The Art of Persuasion

The world we live in bombards us with news nonstop.  As consumers of information, we need to know how to distinguish between fake news and real news.  We also have to take into account who is speaking, what they are trying to convince us of, and what their message is.

I have been teaching for nine years, and one constant has been helping students be able to identify the tenets of persuasive writing and speaking.

Recently students learned the three types of persuasive appeals: ethos, logos, and pathos.

Students have been given the opportunity to examine how persuaders employ these types of appeals to convince them of their message.

It is important to understand how the WHO is just as important as the WHAT and HOW when it comes to the art of persuasion.

Are we convinced simply because someone is louder?  Does bluster overwhelm logic and reason?  Or, are we so easily swayed by an emotional appeal, that we let ourselves be manipulated like puppets?

It is important to realize that if you do not know the motivation, background, education, etc. of the person trying to persuade you, you may fall victim to an improper, while albeit effectively constructed, persuasive argument.  However false, you, the consumer, will fall prey to the noise – without understanding if the message is worth believing in.

Which is why teachers preach to their students the importance of understanding the various ways persuasive arguments are constructed.

It’s called RHETORICAL ANALYSIS and it can and SHOULD be employed to examine the validity and strength of a person’s persuasive argument.

In fact, rhetoric is defined as, “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.”

Over the course of this week, students will closely and critically read the two funeral speeches in Julius Caesar. One, given by Brutus a former ally, and conspirator. Another by Marc Antony, an ally of Caesar.  The strength and effectiveness of their argument should be examined under the lens of ethos, pathos, and logos.  

But those types of appeals are not the be all and end all. Nuanced writers and speakers are aware of the strength of repetition, the use of evidence, and even how figurative language can be used to create an emotional appeal.

Does a person’s grief make them convincing? Does a person’s conviction trump reason?  And what about the audience – does who is being appealed to determine whether the words matter?  Students should ask themselves, Who determines the persuasiveness of an argument: the speaker, the message (content), or the motivation?

Food for thought as you prepare for this week’s on-demand writing summative on Thursday.