persuasive Approximately 2300 years ago Aristotle wrote down

persuasive

Approximately 2300 years ago, Aristotle wrote down the secret to being a persuasive speaker or writer, the secret which forms the basis for nearly every public speaking and book / speech written since then. 384 -322 BCE.

What is Rhetoric? Rhetoric - the art of persuasion. According to Aristotle rhetoric is “the ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion. ” He described three forms of rhetoric: Ethos, Pathos and Logos.

Ethos (speaker) Pathos Logos (audience) (message) The Rhetorical Triangle

Ethos The source’s credibility, the speaker’s/author’s authority • Ethos is a Greek word which is related to the English word ethics and refers to the character and trustworthiness of the speaker/writer.

Different aspects to credibility • • • Author's profession/ background Respect Good character Reputation Trustworthy Authority on the topic

Methods for Ethos • Language appropriate to audience • Appropriate level of vocabulary • • Correct grammar Demonstrate an expertise about the topic/ establish your credibility about the subject

Examples • • • When Michael Jordan became the spokesperson for Nike, it was an ethical appeal because it implied that if a person wore that sneaker, they could be as good an athlete as Michael Jordan. Use of the "seals of approval" like when cars are endorsed by JD Powers and Associates. When a trusted doctor gives you advice, you may not understand all of the medical reasoning behind the advice, but you nonetheless follow the directions because you believe that the doctor knows what s/he is talking about.

Pathos Emotional connection to the audience • • • Pathos is related to the words suffering and experience. Sympathy and empathy. Appeals to the reader or listener’s emotions

Pathos is the quality of a persuasive presentation which appeals to the emotions of the audience/ readers. • • • Do the words evoke feeling of. . . love? . . . sympathy? . . . fear? Do visuals evoke feelings of compassion? . . . envy? Does the characterization of the competition evoke feelings of hate? . . . contempt?

Methods of Pathos • • Anecdote: personal examples/ stories or telling a short story that will make the reader connect to the subject. Parallelism: the repetition of words, phrases, or sentences that have the same structure or a similar idea-it makes lines rhythmic, memorable, and heightens the emotional effect. Rhetorical question: Asking the reader a question, without expecting them to answer you back. It is simply made to get the reader/ listener to think or evoke an emotion. Figurative Language: Descriptive, paints a picture in the reader’s mind (simile, metaphor, personification, assonance, and alliteration) Emotional tone: The speaker uses words and pronounces them with the correct emotion e. g. humor Creating unity among an audience: To make the audience feel like they are united and have a common cause or belief Making the problem current and relevant: Even if something occurred in the past, the writer/speaker is able to make the audience feel as if that problem is important today.

Examples • • • "I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. " I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. August 28 th, 1963. If you speak about gang violence, you might plainly state that “We have a problem in our city…” On the other hand, you might say “We have a cancer in our city…” The latter analogy draws on your audience’s pre-existing feelings about cancer, and makes them want to eradicate the cause! Buy a Mac : I was having a conversation with someone who is about to buy a Mac. I was against it and an argument started. I said, ” there were few people supporting the Mac. ” He responded, "When was the last time you heard of a virus on a Mac? " And I said "See, even people who write viruses don't support Mac’s. "

Logos Logical argument • • • The Greek word logos is the basis for the English word logic. Logos refers to any attempt to appeal to the intellect, the general meaning of "logical argument. " Appeals to common sense.

Logical argument • • Based on facts and evidence Statistics Persuading by the use of reasoning. An effective and persuasive reason that supports your ideas

Methods of Logos • • • Case Studies: Examples from research -Government studies show that collecting and using recycled materials saves energy. Examples: Specific information about a general idea -For example, recycling could help save some of the fifty thousand trees that are sacrificed every week to produce Sunday newspapers in the U. S. Expert opinions: Statements made by a specific authority on a subject -Platt of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance states, “Studies have concluded that recycling costs less than traditional trash collection and disposal. ” Facts: Statements that can be proven true; such as, statistics or numerical information -Garbage usually goes into landfills. Of the garbage produced every year in the U. S. , 42% is paper. Counterargument: to prove something false or someone to be in error through logical argument or by providing evidence to prove it wrong.

Examples • • • An everyday example of an appeal to logos is the argument that Lady Gaga was more popular than Justin Bieber in 2011 because Gaga's fan pages collected ten million more Facebook fans than Bieber's. One of the example of an argument that relies on logos is the argument that smoking is harmful based on the evidence that "Cigarette smoke contains over 4, 800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. " Garbage usually goes into landfills. Of the garbage produced each year in the U. S. , 42% is paper.