مدرستي
اللغة الإنجليزية🎓 هدف البكالوريا

Unit 2 — Safety First Language form

The imperative and the language of persuasion

🔊 المعلّمة تقرأ لك
« Look around at any sporting event. » « So get yourself a Toshiba. Or you may get burned. » « Isn't it time to take refreshing holidays with us? » An advert does not only describe a product: it gives orders, asks questions, plays with words — and thinks about what you fear and what you want. How does an advert use the imperative and a few tricks of language to make you act?
🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:
  • استعمال صيغة الأمر ⁦(the imperative)⁩ للحثّ على الفعل ⁦(Look around · Get yourself …)⁩، ونفيها بـ ⁦don't⁩
  • التعرّف على وسائل الإقناع في الإشهار: مخاطبة القارئ، والسؤال البلاغيّ، والجمل القصيرة، والمقارنة، والتلاعب بالألفاظ ⁦(a pun)⁩
  • تحليل إعلان: لمن يتوجّه، وبأيّ رغبة أو خوف يلعب
  • كتابة إعلان سياحيّ قصير بشعار جذّاب
🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:
  • المصدر دون ⁦to⁩ ⁦(base form)⁩
  • صيغة التفضيل ⁦(safer than · more efficient than)⁩
  • الشرط من النوع الثاني ⁦(would · could + verb)⁩

1. Persuading — and the imperative

الإقناع أن تحمل غيرك على أن يوافقك أو يغيّر رأيه أو يفعل شيئا؛ وصيغة الأمر أقصر طريق إلى الفعل.

Persuading is one of the most common forms of writing and speaking. You use persuasion whenever you try to get someone to agree with you, to change their attitudes about something, or to take a certain action. In a persuasive piece of writing, you present your claims as skilfully as you can, thinking carefully about your readers: their expectations, fears, prejudices and beliefs. To push the reader to act, an advert often uses the imperative: the base form of the verb, with no subject — « Look around at any sporting event », « So get yourself a Toshiba », « Believe it or not ». In the negative, it takes don't: « Don't forget your camera ».

WITHOUT ADVERTISING, YOU COULDN'T AFFORD A FOOTBALL MATCH TICKET

Look around at any sporting event: football, baseball, soccer, auto racing. You'll see ads for the companies that sponsored the event. What you may not know is that these ads help pay the players' salaries. They pay for maintenance crews. And for the upkeep of the stadium. Without the revenue generated by advertising, this money would have to come from somewhere else. Like the cost of your ticket. Which could take the fun out of anybody's game.

Task 1 — A. Which verb gives an order to the reader? B. Find three short sentences without a main verb. C. How does the advert speak to the reader directly? D. What would happen without advertising?
استخرج من الإعلان : فعل الأمر، والجمل القصيرة بلا فعل رئيسيّ، ومخاطبة القارئ، وما سيحدث دون إشهار.
  • A. « Look around at any sporting event » — an imperative.
  • B. « And for the upkeep of the stadium. » · « Like the cost of your ticket. » · « Which could take the fun out of anybody's game. »
  • C. It says you: « What you may not know », « the cost of your ticket ».
  • D. The money « would have to come from somewhere else. Like the cost of your ticket »: without advertising, you couldn't afford a ticket.

Each device has a purpose. The imperative makes you look; the short sentences give one idea at a time; « you » and « your ticket » make the problem yours; and the end plays on a fear — losing the fun of the game.

Tricks of persuasion
DeviceExample
the imperativeLook around at any sporting event. · So get yourself a Toshiba.
speaking to the readerWhat you may not know … · the cost of your ticket
short sentences without a verbAnd more energy efficient. · Like the cost of your ticket.
a comparisonThat makes it safer than conventional cooktops.
a rhetorical questionIsn't it time to take refreshing holidays with us at fair prices?
a pun, a play on wordsOr you may get burned.
adjectives that promise pleasurethrilling activities · remarkable facilities · delicious meals
A persuasive text thinks of its readers: their expectations, fears, prejudices and beliefs.

2. The Toshiba advert: an order and a pun

إعلان ⁦Toshiba⁩ : أمر، ثمّ تهديد لطيف يلعب بمعنيين لعبارة واحدة.
An advert for an induction cooktop

Believe it or not, this cooktop is ready to boil water. All it needs is an iron or steel pot. It works by creating a magnetic field that heats the inside of the pot — instead of the cooking surface. That makes it safer than conventional cooktops. And more energy efficient. So get yourself a Toshiba. Or you may get burned. [Photo: a hand laid flat on the cooktop. Under it, the slogan:] The one thing Toshiba's new induction cooktop won't cook. In Touch with Tomorrow — TOSHIBA

Task 2 — A. The picture shows a surface which is ready to boil water, but the person's hand is not getting burned. Can you say why? B. The expression get burned is a pun, a play on words. Which two meanings does it convey: 1. be on fire · 2. be happy · 3. be proud · 4. regret?
لماذا لا تحترق اليد؟ وما المعنيان اللذان تحملهما العبارة؟
  • A. The cooktop works by creating a magnetic field that heats the inside of the pot — an iron or steel pot — instead of the cooking surface. A hand is not a pot: it does not heat.
  • B. 1 and 4. Get burned means be on fire — what happens with a conventional cooktop; and it means regret — what happens when you make the wrong choice. The advert says both at once: buy a Toshiba, or you will burn yourself, and regret it.

