Part I: Understanding Argument

Persuasive Appeals

Objective
You will take Cornell notes over arguments, evidence, and appeals in order to understand persuasion in print and media.

The Art of Persuasion

Persuasive arguments surround you everyday. Television commercials Print ads in magazines Ads in movies and videos Ads on Facebook Blogs/ editorials/ radio Websites

The Art of Persuasion

Can you think of other sources? Your parents Your friends Teachers Celebrities

The Art of Persuasion

It is IMPERATIVE that you learn to read argumentsunderstanding how they are formedso that you can make important decisions using your own mind!

Effective Persuasion: Repetition

Saying the same thing numerous times

Effective Persuasion: Parallelism

The use of identical or equivalent syntactic (sentence style) constructions in corresponding clauses or phrases. Example: government of the people, by the people, and for the people

Effective Persuasion:
Strong Diction and Word Connotation
The use of good, strong words

Effective Persuasion: Evidence

Evidence is used to prove points.
Facts Opinions Commonplace assertions

What is a fact?
a statement that can be proven with supporting information

FACTS

OPINION
what a person believeshis/her own personal view; cannot be proven

OPINION

Evidence
Facts and opinions are easy to spot, but often, writers and advertisers (and even our friends and families) use arguments that are based on another type of evidence that is a little trickier Commonplace Assertions

Evidence
Lets break this idea down: 1. Commonplace If something is commonplace, it is commonly accepted by people. In other words, most people believe it. 2. Assertion An assertion is something you declare, or state as truth, often without proof, however.

COMMONPLACE ASSERTION
So, a commonplace assertion is: a statement that people might accept as true, but which is not necessarily a proven fact

COMMONPLACE ASSERTION

Kids never sit still long enough to dry off.

COMMONPLACE ASSERTION

Kids never sit still long enough to dry off.

Do most people believe this? Yes. Is it a proven fact? No.

Commonplace Assertions
Other examples of commonplace assertions: Most people want pets. Everyone loves puppies. There is not a man alive who believes that_______ is a good thing for our country.

Commonplace Assertions
Commonplace assertions use general words like:
Most Everyone Never Always

Lets review
What are the three types of evidence? (Turn and talk.)

Now consider
What type of evidence makes the strongest argument? Why?

Part II: Blurring the Evidence

Persuasive Appeals and Rhetorical Fallacies

What writers do
Good writers (and arguers) understand how to use evidence to persuade. This is done through devices we have already studied (e.g., repetition, parallelism, strong diction and imagery) as well as through two new ways we are about to study:
persuasive appeals rhetorical fallacies

Persuasive Appeals
Logical Appeals (logos)
Appeal to the head, not the heart Rely on facts, logic, hard evidence

Logical Appeals
Notice the reliance on facts and logic. This appeals to the brain.

Persuasive Appeals
Emotional Appeals (pathos)
Appeal to the heart, the emotions Make the reader care about something

Emotional Appeals
Notice the focus on emotional reaction. This ad plays off of a fear of death and a love of family.

Persuasive Appeals
Ethical Appeals (ethos)
Appeal to the sense of belief in something Rely on experience of speaker/source, their expertise Rely on belief that source has the good of the audience at heart

Ethical Appeals
Notice the reliance on expertise, which screams This is why you should trust me. I have your pets best interests at heart! After sixty years of research at the Waltham Center, we guarantee outstanding performance

Most arguments (including ads) combine several different types of appeals.

Lets look at an example.

What types of appeals are these?

Emotional

Ethical

Logical Ethical Logical

Which type of appeal do you think is most effective? Why?

Which type of appeal do you think is used most often in advertising? Why?

One more thing

Writers/arguers often use one last trick to persuade. It is called

RHETORICAL FALLACY

Rhetorical Fallacies
Misleading (sometimes false) statements that appeal to emotion, ethics, or authority
Create errors in reasoning Meant to distract the audience Generally offered instead of factual evidence Can be VERY persuasive

Examples of Rhetorical Fallacies

Loaded terms Leading questions Incorrect premises False assumptions Caricature

Loaded Terms words or phrases that cause strong emotions

Same magazine two different women Both were accused of murder. The one on the left was acquitted. The one on the right was found guilty, but the conviction was later overturned. Look closely at the covers. The magazine is trying to persuade you of its opinion of the two women. They are using loaded terms and loaded pictures.

Loaded Terms words or phrases that cause strong emotions

Which woman is presented favorably? Which words are loaded terms persuading you to feel badly for her? How is her picture more favorable (loaded visual)? Now do the same for the other. Which terms are loaded? How is the picture also more negative?

Loaded Terms words or phrases that cause strong emotions

Do you see how easy it is for media to manipulate your feelings? We are NOT commenting on either casejust noticing how the media can cause us to feel one way or another very easily.

Leading question a question in which the questioner suggests the answer he/she is seeking
What could make a body happier? The advertiser doesnt want an answer. He/she is leading you to the answer his/her product!

Leading questions
Other examples:
Will you support us by voting yes on this proposition? The light was green when you went through the intersection, right? Is this really what you want? (emphasis on really, sarcasm in the tone)

Incorrect Premise a false statement False Assumption a false idea offered without proof
Obviously this statement is false. No matter how great the gas mileage is, the driver will still have to stop for gas!

Caricature a persuasive technique in which

features, beliefs, or actions are exaggerated to make them easier to attack or emphasize for humor
This is an example of caricature designed to draw attention to the behavior of extreme coupon clippers so that people will watch the reality show about them. According to this ad, this woman is literally buried in coupons.

Caricature
Other examples:
Political ads which exaggerate a weakness (or strength) of a candidate An editorial referring to people who care about the environment as tree-huggers who wander around forests all day Most political cartoons

The Main Point

In other words, WHY does any of this matter?

Purpose
Why would a writer/speaker/arguer use a rhetorical fallacy?
TURN AND TALK

Purpose
Why would a writer/speaker/arguer use a persuasive appeal or rhetorical fallacy?
Persuasive appeals and rhetorical fallacies are meant to make a person believe whatever the speaker wants him/her to believe; sometimes that purpose is to mislead. ALWAYS, THE PURPOSE IS PERSUASION!

Purpose
Why is this important to you as a reader?

Why is this important to you as a writer?

DISCUSS.

Main Points
Persuasive texts blend evidence (fact, opinion, commonplace assumptions) and persuasive appeals (logical, emotional, and ethical) in an effort to persuade you to believe or do something. Some texts use rhetorical fallacies in an attempt to persuade.

Main Points
It is important to examine the evidence presented and know what type of appeal a writer is using so that you can make reasonable decisions about the argument. Understanding appeals and evidence will help you to know when you are being manipulated.

Main Points
Understanding appeals and evidence will also help you to argue more effectively when you are trying to convince someone of something. Persuasion is around you everyday, everywhere. Know how to read it critically!