Persuasion

People use persuasive language to ________.

• teach someone how to do something

• convince someone to act or agree

• encourage someone who's feeling down

• paint a picture with words

Which of the following would be the strongest argument to persuade you to buy a new video game:

• The video game is expensive.

• The video game is almost as fun as the ones you have.

• The video game has OK graphics.

• The video game won an award for Game of the Year.

Read the passage below. What is the child trying to do?

Hey mom, I really think we should make my bedtime half an hour later. Everyone in my class goes to sleep later than I do. I don't think I need as much sleep as I used to. Each night I lay awake for a long time before I go to sleep.

• give reasons to support his argument

• entertain his mother

• teach his mother how to do something

• get to sleep before his mother

Karla is giving a speech about why students should have class pets. What should she do to persuade her audience?

• keep repeating the same thing until everyone agrees

• tell her audience that she's a really good student, so they should agree with her

• give specific examples of pets that are clean and easy to take care of

• tell her audience the story of how her cat died

Examples of this method of persuasion include statistics, research, data, and facts.

• ethos

• logos

• pathos

A persuasive technique that shows when someone wants to be an expert, show what should be right in society, or as an authority figure

• logical appeal

• persuasive text

• emotional appeal

• ethical appeal

What is appeals to emotions?

• developed to make the audience feel a certain way: angry, happy, sad

• aimed at convincing the audience through logical evidence

• convincing the audience that the speaker/writer can be trusted

• not based on logical reasoning and are often irrational

What is appeals to logic and reasoning?

• used by authors, critical readers can see through these faulty appeals and the argument is thus made weak or ineffective

• convincing the audience through logical evidence such as statistics, facts, historical accounts, expert testimony, first person accounts, and examples

• make the audience feel a certain way: angry, happy, sad, outraged, guilty

• convincing the audience that the speaker/writer can be trusted because the argument is supported through personal experience and expert support

What is appeals to credibility or authority?

• based on logical reasoning and are often irrational or unreasonably emotional

• make the audience feel a certain way: angry, happy, sad, outraged, guilty

• convincing the audience that the speaker/writer can be trusted because the argument is supported through personal experience and expert support

• convincing the audience through logical evidence such as statistics, facts, historical accounts, expert testimony, first person accounts, and examples

To convince an audience by use of sense or reason; uses facts and figures

• ethos

• pathos

• logos