Introduction to Persuasion

PERSUASION

•Convincing a targeted audience to support your views on an issue and/or to take action

 PERSUASIVE APPEALS

•A single piece of writing might use one, two, or all three of these.

•A balanced use of all three can strengthen an argument.

 Logical Appeal

•appeals to your mind/reasons are supported by evidence▫“If we reason to the root of things, we

shall find no…just cause …why we should punish in the one case and pardon in the other” (157)

▫“Those facts we do have” (McCarthy 407)

Emotional Appeal

•appeals to your heart/uses emotionally charged words▫“the blood of his children will curse his

cowardice who shrinks back at a time when [he] might have saved the whole” (Paine 157)

▫“our mothers…may well sorrow for the day of our birth” (McCarthy 407)

Ethical Appeal

•appeals to your sense of right and wrong/attempts to gain trust▫“…let me make it clear that in my

opinion no special credit is due those of us [fighting communism]; It is a task which we are obligated to perform” (McCarthy 407)

PERSUASIVE DEVICES

•Effective persuasion employs multiple devices

Restatement

•the same idea presented repeatedly, using different wording each time▫Paine refers to King George once as a

“thief,” a second time as a “highway man” (an 18th century thief)

Repetition

•certain words or phrases used repeatedly to call attention to an idea▫McCarthy, in a brief speech, says the

word “communism” 13+ times; he repeats the word “disaster” three times (McCarthy 406-408)

Parallel Structure

•a repetition of the same grammatical structure, to call attention to the ideas within the structure▫“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem

too lightly” (Paine 155)▫“I love the man that can smile in

trouble, that can gather strength from distress” (Paine 157)

Rhetorical Question

•a question used to call attention to and reinforce the obvious answer▫“Is it because we are less intelligent

than the Communists? Is it because we can’t match them in courage?” (McCarthy 408) (this is also parallel structure)

Allusion

•  a reference to a well-known person, place, or situation from history, literature, or the arts; used to draw a comparison or aid in understanding▫“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily

conquered” (Paine 155)▫“[In the fight against Communism],

you have been engaged in what may well be the final Armageddon” (McCarthy 406)

For Effective Persuasion, you must:

•Know your Audience•Avoid Bias

▫a strong, fixed, emotional view which leads you to use invalid techniques

•Acknowledge Opposing Views▫then state your argument against them

Effective Persuasion must NOT:

•Use overly emotional language•Get too personal

▫focus on issues, not individuals—no “name calling”

Evaluating Persuasion

•What are the writer’s views?•What is his purpose?•What persuasive techniques (appeals and

devices) does the writer use?•How valid or effective are those

techniques?•What is the overall effect on the

audience?

PRACTICE EXERCISE

•Identify the persuasive appeal or device evident in each of the following statements.

 

“Could this be a desirable condition for a young country to be in?” (Paine Crisis III)

Rhetorical Question

“Could this be a desirable condition for a young country to be in?” (Paine Crisis III)

“He who doubts of the former is a desponding coward, and he who willfully disturbs the latter is a traitor” (Paine Crisis III)

Pathos/Ethos/Parallel Structure

“He who doubts of the former is a desponding coward, and he who willfully disturbs the latter is a traitor” (Paine Crisis III)

“For the sake of they scarce know what, they would cut off every hope of such a blessing by tying this continent to Britain, like Hector to the chariot wheel of Achilles, to be dragged through all the miseries of endless European wars” (Paine Crisis III).

Allusion

“For the sake of they scarce know what, they would cut off every hope of such a blessing by tying this continent to Britain, like Hector to the chariot wheel of Achilles, to be dragged through all the miseries of endless European wars” (Paine Crisis III).

“On the whole, if the future expulsion of arms from one quarter of the world would be a desirable object to a peaceable man; if the freedom of trade to every part of it can engage the attention of a man of business; if the support or fall of millions of currency can affect our interests; if the entire possession of estates, by cutting off the lordly claims of Britain over the soil, deserves the regard of landed property; and if the right of making our own laws, uncontrolled by royal or ministerial spies or mandates, be worthy our care as freemen…” (Paine Crisis III)

Parallel Structure

“On the whole, if the future expulsion of arms from one quarter of the world would be a desirable object to a peaceable man; if the freedom of trade to every part of it can engage the attention of a man of business; if the support or fall of millions of currency can affect our interests; if the entire possession of estates, by cutting off the lordly claims of Britain over the soil, deserves the regard of landed property; and if the right of making our own laws, uncontrolled by royal or ministerial spies or mandates, be worthy our care as freemen…” (Paine Crisis III)

“Let us then, with courage and confidence, pursue our own federal and republican principles…inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man…” (Thomas Jefferson inaugural address)

 

Ethical Appeal (Ethos)

“Let us then, with courage and confidence, pursue our own federal and republican principles…inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man…” (Thomas Jefferson inaugural address)

 

“The aggregate number of representatives throughout the states is two thousand. Their personal influence will, therefore, be proportionately more extensive than that of the one or two hundred men in Congress” (Alexander Hamilton 1787 speech)

Logical Appeal (Logos)

“The aggregate number of representatives throughout the states is two thousand. Their personal influence will, therefore, be proportionately more extensive than that of the one or two hundred men in Congress” (Alexander Hamilton 1787 speech)

“It is He who impels the just man to hate the evil one. It is He who makes the mother’s heart beat with tenderness…It is He who covers nature with majesty…It is he who adorns beauty with majesty…” (Robespierre, French Revolutionist, contemporary of Jonathan Edwards)

Parallel Structure

“It is He who impels the just man to hate the evil one. It is He who makes the mother’s heart beat with tenderness…It is He who covers nature with majesty…It is he who adorns beauty with majesty…” (Robespierre, French Revolutionist, contemporary of Jonathan Edwards)

Thomas Brooks, Puritan Minister, in a sermon “exhorting young men to come to Christ,” uses the word “soul” 16 times within four paragraphs.

Repetition

Thomas Brooks, Puritan Minister, in a sermon “exhorting young men to come to Christ,” uses the word “soul” 16 times within four paragraphs.

What is more important than the administration of justice and the execution of the civil and criminal laws? (Hamilton)

Rhetorical Question

What is more important than the administration of justice and the execution of the civil and criminal laws? (Hamilton)

Hamilton says, “the state governments are essentially necessary…to the system.” He later says, “the states must be considered essential.” He then says, “the states can never lose their powers”

Restatement

Hamilton says, “the state governments are essentially necessary…to the system.” He later says, “the states must be considered essential.” He then says, “the states can never lose their powers”