The Art of

Persuasion

Wha

t is

pers

uasio

n?

A means ofconvincing people:to buy a certain productto believe something

or act in a certain way

to agree with a point of view

Pers

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Adve

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The persuasive strategies used by advertisers who want you to buy their product can be divided into three categories: pathos, logos, and ethos.

Path

os

Pathos: an appeal to emotion.

An advertisement using pathos will

attempt to evoke an emotional

response in the consumer.

Sometimes, it is a positive emotion

such as happiness: an image of

people enjoying themselves while

drinking Pepsi. Other times,

advertisers will use negative

emotions such as pain: a person

having back problems after buying

the “wrong” mattress. Pathos can

also include emotions such as fear

and guilt: images of a starving

child persuade you to send money.

Logo

s

Logos: an appeal to logic or reason. An advertisement using

logos will give you the evidence and statistics you need to fully understand what the product does. The logos of

an advertisement will be the "straight facts" about

the product: One glass of Florida orange juice contains 75% of your daily

Vitamin C needs.

Etho

s

Ethos: an appeal to credibility or

character. An advertisement using ethos

will try to convince you that the

company is more reliable,

honest, and credible; therefore,

you should buy its product.

Ethos often involves statistics

from reliable experts, such as

nine out of ten dentists agree

that Crest is the better than any

other brand or Americas dieters

choose Lean Cuisine. Often, a

celebrity endorses a product to

lend it more credibility: Catherine Zeta-Jones makes us

want to switch to T-Mobile.

Practice labeling pathos, logos, and ethos by placing a P, L, or E in the blank :

_____ A child is shown covered in bug bites after using an inferior bug spray. _____ Tiger Woods

endorses Nike. _____ Sprite Zero is 100% sugar-free.

_____ A 32-oz. bottle of Tide holds enough to wash 32 loads.

_____ Cardiologists recommend Ecotrin more

than any other brand of aspirin. _____ Advil Liqui-Gels

provide up to 8 hours of continuous pain relief.

_____ Miley Cyrus appears in

Oreo advertisements. _____ People who need

more energy drink Red Bull Energy Drink.

_____ A magazine ad shows

people smiling while smoking cigarettes.

Prop

agan

da-

Defin

ition

PROPAGANDA – the use of

a variety of communication

techniques that create an

emotional appeal to accept

a particular belief or opinion, to adopt a certain

behavior or to perform a particular action. There is

some disagreement about

whether all persuasive communication is propagandistic or whether

the propaganda label can

only be applied to dishonest messages.

NAME CALLING – links a

person, or idea, to a negative symbol. Examples: commie, fascist, yuppie GLITTERING GENERALITIES – use of

virtue words; the opposite

of name calling, i.e., links

a person, or idea, to a positive symbol. Examples: democracy, patriotism, family

TRANSFER – a device by

which the propagandist links

the authority or prestige of

something well respected and

revered, such as church or

nation, to something he would

have us accept. Example: a

political activist closes her

speech with a prayer TESTIMONIAL – a public figure or a celebrity promotes

or endorses a product, a policy, or a political candidate.

Examples: an athlete appears

on the Wheaties box; an actor

speaks at a political rally

PLAIN FOLKS – attempt to convince the audience that a prominent person and his ideas

are “of the people.” Examples: a

prominent politician eats at McDonald’s; an actress is photographed shopping for groceries BANDWAGON – makes the

appeal that “everyone else is doing it, and so should you.” Examples: an ad states that “everyone is rushing down to their Ford dealer”

FEAR – plays on deep-seated fears; warns the audience that disaster will

result if they do not follow

a particular course of action. Example: an insurance company pamphlet includes pictures

of houses destroyed floods,

followed up by details about home-owners’ insurance.

Humor-use of humorous text, graphics, or imagesRepetition-repeating a color, symbol, graphic, word, or image for effect

Emotional Appeal-method of persuasion designed to create

an emotional response (also known as pathos)Rewards-providing or promising a gift or bonus

Loca

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Use a sheet of loose leaf or the back of your chart to identify the strategies used in the twenty print ads that follow this slide. Identify strategies such as bandwagon as well as the three major categories of logos, ethos, and pathos.

Persuasive Writing-Courtroom Analogy

Welcome to Mrs. Dooley’s courtroom. I am the judge, and you are a lawyer. Your topic is your client. You must prove that your “topic” is innocent. Your thesis is the focused, one sentence version of your client’s defense, the one statement on which your entire case will be built. Don’t forget that your thesis is the last sentence of your opening remarks (your introduction).

Everything must tie directly to your thesis, and you must support it with evidence. Each body paragraph will represent a different facet of your defense, and each paragraph must contain evidence (the cold, hard facts) and commentary (explanation of the evidence). Don’t forget your closing remarks to the jury (your conclusion). This is your last chance to prove your thesis and win the case for your client.

Courtroom Analogy

What is an argumentative essay?

The argumentative essay is a genre of writing that requires the student to investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish a position on the topic in a concise manner.

The structure of the argumentative essay is held together by the following:

• A clear, concise, and defined thesis statement that occurs in the first paragraph of the essay.

In the first paragraph of an argument essay, students should set the context by reviewing the topic in a general way. Next the author should explain why the topic is important or why readers should care about the issue. Lastly, students should present the thesis statement. It is essential that this thesis statement be appropriately narrowed.

• Clear and logical transitions between the introduction, body, and conclusion.

• Body paragraphs that include evidential support.

• Evidential support (whether factual, logical, statistical, or anecdotal). It is not the student’s job to point out how other positions are wrong outright, but rather to explain how other positions may not be well informed or up to date on the topic.

• Body paragraphs that include evidential support.

Each paragraph should be limited to the discussion of one general idea. This will allow for clarity and direction throughout the essay. It is important to note that each paragraph in the body must have some logical connection to the thesis statement. Some paragraphs will directly support the thesis statement with evidence collected during research. It is also important to explain how and why the evidence supports the thesis (commentary).

• A conclusion that does not simply restate the thesis, but readdresses it in light of the evidence provided.

This is the portion of the essay that will leave the most immediate impression on the mind of the reader. Therefore, it must be effective and logical. Do not introduce any new information into the conclusion; rather, synthesize the information presented in the body of the essay. Restate why the topic is important, review the main points, and review your thesis.

Scie

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Pers

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