What is Emotive Language? Definition, Usage, Types, Examples

“You must follow the guidelines while writing the essay.” “Stella was feeling sorry for what she did last night. She kept sobbing while apologising to her sister.” “I could not believe my eyes. The room was a mess and Bob never cared to clean it up.”

Do you know what these sentences have in common? They all evoke certain emotions when we read them. The first sentence includes emphasis, the second one includes empathy and the last sentence includes aggravation.

Have you ever considered words that can evoke such emotions? Well, that is the beauty of emotive language and if you learn how to use it the right way, you can create top-notch assignments and projects in minutes. So, in this blog post, we decided to share everything about emotive language, its definition, usage, and examples. Let us see how to incorporate emotive language in academic writing.

What is emotive language?

Emotive language is a deliberate choice of words to evoke certain emotions amongst the readers. It can be used to make the reader react a particular way. For example, if you are writing a narrative essay, you can use emotive language to make the reader feel happy or excited about an event or situation. Similarly, you may use emotive language to pursue the reader or make them realise something that is wrong. There are hundreds of emotions associated with human beings and so emotive language could be vivid. It can include different words based on the emotion you want to evoke.

Although emotive language has more use in informal writing, formal writing like assignments, research papers, speech, debates, and essays may include some form of emotive language at times to impress the reader. Consider these examples to understand the impact of emotive language in academic writing:

Example:

Non-emotive: According to the latest results, the government will reduce the petrol prices by at least 5 dollars.

Emotive: The latest results revealed that the government is going to slash petrol prices by at least 5 dollars.

Non-emotive: He was so tired when he came home.

Emotive: He came home all exhausted.

Non-emotive: Shortage of money creates a problem for students in schools.

Emotive: Money deficits result in havoc for students in schools.

Non-emotive: He is angry with me.

Emotive: He is furious.

Non-emotive: Steve always gets good marks on his assignments.

Emotive: Steve is a talented kid as he always scores higher grades in assignments.

From the above examples, we hope the difference between non-emotive and emotive language is quite clear. The non-emotive versions appear plain and simple while the emotive versions evoke emotions and make the writing interesting.

More examples for emotive language

Now, let’s see some common words (adjectives, adverbs, etc.) that can be used in emotive language to evoke emotions. You may use these words in your assignment writing.

Emotive adjectives: Wonderful, Magical, Appalling, Beautiful, Amazing

Emotive verbs: Destroyed, Vindicated, Saved, Betrayed, Adored

Emotive nouns: Pride, Terror, Freedom, Justice, Love

Emotive adverbs: Anxiously, Angrily, Cruelly, Proudly, Consciously

Negative emotive words: Liar, Cheat, Lazy, Rude, Disgusting

Positive emotive words: Beautiful, Talented, Intelligent, Aesthetic, Kind, Generous,

Value-laden emotive words: Innocence, Important, Crucial, Valuable, Serious

Emotive language examples from famous people

Example: Here is a part of the speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr., during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom:

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”

This speech includes a variety of emotive language examples like:

• “I have a dream” indicates that he is sharing a dream with all of us. In other words, he is sharing a better version of society.
• “table of brotherhood” indicates equality, and acceptance
• “ state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” It is a metaphor used to describe the state of Mississippi.

Example: Here is a quote from Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America:

“It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today, we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children in is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.”

Can you find the number of examples of emotive language used in this quote?

Emotive language techniques useful for students

1. Persuasive writing

Students often get persuasive essay writing tasks where they have to share their points of view with others. Generally, a persuasive paper is based on a claim based on a fact, opinion, evaluation or interpretation. Emotive language makes persuasive writing more impactful.

Example: I believe that the way Tim talked to his father was not justified. He was being rude and ungrateful for the trouble he caused.

2. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a figure of speech that is used to exaggerate things or to emphasise in writing. Hyperbole is often used to evoke emotions amongst the reader and make your writing more interesting. Example: This game is taking forever.

3. Figurative language

Figurative language can also be used to evoke emotions and make your reader feel happy, sad, anxious, or motivated. Figurative language never states anything directly but uses colourful writing, clarity, or evocative comparison. Hyperbole, in fact, is a type of figurative writing only. Other figurative writing techniques that can be used to evoke emotions include:

• Metaphor: It is a figure of speech that makes an indirect comparison between two unrelated things. Example: She was drowning in the sea of grief.
• Simile: It is a figure of speech that is used to make a direct comparison between two things using the words “like” or “as”. Example: She is as chirpy as a bird.
• Personification: It is a figure of speech in which non-human things are considered human and given human-like attributes. Example: The car breaks were screaming all through the journey.
• Onomatopoeia: It is a figure of speech that uses the sound of an action to add some reality to writing. Example: Phew, she did not notice me as I left.

4. Rhetorical Questions

Sometimes, you may ask questions that do not need to be answered. Such questions might have an answer that is obvious or might not have any answer at all. They are added in writing to make it more interesting, to make the reader pause and think for a while and to make the writing more impactful. Example: It is too hot today, isn’t it?

Emotive language writing tips for students

1. Be specific

Sometimes, using emotive language in academic writing sounds redundant and makes everything chaotic. For example, using words like clearly, obviously, in fact, etc might not make any sense once you have stated all the facts and evidence. So, make sure not to use these words too much in your writing or it will lose their effect on your readers.

2. Review your work

Once you have written an assignment, say an essay, read it out. Do not think of finding any errors in writing but just focus on how you feel after reading your essay. Is your writing generating the right emotion? For example, if you are writing an essay on the importance of trees, what emotion should it evoke amongst the readers. Well, it should make them want to plant a tree right away. So, make sure you feel the same after reading your essay.

3. Avoid intensifiers

Many students start using words like very, really, etc. to intensify their writing. This does not evoke any emotion and rather makes the text long for no reason. Consider the two sentences: “It is a very important thing.” “It is a crucial thing.” The second sentence is more impactful than the first one.

4. Vary descriptions

Using emotive language does not only mean that you are using words to describe how someone is feeling right now. You must also showcase that in their body language and expressions. For example, instead of simply saying “Bob was scared”. You may write, “Bob was shaking when he opened the door.” In other words, emotive writing is about showing rather than telling.

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