1. RDG 101
Module 5
Dr. C. Novins

2. Persuasive language intends to convince the
reader of a stated opinion or belief.
Persuasive writing has two main genres:
 1. Argument
 2. Discussion

3. 
Persuasive Arguments attempt to persuade
the reader to agree with a certain
viewpoint and sometimes they also want
action to be taken – they exhort people to
take action.

4. 
Persuasive Discussions present two or more
perspectives on an issue and can conclude
with a recommendation or prediction.

5. 
The relationship between words and meanings is
extremely complicated, and belongs to the field of
semantics. For now, though, what you need to know
is that words do not have single, simple meanings.

Traditionally, grammarians have referred to the
meanings of words in two parts:

Denotation: a literal meaning of the word

Connotation: an association (emotional or otherwise)
which the word evokes

6. 
Example #1:
 Both "woman" and "chick" have the denotation
"adult female" in North American society, but
"chick" has somewhat negative connotations,
while "woman" is neutral.

7. 
Example #2:
Negative
 There are over 2,000 vagrants in the city.
Neutral
 There are over 2,000 people with no fixed address in the city.
Positive
 There are over 2,000 homeless in the city.
All three of these expressions refer to exactly the same people,
but they will invoke different associations in the reader's mind: a
"vagrant" is a public nuisance while a "homeless" person is a
worthy object of pity and charity. Presumably, someone writing an
editorial in support of a new shelter would use the positive form,
while someone writing an editorial in support of anti-loitering laws
would use the negative form.

8. 
In this case, the dry legal expression "with no fixed address" quite
deliberately avoids most of the positive or negative associations of
the other two terms -- a legal specialist will try to avoid
connotative language altogether when writing legislation, often
resorting to archaic Latin or French terms which are not a part of
ordinary spoken English, and thus, relatively free of strong
emotional associations.

Many of the most obvious changes in the English language over
the past few decades have had to do with the connotations of
words which refer to groups of people. Since the 1950's, words like
"Negro" and "crippled" have acquired strong negative
connotations, and have been replaced either by words with
neutral connotations (ie "black," "handicapped") or by words with
deliberately positive connotations (ie "African-Canadian,"
"differently-abled").

9. 
In this case, the dry legal expression "with no
fixed address" quite deliberately avoids most
of the positive or negative associations of the
other two terms -- a legal specialist will try to
avoid connotative language altogether when
writing legislation, often resorting to archaic
Latin or French terms which are not a part of
ordinary spoken English, and thus, relatively
free of strong emotional associations.

10. 
Bias — not all opinion is clearly labeled.
Persuasive writing whether in a book,
magazine article, or on the web may have
an unstated point of view that the reader
must detect based on language used and
information used and left out. The more the
reader knows about a topic, the easier it is
to detect bias.

11. 
Definition of Bias:
 Prejudice in favor of or against one thing,
person, or group compared with another,
usually in a way considered to be unfair.

12. 


Many authors use BIAS in their writing to
sway their reader.
It is imperative that as a critical reader, you
are able to recognize when authors do not
reveal both sides of a story.
Often authors want their readers to think a
certain way and see the world the way they
see it. To achieve this goal, an author will use
bias.

14. 1. Persuasive (“loaded”) language — using
words and sentences that solicit a positive
or negative response from the reader or
that lead the reader to the specific
conclusion.

15. 2. Misquoting a source— this often happens
in the news media when reporters reword,
paraphrase or manipulate a statement or
source’s information

16. 3. Selective facts—taking information out
of context or selective use of data—picking
only information that supports the
argument and leaving the rest out.

17. 4. Distortion or stretching the facts—making
issues more extreme by using
misinformation or exaggeration

18. 5. Flawed research—basing a claim on too
small a sample, manipulating statistics,
using “fuzzy science” or “bad math,” failing
to report contrary conclusions from other
scientists.

19. 


Be sure to read into the language the author
uses to convey his/her point.
Does the author use specific language to
make you feel sympathy? Anger? Frustration?
Does the author try to change your opinion
regarding a group of people or a
situation/event?

20. Remember to pay close attention to the words
the author uses and the way the author
frames ideas and concepts.
Do not accept that everyone is as fair and
balanced as you would like them to be in their
writing!
Pay attention to how the author is trying to
sway the reader! Do not let the author trick
you into believing certain information!