Writing & Publishing

 

Persuade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

This document mines the ancient sources of classical rhetoric to guide you through the art of persuasion. It seeks to challenge and stretch your imagination in the process. The key is to never lose sight of context and especially the role your audience plays.

 

Your audience must believe your writing for it to be successful. This is a fact that holds true no matter the genre. Fiction writers need readers to buy into their stories just as much as researchers need peers to buy into their arguments.

 

As you move through the document, keep a personal writing project in mind. Think about how you can employ the suggestions below in ways that will further persuade your audience to ‘believe in’ your project. 

 

You will find the document organized in three stages, corresponding to canons of ancient rhetoric[1]:

 

     1) Invention

     2) Arrangement

     3) Style

 

Each stage will contain a brief description followed by suggestions on how writers can apply the principles covered[2]. The suggestions incorporate insights from the great classical authors on rhetoric like Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian.

 

 

 

Invention

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Now if you have proofs to bring forward, bring them forward, and your moral discourse as well.” – Aristotle

 

 

Your first step in writing persuasively is Invention, the discovery of your arguments. Your arguments are the raw materials that form the cornerstone of your persuasive effort. Solid arguments may appear in an intuitive flash for those so lucky, but often there needs to be more concentrated effort. Aristotle can help when intuition does not suffice. He spoke of rhetorical or ‘artistic’ proof in three senses. As you think about your writing project, consider your audience and how you can apply these three ‘appeals’. If you are writing fiction, think about how you can make the characters in your story believable by fine-tuning their rhetorical skill levels:

 

 

 

1. Appeals to Reason (logos)

These arguments persuade through logic (or probability) and can be labeled as follows:

 

• The Syllogism: deductive reasoning from universal premises to necessary conclusions

 

Example: A civil rights activist may argue, “All humans have rights and Jack is a human; therefore Jack has rights.”

 

Explanation: From the universal premise ‘Jack has rights’ we can deduce that since Jack is a human, he has rights.

 

• The Enthymeme: deductive reasoning from probable premises to tentative conclusions

 

Example: A Cold War Era journalist may write that, “Communists usually advocate for the Soviet Union; Jack is probably a communist because he advocated for the Soviet Union.”

 

Explanation: From the probable premise ‘Communists usually advocate for the Soviet Union’ we can deduce tentatively (since we’re dealing with probabilities) Jack is likely a communist since he advocated for the Soviet Union.

 

• The Case Study: inductive reasoning from particular(s) to tentative conclusions

 

Example: A biographer of an Enron executive writes, “The Enron scandal demonstrates the moral bankruptcy of corporate America.”

 

Explanation: From the particular instance of the Enron scandal, we can inductively conclude that corporate America is morally bankrupt.

 

2. Appeals to Character (ethos)

These arguments persuade through perception of the writer’s character and build credibility:

 

• Credibility: arguments that demonstrate writer’s knowledge, avoid specious reasoning, build rapport, use proper tone, etc.

 

Example: A physics researcher writes, “My years of experience as a physicist gave me insight into the intricacies of superstring theory.”   

 

Explanation: With a non-specialist audience, this appeal to experience may build credibility.

 

3. Appeals to Emotions (pathos)

These arguments persuade through the stimulus of the emotions and invoke desire for what you argue:

 

• Desirability: rousing emotions to make an end seem desirable

 

Example: A conservative radio host says, “Our nation is the land of the free and the home of the brave. We must work to defend this freedom in the world, and that means troops in Afghanistan.”

 

Explanation: The appeal to patriotic themes of ‘land’, ‘home’, ‘free’, and ‘brave’ rile the emotions of citizens’ nationalistic pride and make evangelization abroad seem desirable.  

 

 

You must use discretion when determining the balance among the appeals in your work, but great pieces of writing often feature all three: logos, ethos, and pathos. 

 

 

 

Arrangement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“…Arrangement is to oratory what generalship is to war.” – Quintilian

 

The next step is Arrangement, gathering and organizing the arguments you found during Invention to make your project effective as a whole. Here, you are like a general on the battlefield. It’s your job to make a successful battle plan and direct the troops. As you can imagine, the way you construct your plan has a lot to do with the context around you. There’s no one right answer. It takes meditating on your surroundings (e.g., your genre and audience) to make a successful plan.

 

To help in this discerning process, we look to classical rhetoric and the division of a discourse into five parts. The outline below can serve as a guide in the organization of your material. Think through how each one of these five parts applies to your work. How can you best arrange your material to reach your audience? If you’re writing fiction, instead of focusing on the order of the steps, think about the bullets underneath the five parts. Does your work as a whole accomplish each one of the objectives?

