| Technique | Look For | Effect |
| Emotive Language | Words and examples designed to make the reader feel sad, happy, sympathetic, angry | Persuade reader to feel guilty, grateful, eager to donate |
| Emotive illustrations | Pictures of children, animals, people with large eyes, suffering, looking out at the reader; an individual who typifies a group of people | Make reader feel guilt, distaste, identify with sufferers, attract attention & encourage further reading |
| Illustrations | Images show people of a certain age-group or social type; designed to appeal to specific audience; illustrate specific activities; contain apt humour | Images attract correct readers; help prepare reader for topic |
| Semantic Field | Several words relate to the same area of life, eg happy things, sad things, metallic things, the sea | Create a mood - eg in charity adverts a set of sad words followed by a turning point such as 'But if you donate money...' leads to a set of happy words |
| Adjectives | Often in pairs; may create alliteration; often emotive | Noticeable in holiday adverts, building up a positive atmosphere; also in charity adverts, contributing to semantic fields |
| First Person | I, we, me, us, my, our | Makes writer seem more friendly, less aloof and more sympathetic; speaking from personal experience rather than from an academic or aloof position |
| Second Person | You | Addressing the reader personally, helps to involve reader, creates a relationship between reader and writer, makes reader feel personally involved |
| Anecdotes | Little stories, about 50 words long; examples that are elaborated with human details | Helps reader to understand an idea by giving a real-life example; makes writer seem more knowledgeable, having had personal experience; gives reader a rest in concentration - everyone likes listening to a story; adds entertainment to a factual article |
| Examples | Brief examples | Help the reader to understand ideas, possibly relating own experience to general principles; make abstract ideas more concrete |
| Analogies | Comparisons can help clarify meaning; beware of FALSE analogies - eg culling seals is like picking off young plums to help the others grow stronger (Are seals really like plums?) | Choice of analogies masks reality - only one aspect of the similarity is true, ignoring major differences; can be persuasive, helping reader to accept an idea |
| Humour | In words or pictures; will suit the audience - what elderly laugh at is different from what amuses teenagers! | Breaks down barrier between writer and reader; defuses sensitive issues - eg jokes about death or disability; gives a rest from serious writing to renew reader's concentration (similar to anecdotes) |
| Facts, Statistics & Quotations | Percentages (75% prefer), proportions (3 out of 4 prefer...), 3,000,000 (or three million) people suffer from... Quotations from famous books or people | Suggest the writer's expertise, lend an aura of reliability; suggest that the writer must be right if famous people share the view |
| Choice of statistics | 50% died OR 50% survived; as many as half survived OR only half survived; 200 survived OR 200 died; 1,000,000 OR a million | Digits stand out from print and so increase impact; words decrease impact; bias is introduced by 'only' or 'as many as'; 1,000,000 looks more significant than 'a million' |
| Selection / omission / distortion of facts | 50% died (=bad); 50% survived (=good); zoos prevent animals from living a natural life (=bad); zoos harbour animals that might become extinct in the wild (=good); no significant damage was done in the bombing (define 'significant' - eg only houses and civ | Help the writer to bias the reader. Article appears to be stating facts but a one-sided selection of facts creates bias. |
| Graphs & Charts | Graphs, pie-charts, perhaps using persuasive designs such as syringes with different quantities of drugs in each, or piles of bodies to illustrate the increase in road deaths. | Give instant impression of number, size. But scale can distort impression eg a difference of 5 is small relative to 1000 but large relative to 10. Does the axis cover 0-1000 or just 990-1000 with scale in very small font? |
| Sweeping generalisations | Everyone knows that; only a fool could fail to understand; you would be heartless to ignore the suffering; all sensible people agree... | Blackmails the reader into accepting the point for fear of feeling stupid or heartless |
| Opinions stated as facts | It would be madness to close down all schools; the living conditions of prisoners are excellent; £500,000 a year is an excellent salary | Entices the reader into accepting as fact what is really an opinion; assumes that the reader will agree |
