Persuasive Writing: Introduction to Rhetoric

Whenever you produce a technical writing document, you are practicing rhetoric. That sounds pretty lofty, but in reality, rhetoric is simply the art of persuasion.

A document produced with the primary goal of persuading an audience has the daunting task of performing three tasks simultaneously:

• Reinforcing existing attitudes among those who will read or use it,
• Shaping the attitudes of audience members who at present have no firm opinions on the subject one way or the other, and, most difficult of all,
• Reversing the opinions of those who are opposed to the argument or perspective being set forth in the document. 

How does persuasion -- rhetoric -- work? In The Art of Rhetoric Links to an external site. (4th C BCE), Greek philosopher Aristotle Links to an external site. (384-322 BC) argues that the art of persuasion relies upon three rhetorical “appeals”: pathos, ethos, and  logos.

These three modes, which form the sides of what we call the rhetorical triangle (Figure 1), represent the different ways a single communication — a television commercial, a speech, a proposal, a report, anything that delivers a message or argument — can appeal to its intended audience.

Figure 1: The Rhetorical Triangle

Pathos, ethos, and logos are the general means by which a writer persuades a reader. To use them, you have to know what they mean and how valuable each is or should be to your overall task or purpose.

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Pathos

Pathos refers to an emotional appeal. When a writer makes a pathetic appeal, the message is so arranged that it speaks to our “higher emotions” of love, pity, sense of fairness, and desire to do what is “right,” or even to our “lower emotions,” such as greed, hatred, and lust.  

Consider singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan’s television ads Links to an external site. for the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  The original ad (2007) mixes animal photographs with a soundtrack that features McLachlan singing a sad song (“Angel”). It aims directly for the emotions of viewers.  Ads like this one and others for products from Hallmark cards to Subaru cars that focus on the use of pathos are part of a trend advertising researchers call “sadvertising.” In “’Sadvertising’ Pulls on Consumers’ Hearts and Purse Strings,” Links to an external site. Nicole Coleman writes that such ads have the “goal of eliciting authentic emotional responses – actual tears, in some cases.” 

These ads have proven to do a very good job of raising money or eliciting business. A 2008 New York Times article, “Ad Featuring Singer Proves Bonanza for the A.S.P.C.A,” Links to an external site. for example, claims that in less than two years, the original ASPCA “Angel” ad raised over $30 million, an amount that “makes it the A.S.P.C.A’s most successful fund-raising effort and -- a landmark in nonprofit fund-raising, where such amounts are virtually unimaginable for a single commercial.” 

A pathetic appeal is thus designed to hit the viewer or reader emotionally, either through words, images, or a blend of the two. Rarely does a technical or professional writing document rely solely on pathos, however, and you should be wary of focusing solely on pathos. Most professional documents attempt to achieve a blend of rhetorical appeals in setting forth their arguments. Ethos and logos prove especially vital to documents designed for public consumption.

Ethos

The second mode, ethos, describes an appeal to the audience’s ethical sensibilities. It is the sense the writer/creator imparts in a document of his or her authority, trustworthiness, credibility, reliability, and fairness. To borrow a descriptive phrase associated with literary analysis, this “sense of the author” might best be described as the persona he or she adopts for the reader.

Good technical writers establish their ethos with readers, listeners, or users in a number of ways. They will attempt to

• establish their own credibility or trustworthiness as a sound base,
• emphasize benefits for their audience,
• address concerns and counterarguments,
• show that their reasoning is sound (which really pulls in logos as well), and
• measure their language or tone.

Doing all of these things simultaneously will go a long way toward imparting a sense of the writer (you) as impartial, reliable, and trustworthy. If you want to make yourself an authority figure, you will remain objective when writing about a “hot” issue rather than use inflammatory wording, adopt a lofty or “imperial” tone, or talk down to your readers. 

If you are preparing a document that uses the testimony of experts in the field, you should also establish their authority, trustworthiness, and other qualities by providing their titles for readers. University spokesperson, Virginia Tech history professor, Richmond-based obstetrician, and other such titles tell your readers This person knows what he or she is talking about. You can trust what is said.

Logos

Finally, logos refers to the readers’ logic or reasoning ability.  Writers who want to reassure readers that they have done their homework when creating their arguments will marshal evidence to support their claims. They will put into their documents

• facts, statistics, case studies,
• the results of experiments,
• quotations from authorities on the subject,
• information gathered from interviews and surveys,
• visual evidence like photos, charts, graphs, and maps

— basically, anything that will prove the validity of their claims.

Providing such support also will help establish your credibility not only as an author but also an authority on the subject at hand. Facts persuade readers. That’s why you must do what you can to research thoroughly and exhaustively when you are preparing any document for public consumption.
    
Although these three appeals seem very different, in fact in every successful technical writing document they coexist.  Each one affects the other, and each is affected by the context of the communication itself:  when, why, where, how, and for whom the document is produced.