29 June,2023
Table of Contents
Language plays a vital role in our lives. The words we speak or write have the ability to calm, influence, inspire, irritate, or anger others. Since our words can elicit so many different feelings in a person, it is best to use it carefully in all aspects of life.
One such language is emotive language, where a set of words is specifically chosen to elicit a certain emotion.
A straightforward, unemotional rendition of the text reads, “The government will raise the tax rate.” Now, suppose you were to express it in a more emotive manner. In that case, it might read something like this: “Despite the current per capita situation and the figures of people living below the poverty line, the government is in discussions to raise the tax rate.”
This writing is incredibly persuasive since it is emotional. It loses the formal writing’s core and comes off as incredibly subjective rather than objective.
In this blog, we will discuss how to use emotive language and its positive and negative sides.
You can confuse your writing with emotion by using emotive words to influence people verbally. Without any emotional content, your writing comes out as distant and unwelcoming. Moreover, readers won’t bother reading your message if they don’t believe it has any relevance to them personally.
Your readers require motivation to continue reading and remain interested. One of those incentives is the use of emotive language, which, when used properly, will make readers feel strongly about what you have written.
Have a look at these sentences, for instance –
“She was dejected. She lost her cat yesterday and had no idea where to look for him. Her heart ached because she didn’t know where he was, and she felt nauseous. She was so saddened that her shoulders sagged downward. She moved slowly because she had a great burden on her back today. The worry that she wouldn’t be able to find her cat again in time for it to get too dark outside for him to survive in his current state.”
Here, we see how the author has taken a sense of loss and turned it into a highly moving line that captures the emotions of someone who has just lost a pet; this could not have been done without the use of emotive language. The goal of emotional appeal is to evoke similar feelings in the audience, typically sadness or anger, by using an argument that appeals to their emotions.
Emotive language is a rhetorical device used to persuade an audience. We select words in order to elicit a certain emotion. These feelings may be joyful ones, like:
Such words might also arouse unfavourable feelings, such as,
Although emotional language is typically used in literature, it is also frequently used in tabloid news and advertising.
Your choice of word has a big impact on how readers understand the message.
As you can see, emotive language twists an objective sentence into one that tells the reader what opinion they should have by using descriptive adjectives.
Now, let’s understand the use of emotive language in different contexts –
In order to evoke specific emotions in the target audience and attract their interest, emotionally charged language is frequently employed in advertising.
The majority of sonnets use a variety of academic tactics with the common objective of making the reader feel the feelings they are expressing through their words.
Amazing speakers and trailblazers present speeches that have been painstakingly prepared to leave an everlasting effect on their listeners.
The idea refers to the practice of describing a character’s existence in a novel and evoking similar feelings in the reader.
Art usually depicts life, as it is frequently done in theatre and cinema.
Marketing slogans are among the best examples of emotive language since they are able to say intriguing things in a little number of words.
Public aid declarations are often issued to help people. These words are meant to arouse people’s feelings and help them realise that change is necessary. The PSA is a strong example of emotive language because of this.
A lot of people regularly write journals. And the writing of young people is another excellent example of writing with emotion. Since journaling is a private activity, people typically write about their genuine emotions and thoughts in them.
We hope you now understand the powerful side of emotive language.
When you listen to a talk show or read a novel, what affects you the most – WHAT is being stated or HOW it is being stated? Of course, the second one is because our brains work that way.
We tend to follow the way the message is conveyed rather than the message itself. For example, you can take the top motivational speakers on YouTube. On average, 98% of motivational speakers say the same things. But why does one have 2.6 million subscribers when others struggle to get only 10K? It’s the way of using emotions in your message.
Often, people get confused about emotions, feelings, and moods. But these three are not interchangeable. The common emotions are –
Among them, some emotions are aroused suddenly and then effervesce just as fast. And some of them linger longer, as though they have nowhere else to go.
Now you understand that emotive language is a wonderful free tool to deliver your idea throughout the world and make it stand out from the crowd. But before you use emotive language in your writing or when speaking in public, you must be aware of the short and long-term effects of emotive language.
Creating fear or surprises through a write-up has the least life value for individuals. For example, if you are reading a spine-chilling horror story or watching a movie, you feel fear for a very limited period.
As per various studies, sadness has the most long-term effect. It can take 120 hours on average to pass. For example, reading a book or watching a movie on sad stories impacts us more than an entertainment-based book or movie.
So, whenever you are writing something, you need to remember these tiny details.
Now let’s understand the positive and negative consequences of using emotive language.
| Positive Consequences | Negative Consequences |
| ✔ Emotive language creates an emotional bond between the writer and the readers when the readers gather insights from the writing style of the writer. | ❌ Using words like ‘terror’, ‘trauma’, ‘disaster’, ‘scandal’, etc., can easily attract people’s attention, but the result can often be out of control. |
| ✔ While using emotive language, readers can relate better to the write-up. | ❌ Often, emotive language causes more drama than normal. |
| ✔ Emotive language can sympathise, motivate, and influence people. | ❌ If emotive language is used wrongly, it can confuse, irritate, and agitate people and refrain from reacting properly. |
You will also be surprised to know that emotions and emotive language have severe impacts on the decision-making process. The heat of the moment is a powerful yet dangerous thing. When you feel happy, you can say ‘YES’ to everything. And when you are irritated, you can punch anyone.
These situations can offer you a little amount of great feeling. But aren’t you going to regret it later?
Yes, that’s the way emotive language can persuade you. So, you must take some time to clear your head and then make a decision.
