Language techniques are used to create an image in the responders mind. It enables them to experience the event being discussed in their imagination. So if language creates the experience, it can also influence the perspective:
“Bikies in Vicious Blood Bath”
vs
“Fighting in the street”
The words in this example are essentially saying the same thing, however the choice of words (diction) determines how the responder will feel about the experiences/event/person being discussed. This is an excellent example of how emotive language can be used to present a certain image in the minds of the listener, hence influencing their attitudes or beliefs towards the subject.
Rhetorical Techniques
These are also used in a similar way to move and audience to their point of view: (This is only a small selection of techniques, there are many more).
- Alliteration
- Classical and Biblical allusions
- Anaphora
- Anecdotes
- Contrast/Juxtaposition
- Emotive language
- Imagery
- Irony
- Metaphor/Simile
- Short Sentences
- Pronouns: first person ‘I’, first person inclusive ‘We’, second person “You’
- Parallelism
- Repetition
- Formal/Informal Language
- Colloquialisms
- Rhetorical questions
TASK: Identifying techniques
What Techniques can you identify in the following speech: the visual words will help you pick out some obvious ones
