The Art of Persuasion

* * * * *How to write persuasive essays

* * * * *

Prewriting

Choose an issue

State Your Position

Consider your Purpose and Audience

Support Your Opinion

Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical devices are the vehicle that will allow one to communicate one’s perspective on an issue and demonstrate why one’s opinion is the correct one

Types of Appeals

Logical Appeals (Logos)

Emotional Appeals (Pathos)

Ethical Appeals (Ethos)

Types of Appeals

Logical Appeals: Speak to readers’ minds. They rely on reason and good common sense.

Types of Appeals

Emotional Appeals: Speak to readers’ emotions, such as sympathy, fear, and hope

Types of Appeals

Ethical Appeals: Speaks to the readers’ ethics or moral values; They call upon widely held beliefs such as honesty and fairness.

Other Rhetorical Devices

* * * * * *• Repetition

• Parallelism

• Rhetorical questions

• Argument by analogy

* * * * * *

RepetitionThe repeated use of a word, phrase, or clause more than once for emphasis

ParallelismThe repetition of the same grammatical form to express equal, or parallel, ideas. A noun is paired with a noun, a phrase with a phrase, a clause with a clause, and so on.

Rhetorical questions

Questions that are not meant to be answered but are asked for effect.

Argument by analogy

Draws a parallel between basically dissimilar events or situations.

Types of Evidence

Facts: Provable information; can be statistical data

Examples: Specific instances of a situation

Types of Evidence

Expert Opinions: Statements by individuals who are considered experts on the issue in question

Analogies: Comparisons that show similarities between two unrelated ideas

Types of Evidence

Case studies: Studies based on scientific methodology

Anecdotes: brief, personal stories that make a point

Danger!

Danger!

Danger!

Logical FallaciesAvoid these at all cost…

Overgeneralization

Based on too little evidence or evidence that ignores exceptions.

Ex. Adults just want to deny teenagers their rights. Otherwise, the curfew law would not have been approved.

False causalityAssumes one event caused another because one happened before the other.

Ex. Councilman Jay Jones proposed the curfewafter his store was robbed. The robbery is the reasonhe proposed it.

False AnalogyDraws an invalid conclusion from a comparison that is weak or unreasonable.

Ex. The city council understands modern teenagers about as well as most people understand the theory of relativity.

Red herringSomething that takes a listener’s attention away from the real issue or point.

Ex. The curfew law is the city council’s attempt to usurp parents’ authority.

Attack ad hominem

Attacking the person associated with the issue instead of the issue itself.

Ex. Councilman Lee, who supports the curfew, is well known for his dislike of children in general and teenagers in particular.

Bandwagon Effect

Encourages listeners to act or think a certain way because everyone else is.

Ex. The student council, the cheerleaders and the football team are against the curfew. You should be also.

Here’s what you do…

In your introduction-• Grab your readers attention

• Give background information

• Include a clear thesis statement

Here’s what you do…

In your body…• Support your position with 3 reasons and

2 pieces of evidence for each reason

• Use rhetorical devices to shape your support

• Organize reasons and evidence on the basis of relative strength

• Offer and refute counter arguments

Here’s what you do…

In your conclusion-• Restate your thesis

• Consider providing a summary of your reasons

• Call readers to action by telling them what they can do to impact the situation

Resource

Holt Elements of Literature, Fourth Course.

Page 342-349

Now that you know what to

do…

…I expect you to dazzle me. Good luck.