Deck 4: Language: the Code of Persuasion

Question 1

Characteristics of school shooters' profiles show which of the following?

A) They have been bullied.
B) They have been humiliated by words.
C) They are "bad seeds."
D) They live in the inner city.

Answer 1

A, B

Question 2

Eldon Taylor said words are threats and territorial imperatives. He also said words are tied to which of the following?

A) Identities.
B) Self-images.
C) Mental disorders.
D) Desensitized youth.

Answer 2

A, B, C, D

Question 3

General semantics can be defined as which of the following?

A) The study of grammar.
B) The study of languages.
C) The study of the relations among language, thought, and behavior.
D) The study of physics.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Alfred Korzybski started the semanticist movement. Which of the following ideas is he most associated with?

A) Science and sanity.
B) Linguistic conferences.
C) The map is not the territory.
D) Interdisciplinary teams.

Question 5

A pejorative term that prejudges a person and negatively objectifies them as a group member or the "other" represents:

A) Hate speech.
B) A stereotype.
C) Fighting words.
D) A rant.

Question 6

Words have three functions that include which of the following?

A) Commercial.
B) Cognitive.
C) Affective.
D) Behavioral.

Question 7

Who said that the world is independent of our will regardless of what we call it?

A) Alfred Korzybski.
B) Ludwig Wittgenstein.
C) Eldon Taylor.
D) Lewis Carol.

Question 8

Kenneth Burke divided words into four types and the third was "logology," which deals with what?

A) Material things.
B) Sociopolitical matters.
C) Words about words.
D) Supernatural realm.

Question 9

Editors Keith Walters and Michael Brody wrote a book, What's Language Got to Do with It? (2005) and their answer was:

A) Very little if anything.
B) Everything.
C) More scholarship.
D) Greater creativity.

Question 10

Clyde Haberman said that language touches the psychology of conflict. Which example did he use to illustrate martyrs and terrorists?

A) The Iraq War.
B) The Vietnam War.
C) The Palestinian/Israeli conflict.
D) The war in Afghanistan.

Question 11

Weller Emler said, "Anyone who has the temerity to speak of 'truth' usually finds that he is performing verbal dances around the word truth, rather than letting truth perform for itself." He added that the solution is to let which of these speak for itself?

A) A dusty answer.
B) Semantic nuances.
C) A captured truth.
D) Facts or the things themselves.

Question 12

George Lakoff has examined speech forms such as "My mind was racing" or "I saw the light." These examples are:

A) Analogies.
B) Metaphors.
C) Similes.
D) Synonyms.

Question 13

Metaphors have which of the following powers according to Lakoff?

A) To influence our worldview.
B) To frame an argument.
C) To create social and political ideologies.
D) To make the world perfectly clear.

Question 14

According to Don Jacobs, Rush Limbaugh, the popular talk show host, uses what form of language most frequently to influence his large following?

A) Jargon.
B) Objective language.
C) Emotional language.
D) Liberal orthodoxy.

Question 15

David Crystal wrote The Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left (2007). Which analogy did Crystal use to describe several countries' desire to keep their language pure?

A) Melting pot.
B) Salad bowl.
C) Fondue.
D) Fruit cocktail.

Question 16

Within the United States there are many enclaves where groups maintain their unique cultures alongside the dominant culture. These are best referred to as:

A) Ghettos.
B) Co-cultures.
C) Subversives.
D) Illegal aliens.

Question 17

Walter Lippmann believed that wars encouraged envenomed and impassioned nonsense, but which of the following is the solution?

A) A propaganda campaign.
B) A public philosophy.
C) Educational initiatives .
D) A semantic curriculum.

Question 18

Words have three axis or components. Which of the following does not belong?

A) Denotative.
B) Narrative.
C) Connotative.
D) Functional.

Question 19

Ossie Davis in a speech declared that his enemy as an Afro-American was which of the following?

A) The white majority.
B) The history of slavery.
C) The English language.
D) The Black Power movement.

Question 20

A pejorative term means that the word is:

A) Scholarly.
B) Ambiguous.
C) Negative.
D) Borrowed.

Question 21

Who wrote a letter from the Birmingham Jail to explain his position on demonstrations during the civil rights movement?

A) Dr. Ralph Abernathy.
B) Roy McKissick.
C) Ossie Davis.
D) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Question 22

The author of The Feminine Mystique, which was influential in the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s, was:

A) Bella Abzug.
B) Hillary Clinton.
C) Betty Friedan.
D) Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Question 23

Hillary Rodham Clinton has been criticized for her rhetorical style primarily because:

A) She does not feminize her style and uses power like a man.
B) She uses powerless speech.
C) She is disorganized and subjective.
D) She is soft-spoken, self-effacing, and compliant.

Question 24

Cheris Kamarae claimed that challenging the linguistic system as well as the structures and institutions it produces, such as education, politics, religion, and the economic system, would reveal what?

A) Principles of social relations.
B) Who should be dominant in politics.
C) Why history should be rewritten.
D) Why women are from Venus and men are from Mars.

Question 25

Kenneth Burke wrote of "God" terms, which are best described as:

A) Terms individuals are willing to embrace and die to uphold.
B) The Ten Commandments.
C) The thou shalt nots.
D) The supernatural.

Question 26

School shootings have nothing to do with language or the power of words.

Question 27

There is a direct linear relationship between the development of semantic distortions and mental disorders in modern society.

