1. English 72 (83R)
Week 12, Day 2,
April 9, 2014
Professor Elizabeth Buchanan

2. Agenda
 Argument Claims Activity – please put on front desk if you did
not turn it in on Wednesday.
 Revised Tentative Schedule
 Emotional and Manipulative Appeals
 The book thief
 Lab Contract is due at end of class.

3. EMOTIONAL & MANIPULATIVE APPEALS
By: Elizabeth Buchanan, Adapted from Joanne
Chapman & Gwen Silva

4. DEFENSE ATTORNEY
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I urge you to acquit John
Jones of this crime of murder. He is married and has three
children. If he is executed or goes to prison for life, his family
will end up in the poorhouse.”

5. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
“Ladies and gentlemen, I urge you to convict John Jones of
this crime of murder. We need to put him where he can
never commit any crimes. If you don’t convict him, you may
be his next victim.”

6. SOUND CONVINCING?
 Both arguments sound convincing, but you can’t take both
sides.
 Both sides are manipulating with emotions.
 Neither side has addressed the real issue.
 What is the real issue?

7. EMOTIONAL APPEALS
 An appeal is something that makes an argument
attractive, worth considering, plausible.
 Appeals are considered illegitimate when they serve as
substitutes for evidence and seeks to control our
emotions, which diverts us from the real argument.
 This becomes manipulative propaganda.
 Manipulative propaganda is used when someone plays with
our emotions in a way designed to make us agree with them
without thinking through the matter carefully.

9. APPEAL TO AUTHORITY
 Definition: Allows the claim
to rest solely on the fact
that a supposed authority is
behind the claim. The
authority may not be
identified or may be highly
biased or may be a faulty
authority.
 “Seven out of ten dentists
recommend Trident gum for
their patients who chew
gum.”

10. (FAULTY) APPEAL TO
AUTHORITY
 A faulty appeal to authority is
an appeal to someone who
has no special knowledge in
the area being discussed.
 “My car mechanic says the
best way to fix computer
problems is to just give the
computer a good, sharp kick.
He says it should always
work.”

11. APPEAL TO FEAR
 An appeal to fear is used
when someone makes you
fear the consequences of
not doing what is being
suggested. Watch!

12. APPEAL TO PATRIOTISM
 An appeal to patriotism
suggests that an argument
is worth holding out of
loyalty to one’s
country, political party, or
some other group.
 Implies that going against
the country or group’s
policies is wrong.

13. APPEAL TO PITY OR SYMPATHY
 When someone tries to make us do something only because
we pity him or her, that person is appealing to pity.
 “Mr. Jones lost the last election because his opponent used a
smear campaign to discredit him. Mr. Jones lost the election
before that because of voter fraud. Mr. Jones lost the
election before that because nobody knew who he was.
Don’t you think it is about time you voted for Mr. Jones?”
 WSPA commercial

15. APPEAL TO PREJUDICE
 Using emotionally charged
terms to attach value or
moral goodness to
believing a claim.
 The appeal inflames
negative feelings, beliefs or
stereotypes about racial,
ethnic or religious groups or
about gender or sexual
orientations

16. APPEAL TO TRADITION
 When someone makes an appeal to tradition, he or she
encourages to buy some product or take some action because
it is associated with things of the past.
 "Your invention is a bad idea because it has no historical
precedent."

17. MACY’S TV COMMERCIAL
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm2FJMJWKkQ

18. IN GROUPS, COME UP WITH AN APPEAL ABOUT
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
1. appeal to authority
2. appeal to patriotism
3. appeal to prejudice
4. appeal to fear
5. appeal to pity or sympathy
6. appeal to tradition

19. OTHER MANIPULATIVE APPEALS

20. BANDWAGON
Should you buy a
product just because
it is the most
popular?
The bandwagon technique appeals to
the reader’s need to belong and to do
what everyone is doing.

21. APPEAL TO FLATTERY
An appeal to flattery occurs
whenever a person
attempts to compliment or
flatter another in order to
get her to accept the truth
of a claim.

22. JUST PLAIN FOLKS
 The plain folks appeal is an
attempt by the speaker or
writer to convince the public
that his or her views reflect
those of the common
person and that they are
also working for the benefit
of the common person.

23. TRANSFER Transfer is an appeal in which
someone tries to make us transfer
our good or bad feelings about one
thing to another.
 Suggestion: favorable associations
about a product will transfer or
carry over to the consumer. Watch!
 http://youtu.be/unPzH8-
PqfQ

24. NAME CALLING
 Writers may use name
calling to deflect attention
away from the real
argument.
This old WWII propaganda
poster calls Japanese
citizens the enemy. Also this
poster makes them look like
monsters.

25. RIDICULE
 This appeal asks the reader to dismiss an idea by subjecting it to ridicule
rather than by analyzing its inherent weaknesses.
 It may substitute humor for supporting evidence. Watch!

26. TESTIMONIAL
This man seems like a
normal, likeable guy
who is making a
recommendation.
The text is written as if
he is talking directly to
the reader.
Celebrities are often
used in this appeal
and can be confused
with transfer.

27. Testimonial (w/ Celebrities)
This transfer technique uses a famous person.
The attempt is to connect the writer’s opinion about a product to the
reader/viewer’s feeling about this person.

28. IN YOUR GROUP, COME UP WITH AN
APPEAL ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING
1. bandwagon appeal
2. plain folks
3. ridicule or name calling
4. transfer
5. flattery
6. testimonial

29. Conclusion
• Emotional appeal techniques can be
extremely effective in persuading the reader
to act on a feeling.
• As readers of persuasive writing, we must
learn to recognize emotional appeals.
• If we focus on the facts instead of the
feelings, we will make a better decision
about the writer’s opinion.
• YouTube Review!