOLENT
BOORISH
BLITHE

Benevolent

300

Making cutting or corrosive comments intended to injure.

CAUSTIC
CORDIAL
CONTENTED
CYNICAL

Caustic

400

Mocking; sarcastic; snide.
 
DIRGEFUL
DERISIVE
DESPAIRING
DUBIOUS

Derisive

500

Brimming with enthusiasm.

APATHETIC
EBULLIENT
SANGUINE
DERISIVE

Ebullient