ABSTRACT
Language, said Kenneth Burke, does our thinking for us. In challenging our normal understandings of the language - thought - reality relationship, Burke was not alone. The basic tools of verbal communication are names, classifications, definitions, descriptions, comparisons, and contrasts. The philosopher John L. Austin recognized that language can be used, in certain circumstances, to perform actions. He termed this the illocutionary force of language. Language is most often used to play up the positives and play down the negatives. One of the more influential scholars working with the Council was Hugh Rank, a member of the council's Committee on Public Doublespeak, who identified repetition, association, and composition as key components of intensifying, and omission, diversion, and confusion as key components of downplaying. The arrangement of words in a print advertisement and the organization of ideas in a speech are examples of composition. One way of thinking about persuasion is as an art of the sayable.
