LANGUAGE ANALYSISA guide to success
The task…
Is NOT…
• To identify persuasive techniques
• List persuasive techniques
Is to ask yourself…
• What makes a work, phrase or sentence persuasive?
Emotional responses• When an author is writing persuasively they are asking for
a range of emotional responses from their audience.• These emotions are all used towards a particular opinion
Item Feeling Contention
Myself I feel I am unsafe There is a rise of crime in Melbourne
My children I fear for the wellbeing of my children
Troublemakers They are no-good, amoral hooligans who would beat me up as soon as look at me
In other words…
•What does the author intend the audience to be THINKING and FEELING as they read in order to more readily accept the contention?
What is the author trying to do?• The ability to be persuasive depends on the fact that
almost all people tend to make word associations which are generally quite similar
Word Thoughts General Theme
Security Big, burly security guardHome and familyHandcuffsPolice carChain link wire
Safety
Cancerous A sick personCells multiplying looking scaryA family crying around a hospital bed
Unwelcome and unwanted
How did you go?
•While we might all have slightly different visualisation we tend to pick the same themes within those thoughts.
•Try visualising words again and again•What do particular words connote?•Can connotations change?
How to approach the task?• Read the article• Establish the issue• Identify the contention
Type of issue Issue arising from an event (for example, care issues which arise after a natural disaster
Issue arising from new information (for example, increased debate after the release of a report)
Issue which is just generally around (mostly those hot button items like abortion which are periodically discussed
How to start?
Suggested opening sentence
After the earthquake in Japan, there has now been an increase in media discussion about whether or not public safety is adequately provided for
Upon release of the UN report regarding the treatment of refugees there has been renewed media discussion about whether or not Australia is appropriately managing its refugees.
Recently in the media the issue of whether or not abortions should be legalised, without exclusion, has been debated.
Group identifications• The intention of the author is to direct the emotional
responses of their audience to make them more amenable to a specific contention.
• Emotional responses tend to be towards the NOUNS within an issue- proper, group, abstract
PEOPLE, GROUPS, THINGS
•What does the author set out to create an emotional response towards?
• It doesn’t matter if they are specific people, groups of people or things but rather they are the NOUNS that we emotionally respond to
P. G. T. s• Identify all of the PGTs which could possibly be in the
article• Could be one- could be many• Find at least 2-4
PGTs the author is directing emotional responses towards
The language examples found in the article
Tagging ‘offensive’, ‘eyesore’, ‘blight’, ‘anti-social’
Other forms of graffitti ‘periodically impressive’, ‘enabling voice to others’, ‘enhance’
Council ‘failing to act’, ‘misdirection of funds’, ‘mismanaged’
Residents ‘sick and tired’, ‘usually assaulted’
Taggers ‘hooligans’, ‘anti-social’
How to find evidence?• Use different coloured higlighters to go through the article
and colour-code the best evidence in the article for each PGT
• You now have your evidence right in front of you
Audience• The audience’s identity is essential to understanding the
way language is used to convince them.
Advertised item Target audience Associated language choices
Can of soft drink Parents ‘minimal food colouring, ‘maximum taste!’
Teenagers ‘live life- be free- drink X’
Mobile phone plan Business people ‘efficient’, ‘substantial network coverage save you time’
Environmentalists ‘organic design’, ‘highly efficient energy usage’
• Which PGTs have been employed by the author and how do they relate to audience?
• This probably fits best with ‘appeals’• ‘Appeals’ are endless and dependent on the audience
• YOUR PLANNING IS DONE!
Evidence + Think + Feel• Start with a topic sentence• Move through the evidence and analysis in fluid
discussion. • For each piece or group of evidence within a paragraph
consider what you are thinking and what feeling does this thought connect to?
What does it look like?
• Evidence- • “When the author refers to the cuts in the public service
as having a ‘cancerous impact’
• Think- • the audience is encouraged to view public service cuts
as malignant and uncontrolled
• Feel- • this positions the audience to feel that these cuts must
be avoided at all costs.”
Topic sentence• For each PGT you should be able to set up a topic
sentence and work through the evidence that you feel most capable of discussing in chronological order
• However some repeated words or phrases are best discussed collectively so that you can discuss why they have been repeated
Put it all together…• PGT-
• “The cuts to the public service
• Tone generally used around this PGT• are presented consistently in a negative and demeaning light.
• Evidence-• When the author refers to the cuts in the public service as having a ‘cancerous
impact’
• Think- • the audience is encouraged to view public service cuts as malignant and
uncontrolled.
• Feel-• This positions the audience to feel that these cuts must be avoided at all costs
• Connection to contention-• as the author attempts to convince the audience that the government lacks
competent judgement in their current operations.”
Let’s try it together!
