Persuasion

Bringing your audience to your side

In your notes, write the following with plenty of space between words:

PersuasionAppeal to Logic/ReasonAppeal to EmotionRhetorical QuestionParallelism or Parallel StructureRepetitionRestatementAnalogyThese will be our literary terms for the week and will be on our quiz.

PersuasionPersuasion attempts to convince readers to accept a specific viewpoint and to take a particular action. A good persuasive writer uses a combination of logical and emotional appeals, involving the audience both intellectually and emotionally in order to persuade them

Persuasive Text

In persuasive text, a writer takes a position FOR or AGAINST an issue and writes to convince the reader to believe or do something.

Discussion:Where do we see persuasive writing?

Persuasion is Powerful!Use it to…Purpose• Support a cause

• Urge people to action

• Make a change

• Prove something wrong

Persuasive Statement Please support my soccer team

by buying discount coupons.

Vote for Pedro.

The principal should let us wear hats.

Cars do not cause global warming.

Persuasion is Powerful!Use it to…

Purpose• Stir up sympathy

• Create interest

• Get people to agree with you

Persuasive Statement If you don’t adopt this dog, it could

be put to death. Better grades get you a better job

and more money.

I am sure you’ll agree Snickers are the best candy bars.

Persuasion (2 types)

Logical Emotional

Persuasion – Logic/ReasonUses a chain of reasoning to establish the validity of a proposed argumentParticular examples to a general conclusion, general to the specificEvidence includes research, statistics, expert witnesses, etc.

Persuasion - EmotionalStir the reader’s feelings. It relies not so much on reasoned arguments as on charged words and symbols that evoke sympathy or distaste.

Examples that appeal to fear: slavery, bondage, in chains, oppression, tyranny

Anecdotes show emotion (examples that dramatize a situation)The most popular form of persuasion

Rhetorical DevicesTools of Persuasion!

Rhetorical QuestionParallelism or Parallel StructureRepetitionRestatementAnalogy

Rhetorical Question

question that requires no answer draw attention to a point generally stronger than a direct statementYet this need not be. The means are at hand to fulfill the age-old dream: poverty can be abolished. How long shall we ignore this under-developed nation in our midst? How long shall we look the other way while our fellow human beings suffer? How long?

Parallelism

two or more words, phrases, or clauses have the same grammatical form and an identical grammatical relationship to the same thing

In its energy, its lyrics, its advocacy of frustrated joys, rock is one long symphony of protest.

I came; I saw; I conquered.

Parallelism

Great for public speakingImpressive and pleasing to hear—elaborate yet rhythmic and ordered Economical – gives weight and dignity to what the sentence saysHelps emphasize ideas and make them memorable

More Examples!"We have petitioned and our petitions have been scorned. We have entreated and our entreaties have been disregarded. We have begged and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer. We entreat no more. We petition no more. We defy them.

William Jennings Bryan"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." JFK

RepetitionA device where words, sounds, and ideas are used more than once to enhance rhythm and to create emphasis.

I didn’t like the swimming pool, I didn’t like swimming, and I didn’t like the swimming instructor, and after all these years I still don’t.

When that son leaves home, he throws himself with an intensity which his children will not know into the American way of life; he eats American, talks American, he will be American or nothing.

To philosophize is to understand; to understand is to explain oneself, to explain is to relate.

Problem gives rise to problem.

RestatementSaying the same thing again using different wordsExample

Mom: Clean up your bedroom or you will not get to go to the party!Child’s restatement: I have to straighten up my room or I can’t hang out with friends.

Restatement Examples"The war is inevitable” … “let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!" We should chase the truth of our life; We should look for the meaning of our experience; We should capture our sense of the life. I say, I am not guilty of all charges! I am innocent of murder!

Same idea, different words

AnalogyA comparison between two dissimilar things that points out similarities between them

“Students are more like oysters than sausages. The job of teaching is not to stuff them and then seal them up, but to help them open and reveal the riches within. There are pearls in each of us, if only we knew how to cultivate them with ardor and persistence.”Some basic facts about memory are clear. Your short-term memory is like the RAM on a computer: it records the information in front of you right now. Some of what you experience seems to evaporate--like words that go missing when you turn off your computer without hitting SAVE

Analogy"Cameron's house is like a museum. It's very cold, and very beautiful, and you're not allowed to touch anything."(Matthew Broderick as Ferris in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, 1986)“Knowledge always desires increase: it is like fire, which must first be kindled by some external agent, but which will afterwards support itself.” –Samuel Johnson

When writing persuasively,we need to keep in mind five key parts:

Audience Awareness, Clear Position, Persuasive Language,Persuasive Appeals, andPROOF PROOF PROOF

Write these down with plenty of room between each in your notes. You will be expected to know and use these terms.

Audience Awareness

Providing information an audience may need and/or anticipating an audience’s

point of view

Audience AwarenessKnow your audience before you start writing.

The audience is who will read your writing.The audience may be your teacher, your parents, your friends, or the President of the United States.

