The Art of Persuasion

Introduction How do you persuade your parents to let you go to an activity they do not approve of? How do you convince a friend to join you for a movie they don’t really feel like seeing? How do you convince Mr. Johnson/ Ms. Romo to give you more time on an assignment? Ms. Blea?

Analysis In the previous questions, did you use the same or different methods of persuasion? Why? What was different about each situation? That’s right; you had a different audience.

Audience Why do you need to know the audience? Knowing your audience is one part of persuasion. Why do you need to know the audience? Knowing the audience will help you decide the tone select appropriate vocabulary select the best possible supporting evidence

Audience is only one of traits in the acronym SOAPS Audience is only one of traits in the acronym SOAPS. SOAPS should be considered while preparing any presentation. Subject – the topic you are addressing Occasion – what prompted the speech or essay besides being assigned Audience – to whom you are addressing the piece Purpose – in this case to persuade Speaker – who is presenting the information (Are you writing as a student? As a citizen of the U.S.? Etc.)

Methods of writing Use SOAPS to help you decide which way to address your audience. Formally Informally Or in familiar speech

What next? Using SOAPS will also help you decide on the best rhetorical approach. Definition of rhetoric as defined by Merriam Webster’s online dictionary: the art or skill of speaking or writing formally and effectively especially as a way to persuade or influence people

Rhetorical Styles There are three main rhetorical styles Pathos – an appeal to emotion Ethos – an appeal to the credibility of the writer / speaker Logos – an appeal to logic

Pathos Uses emotion to get the reader to respond Ex. Senator X has no sense of patriotism since s/he wants to cut back on military spending. The author is trying to upset the reader into agreement against voting for Senator X.

Ethos Emphasis is placed on why a person should believe the writer/speaker. Ex. 4 out of 5 doctors agree on X brand medicine. Since they are doctors, they want you to feel you should agree with them since they know medicine. Beware of this one – there may be fallacies afoot. Can you see the possible fallacy here? That’s right – it does not say what type of doctor to whom they are referring.

Logos This is the strongest of the appeals overall because it is based on logic. (This does not mean that it is the most influential, but rather that it is the most solid.) Ex. All cats are mammals. Fluffy is a cat. Therefore, Fluffy is a mammal.

Uses So when might each appeal be used? Actually, you need to consider each of the three for any argument. You will probably focus on one main style, but all three need to be considered and there is usually a mixing of at least two. The one you should focus on for essays for English, however, is LOGOS.

Other techniques Some techniques are better than others. In fact, some methods while flawed are still often used. The fallacies of thinking are often used, but a fallacy is an often plausible argument that uses false or invalid inferences. They can be persuasive, but you should not fall victim to these ploys. . . .