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by Stephen E. Smith**
“The choice of appropriate and striking words has a marvellous power and an enthralling charm for the reader.”[1]
Persuasion can spring from many fonts: a sound argument, a sympathetic set of facts, even the good grooming of an oral advocate.[2] In writing a legal brief, word choice is an important persuasion tool. Through word choice, legal writers may characterize a party’s behavior, clarify a scene, or recast an interaction. For example, it is very different to describe an utterance as “offering a choice,” or “issuing an ultimatum.”
Continue reading “A Rhetorical Exercise: Persuasive Word Choice*”