Audience AwarenessKnowing who your audience is helps you to decide:

How to connect with the ideas, knowledge, or beliefs of the person or group.What information to include. What arguments will persuade him/her.How informal or formal the language should be.

Audience Awareness – exampleDear Mr. Sabolcik,

Imagine you were a student, sitting in English when your teacher says, “Okay, get out your reading log.” You rustle around in your backpack for a while until you realize -- oh no! You left your homework at home, perfectly done.

Clear Position

A position or argument; the audience knows exactly what the writer wants

Clear PositionThe writer must clearly state or imply his/her position and stay with that position.

Generally, the position is stated in the opening paragraph or introduction.

Clear Position – exampleI am writing this letter to persuade you to make a rule against turning in late homework assignments. At first that sounds unbearable for us kids, but when you really look at it you see it does more good than bad. Just simply turning in our homework on time prepares us for the hurdles life throws at us. Have you ever thought to look at it from the teacher’s point of view? They shouldn’t have to grade a late assignment from last quarter. Having no late homework will also be very pleasing to those of us who get our work done on time. It means kids who don’t turn in their work on time don’t get to work the system, which isn’t fair.

Find the Position StatementImagine you were a student sitting in your math class when your teacher says, “Okay, get out your homework!” You rustle around in your backpack for a while until you realize – oh no! You left our homework at home perfectly done. The teacher comes by your desk and you say, “I am sorry. I left my homework at home. My mom just had a baby, so I was taking care of her, and I just ran out the door without it.” Your teacher smiles at you. “It’s okay. I understand. Just bring it in tomorrow.” Isn’t that a better situation than “Oh too bad! You don’t get any credit for it.”? Late homework should be accepted, and I will tell you why.

Find the Position StatementMy feeling about the rule that teachers do not accept late homework is definitely a mixed one. I know that the rule has its pros and cons, but I really do think that the cons heavily outweigh the pros. I would like to show you, the principal, my position on this rule in a little bit more depth.

Persuasive Language

Words and phrases that urge or compel the reader to support the position of the

author

Persuasive Language Persuasive language is choosing just the right words or

phrases to use at just the right time with just the right audience.

Precise words trigger strong feelings. Seizes Snarls Dumbstruck

Repeated words or phrases for emphasis I have a dream…(Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Different connotations Mean or strict Died or passed away Used or pre-owned

Choose the more persuasive words from the red pair to show that the Homework rule is bad.

You are/Imagine a young middle school student. Essay in one hand, you rush/go to class. “I’m done!” You are glad/overjoyed.

The teacher takes/snatches the essay out of your hands and throws it away/hurls it into the garbage. She yells/says, “It’s a day late!”

You look/stare dumbstruck at your hard work. The teacher didn’t look/glance at it! The No Late Homework Rule is cruel/bad.

Which is more charged?Bad or abysmal?Abolish or get rid of?Conquer or take over?Sad or melancholic?Unfair or unjust?Abhor or hate?Mean or cruel?

In support of…AdvantageAlways/NeverBestCertainConfidentConvenientDefinitelyEffectiveEmphasizeExpectInterestingMagnificentMost

Most ImportantPopularProfitableShouldStrongly RecommendSuperbSuperiorTremendousTrulyTrustworthyWorkableWorthwhile

Against/NOT supportingAggravateAgonyAtrociousConfusingCruelDamagingDisadvantagesDispleasedDreadfulHarmfulHarshHorribleInconsiderateInferior

IrritateOffendOrdealOutrageousnessProvokeRepulsiveSevereShamefulShockingTerribleUnreliableUnstable

“Big 6” Persuasive AppealsBandwagonRepetitionTestimonialEmotional AppealHumorRhetoricalQuestion

Other Persuasive Appeals

PROOF PROOF PROOF• Appeal to the audience’s reason

– Use statistics and reputable studies– Hard evidence is always more convincing than simply stating

your opinion.Cite experts on the topic

Do they back up what you say?Do they refute the other side?

GIVE FACTS!

PROOF PROOF PROOFAlso, you can appeal to readers’ emotions

This involves choosing language carefully to create a certain response. Involve the reader’s senses in these sections Be careful with emotional appeals. They can be powerful, but your argument is less credible if you overuse them.

By yourself, jot down some ideas as to how you would ask for the new iPhone 5 in the form of a letter.Remember Audience Awareness, Clear Position, Persuasive Language, and PROOF PROOF PROOF

Students will write to their respective audiences based on their number:

1. Bill Gates foundation (as a donation)2. Parents or guardians (as a gift)3. Grandparents (as a gift)4. A friend (as a loan)5. Local business

Magazine ActivityGroups of 3

Your turn.Compose a 3-4 sentence plea to Sabolcik to give you a homework pass for the next quarter. Use strong, charged language! If you’re successful, he’ll give it to you!

Once your audience has been identified, think about the best information and arguments that you can make.Consider persuasive language that will connect with your audience.

As always,

You’re welcome for this knowledge.