Question

How might emotionally charged language and euphemisms be used to influence the apparent persuasiveness of an argument? Use examples in your answer.

Answer 1

The use of rhetorics affects its audience's beliefs without offering reasons for a claim. Emotionally charged language is not a plain statement of fact, but is excessively filled with the personal feelings and emotiinal sentiments of the speaker or the group he/she represents. For example, one could say “there have been frequent electricity outages lately” but in case of emotionally charging the message, the same statement can be presented as, “to me the situation of continuous power outages reflects a general lack of empathy for the community”.

On the other hand, euphemisms are used to replace one expression with another that carries more positive associations. Entirely neutral language can function as a euphemism if it replaces a more common term that carries certain perceptions. For instance, “physical pressure” maybe used as a euphemism for “torture”.