Emotive Language

Emotive language cramped in cages deprived of food and water desperately lacking care and attention harrowing plight of one of our most popular pets Pet rabbits should not be prisoners. We call ourselves a nation of pet lovers...but are we?

Animal Aid campaigns peacefully against all animal abuse, and promotes a cruelty-free lifestyle It is cruel to confine creatures in cages and tanks, treating them as little more than living ornaments, or toys. Imagine spending your life in captivity, denied freedom, companionship and stimulation. This is the fate of many pets. Looking after an animal is a responsibility, not a right. Imprisoned Copyright © Animal Aid

Please Support Animal Aid All too often, once the novelty of a new arrival wears off, animals are neglected or, worse, deliberately abused. Rabbits may never be taken out of filthy, cramped hutches. Fish are left gasping for air in bowls of dirty water. Lonely dogs bark on their own all day when their owners go off to work. Just because animals are given food, water and shelter, it doesn’t mean they are happy. Unloved Copyright © Animal Aid

Which sentence is the most emotive? Charity campaign advertisements and leaflets persuade you to support them by using emotive language: words that provoke a reaction and make you feel something, e.g. anger, pity, sympathy, hope. Which sentence is the most emotive? Will you give £2 a month to help a poor animal like Smitty? Will you give £2 a month to save an innocent puppy like Smitty? Why is puppy a more emotive noun than dog? Why is save a more emotive verb than help? Why is innocent a more emotive adjective than poor? Can you think of alternatives for the adjective innocent and for the verb to save?

Which is the most emotive sentence? Charity campaign advertisements and leaflets persuade you to support them by using emotive language: words that provoke a reaction and make you feel something, e.g. anger, pity, sympathy, hope. Which is the most emotive sentence? Smitty was left by his owners when they went on holiday. Unbelievably, Smitty was cruelly abandoned by his owners when they went on holiday. Why is the verb abandoned more emotive than left? Why do the adverbs cruelly and unbelievably make the sentence more emotive? Can you think of alternatives for the verb abandoned and the adverbs cruelly and unbelievably?

Can you change this text to make it more emotive? Will you give £2 a month to help an animal? Take the example of Smitty. He’s a young dog, only 6 months old. He was found tied up in the garden, waiting for his owners to return. He had been waiting for two weeks. His owners had left him, with no food and no water, while they went on holiday. When we took him in, Smitty was too weak to stand. This kind of treatment happens too often. £2 a month allows us to look after dogs like Smitty, to give them food, shelter and love. Will you help us to look after these creatures?