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What You Need to Know About Persuasion on the CSET English Exam

By: Jolene Wise

Humans have been trying to persuade each other for many years. Possibly one of the most eloquent early persuasive speakers was the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. His thoughts are as germane in the present as they were when he was teaching at the Lyceum around 290 B.C.

Persuasion is the routine of persuading. It is the force to persuade using the written or spoken word. Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of leading people toward the adoption of an action, attitude, or idea by intellectual and symbolic (though not always logical) means. It is strategy of thought relying on "appeals" as an alternative to force.

Persuasion is transmitted by kinds of persuasive appeals:

Logos = The appeal to reason or the intelligence.
Pathos = The appeal to emotion or the feelings.
Ethos = The persuasive appeal of one's character or notoriety.

These appeals can work together as a single unit; however, we will analyze each on an individual basis.

Aristotle labels these "artistic" or "intrinsic" proofs—those that are found by way of the art of rhetoric—in contrast to "nonartistic" or "extrinsic" proofs such as testimony or legal instruments that are only used by the speaker, not originating in rhetoric.

Logos

Aristotle hoped that all communication that happened could be done only through this appeal, but given the failings of humanity, he bewails, we must resort to the use of the other two appeals. The ancient Greek term logos can be defined as "reason".

Example of Logos

"My ex-wife is a materialistic woman, in addition to being a murderer and drug user. My ex-wife was driving a SUV while intoxicated and had a car crash which resulted in the death of my only daughter Jenny."

Pathos

Aristotle devotes a significant portion of discourse on altering the emotions, and defining the types of replies of dissimilar demographic groups. Thence, we encounter the tight-fitting relations with the assessment of pathos and of audience. Pathos, as well, is the class by which we can understand the psychological characteristics of rhetoric. The ancient Greek term pathos can be defined as "emotion". Critiques of rhetoric are inclined to focalize on the overstressing of pathos, emotion, at the expense of logos, the message.

Example of Pathos

"Jenny lived with me, her dad, about 50 percent of the time, ever since she was 9 months old. While Jenny was in my custody, I had the role of mother and father. Along with being a single father, comes a tremendous amount of responsibility. It was a responsibility I greatly liked. I washed her clothes, and cooked for her and took good care of Jenny when she was not feeling well. When Jenny got the chicken pox, I got the chicken pox. All of my life was devoted to Jenny. It was the best time of my life. Never did I ever have to punish Jenny, disciplining only with love and patience. During my divorce, my former wife's income was $160,000.00 + per year. I was just above the poverty level. I even signed away the home to my former wife in divorce, which had $215,000.00 of equity in it. All I needed was Jenny. All my former wife cared about was money. In 1997, when I was going through an exceedingly difficult time financially, my former wife offered to help me out financially. She offered to purchase my parental rights for $12,000.00. Even though I was facing eviction, I told her that my daughter was not for sale at any price. For 8 years, my former wife tried to take Jenny away from me. She finally did. On March 22nd, 2004 Jenny's mother was driving her to school. She was driving in excess of 45 mph in a 15 mph speed zone, around a turn, on a wet and slippery street, near a school, with no seatbelt on my daughter. Jenny was thrown through the glass windshield of the SUV being driven by her mother. The car then rolled over my daughter. With two collapsed lungs, my daughter got up, took a couple of steps gasping for air, and collapsed. My former wife never even walked over to Jenny after the crash. A witness claimed that my former wife was more concerned about her SUV and jewelry than her own daughter. Jenny was taken to the hospital, hooked up to what looked like 20 tubes and a brain monitor. I sat on the cold floor in the waiting room for two weeks. Jenny's heart stopped beating at 8:22 p.m. on April 5th, 2004 at the age of 7 1/2 years old. My former wife tested positive for hydrocodone, cocaine and other drugs."

Ethos

Ethos names the persuasive appeal of one's character, especially how this character is established by way of the speech or discourse. Aristotle stated that one should attempt to be seen as both knowing about one's topic and benevolent. Cicero wrote that in speech the beginning component of a speech (its introduction or exordium) was the point to show one's credibility with the audience.

Example of Ethos

"My Dear Fellow Clergymen:

While confined here in Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely."...Since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable in terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in."...I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid." - Martin Luther King, Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

This article is an excerpt from ACE the CSET English study guide and online course. In the class, we study specific examples of ethos, logos, and pathos, and we study all forms of persuasion such as a bandwagon, red herring, straw man, shifting the burden of proof, and many more. The CSET English class has computer generated chronology, fill-in, and matching exercises that enable you to rapidly memorize the information you need to ace the rhetoric and media persuasion sections of the CSET English test.

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