Persuasion 2012

• Write about a time you purchased something as a result of seeing a television commercial or magazine ad.

• What did you purchase?

• What persuaded you to make this purchase?

• Did the product work like the advertisement said it would work?

• Were you happy with your purchase?

• Did you encourage others to make the same purchase? Why or why not?

Persuasion

What is Persuasion?

Persuasion is a type of writing designed to change the way a reader or listener thinks or acts.

Persuasive writing can be found in…..

Speeches….

newspaper editorials…

Essays…

Articles…

And Advertisements…

A sound persuasive argument consists of:

a clearly stated opinionrelevant reasons for that opinionevidence that supports each reason

Evidence may take the form of facts, statistics, examples, anecdotes, and expert testimony.

Much persuasion also includes

a call to action

Types of Persuasive Appeals

Logical appeals – Logos*

Emotional appeals-Pathos

Ethical appeals - Ethos

Logical appeals focus on facts in order to persuade the audience’s brain that the writer’s opinion is correct.

Spaying Fluffy will prevent her from getting certain types of cancer.

Emotional appeals attempt to persuade the audience’s heart of the writer’s opinion.

If Fluffy is spayed, she will be a healthier, happier companion.

Ethical appeals target the audience’s sense of duty or of

right and wrong.Preventing unwanted litters is everyone’s responsibility.

Persuasive TechniquesPersuasive techniques, also called

propaganda techniques,

often appeal to the audience’s

emotions or ethics.

Such techniques include…

Do’sloaded words glittering generalitiesbandwagon appealstestimonials

Loaded words carry strong emotional associations.

Southside’s volleyball team won theState tournament, pulverizingRogers in the final game.

Glittering generalities are a kind of loaded words. These overwhelmingly positive statements ignore any evidence to the contrary.

Grey’s Anatomy is unquestionably the best

television series ever to air.

Bandwagon appeals imply that “everyone” agrees with

the writer’s opinion and warn readers or listeners not to be

left out by disagreeing or failing to act.

Clearly, no one opposes recycling.

Testimonials are endorsements by well-known

people or by people with whom the audience identifies.

After Southside won the State Championship football game, what the team wanted most was a Big Mac from McDonald’s.

Faulty Arguments• Circular Reasoning

• Hasty generalization

• Name Calling

• Either-or reasoning

• False Cause and Effect

Circular reasoning occurs when the reason for an opinion is simply the opinion stated in different words.

Jon Bon Jovi is the best singer in the world because he’s so talented and good at whathe does.

A hasty generalization is a statement based on insufficient evidence.

A student driver struck a post last week; if we allow teens to drive, accidents will increase tenfold.

Name –Calling occurs when a writer attacks a person who holds an opposing view rather than attacking the view itself.

People who think teens should not drive are cowards who hate freedom.

Either-or reasoning occurs when a writer describes a situation as though there were only two choices when in fact there may be several options.

If you love cats, you obviously hate dogs.

False cause and effect occurs when a writer asserts that because one event follows another, the first event must have caused the second. Wearing the new uniforms, our basketball team lost; therefore, we must return to wearing the old uniforms immediately!

Know Your Audience!

Deductive Reasoning

• Thesis/Purposes is stated at the beginning followed by support.

Inductive Reasoning

• Speaker presents arguments and reasons and states thesis/purpose later

Task

• Teams will create a new product to market to the class.

• Name the product• Tell what the product does• Why do consumers need this product?• Use the appeals learned in this presentation to

persuade the class to buy YOUR product!