Non-fiction Language Device Definitions Flashcards
Rhetorical question
A rhetorical question is a question designed to create an effect, not to find out information. There is only one possible answer. Rhetorical questions are used persuasively to direct the reader’s thoughts.
Personal pronouns
A pronoun is a word that may be used to replace a noun e.g. “we”, “us” and “you”. They are used persuasively to make the reader feel as if they are responsible and involved
Facts
A fact is something that can be proven. Facts are used to persuade the reader that the information being presented is true and therefore must be believed.
Emotive language
Emotive language is when words are selected for their emotional content e.g. slaughtered, barbecued, horror, massacred…They persuade the reader by shocking him/her and playing on your emotions to make you feel angry or sad or sympathetic.
Layout
Layout is how the leaflet/pamphlet or brochure is designed. Layout includes pictures, headlines, any words or quotations in bold or larger print. Layout can persuade by selecting the most gruesome and shocking photographs, highlighting quotations which make you feel sorry for someone and generally emotionally manipulating the reader.
Repetition
Repetition is when a word or phrase is repeated several times in a leaflet or pamphlet. Repetition is used to emphasise and draw the reader’s attention to a particular point. For example the leaflet might repeat the word “dying” to try to make the reader sympathise with its cause.
Personal stories
A personal story is a real life story which focuses on the experiences of one person. Persuasive leaflets use personal stories to try to make their cause seem more real, if they tell you the story of “John” rather than an anonymous person then you are more likely to believe it and sympathise.
Quotations
A quotation is something that someone has said. Quotations are always encased by adverted commas or quotation marks. Quotations are used in a similar way to personal stories in that they persuade the reader to sympathise by making the suffering or situation more real. For example, if the leaflet wants you to give money after a hurricane disaster and it includes a quotation from a girl who has lost her family and is starving you are more likely to feel sorry for her and want to help.
Emphatic verbs
Emphatic verbs are verbs like “must” and “will” verbs that leave no room for doubt. They are persuasive because they make the reader think they have no choice. For example, “You must help” or “if you don’t help someone will die”.
Bias
X
Tone
Listing
Climax
Bathos
An anticlimax
Pathos
Sadness
‘the writer evokes a sense of pathos here’
