ChAPTER 12 stUdy gUide 251Study Guide: Review and Apply
Meet Your Objectives
12.1 Describe three differences between oral and written language styles.
Oral language style is more personal and less formal than written style. Speakers
must also provide their audiences with more repetition than writers need to use.
12.2 List and explain three ways to use words effectively.
Effective speakers use specific, concrete words to evoke clear mental images
for their listeners. They also choose simple, respectful, unbiased words. As a
speaker, be sure to use words correctly and to keep in mind the connotations of
words, as well as their dictionary definitions. And, finally, eliminate unnecessary
words and phrases.
key terms
Ladder of abstraction
Denotation
Connotation
Concise
Cliché
12.3 Discuss how to adapt your language style to diverse listeners.
Use language your listeners can understand. Use appropriate language to avoid
offending your audience. Use unbiased language to communicate in a sensitive
way to members of subgroups in your audience.
key terms
Ethnic vernacular
Regionalism
Jargon
Standard American English
12.4 List and explain three types of memorable word structures.
You can create arresting images through such figures of speech as metaphors,
similes, and personification. You can create drama by using short sentences for
important ideas, strategically omitting words, and structuring sentences with
key words at the end to create suspense. Use repetition, alliteration, parallelism,
and antithesis to create memorable rhythm or cadence.
key terms
Figure of speech Metaphor Simile
Crisis rhetoric Personification Omission
Inversion Suspension Cadence
Repetition Parallelism Antithesis
Alliteration