Recognizing Persuasive Language

Question 1

Rhetoric

Answer 1

noun

Language designed to have a persuasive effect

_{His speech was mostly rhetoric.}

_{His rhetoric did not persuade the audience.}

Question 2

Win someone over

Answer 2

phrase

To persuade someone to accept something

_{You must try to win over the rest of your team.}

_{She tried to win me over, but she did not succeed.}

Question 3

Sacrifice

Answer 3

verb

To give something up

_{I had to sacrifice my summer vacation for work.}

_{You need to sacrifice your love of snacks to lose weight.}

Question 4

Play into someone’s

fear / anger

Answer 4

phrase

Using someone’s fears / anger to make them do what you want

_{That politician is just playing into everyone’s fears.}

_{He is trying to play into the audience’s anger.}

Question 5

Embellish

Answer 5

verb

Make a story more interesting by adding untruths

_{I think he was embellishing the facts.}

_{They are always embellishing stories.}

Question 6

Skewed

Answer 6

adjective

Inaccurate / misleading

_{He had a skewed perspective on the matter.}

_{I think those numbers are skewed.}

Question 7

Flatter / flattery

Answer 7

verb / noun

Giving compliments to someone

_{Flattery will get you nowhere.}

_{He is always trying to flatter his boss.}

Question 8

Sway someone’s opinion

Answer 8

verbal phrase

To change someone’s opinion

_{The Russian president was trying to sway the public’s opinion on Poland.}

_{He was trying to sway the audience’s opinion with his speech.}

Question 9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG1FfC8vpeY&feature=youtu.be