The Art of Persuasion
10RI8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing
whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify
false statements and fallacious reasoning.
10RI6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how
an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
Persuasion
• Persuasive writing is a form of nonfiction
writing that encourages careful word choice,
the development of logical arguments, and a
cohesive summary.
When do we persuade?
• Think of a time you needed to persuade someone
to do something or to believe in something.
• What tactics did you use in order to prove your
point/make your argument?
Three Main Appeals of Effective Persuasion
• Ethical Appeal (ETHOS)
• Logical Appeal (LOGOS)
• Emotional Appeal (PATHOS)
• The combination of
these three appeals
makes for an incredibly
effective argument.
Ethical Appeal
• Credibility of the speaker
• How well can you convince me/people of ____________?
• Ex.
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Someone people trust.
Demonstrating mastery knowledge
Being endorsed by someone people trust/look up to.
Experience.
Ethical Appeal: Examples
• "As a doctor, I am qualified to tell
you that this course of treatment
will likely generate the best results.“
• "Doctors all over the world
recommend this type of
treatment."
Logical Appeal
• Appealing to LOGIC.
• Facts, figures, statistics.
• Think of commercials that use
“doctors/dentists/veterinarians” to promote a product.
Logical Appeal: Example
Emotional Appeal
• Appealing to EMOTIONS.
• Think of empathy.
• The ability to FEEL.
• Can be in the form of a metaphor, simile, passionate delivery,
fear, hope for the future, or claim for the unjust.
Emotional Appeal: Example
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9d2PpP7tQ
Example
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR1yoOtyWb4
• What is the speaker trying to convince the listener of ?
• How does the speaker do this?
• Find logical, emotional, and ethical appeals (examples) within
lyrics.
Analyzing Article for Rhetorical Appeals
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Read Opinion Article: “It’s Time to End Football in High School”
In table groups identify examples of rhetorical appeals in the article
Describe the effectiveness of the appeal on the author’s overall argument
Identify the strongest piece of supporting evidence the author uses to
support their argument