1. UNDERSTANDING THE ELEMENTS OF PERSUASION

2. Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.
What is rhetoric?
Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.
Plato

3. The Elements of Persuasion
The basics of classical argument are the three types of appeals.
Aristotle held that there were three ways to go about persuading an audience regarding a point.
These three appeals are the appeal to reason (logos), the appeal to the speaker’s character (ethos), and the appeal to the audience’s emotions (pathos).

5. Ethos, Logos, or Pathos?

6. Ethos, Logos, or Pathos?

7. Ethos, Logos, or Pathos?

8. Loaded Words
Tend to make a reader or listener feel either positive or negative toward the subject being discussed

10. Bandwagon Appeal
The reader is urged to “jump on the bandwagon” before is it too late. In other words, everyone else is doing or has already done whatever it is the writer wants the reader to do.

13. Testimonial
Quotation by an expert or authority on the subject being discussed

16. Average looking people using their product and having a wonderful time
Plain-Folks Appeal
Average looking people using their product and having a wonderful time

19. Snob Appeal
Glamorous, well-dressed people using products, implying that your life will be more glamorous and exciting if you buy the products that these beautiful people are using

22. Repetition
Allows a writer or speaker to hammer home an idea, image, or relationship, to force the reader or listener to pay attention

24. Props or Objects
Use of a visual aid to evoke strong or subtle emotion to support from the audience

27. Hyperbole
An extreme exaggeration used to make a point. It is like the opposite of “understatement.” It is from a Greek word meaning “excess.”

30. Hyperbole

31. Asking a question with no intended answer:
Rhetorical Question
Asking a question with no intended answer:

34. Stereotype
A hasty generalization that states all members of a particular group share certain qualities or characteristics

38. Post Hoc Ergo Proctor Hoc
Occurs when one event is said to be the cause of another just because the two events happened in sequence. You cannot assume that an event caused whatever happened afterward.

42. Ad hominem
Claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument

46. Red herring
An irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue. The basic idea is to “win” an argument by leading attention away from the argument to another topic.

50. False Authority
logical fallacy in which the writer uses the assumption that an expert in one field is also an expert in another

52. Slippery Slope
logical fallacy in which the writer makes the assumption that if one thing is allowed, it will be the first step in a downward spiral

56. Guilt by Association
logical fallacy in which the writer uses an unfair attempt to make someone responsible for the beliefs or actions of others

59. Begging the Question
logical fallacy in which the writer presents an assertion that simply restates the point just made