The next part which the nce teacher asks us to read is Paragraph 9 to the end of this article, talking about the six basic techniques. From the subtitles, I get what are the six basic techniques—the weasel claim, the ‘water is wet’ claim, the ‘so what’ claim, the scientific or statistical claim, the ‘compliment the consumer’ claim, and the rhetorical question. The each introduction uses the same form with the explanation and examples. Now, I begin to read this part with some curiosity.
In Paragraph 9, I am interested about the special structure—‘egg-eating’. I can easily find it is the form of ‘noun—verb+ing’. It is used as an adjective and means ‘eat eggs’. Maybe the author uses this form to avoiding having two predicates in this sentence. It is wealth learning. The next sentence puzzles me again about the relation between ‘appear’ and ‘intact’. As we know, ‘appear’ is a verb and the latter is an adjective. The ‘intact’, I think, should be changed to ‘intactly’, in that the modifier of verb should be an adverb not an adjective. Does the author make a mistake? The sentence ‘Words or claims that appear substantial at first glance but…are weasels.’ is challenging to analyze the structure because of some verbs. After I read it again and again, I find the main sentence is ‘Words or claims are weasels’, and ‘appear substantial’ and ‘meaninglessness’ are the modifiers of ‘words and claims’. Then the author cites some examples in order to understanding easily for reads.
In the next paragraph, I know what the characteristic of this technique roughly from the subtitle. Obviously, water is included the wet things. The AdMan introduces the common characteristics of products. This paragraph is easily understood through using some simple words and grammar.
In Paragraph 11, I think the word ‘saying’ should be changed to ‘asking’ so that it is more exact after the question ‘So what?’ I feel interested when I see the word ‘except’ in the eleventh paragraph. What is its feature? It mustn’t be the preposition before ‘that’. Of course, it shouldn’t be a verb in this sentence structure. Then I guess it is similar to a conjunction. Moreover, what the author want to compare with the Geritol? After I analyze this part, it is the ordinary supplements. That is to say, the complete question is ‘But is it twice as beneficial to the body as ordinary supplements’
The scientific or statistical claim is a good way using numbers to justify that their products are really good. Using some scientific number is an efficient way not only in the advertisement but also in other areas, such as some theories. Meanwhile, I find the adman do not only use a technique in an advertisement from the first example using the scientific claim and weasel claim in Paragraph 12.
In the thirteenth paragraph, the author uses a few words to introduce this kind of claim, but I can understand what is the ‘compliment the consumer’ clearly. The last example of this paragraph is very attractive. We must pay attention to the word ‘taste’. Here, it is a noun, not a verb. It refers to a person’s ability to judge and appreciate what is good and suitable, especially in art, beauty, style, and manners.
In the fourteenth paragraph, the writer also uses few words to show the rhetorical question. In the second example of it, the adman uses two ‘most’ so as to emphasize features of the product. Maybe, it is a way to draw customers’ attention.
Now, I have immunity to advertising after I understand the six basic techniques.