| Spacing 1 | Dense of print; small font size; little empty space | Smaller print, tightly packed, longer lines, longer paragraphs, small margins - all make reading harder work: harder to keep the place, seems to take longer to progress down the page, harder to dip into, forces you to read more closely. |
| Spacing 2 | More spaced print; larger font size; more empty space | More 'reader-friendly'; easier to find main points and to skip details; suits casual readers who are browsing rather than seeking information; seems less daunting as eyes progress more quickly |
| Formatting of print | Bold, italics, underlining, colours, font style, position | Makes main words stand out; varies appearance so stimulates mind; attracts casual readers |
| Organisation | Main points at start of paragraphs; main ideas summed up at end of article; surprising facts or rhetorical question | Enables reader to skip minor points and details, or to choose which bits to read; ensures main points are repeated; captures reader's attention |
| Discourse Markers | However, ... But, ... On the other hand, ... As a result, ...Moreover,... | Help reader by indicating where the writer is going in the article - eg a new point coming, a slight contradiction, an exception... |
| Sub-headings | Appear above paragraphs or sections; often foregrounded by formatting | Suggest content to come; prepares reader mentally for new angle or idea; enable reader to jump forward to relevant sections; may provide a bare outline of the whole article without having to read the rest |
| Bullet Points | May use a design that is appropriate - eg ticks for ways to help your child at school or 'smilies' for ways to improve your happiness | Makes main ideas stand out; makes it easier to remember by later visualising them; enables reader to skip unnecessary details; helps reader to 'mindmap' the ideas |
| Rhetorical Questions | Questions that are answered in the article or which require no answer - eg Is it right to allow children to suffer like this? | Invites reader to respond mentally; enables writer to introduce answers in a conversational way; suggests that readers should feel guilty if they disagree |
| Formal Language | Avoids abbreviations (Visual Display Unit, does not); uses formal vocabulary (television, obesity, thin) | Suggests writers' expertise or status; a professional relationship towards readers, eg health advisor; creates a more distant relationship with readers; can be trusted because they have knowledge, qualifications |
| Informal / Colloquial Language | Uses abbreviations (VDU, doesn't); uses colloquial vocabulary (telly, fat, skinny) | Suggests a friendly approach, trying to break down barriers and win confidence; makes writers seem ordinary, down-to-earth; can be trusted because they may have similar experiences to readers |
| Technical terms | Medical, sociological, scientific, sporting, specialist words | Creates aura of expertise |
| Passive / Active Voice 1 | Active Voice is more dramatic, immediate. eg The disease killed 50 people. You must help now. | Writer is involved, sharing some of the experiences, less aloof. Useful for stories, descriptions, creating urgency in charity appeals; identifies the doer of the deed. |
| Passive / Active Voice 2 | Passive Voice is more controlled, more neutral. eg 50 people were killed (by the disease). Help must be provided now. | Writer is more of an observer, less involved. Useful for news articles, for example where the doer is unknown or the writer wants to avoid allotting blame. Useful for science where the identity of the doer is irrelevant. |
| Imperatives | Verbs that look like commands, including negatives. 'Please, give...' 'Don't hesitate' 'Show how you feel' 'Let your child express himself' | Urges the reader on; by addressing the reader directly, helps to create a relationship between writer and reader; 'please' ; suggests urgency |
| Concrete / Abstract Language 1 | Words that name emotions, concepts, principles are ABSTRACT - eg love, dignity, faith, patience. These cannot be drawn. | Whilst harder to understand, they create a sense of idealism, intelligence and expertise. Reader feels uplifted or impressed |
| Concrete / Abstract Language 2 | Words that name things that can be detected by the 5 senses are CONCRETE - eg kiss, head held high, kneel before God, sit still and wait. Generally, these can be drawn. | Because the reader can picture these, they are easier to understand. Reader has a clearer image, but may lose shades ('nuances') of meaning, and may feel talked down to ('patronised') because the writer is trying to keep things simple. |