Question 28

Words are not the possession of any one person, class, or nation but shared vehicles to transfer meaning from one to another.

Question 29

John Condon said that words give us the freedom to describe the world and to capture that reality perfectly.

Question 30

S. I. Hayakawa said general semantics is the study of the "relations between language, thought, and behavior: between how we talk, therefore how we think, and therefore how we act."

Question 31

Alfred Korzybski was a mad scientist who believed that if we used the scientific method we could cure insanity.

Question 32

Stereotypes are prejudicial clusters of descriptions or images that objectify a person or group that denies their individuality.

Question 33

The cognitive function of words deals with thought or comprehension.

Question 34

The affective function of words deals with the behavior that words motivate.

Question 35

Children chant "sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can never hurt us," and this is true.

Question 36

Your given name has no consequences regarding how you are treated or the impression you make. ( false)

Question 37

Kenneth Burke saw words and phrases as terministic screens that encourage or force us to see reality in a particular way.

Question 38

George Lakoff believed that metaphors that describe the act of thinking provide commonplaces for philosophical theories.

Question 39

Light is a common metaphor for thought or grasping an idea.

Question 40

George Lakoff stated that language reframes a situation, and the "war on terror," which President Bush adopted after the "regime change" rhetoric used earlier, changed the policy to define Iraq as the front in the war on terror.

Question 41

Words do not affect our attitude toward social-political issues; only the action or facts do.

Question 42

The "third-person effect" means that we recognize the power media has over our own perceptions.

Question 43

According to Walter Fisher, storytelling has no place in political campaigns or serious matters of state.

Question 44

Rush Limbaugh used reasoned speech to reach his audience without the infusion of emotional language.

Question 45

The average high school-educated audience of mass media broadcasts prefers a speaker who talks around 170 words per minute.

Question 46

"Homeland security" is an example of a God term.

Question 47

Our linguistic world has the characteristics of a melting pot, yet some countries prefer the salad-bowl attitude where their languages are free from foreign influences.

Question 48

The number of non-English speaking residents in the United States reflects a growing co-cultural influence, with Chinese being the first language after English.

Question 49

The United States is becoming increasingly bilingual, with Spanish challenging the dominant culture.

Question 50

Walter Lippmann's "public philosophy" is based upon natural law and civility.

Question 51

Connotative meaning of words is the dictionary meaning that is commonly accepted.

Question 52

The connotative meaning of the word "black" caused Ossie Davis to describe the English language as a great liberator of Afro-Americans.

Question 53

Dr. M. L. King Jr. wrote "Letter from a Montgomery, Alabama, Jail."

Question 54

Elizabeth Cady Stanton spoke at the Seneca Falls Convention on women's rights despite the threat her husband made that he would leave town if she did this.

Question 55

The feminine model for speech according to Borisloff and Merrill is direct, confrontational, forceful, and logical speech.

Question 56

The examination of labels and stereotypes is part of the Black Power movement, the women's movement, and the gay rights movement.

Question 57

Sigmund Freud said, "Anatomy is destiny."

Question 58

Hillary Clinton uses the feminine style of speech that is soft spoken, self-effacing, and compliant, and this has enabled her to gain national and international stature.

Question 59

A paradigm is a model or perspective for viewing the world.

Question 60

Rappers own the "N word," and the use of this pejorative term has no consequences for them, other artists, or their audiences.

Question 61

Terrorism is a devil term.

Question 62

Connotative meanings are idiosyncratic responses we have to specific words.

Question 63

Language is the code of persuasion because words have the capacity to motivate, deter, and direct thought, feelings, and action.

Question 64

School shooters are frequently students who have been bullied and tormented with names or labels.

Question 65

Words do more damage to people than things in our culture according to Eldon Taylor.

Question 66

Explain Eldon Taylor's essay on school violence and the power of words.

Question 67

Explain what general semantics is and include in your answer the views of Alfred Korzybski, John Condon, and Wittgenstein from this chapter.

Question 68

Kenneth Burke in The Rhetoric of Religion (1961) offered four realms to which words may refer. Explain these four categories of words and give examples of each.

Question 69

Clyde Haberman wrote of the power of words to define who was the martyr and who was the terrorist using the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Explain how the language of war persuades receivers that one side is just and the other side is the enemy.

Question 70

Explain George Lakoff's work on metaphors and how they influence our worldview. Begin by defining what a metaphor is and then explain what all of this has to do with persuasion.

Question 71

Explain the language strategies and tactics that Rush Limbaugh uses to influence his broadcast audience. Be specific and give examples.

Question 72

Discuss the findings of the U.S. Census on co-cultures in the United States and include in your answer the consequences or blessings of having a multilingual country. Use specific examples and references.

Question 73

Explain what Walter Lippmann's "public philosophy" was and why he felt it was necessary; then take a critical position on his proposal by evaluating it for today's linguistic environment.

Question 74

Explain the denotative, connotative, and functional axes of words. Give examples within each category to strengthen your answer.

Question 75

Ossie Davis's speech commented upon the power of words to create stereotypes. Explain his position on the English language and black and white synonyms.

Question 76

Explain the content of Dr. M. L. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." What persuasive appeals did he use? Who was his intended audience?

Question 77

Discuss Hillary Clinton's rhetorical style and what conventions she violates. Include in your answer a definition of the masculine and feminine styles of discourse and general audience expectations.