Persuasion and
Rhetorical Devices
PERSUASION
Persuasion is used when the writer or
speaker is trying to convince a reader or
listener to think or act in a particular
way.
PERSUASIVE APPEALS
Appeals to Reason/Logic
 Logical
arguments based on verifiable
evidence, such as facts, statistics, or
expert testimony
PERSUASIVE APPEALS
Appeals to Emotion
 Statements
intended to affect
listeners’/readers’ feelings about the
subject. These statements often include
charged language-words with strong
positive or negative associations.
RHETORICAL DEVICES
Speakers use rhetorical devices to:

emphasize their ideas

help their listeners to remember the
important points

arouse an emotional response in an
audience
REPETITION

Repetition is expressing different ideas
using the same words or images in
order to reinforce concepts and unify
the speech.
RESTATEMENT

Restatement is expressing the same idea in
different words to clarify and stress key
points.
What’s What?

“We will never give up; we will never
surrender, we will never be defeated.”
“We will never…” is an
example of…
repetition
“Never give up,”
“never surrender,” and
“never be defeated.” is an
example of…
restatement
What’s What?
“I wanna talk about me,
Wanna talk about I
Wanna talk about #1”
“Wanna talk about” is an example of…
-repetition
“me”, “I” and “#1” is an example of…
-restatement
PARALLELISM

Parallelism is the repetition of a grammatical
structure or an arrangement of words in
order to create rhythm and make words more
memorable.
Faulty Parallelism Example
faulty parallelism:
She revels in chocolate, walking under
the moonlight, and songs from the
1930s jazz period.
Better Parallelism
good parallelism: She revels in sweet
chocolate eclairs, long moonlit walks,
and classic jazz music.
"She revels in”
"sweet chocolate eclairs," [Adjective--Adjective--Object]
"long moonlit walks," [Adjective--Adjective--Object]
"and classic jazz music." [Adjective--Adjective--Object]
Even Better Parallelism
more good parallelism: She loves eating
chocolate eclairs, taking moonlit walks,
and singing classic jazz.
She revels in"
"eating chocolate eclairs" [Gerund--Adjective--Object of Gerund]
"taking moonlit walks" [Gerund--Adjective--Object of Gerund]
"and singing classic jazz." [Gerund--Adjective--Object of Gerund]
Analogy
a similarity between like features of two
things, on which a comparison may be
based: the analogy between the heart
and a pump. Examples:
 Glove is to hand as paint is to wall
 Citizens are to president as solar
system is to galaxy
 Horses are to past societies as
computers are to future societies

RHETORICAL TRIANGLE
Topic
Audience
Purpose