Persuasive Techniques Fast Food Nation and The Role of Advertising

Aristotle [384 b.c. to 322 b.c] Greek philosopher Student of Plato and the teacher of Alexander the Great Wrote about many diverse subjects including physics, poetry, government, ethics, biology and more Aristotle named three techniques one could employ when trying to persuade someone: ▫Ethos ▫Logos ▫Pathos

Appeal to Authority/Ethics Positions the writer or speaker as a person of good sense, good moral character and good intentions For example: ▫A political candidate says he refuses to mud-sling and prefers to talk about the issues instead

Appeal to Logic Provides rational arguments to support one’s claim using facts, figures and statistics For example: ▫Facts are given that support the need to reduce traffic fatalities

Appeal to Emotion Uses emotionally charged language or images For example: ▫ASPCA/Humane Society commercials ▫Pictures of devastation caused by natural disasters in order to garner support for relief efforts

Topic Selection While you are picking a topic at random, you will choose whether you are taking a pro/con stance.

Writing a Persuasive Essay

Persuasive/Argumentative Writing In persuasive writing, the write takes a position FOR or AGAINST an issue and writes to convince the reader to believe or do something The writing must show bias and utilize ethos, pathos, and/or logos to sway readers

Step 1: Choose your position Which side of the issue or problem will you write about? ▫What will your central research question be? ▫What angle will you take Analyze your audience. ▫Assume that they are neutral at best ▫What methods will you choose in order to convince them?

Step 2: Develop your thesis Your thesis will likely stem from your main research question Your thesis MUST pass the “so what?” test. ▫BAD: “Drinking milk is bad for you” ▫GOOD: “Drinking milk is detrimental to adults, leading to a variety of health problems” Your thesis must be debatable. If you can write down a thesis statement that directly opposes your own, you will ensure that your own argument is debatable

Step 3: Research your topic A persuasive essay must provide specific and convincing evidence. It is necessary to go beyond your own knowledge and experience Find relevant articles, quotes, interviews, websites to support your stance ▫Do not use Wiki Answers, Yahoo Answers, Wikipedia, blogs/personal websites, Shmoop, etc.

Step 4: Work on your outline Begin with your hook ▫Unusual detail, strong statement, quotation, anecdote, statistic, rhetorical question Choose your three main arguments ▫Your arguments should be the ones you have the strongest and most convincing evidence for ▫Provide at least one quote per argument ▫Your arguments should BUILD. Meaning – save your strongest argument for last!

Step 5: Writing your concession If you are writing a persuasive piece, you must consider your concessions, or counter arguments ▫Acknowledge your opponent’s argument as valid, but explain why your stance is more correct or what solutions are available ▫You can’t ignore compelling evidence – acknowledging it shows you have looked at the issue from all sides ▫“True, gun control legislation in the United States needs to be tightened to prevent needless deaths, however, the current bill does not consider…..”

Step 6: Writing your conclusion The conclusion is not meant to be a complete restatement of your introduction Restate/rephrase your thesis Summarize your main points without simply re- listing them End with a concluding comment/larger meaning

MLA Format and Guidelines 8 th Grade Research

Introduction Your introduction must be 5 sentences VERY clearly state your position. Preview your arguments Thesis Location: LAST SENTENCE OF INTRODUCTION! NO 1 st person! – This discredits your argument. ▫“I think advertising to kids is unethical.” ▫“Advertising to kids is unethical.”

Structure & Focus Topic Sentence for each paragraph. I should very quickly and easily tell what are argument is for that paragraph from the first sentence. Always keep the focus on your thesis statement. Your paper does not seek to look at all sides of the argument objectively, but rather to persuade the reader to your point of view ▫Papers that lack bias will receive significant point deductions

MLA Format

Citations Parenthetical Citations ▫Use parentheses to denote the citation within the text itsel f. ▫The citation should include the first element in the Works Cited citation (usually the author’s last name, or the article title) and the page number of the cited material (if applicable) ▫These two elements should be separated by a space, not a comma

Citations Rules for In-Text Citations ▫You must cite after every bit of research (including paraphrasing or summarizing) ▫You must cite directly after every direct quote ▫If there are no quotes (everything is paraphrase) and you only use one source in a paragraph, you may cite once at the end of the paragraph ▫All punctuation goes AFTER the citation

Example Quotation ▫“Quoted material is in quotes” (Burton 189).  This entry would correspond with a work cited entry that is by an author named Burton, and is located on page 189 Paraphrase ▫Paraphrased sentence or passage, which is put in your own words (Myron 12). Quote from a website with no author or page numbers ▫“Quoted material is here” (“The Truth about Artificial Sweetener”). ▫Paraphrased material about advertising (“FCC Calls Out Advertisers”).

Citations The word appearing first in the citation designates what appears in the parenthetical citation In the case of a long article title, use a shortened version in the parenthetical citation. You should shorten to the first noun. ▫“Screaming Japanese Schoolgirls Overturn Greenspan’s Campaign Bus” can be cited as (“Screaming Japanese Schoolgirls”)

Works Cited Page Separate page from last page of paper. Alphabetical Order Citations should be in MLA format. Use 3-5 Sources. Hanging indent = NO BULLETS

Proper Academic writing No Contractions = This is formal writing. No 1 st Person = ONLY 3 rd person!

Proper Academic Writing Write out numbers ▫Rule: Two digits or less = write out  Ex. Seventy-five percent ▫Rule: Large numbers that are easily stated in two words = write out.  Ex. Three hundred ▫Rule: Three digits or more with multiple words = use numbers  Ex. 365 NEVER start a sentence with a number. ▫Ex. Where “365” might be acceptable, if it starts out a sentence, you have to write “Three hundred sixty-five.”

Quotations To indicate short quotations (fewer than four typed lines) in your text, enclose the quotation within quotation marks. Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text. According to some, dreams express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184), though others disagree. According to Foulkes's study, dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (184). Is it possible that dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184)?

For quotations that are MORE than four, place quotations in a free-standing block of text and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented one inch from the left margin; maintain double-spacing. Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.)

For example, when citing more than four lines of prose, use the following examples: Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration: They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

Timeline Wednesday and Thursday ▫Choose stance by the end of class ▫Develop research question and complete the brainstorm portion at the bottom of your handout ▫Research your topic, taking notes and creating citations Friday and Monday ▫Create in-text citations ▫Practice incorporating your quotes ▫Synthesize your research into a well developed essay ▫Proofread your work ▫Practice logging in to turnitin.com ▫Submit by 2/15, 11:59pm