Which of the following phrases from an excerpt is most likely to serve as an emotional appeal to the reader?

• A. I was overwhelmed with grief when I heard the news.
• B. The report was published on Monday morning.
• C. The author describes the methodology in detail.
• D. The experiment yielded statistically significant results.

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand what an emotional appeal is in psychology and communication. An emotional appeal aims to evoke feelings in the reader or audience, such as sadness, happiness, fear, or empathy, to influence their response.
2. Step 2: Analyze each phrase to identify if it contains language that expresses or evokes emotions. Look for words that describe feelings or emotional states.
3. Step 3: Examine the phrase 'I was overwhelmed with grief when I heard the news.' This phrase explicitly mentions the emotion 'grief' and the feeling of being 'overwhelmed,' which are strong emotional expressions.
4. Step 4: Compare this to the other phrases: 'The report was published on Monday morning,' 'The author describes the methodology in detail,' and 'The experiment yielded statistically significant results.' These are factual statements without emotional language.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the phrase containing emotional language ('I was overwhelmed with grief when I heard the news.') is most likely to serve as an emotional appeal to the reader.