The historic “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. is the best example of the power of emotive language. Whether it’s a public speech, a narrative, or an argumentative essay, the use of emotive language is necessary to evoke certain emotions amongst the target audience. The following examples will help you understand how to use emotive language to bring the audience to your side.
The historic “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. is the best example of the power of emotive language. Whether it’s a public speech, a narrative, or an argumentative essay, the use of emotive language is necessary to evoke certain emotions amongst the target audience. The following examples will help you understand how to use emotive language to bring the audience to your side.
Writers use emotive language to appeal to the readers’ emotions. Also, you can use the language to instil fear, enthusiasm, or urgency in a write-up. If you can use emotive language in the right way, it helps to encourage your audience and you will be able to establish a deeper connection with them.
There are various strategies for using emotive language in your writing. You can go through the following tips –
Use powerful verbs to enhance the readability of your writing. Your sentences’ verbs, which are the ones that take action, might elicit strong emotions. Rather than utilising ineffective verbs like “is” or “was,” opt for more evocative and powerful verbs. For example, if you write “The dog wagged its tail excitedly” instead of just writing “The dog was happy,” it will create more impact in your writing.
If you want to create an effect through your writing, use powerful words rather than overusing adverbs. Adverbs are good when used sparingly, but too many of them can make sentences boring!
Give your reader a picture of opulence. Sensational language engages all five of the readers’ senses. The reader will have a more vivid experience of the write-up when you employ sensory language. Instead of saying, “The food was delicious,” you might say, “The aroma of the freshly baked pizza made my mouth water.”
You can also combine the sentences to get a literary effect.
Be imaginative with your language. The language that is intended to be taken metaphorically is known as figurative language. Your writing can benefit from the addition of colour, interest, and feeling. Metaphors, similes, personification, and hyperbole are only a few examples of the various varieties of figurative language.
Make use of rhetorical queries. Questions that are rhetorical are those that are not intended to be answered. They are employed to draw the reader in and get them to reflect on the subject at hand. You may inquire, “What would you do if you were in my place?” as an example. Additionally, by doing this, you’re using the second person, which is a strong strategy for engaging your reader.
Personal pronouns like “I,” “we,” “you,” and “they” might help you establish a more personal connection with your audience. Utilising personal pronouns invites the readers to relate to your experience.
The impact of employing various personal pronouns varies. Avoiding passive voice is ideal when using the word “we.” ‘Mistakes were made,’ for instance, becomes ‘we made a mistake.’ By doing this, you demonstrate your capacity for accountability, which fosters trust.
Just be wary about it in other settings. The pronoun “we” can sound a little distant when used excessively. To engage your audience, use the ‘you’ pronoun. It’s crucial to be careful while using emotive words. A vocabulary that is overly emotional might be intimidating and off-putting. However, when used skillfully, emotive language can be a potent tool for captivating your reader and bringing life to your writing. Additionally, it can significantly humanise your writing, which will help it stand out in a world where AI is capturing everything.
Using emotive language in the right way is always helpful for both the writers and readers. A persuasive write-up can strongly impact the readers by evoking their emotions and enabling them to take action. As using emotive language makes your write-up dynamic, it helps the readers to become more comprehensive toward your ideas, opinions, and thoughts. As a student, you must learn to use emotive language to support your psychology assignment help write-ups more relatable.
If you want to express yourself in a better way, you must expand your emotive language vocabulary. Also, this practice will make your communication processes and messages more impactful!
Ans. Words that are frequently connected to emotions are called emotional words. Some typical ones are: scared, astonished, drowsy, anxious, happy, worried, furious, bored, puzzled, disgusted, eager, annoyed, hopeful, wounded, envious, mad, worried, confident, unhappy, and many more. But the list of emotive words doesn’t end here. You can use emotive words as per the writing context.
Ans. One of the effective language strategies for evoking emotions is emotive language. It can be simply defined as the use of words to arouse an emotional response in readers or listeners. Yet you should utilise the most expressive phrases possible to successfully communicate your sentiments and emotions to others. Creating an impact on people is the ultimate goal of emotive language.
Ans. Let’s examine an illustration of emotive language. The monstrous bear savagely assaulted the helpless wolf. We may see several evocative descriptive terms in this case. The phrase “helpless wolf” evokes strong feelings in the reader since it makes the wolf seem vulnerable.
Ans. The language used to elicit emotion is known as the emotive language (usually to influence). For instance, the unprepared and unwilling troops were killed by the regime’s army. (This version expresses emotion and animosity for “the regime’s army” on purpose.)
Ans. Words with a positive emotional connotation are those that are frequently linked to emotions like joy, love, pride, enthusiasm, hope, and trust. Adorable, charming, self-assured, brave, creative, fascinating, enthusiastic, friendly, giving, kind, honest, smart, kind, loving, loyal, pleasant, calm, courteous, dependable, genuine, sympathetic, understanding, helpful, and a host of other words are instances of positive emotive words.
Hi, I am Mark, a Literature writer by profession. Fueled by a lifelong passion for Literature, story, and creative expression, I went on to get a PhD in creative writing. Over all these years, my passion has helped me manage a publication of my write ups in prominent websites and e-magazines. I have also been working part-time as a writing expert for myassignmenthelp.com for 5+ years now. It’s fun to guide students on academic write ups and bag those top grades like a pro. Apart from my professional life, I am a big-time foodie and travel enthusiast in my personal life. So, when I am not working, I am probably travelling places to try regional delicacies and sharing my experiences with people through my blog.
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