What does it mean when a speaker qualifies an opinion

It shows that the speaker is using an ad hominem attack.

Explanation:

A very common practice in discussions (especially those that arouse great passions) is to get away from the subject in question and to attack the person who is speaking. This is the so-called ad hominem attack fallacy.

The fallacy of the ad hominem argument can take the form of a direct attack on your opponent's personal characteristics, whether they are real or imagined. He intends to persuade you by listening to arguments that are flawed and out of context. This happens whenever the speaker tries to qualify an opinion.

the penalty for defying creon's decree is death, as can be seen in the tragedy. if you do obey him however, all is forgiven

you didn't provide the passage.

explanation:

seeing as this is your first question on i can see why you may have not known that you need to provide the passage.

without the passage, or even the name of the passage, we can not read the passage, therefore we can not determine when or how the pacing effects the tone.

however, you can either repost this question (providing the passage this time)

or you can comment below what the passage is, and i'll you to the best of my ability!