Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Formal, ornamented language is used, while slang and vulgarity are avoided. Verbs are often used in the imperative form, with the goal of swaying an audience. This form of speech has long been considered to be the peak of rhetorical skill, and many past pieces are still studied.
Due to such potential for emotional complication, it is generally advisable to avoid loaded language in argument or speech when fairness and impartiality is one of the goals. Anthony Weston, for example, admonishes students and writers: "In general, avoid language whose only function is to sway the emotions". [1] [2]
A rhetorical question is a question asked for a purpose other than to obtain information. [1] In many cases it may be intended to start a discourse, as a means of displaying or emphasizing the speaker's or author's opinion on a topic.
An example of lexical prosody would be "CONvert" versus "conVERT". Phrasal prosody: aprosodia affecting certain stressed words. Deficits in the left hemisphere affect this linguistic rule. An example of phrasal prosody would be a "Hot DOG", a dog that’s hot, versus a "HOT dog", a frankfurter.
Hyperbole is often used for emphasis or effect. In casual speech, it functions as an intensifier: [5] [3] saying "the bag weighed a ton" [6] simply means that the bag was extremely heavy. [7] The rhetorical device may be used for serious or ironic or comic effects. [8] Understanding hyperbole and its use in context can help understand the ...
Free indirect discourse can be described as a "technique of presenting a character's voice partly mediated by the voice of the author". In the words of the French narrative theorist Gérard Genette, "the narrator takes on the speech of the character, or, if one prefers, the character speaks through the voice of the narrator, and the two instances then are merged". [1]
Climax is frequently used in persuasion (particularly advertising) to create false dilemmas and to focus attention on the positive aspects of the subject at hand. The initial inferior options make the final term seem still better by comparison than it would appear in isolation: "X is good, Y is better, Z is best" is a standard format.
Texts written in plain language are still formal, but are easier to read and inspire confidence for the reader. [7] Using plain language in communications ultimately improves efficiency, because there is less ambiguity for the readers, and less time is taken for clarifications and explanations. [8]