Argument Analysis Metalanguage: definition, purpose, example

alliteration

• repetition of initial consonant

• adds emphasis, draws attention to key ideas, memorable

• ‘Sydney’s slippery slide’

assonance

• repetition of vowel sounds

• adds emphasis, draws attention to key ideas, memorable

• ‘the elite meet-and-greet’

appeal

• persuades through emotional manipulation; targets interests and concerns

• triggers emotional response, evokes feelings of guilt, shame, fear or pride, honour satisfaction

• ‘Long-range weapons don’t discriminate, we are all a target’ (fear)

attack / derogatory technique

• means of criticising or opposing and individual or idea

• belittles opponents arguments, positions author’s arguments as better option

• 'Her comments are little more than adolescent gibberish’

anaphora

• repetition of a word/phrase at the beginning of successive sentences

• elicits a strong emotion within audience, emphasises particular message

• ‘You are good. You are kind. You deserve love’

epistrophe

• repetition of a word/phrase at the end of successive sentences

• elicits a strong emotion within audience, emphasises particular message

• ‘I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth’

rhetorical question

• question that does not require an answer because answer is obvious

• implies anyone who disagrees is foolish, encourages audience to accept author’s answer

• ‘Is this really the best solution?’

modality

• words that indicate the degree of how im/possible something is

• high modality - decisive, adds to a direct tone. low modality - creates uncertainty.

• ‘It is almost certain that their concern is ingenuine.’

listing

• listing a number of connected items consecutively

• emphasises particular concept, audience perceives this as whole

• ‘Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia have voted in favour…’

comparison

• 2 things are compared to make a point

• highlights particular difference/similarity, audience focuses on juxtaposition and adopts author’s opinion

  • ‘Australia is the only country in the OECD where public funding goes to private schools. Should Australia get more funding when countries like Germany, UK and US don’t?’

statistical evidence

• usage of numbers and statistics as evidence

• establishes credibility, positions audience to adopt author’s point of view

• ‘The city’s 1.5 million households used over 500 billion litres of water’

rapport

• employed by author to establish a positive relationship with the author

• through this relationship, the audience is more likely to be receptive to their arguments

• ‘Wow, they have so much rizz’

cliche

• overused phrase, shows a lack of original thought

• can sway author by appealing to something familiar

• ‘I’m of the firm belief that people in glass house shouldn’t throw stones’

hyperbole

• exaggerations that aren’t meant to be taken literally

• despite knowing it’s an exaggeration, audience focuses on the subject of the exaggeration

• ‘They are trying to suck up your money

epithets (descriptive language)

• a compilation of (adjectives, senses etc) to describe something.

• encourages audience to view the particular subject with said description.

• ‘Their deplorable, foolish calculations…’

inclusive language

• language that includes the reader into the ‘group’

• creates solidarity; an us vs them mentality, audience believes their interests are aligned to the authors.

• ‘They don’t care about the impacts and certainly not us.’

humour

• quality of being amusing through sarcasm, satire, puns etc

• denigrates the subject, engaging and friendly tone, sways audience by letting them in on the joke

• ‘The government isn’t working hard, they’re more likely hardly working’

sarcasm

• use of irony to mock or show contempt, by implying the opposite of what is actually said.

• provides humour, undermines the validity of an argument

• ‘It’s absolutely amazing that we can construct a singular bus stop in a 5km radius.’

anecodotal evidence

• short and fun interesting story to illustrate a point

• audience views author as relatable, similar and realistic to them. more likely to adopt the argument

• I really hate homework. Yesterday, they gave me a 500-word essay to write'.’

connotations

• the general idea/feeling being invoked, beyond the literal word meaning

• author adds an additional layer of meaning that the audience is encouraged to consume and bolsters the argument

• e.g. ‘lanky vs slim’

expert opinion

• insight shared by someone who is knowledgable regarding the matter

• lends the author more credibility, presume they are intelligent and well-read.

• ‘According to Harvard study…

irony

• humour found in contradictory situations

• engenders support, encourages audience to see flimsy logic in an idea

• using social media to criticise the use of electronic devices.

formal language

• adhering to standard English; sophisticated, elaborate, precise

• sophisticated, authoritative style

• ‘sound educational

  principles in a supportive environment.’

informal language

• colloquial, everyday and slang terms

• establishes rapport with the audience, appeals to a sense of identity

• ‘She’ll be right mate’

imagery and figurative language

• use of images and metaphorical language to illustrate points

• can have an emotional impact and paints a word picture

• Citizenship was tossed around like confetti’

exclamative

• sentence that evokes strong emotion, usually beginning with what or how

• conveys urgency/passion, makes issue feel emotionally charged

• “What a tragedy it would be to lose our beloved cinema!”

synecdoche

• a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent a whole or vice versa

• this may create positive/negative connotations about the noun

• “The suits only fixate on how profit can be optimised at any cost”

pejorative

• a word expressing contempt or disapproval

• reader is likely to view something in distaste and exclude any association with it

• ‘Radical activists (rather than protestors) storm the streets and ransack innocent small businesses

antithesis

• a contrast between 2 things

• the audience may be intentionally shocked by how bad/good something is

• ‘We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.’

parallelism

• the use of successive grammatical structure or pattern for emphasis.

• makes the argument sound deliberate, cohesive and compelling.

• “This policy will protect our communities, strengthen our economy, and secure our future.”

asyndeton

• omission of a conjunction between parts of a sentence.

• makes action or idea feel forceful, adding impact to each individual word.

• ‘Reduce, reuse, recycle’

• the use of successive grammatical structure or pattern for emphasis.

• makes the argument sound deliberate, cohesive and compelling.

• “This policy will protect our communities, strengthen our economy, and secure our future.”

polysyndeton

• device where conjunctions such as ‘and’ and ‘but’ are included but can be omitted

• adds emphasis to the ideas since the conjunction is repeated successively.

• ‘We can’t have debt and poverty and destitution in our society.

declarative

• a sentence that makes a statement/conveys information

• establishes a tone of certainty, making the writer sound confident, credible and assertive

• “The cinema has served our community for over fifty years.”

imperative

• a sentence that gives a command, instruction or request

• creates urgency or pressure to act

• “Don’t let this piece of history disappear!”

interrogative

• sentence that asks a question

• leads the audience towards the author’s viewpoint

• “How many more community spaces must we sacrifice to big business?”

slang

• informal, non-standard phrases

• creates relatability and sets casual, conversational tone

• “That cafe is totally dead”

euphemism

• mild/indirect word of expression to replace one that is harsh

• reduces emotional impact and masks negativity/criticism

• “downsizing… (rather than firing employees"

dysphemism

• harsh blunt word/phrase instead of a polite one

• evokes strong negative emotions and makes subject seem worse than it is

• “Calling a prison a “hellhole” instead of a “correctional facility”.