The slogan plays the same game: « The one thing Toshiba's new induction cooktop won't cook » is your hand.

Task 3 — In the Toshiba advert, find the imperative, the threat, the comparison and a sentence without a verb.
استخرج فعل الأمر، والتهديد، والمقارنة، وجملة بلا فعل.
  • The imperative: « So get yourself a Toshiba. »
  • The threat: « Or you may get burned. »
  • The comparison: « That makes it safer than conventional cooktops. »
  • A sentence without a verb: « And more energy efficient. »

3. The holiday brochure: questions and promises

الكتيّب السياحيّ : أسئلة يطرحها بدل القارئ ليجيب عنها، ووعود بالمتعة.
A holiday brochure

Isn't it time to take refreshing holidays with us at fair prices? A fortnight's holiday with us will be an experience you'll never forget. Every day you'll be able to choose from a wide range of thrilling activities: canoeing · rock climbing · wind-surfing · sailing · hiking. To introduce you to the joys of group-work, there will be one three-day camping expedition and two problem-solving activities. 'But this is my holiday! Aren't I allowed to relax?' Whenever you like you can choose to take a 'day off' and enjoy a relaxing game at some of the remarkable facilities at the residential centre: swimming pool · sauna · games room (billiards, darts, table tennis) · video · library. 'Won't it be just like the army: dormitories and canteen food?' Accommodation consists of comfortable double rooms, and our talented kitchen staff prepare memorable and delicious meals using the very best of the local produce. Adapted from Hugh Cory, Advanced Writing, Oxford, p. 94

Task 4 — The brochure asks three questions. Who is supposed to ask the last two — and why does the brochure ask them itself? Then find five adjectives that promise pleasure.
من يُفترض أن يطرح السؤالين الأخيرين؟ ولماذا يطرحهما الكتيّب بنفسه؟ استخرج خمس صفات تعد بالمتعة.

The first question speaks to the reader — « Isn't it time …? » — and he can only answer yes. The last two are the reader's own doubts: « But this is my holiday! Aren't I allowed to relax? » · « Won't it be just like the army …? » The brochure asks them first so that it can answer them at once: it thinks of the reader's fears. Adjectives: refreshing, thrilling, remarkable, comfortable, memorable, delicious, talented.

Do this alone, in writing. Write a holiday advert for your local travel agency, with the brochure as a model. In order to sell your holiday, include: an emphasis on low cost · a reference to the local culture · an appeal to the environment issue · a promise of enjoyment · a catchy slogan. Use at least three imperatives, one of them negative, and one rhetorical question. In class, the best advert wins a competition.
اكتب وحدك إعلانا سياحيّا لوكالة أسفار في منطقتك، فيه: سعر منخفض، وثقافة محلّيّة، وحماية البيئة، ووعد بالمتعة، وشعار جذّاب.
A model advert
إعلان نموذجيّ : أفعال الأمر بالخطّ الغليظ.

Djurdjura: breathe again! Tired of the noise of the city? Pack your bag and come to the mountains. Walk through cedar forests, taste the couscous and the olive oil of the villages, and sleep in a traditional house. Travel light, travel green: our trips leave no rubbish behind — only footprints. Three days for the price of two! Book now — and don't forget your camera. Your local travel agency — nature is waiting for you.

Check the model: a slogan; a rhetorical question; imperatives, one of them negative; low cost (three days for the price of two), the local culture (couscous, olive oil, a traditional house), the environment (no rubbish), and enjoyment.

In the exam, the language of persuasion appears in the reading — what does the writer want the reader to do, which device does he use? — and in the written expression, when you write an advert, a leaflet or a speech. Have three things ready: ① the imperative — the base form, no subject, and don't in the negative; ② the devices — speaking to the reader, a rhetorical question, a comparison, short sentences, positive adjectives, a slogan; ③ the reader's expectations and fears, which the text answers. The frequent mistake: a negative imperative without don't — ✗ « Not forget your camera » → ✓ « Don't forget your camera ».
What I keep — To persuade, I think of my readers — their expectations, fears, prejudices and beliefs — and I push them to act with the imperative: the base form of the verb, no subject (« Get yourself a Toshiba »), and don't in the negative. An advert adds its tricks: it speaks to « you », asks questions it answers itself, uses short sentences, comparisons, pleasant adjectives, and plays on words — « Or you may get burned ».

الصفحة 1/3

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