THE LANGUAGE OF

PERSUASION
Submitted by
Abhilash Boitai - B21
Ankit Kumar Rai B17
Kishore Muppaneni B30

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LANGUAGE OF
PERSUASION
Persuasive texts use complex language to express

and justify an opinion. The writer is trying to

persuade the reader to their point of view.
Examples: letter, speech, debate, thesis, essay,

expert opinion
Facts, statistics and information are evidence that

support your argument.

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STRUCTURE OF A PERSUASIVE
TEXT

State your position in your introduction

Provide argument(s) or reasons for your opinion :

make the point + elaborate

Use evidence to support your argument
New paragraph for each idea
Reinforce your statement position in your

conclusion
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THE LANGUAGE OF PERSUASION

Opinions

Anecdotes

Audience

Inclusive Language

Evidence
Emotive Language
Exaggeration
Colourful or Descriptive

Words
Modality

Rhetorical Questions
Repetition
Bias
Generalisations
Active Voice

Clich
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OPINIONS
Persuasive texts use language to express and justify
an opinion.
Gone are the days when children should be seen but

not heard!

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EVIDENCE
Information, facts or statements

used to support your belief, opinion,

point of view or proposition.
Evidence is found in: research, statistics,

facts, expert opinions, reports, case

studies, editorials, ideas.
The reader must make decisions as to

the accuracy of the evidence.

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PRESENTING EVIDENCE
These are the facts ...
Statistics say ...
Experts are of the opinion ...
As a result ...

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EMOTIVE LANGUAGE
Emotive language plays on peoples feelings and persuades them to

agree.
We care about human traits: loyalty, humility, generosity, patience,

strength, honesty, humour.

Heavily weigh the persuasive text with abstract words such as heart,

love, sorrow, despair, hate, destiny, truth or pain.

Use humour.

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EXAMPLES OF EMOTIVE
LANGUAGE
Negative Emotive Words

liar, cheat, lazy, rude, thoughtless, disgusting, slimy, sleazy

Positive Emotive Words

beautiful, friendly, intelligent, talented, athletic, kind,

thoughtful
Evaluative or Value-laden Words

important, valuable, significant, innocence, guilt, serious

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EXAGGERATION
When you overstate, or
exaggerate, it reinforces
your point and gives it
greater importance. Dont

Hyperbole is a figure of speech

which is an exaggeration:
I cried a million tears
I nearly died from laughing

just like or dislike, love or

detest.
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EXAGGERATION EXAMPLES
1) My mums going to be angry with me.
2) Well, my mums going to kill me.
3) Thats nothing. My mums going to kill me, then boil me in oil.
4) I caught this fish which was big enough to eat.
5) I caught this fish which was big enough to feed my whole

family.
6) Well, I caught this fish that was big enough to feed the whole

navy.

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COLOURFUL OR DESCRIPTIVE
WORDS
Colourful

make

or
your

descriptive
writing

words
more

interesting and exciting

They command attention and add

emphasis
Descriptive

words are used for

colour, touch, sound, smell, shape

and pattern
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EXAMPLES OF COLOURFUL OR
DESCRIPTIVE WORDS
Colour scarlet, charcoal, aquamarine, copper, emerald
Touch polished, clammy, stubbly, waxy, matted
Sound wheezing, yapping, rasping, screeching, tinkling
Smell musty, spicy, earthy, doggy, acrid
Shape corkscrew, crescent, spiked, sunken, swollen
Pattern chequered, dappled, veined, banded, striped
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RANKING COLOURFUL
WORDS
Example: cool, chilly cold, freezing
1)

devastated, upset, distraught, sad

2)

ravenous, starving, hungry,

peckish
3)

hot, burning, warm, red-hot

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4)

smart, clever, brilliant, genius

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MODALITY
The selection of words used by a writer or speaker to express different

shades and degrees of meaning.

Examples: may, will, must, probably, possibly, usually, definitely
Modality can be expressed through various language features such as

modal verbs
modal adverbs
modal nouns

I might go, I must go, I could go

I could possibly go, Perhaps I will go
There is a possibility I will go

modal adjectives What is the probable ending?

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MODALITY
Different modalities have different degrees of emphasis.
The stronger the emphasis, the more persuasive.
It might have been her.
It must have been her.
It probably was her.
It possibly might have been her.
It was her.
It was definitely her.

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CLICH
Clichs are overused expressions that are familiar to the

audience
Because they are well-known they are easier to understand

and this makes them more persuasive

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ANECDOTES
Anecdotes,

short

or

yarns,

are

stories

about

an

amusing

or

interesting

incident
They engage the audience

and make them receptive to

the point you are making
Anecdotes

are

often

humorous with a punch-line

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ANECDOTES
Familiar narrative beginnings set up expectations for the reader, helping
them to relate or engage with the writers point of view.
Once upon a time ...
It was a dark and stormy night
A long, long time ago
In a land far, far away ...

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INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE
This is language that

includes the

Know what I mean?

reader/audience

Most people

Examples: us, we, you, I, me

It sounds friendly and

engaging

think/feel/know ...
Wouldnt you agree that ...
We all know ...

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RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
Questions that we dont expect

our audience to answer

The answer is implied

Why is it that when

someone

tells

you

that

there's billions of stars in

the universe, you believe
them. But if they tell you
there's

wet

something

you

paint
have

on
to

touch it?
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RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
CONTINUED
Because the answer is obvious, a rhetorical question is more

like a statement (or fact) and can be a powerful persuasive

device
Are we there yet? [Im bored]
Who do you think you are? [Youre arrogant or conceited]

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REPETITION
The repetition of a word, phrase

or idea emphasises the point you

are trying to make. It reinforces
the point and helps the reader to
remember it

For example:

Never, never, never

to be released

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BIAS
When only one opinion or

point of view is presented

the reader is persuaded that

Id like to you to think about

Against that, it could be said

no other opinion or point of

view

exists

or

is

worth

The best piece of advice I can

give is

reading.
I understand that but

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GENERALISATIONS
These are sweeping statements

that claim to be true for nearly

everyone
They contain words such as

everybody, nobody,
everything, or nothing, -

Examples: Children today watch

far too much TV;

All kids love pizza;
Most students hate broccoli.

inclusive words which leave

nothing (or very little) out
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ACTIVE VOICE
Active voice is more direct, simple and shorter than
passive voice Because it is easier to understand it is
more persuasive

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