Aristotle’s On Rhetoric (440 BCE)

“Rhetorical triangle”

• ethos: character/credibility of speaker (e.g., qualifications & trustworthiness)
• logos: reasoning and structure of presentation (e.g., valid, sound)
• pathos: emotions of audience (Tucker 2018, p. 276)

Mnemonic??

. . .

• an ethical character,
• being logical,
• and feeling empathetic

Persuasion & proposition/appeal

• persuasion: altering the thinking and behavior of others toward your ends
• proposition: “the central idea statement … made advancing a judgment or opinion” (Tucker 2018, p. 269)
  • fact: truth of a statement (e.g., source of climate change)
  • definition: word/phrase meaning (e.g., 2nd Amendment)
  • value: good, bad, just, best, etc. (e.g., homeschooling is beneficial)
  • policy: what we should do (e.g., ensure clean water)

Monroe’s motivated sequence

In policy propositions, Monroe recommended five steps to persuade an audience toward action:

1. attention (bring attention to problem)
2. need (defined)
3. satisfaction (solution and defense)
4. visualization (positive or negative)
5. action/appeal (Tucker 2018, p. 285)

Two-tailed arguments

a persuasive technique in which a speaker brings up a counterargument to their own topic and then directly refutes the claim (Tucker 2018, p. 272)

Cialdini on persuasion

. . .

Examples of …

Reciprocation?

• mailing labels
• drug company freebies

Consistency?

• restaurant reservations (public commitment)

Social Proof / Validation / Consensus?

• Milgram, Bickman and Berkowitz: looking up
• marketing “fastest growing” and “most used”
• (don’t stress numbers of people doing negative)

Liking?

• Tupperware
• handsome fund raisers
• similar demographics
• good cop—vs bad cop

Authority?

• crossing street
• 80% dentists use

Scarcity?

• “limited time only”
• selling beef (upcoming shorting from exclusive info source)

International differences?

• U.S.: reciprocity
• China: authority
• Spanish: liking
• German: consistency

Mnemonic?

• how to influence a RaSSCAL
• Rocking idea learned in CLASS

Which is this?

Unity: “Not just like us, but of us.”

ex. Controversy brainstorm

• Alone 10m
  • What is your proposition/appeal given your scenario?
  • What principles and pragmatics might you invoke?
  • What rhetorical tactics might you use?
  • What psychological tactics might you use?
• With class 🎲
  • Share the same, and we’ll provide questions and suggestions.

1. What is the mnemonic for Aristotle’s “rhetorical triangle”?
2. What is Monroe’s Motivated Sequence?
3. What is a two-tailed argument?
4. What are Cialdini’s techniques? ▶