1. The Informal Essay Also known as the “familiar” or “personal” essay.

2. There are several different types of Informal essays:  Descriptive (to simply describe something)  Expository (to explain or clarify something)  Narrative (to tell a personal story)  Argumentative (to affect someone’s way of thinking by basing an argument on logic)  Persuasive (to affect someone’s way of thinking by basing an argument on emotion)

3. The author’s personality and personal opinions on a given subject are revealed through the use of the first person “I”. “It is curious, but till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man. When I saw the prisoner step aside to avoid the puddle, I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full tide.” Orwell, A Hanging

4. The author usually treats the reader as a “friend” by employing an intimate, lighter tone. Often, the author will use dialogue and colloquial language. “You are a gentleman?' 'I suppose so,' I said. He gave me another long look. 'Well, that's bloody bad luck, guv'nor,' he said, 'that's bloody bad luck, that is.' And thereafter he took it into his head to treat me with compassion, even with a kind of respect.” Orwell, The Spike

5. The purpose of an informal essay, aside from being entertaining, is to persuade or provoke thought on either a trivial or weighty matter. “I think that by retaining one's childhood love of such things as trees, fishes, butterflies and–to return to my first instance–toads, one makes a peaceful and decent future a little more probable, and that by preaching the doctrine that nothing is to be admired except steel and concrete, one merely makes it a little surer that human beings will have no outlet for their surplus energy except in hatred and leader worship.” Orwell, Some Thoughts on the Common Toad

6.  There is no prescribed length for an informal essay, and the author is free to write on any subject, as long as the essay centers on one idea or focus.  Although the structure can be more loose, there should still be some type of introduction, use of paragraphs, and a conclusion  There should always be some kind of thesis, but unlike a formal essay, the point of the informal essay most often comes at the end.

7. The use of rhetorical devices is absolutely necessary to the informal essay; these devices make it interesting to read, and help to engage the reader. “In the bed beyond that, a veteran of the war of 1870 was dying, a handsome old man with a white imperial, round whose bed, at all hours when visiting was allowed, four elderly female relatives dressed all in black sat exactly like crows, obviously scheming for some pitiful legacy.” Orwell, How The Poor Die

8. Classical Rhetoric Aristotle and Cicero, two master rhetoricians, would tell you that the ideal form of argument was through the use of reason (logos). They did, however, recognize two additional techniques: the appeal to character (ethos) and the appeal to emotion (pathos).

9. Logos: The Appeal to Reason Most people believe themselves to be reasonable, so appealing to a person’s logic is a very effective means of convincing them to change their way of thinking. “Meanwhile, what is the actual amount that the British public spends on books? I cannot discover any figures, though no doubt they exist. But I do know that before the war this country was publishing annually about 15,000 books, which included reprints and school books. If as many as 10,000 copies of each book were sold–and even allowing for the school books, this is probably a high estimate-the average person was only buying, directly or indirectly, about three books a year. These three books taken together might cost £1, or probably less.” Orwell, Books Vs. Cigarettes

10. Ethos: The Appeal To Character We all share certain ideas about what is just and fair. By appealing to your audience’s sense of what is morally right, you can create a powerful persuasive device. “The point is that you have here a direct, unmistakable assault on sanity and decency; and even–since some of Dali's pictures would tend to poison the imagination like a pornographic postcard–on life itself. What Dali has done and what he has imagined is debatable, but in his outlook, his character, the bedrock decency of a human being does not exist. He is as anti-social as a flea. Clearly, such people are undesirable, and a society in which they can flourish has something wrong with it.” Orwell, Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali

11. Pathos: The Appeal To Emotion While writers should always use emotional appeals with care, persuasion does often succeed by the careful and considered use of emotion. “As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me. They do not feel any enmity against me as an individual, nor I against them. They are 'only doing their duty', as the saying goes. Most of them, I have no doubt, are kind-hearted law-abiding men who would never dream of committing murder in private life. On the other hand, if one of them succeeds in blowing me to pieces with a well-placed bomb, he will never sleep any the worse for it. He is serving his country, which has the power to absolve him from evil.” Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn

12. Task: Now, try your hand at the art of argument and persuasion. Find a partner. One of you is a banana seller, and the other, an unwilling customer. It’s the banana seller’s job to convince the customer to buy the bananas using logos, ethos, pathos, or a combination of the three. Write a short script, which you will perform for the class. It’s the job of the class to determine what techniques you used effectively!