Persuasive Appeals

1. Persuasive Appeals ENGLISH 11

2. Persuasion • Persuasion is presenting an argument • The goal of argument is to win acceptance of one's ideas. • Modern argumentation theory has roots in Greek and Roman thinking. • We judge evidence, investigate carefully, state ideas accurately, and listen critically.

3. Logos • Reason (logos) - support your general claims with concrete, specific data. • Reason which begins with specifics and moves toward a generalization is inductive.  Example:  Several clubs have reported difficulty completing their business during Flex time.  This proves that Cardinal time should be longer. • Reason which starts with a general observation and moves to specifics is deductive.Example:  When people hurry, inefficiency and poor communication are the results.  Under current conditions clubs must hurry at Flex time meetings.  Therefore, Cardinal time should be lengthened to allow for better club meetings.

4. Logos, cont • Use two or three different strong reasons to support your argument. • Support your reasons with evidence. • Facts - can be proven. • Expert opinions or quotations • Definitions - statement of meaning of word or phrase • Statistics - offer scientific support • Examples - powerful illustrations • Anecdote - incident, often based on writer's personal experiences • Present opposition - and give reasons and evidence to prove the opposition wrong • Conclude with call to action - urge the reader to do something

5. Ethos • Ethics (ethos) - convince your readers that you are fair, honest, and well informed.  They will then trust your values and intentions. • Avoid over-use of negatively charged loaded words.

6. Pathos • Emotion (pathos) - a carefully reasoned argument will be strengthened by an emotional appeal. • Use description or narrate an example, often from your own experience. • Your point of view is demonstrated in an emotional appeal, and is important to the reader. • Careful word choice presents your position accurately.

7. Diction • Choice and use of words in speech and writing • Diction affects tone! • For example: • To a friend "a screw-up" • To a child "a mistake" • To the police "an accident" • To an employer "an oversight"

8. Categories of Persuasive Communication • The persuasive communicator has a responsibility to present accurate and timely evidence to support his or her arguments.  The ethical responsibility of the communicator to present evidence in an accurate manner is essential to quality argumentation. • These communications can be divided into three categories: • Fact • Value • Policy

9. Questions of Fact • Questions of fact: This argument deals with things that have already happened, are occurring now, or will happen in the future and reasons for such occurrences. • Example:  Use of passive restraint devices will save thousands of lives over the next ten years.

10. Questions of Value • Questions of value:  This argument addresses the morality of an issue and calls for a judgment to be made: right/ wrong, good / bad, proper / improper. • Example: The United States has a moral responsibility to protect human rights around the world.

11. Questions of Policy • Question of policy: This argument advocates a plan of action to be taken and will include both fact and value in addition to a plan of action. • Example: The United States will support with human resources and financial aid all United Nations sponsored human rights programs.

12. Circular Reasoning • Also called “begging the question” • A fallacy in which the premise includes the claim that the conclusion is true or (directly or indirectly) assumes that the conclusion is true. • For example: • Interviewer: "Your resume looks impressive but I need another reference." Bill: "Jill can give me a good reference." Interviewer: "Good. But how do I know that Jill is trustworthy?" Bill: "Certainly. I can vouch for her."

14. Either/Or Fallacy • An either/or fallacy occurs when a speaker makes a claim (usually a premise in an otherwise valid deductive argument) that presents an artificial range of choices.  For instance, he may suggest that there are only two choices possible, when three or more really exist.  • These types of arguments falls because the audience is not given a fair choice – there exist many alternate (and often more desirable) choices that are never offered to the listener for consideration.  Isn’t Switzerland a neutral country?  (Yes.)  So, are they “for” or “against” the United States?  Do you love every part of your best friend’s personality?  Does that mean that you too are “for” or “against” this person?

15. Oversimplification • This fallacy occurs when a series of actual causes are reduced to the point where there is no longer a genuine connection between the cause and effect. • Often a result of trying not to bog a reader down with too many details, but oversimplification can lead you down bad roads. • For example, • School violence has gone up and academic performance has gone down ever since racial segregation was banned. Therefore, segregation should be reintroduced, resulting in school improvement.

16. Overgeneralization • Statements so general they ignore or over simplify reality • This fallacy is very similar to oversimplification in that facts often must be overlooked in order to get to this point. For example, “All citizen support their country in time of crisis.” Oh, really, what about our friendly, neighborhood anarchist over there? • Or example, #2: All birds can fly.

17. False Cause • Non Causa Pro Causa • A does not necessarily mean B • This fallacy attributes a cause and effect relationship when none is proven to exist. It’s dark now, which means it’s dangerous.

18. Hasty Generalization • This is the fallacy of generalizing about a population based upon a sample which is too small to be representative.