The author states, “While this country cannot dictate to the government of Singapore, no one should fail to exhort it to behave mercifully.” Both dictate and exhort have to do with telling another person or group what to do. What shades of meaning distinguish the two words as used in this sentence? Look the words up in a dictionary if you need to clarify their meanings.

SIMPLIFIED: Both dictate and exhort are about telling someone what to do. How are the words different, especially thinking about how they're used in this sentence? Use a dictionary or the internet to see the exact definitions, and then discuss how the two different meanings are important here.

TIPS:

What does dictate mean? What does exhort mean? Reread each sentence, substituting the definition for each word.

Why can’t we dictate the behavior of another government? What obligation might we have to “exhort” it to behave decently?