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Testimonial
If someone tells you about a personal experience with a product, then you are likely to believe that person. If that 'someone' is a celebrity, you may be even more likely to buy a product that he or she...
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Synecdoche
Synecdoche is a stylistic device. It is the act of referring to an entity by one of its parts. For example, if you refer to your car as your 'wheels', you are using synecdoche. 'All hands on deck!' is...
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Social networking
Although many people use social networking websites daily, we rarely stop to define the term or ponder its significance to our lives. A social network describes a structure of individuals and their interdependence...
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Slogan
A slogan is a phrase used in a political or commercial campaign repeatedly. Slogans are meant to be simple, as they express a shared purpose or idea. 'Think Different' has been Apple's slogan for decades....
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Slang
'Slang' refers to a deviation in language use, be it vocabulary or expressions, from the standardized form of a particular language. Technically speaking from a linguistic point of view, the word is not...
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Simile
Simile is the comparison of two things, using the words 'like' or 'as'. It is similar to, but different from, metaphor which compares two things without the use of such words such as 'like' or 'as'....
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Setting
The setting of a story is more than where it takes place, geographically, and when it takes place, temporally. When discussing setting as a literary technique, we often look at it in relation to its main...
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Sensationalism Free
Sensationalism refers to language that appeals to emotions. It exaggerates, over-hypes and attracts attention to controversy. This headline from offers an example of sensationalism: "Palace Furty At D-Day...
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Second-person point-of-view
The second-person point-of-view makes use of the pronoun 'you'. It targets the reader directly, by referring to 'you'. You can find the second-person point-of-view in recipes, textbooks, advertisements...
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Problem / solution technique
If you can convince someone that they have a problem, you can sell them a solution. This is the kind of persuasive technique used by advertisers and politicians, known as the problem / solution technique....