 

 

 

1. Introduction (Exordium)

 

• Inform reader about goals with a ‘hook’ to grab attention

  • Use interesting questions, paradoxes, correctives, anecdotes

• Dispose reader to be receptive throughout

  • Present qualifications, discredit prejudices

  • Stay subtle and modest

 

Example: An International Studies professor says that, “Calling ISIS a terrorist group is a category mistake...”

 

Explanation: Here we have a ‘corrective’. The professor hooks the audience by correcting a common misconception; this disposes them to listen.

 

2. Statement of Facts (Narratio)

 

• Describe circumstances or ‘back story’

  • Either ‘inform’ or ‘remind’ reader depending on situation

  • Quintilian says should be ‘lucid, brief, and plausible’

 

Example: A historical fiction writer narrates, “In the 1960s, the Sexual Revolution began to change American mindsets…”

 

Explanation: The writer reminds his audience (or ‘informs’ depending on their history knowledge) of the vast changes in social norms that took place in the 1960s.

 

3. Proof (Confirmatio)

 

• Present arguments for your position

  • Place strongest arguments first and last, since the ends of lists are better retained

 

Example: A journalist uses this example last in her book on police in America, “The Michael Brown case exposes racial prejudice in the police force...”

 

Explanation: The writer places the strongest argument last (a ‘Case Study’ argument) because it will be better retained by readers.

 

4. Discrediting of Opposing View (Refutatio)

 

• Anticipate reader’s objections and refute them

  • Use appeal to reason, emotions, ethics, or wit

 

Example: A pharmaceuticals researchers arguing for marijuana legalization says, “Some might respond marijuana is a ‘gateway drug’, but studies show differently...”

 

Explanation: The researcher refutes a potential objection to the legalization of marijuana through reason in the form of scientific studies.

 

5. Conclusion (Peroratio)

 

• Recapitulate points in summary form

  • Use eloquence and emotional intensity since this section will linger in the memory of the reader, but with discretion

 

Example: A politician in a novel ends his speech saying, “The American people should not bow in fear, falling prey to the schemes of terroristic tyranny…”

 

Explanation: The politician concludes his speech by hitting the major theme: not bowing to fear. He uses imagery and alliteration for more emotional intensity.

 

 

By considering the outline above, you can ensure your writing project is designed in a fashion that engages the reader from various angles, maximizing its persuasive effect.

 

 

 

Style 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“But in an orator we must demand…a diction almost poetic…” - Cicero

 

The last step in crafting persuasive writing is to put your thoughts into words. Since your personal writing projects span all kinds of topics and genres, it’s important that Style (like the other stages) caters to the audience and situation to be effective. As a good fiction writer you should place different styles of language into the mouths of characters according to their personalities and the situation in the story. As a non-fiction writer you will likely concentrate on one of Cicero’s three categories of style to best reach your reader:

 

 

 

1. Grand Style

 

• Characterized by: literary devices, figurative language, imagery, emotion

• Useful in: writing in or about the arts (poetry, music, theater, cinema, etc.)

 

Example: “Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.” – Victor Hugo

 

Explanation: Hugo uses the imagery of a tree to illustrate how a person should hold fast to principles and leave behind opinions.

 

2. Middle Style

 

• Characterized by: eloquence, some literary devices, clarity

• Useful in: writing essays, papers in academic contexts, opinion articles, literary fiction

 

Example: An angry mother blogs, “Violent video games like Grand Theft Auto transmit sickening, sexist prejudices to the young.”

 

Explanation: She uses some alliteration with ‘sickening’ and ‘sexist’ as well as the word ‘transmit’ and ‘sickening’ which may conjure images of transmitted diseases.

 

3. Plain Style

 

• Characterized by: clarity, directness, efficiency, correctness

• Useful in: writing for general audiences in newspapers, magazines, bestseller fiction

 

Example: “The protest in Greece yesterday reached a violent climax when a group of students bashed in storefront windows.”

 

Explanation: Language focuses on recitation of facts in Greece with little or no ornamentation.

 

Style is not done overnight. The ancients believed versatility of style required study, imitation, and practice. It blossoms as you - a writer - gain more experience.

 

 

 

Write Away!

    

There is no substitute for practice. That’s the secret to writing. You may study writing abstractly in a textbook all you want, but at the end of the day improvement comes by doing - by the act of writing itself. This guide stretches the imagination; it forces you to consider how best to write for your target audience. It relentlessly demands that context is not ignored. By practicing writing with this guide at hand, you can take a step forward towards becoming a better writer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cicero denounces Catiline, fresco by Cesare Maccari, 1882–88

 

 

[1] These stages are loosely based on three of Aristotle’s five canons of rhetoric, Inventio, Dispositio, and Elecutio. The other two canons, Memoria and Pronuntiato, are not included since they pertain more specifically to oral rhetoric.

 

 [2] These sections are heavily indebted to the text Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student by Edward P.J. Corbett and Robert J. Connors