This document discusses the art of persuasion through advertising and propaganda. It introduces the concepts of ethos, pathos and logos as the three main types of persuasion according to Aristotle. Ethos uses credibility to influence audiences, pathos makes emotional appeals, and logos uses facts and evidence for logical appeals. Examples are given like celebrity endorsements for ethos and health claims using statistics for logos. Students will analyze advertisements to identify uses of these persuasion techniques.

1. The Art of Persuasion
(Getting people to do what you want them to do!)
S

2. Just so you know…
 During this unit you will complete several assessments
demonstrating your understanding of the art of
persuasion.
 As you learn more about the art of persuasion, you are
also going to learn how wide-spread the use and
abuse of the art of persuasion is.
 We will soon see the characters of Brutus and Mark
Antony use this tool to try to gain the support of the
Roman people.

3. Persuasion
 To help you become familiar with the art of
persuasion and its terminology, the advertising
media is a great place to start!
 For better or worse, advertising is the king of
persuasion!

4. Just to clarify…
 Advertising and propaganda are twins. Both
seek to influence the way a person thinks and
feels.
 The goal of advertising is to influence people to
buy a product whether they need it or not.
 The goal of propaganda is to change the way
people think and feel about a specific philosophy
or worldview.

5. World War I & II
Propaganda
 A 1914 recruitment
poster depicting Lord
Kitchener, the British
Secretary of State for
War, above the
words "WANTS
YOU" was the most
famous image used
in the British Army
recruitment
campaign of World

6. Where do we find examples of
Persuasion?
 Television & Radio
 Newspapers & Magazines
 Billboards
 Websites & Social Media Pages
 Political Speeches
 Job Recruitment

7. So what is the secret to the art
of persuasion?
S According to the famous
Greek philosopher
Aristotle (384 BC), there
are 3 main types of
persuasion: Ethos,
Logos, and Pathos.
S In order to be a more
effective writer, you must
understand these three

8. ETHOS
S The communicator
uses credibility to
influence the
audience. The
communicator
establishes credibility
by having a notable
or expert authority on
a topic.
An example of ethos, is using
celebrity endorsements.

9. PATHOS
S An emotional appeal
to the heart, it draws
upon the audiences’
feelings.
The association of drinking milk
with watching the waistline. Many
people feel the need to lose
weight and this ad suggests that
drinking milk is the way to do it. It
also reflects childhood memories
of drinking milk and of leaving a
milky moustache!

10. LOGOS
S A logical appeal, draws
upon the audiences
sense of reason, using
facts, statistics or
evidence.
Logos is shown by the use of the
American Heart Association’s
endorsement at the bottom of the page.
The text in the upper right hand corner
also states that “recent studies suggest
that including 24 ounces of low fat or fat
free milk a day in a reduced calorie diet
may help you burn more fat…

11. Activity time!
S In your groups, look at the different
advertisements – fill in your analysis chart
including which types of persuasion are used
(ETHOS, PATHOS and LOGOS) and your
reasoning.
S We will exchange responses towards the end
of the class