Rhetorical Devices:
Methods of
Persuasion
What is Persuasion?
A means of convincing someone
To act, buy, or give
To believe something
To agree or disagree with a
certain point of view
Propaganda
• information that is spread for the purpose of
promoting some cause
• an argument that uses poor reasoning
Common Methods of
Persuasion
• Slogan/Repetition • Rhetorical
• Bandwagon
• Ad hominem
• Testimonial/
Anecdotes
• Emotional Appeal
• Expert Opinion
• Cardstacking
• Statistics
• Analogy
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Questions
Humor
Reasoning/Logic
Restatement
Repetition
Parallelism
Allusions
Counterargument
Slogan/Repetition
A catchy phrase or repeated statement used often to persuade by staying
in the reader’s mind.
Advertisement:
Literature: I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a
dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be selfevident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able
to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of
oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by
the content of their character.
I have a dream today.– Dr. King
Bandwagon
A statement suggesting that everyone is using a
specific product, or believing something so you should
too
Advertisement:
Literature: And now you have an extraordinary opportunity . . . Many
are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were
very lately in the same miserable condition that you were in, are now in
a happy state . . . Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God.
Ad Hominem
• attacking an
opponent's
character
rather than
answering
an
argument.
Testimony/Anecdote
A person supports a product or service/ has a story
about when something happened to them in order to
persuade
Advertisement:
Literature: Thomas Paine once used this anecdote to convince others to go to war:
A man was at a tavern, standing at his door with a child in his arms and he said let
there be peace in my day. He is an awful father because if he truly loved his child he
would want trouble now in order for there to be peace in the child’s day.
Emotional Appeal (pathos)
A person using language or situations in order to make
listeners feel sad, angry, guilty, afraid, happy, proud,
sympathetic, reverent . . .etc.
(CONNOTATION)
Advertisement:
Literature: It is in vain to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry: Peace! Peace! .
. . Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and
slavery? . . .I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or
give me death!
Expert Opinion (ethos)
A person who uses the endorsement of an expert in
the field to persuade readers
Advertisement:
Literature: A persuasive essay on smoking would
alert the reader that the SURGEON
GENERAL recommends all citizens quit smoking.
Cardstacking
Only presenting the good side of an argument
Advertisement:
Literature: A persuasive essay on school uniforms
only mentions: preventing bullying, school pride,
quick identification of students in neighborhood but
never mentions cost or personality.
Analogy
Using a comparison to persuade
Advertisement:
Literature: Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon Sinners In The
Hands Of An Angry God argues ‘If you are unsaved, your good
deeds have no more power in God’s eyes to keep you from falling into
hell as a spider web has to keep a rock from falling to the ground .’
Humor
Amusing the audience in an attempt to persuade
them
Advertisement:
Literature: ‘The word onomatopoeia better be spelled
right or one usage dictator and six copy editors will get
zapped.’ William Safire arguing that some people take
English too seriously and that it is a difficult language.
Reasoning/Logic(Logos)
Persuading the reader by using arguments that make
sense.
Advertisement:
Literature: Governments are instituted among men, deriving their powers
from the consent of the governed; whenever any form of government
becomes destructive it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it—
Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
Statistics-goes with logos
Using numbers and surveys to argue your point
Advertisement:
Literature: A persuasive essay on drunk driving asserts every
40 seconds an alcohol related crash injures someone.
Rhetorical Questions
Asking the reader questions designed to make them
think. No answer is expected
Advertisement:
Literature: Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and
reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves to be so unwilling to be
reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love?—
Patrick Henry on British troops being sent to America before the
Revolution (Speech In The Virginia Convention)
Restatement
• Repeating an idea in a variety of ways
Allusions
• Referring to well-known people, events, or
stories
an argument or set of reasons put forward to
oppose an idea developed in someone else’s
argument.