Chapter 5

Question 1

Emotive Meaning and Rhetorical Force

Answer 1

Same thing. This is their power to express and elicit various psychological and emotional responses.

Example: “elderly gentleman” and “old codger”

Question 2

Rhetoric

Answer 2

it may be psychologically compelling, but by itself it establishes nothing

Question 3

Euphemism

Answer 3

A neutral or positive expression used in place of one that carries negative associations. “Waterboarding” sounds like something you’d see at a California beach, not a torture technique

Question 4

Dysphemism

Answer 4

Used to produce a negative effect on someone’s attitude about something, or tone down the associations it may have.

Sounds worse to be “obscenely rich” than “very wealthy”

Question 5

weaselers

Answer 5

Help protect criticism by watering it down, weakening it, and giving the author a way out.

Question 6

Downplayers

Answer 6

make someone or something look less important or significant. Stereotypes, rhetorical comparisons, rhetorical explanations, and innuendos can all be used to downplay something:

“Don’t mind what Mr. Pierce says; he thinks he is an educator”

using quotations
She got her “degree” from a correspondence school. Used as a downplayer
John “Borrowed” a jacket. Not downplaying, indicating he wasn’t really borrowing it

Question 7

words that precede and follow downplayers

Answer 7

precede: 
neverless
however
still
but

Follow:
although
even though

Question 8

stereotype

Answer 8

a cultural belief or idea about a social group’s attributes, usually simplified or exaggerated

Question 9

Innuendo

Answer 9

uses the power of suggestion to say something bad about someone
“Ladies and gentleman, I am proof that at least one candidate in this race doesn’t make stuff up

Question 10

Significant Mention

Answer 10

made during an innuendo. Occurs when someone states a claim that ordinarily would not need making
“I noticed that Sueanne’s latest rent check didn’t bounce”

Question 11

Loaded Question

Answer 11

innuendo
implies something without coming out and saying it
“Why does the president hate rich people?”

Question 12

horse laugh

Answer 12

ridicule / sarcasm

simply laugh at a claim, tell an unrelated joke, use sarcastic language, or laugh and point

Question 13

Hyperbole

Answer 13

extravagant overstatement, or exaggeration
“The Democrats want everyone to be on welfare”
“Nobody in the Tea Party likes African Americans”

Question 14

Rhetorical Definitions

Answer 14

employ rhetorically charged language to express or elicit an attitude about something.
Defining abortion as “the murder of an unborn child”

Question 15

Rehtorical explanations

Answer 15

Use the language of standard explanations to disguise their real purpose, which is to express or elicit an attitude

Question 16

rhetorical analogy

Answer 16

likens two are more things to make one of them appear better or worse than another.

Question 17

proof surrogate

Answer 17

Proof surrogate suggests there is evidence or authority for a claim without actually citing such evidence or authority. he or she may hint that proof or support is available without being specific as to what it is. Using “informed sources say” is a favorite way of making a claim more authoritative.

Question 18

repitition

Answer 18

simply making the same point over and over at every opportunity

Question 19

Persuasion through visual imagery

Answer 19

an image is not an argument. no presmise, no conclusion. A picture is nonpropositional: It is neither true or false

Question 20

rhetoric of demagogues

Answer 20

use extreme rhetoric to propagate false ideas and preposterous theories.
Otherizing
demonizing
fostering xenophobia
fear and hate mongering

Question 21

otherizing

Answer 21

us vs them

Question 22

demonizing

Answer 22

portray someone as evil

Question 23

fostering xenophobia

Answer 23

fear or dislike of something strange

Question 24

Fear and hate mongering

Answer 24

making you hate someone