Jay Heinrichs unveils the hidden truths that we often overlook, in Thank You For Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach us About the Art of Persuasion, allowing you to liberate your mind to the wonders our rhetorical world offers. This informative piece works on reintroducing the 3,000 year old art throughout the nation- being taught in elite schools.From the witty, realistic scenarios he presents, we are able to visualize the hundreds of rhetoric tools that date back to Cicero and Aristotle. By providing examples from personal experiences, political figures, celebrities, and even hypothetical situations we could encounter- we are allowed to truly see how persuasion is and can be implemented into everyday life. Heinrichs …show more content…
He does a great job of introducing the true definition of rhetoric and how it was used centuries ago and allows us to see how it continues to live on before our very own eyes. By providing real life scenarios and past experiences, he allows us to connect to his personalized persuasive tools. He says “by teaching the tricks we use to persuade one another, the art of persuasion reveals the Matrix in all manipulative glory” (4) -which is true. All persuasion is is manipulation that tries to change “your mood, your mind, or your willingness to do something” (17). Advertising companies do it all the time with visual analysis of both commercials and billboards by using pathos. The second individuals realize how to “distinguish rhetorical argument from blame-shifting” (15), the sooner they’ll be able to get what they desire out of arguments. This would lead to more logical arguments that meet a common ground, and less pointless fighting. Heinrichs teaches his audience how to persuade while persuading them to follow the tools in the process- evidence of this is the “anticipation of his audience’s [the reader's] objections” (32). “The future has no facts, right? Doesn’t is simply speculate? Correct” (32). He poses a possible counterargument then supports his last stated idea. They assume you’ll be able to answer all of their …show more content…
Even though Abraham Lincoln is mesmerized for abolishing slavery he, “loved darkie jokes and even saw fit to use the n-word now and then” (61). He identified with his audience's customs and was able to match their beliefs, which made it easier for him to persuade while giving speeches because “emancipation was easier to accept coming from a racist than from one of those insufferable abolitionists” (61); evidence that even the most influential people in history used the same tactics to not just win over his audience, but a whole generation. If iconic historical figures and their quotes are remembered for the groundbreaking impacts they had on societies, one should ask what made them so successful. Was it their ability to speak to an audience as one? Being able to persuade? Listening to what their audience wanted? All of the attributes that made these people successful in rhetoric are topics that are discussed and broken down in Thank You For Arguing. For these reasons, I agree with the continued usage of this book. This skill is one that could accompany students for the rest of their lives for the greater good, and make a difference in their future careers. People like being told what they need and the way it’s presented to
Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us about Persuasion by Jay Heinrichs portray the basics of rhetoric in a modest and clear way. The author initiates the first chapter of his book with a short and simple summary of where rhetoric originated so that the audience can picture the time frame. He points out that it all started back in prehistoric Greece, describes its effect on Roman storytellers, and discusses the importance of rhetoric associated to William Shakespeare. Henrichs explains his views of taking rhetoric to a new level and bringing it back for all the new writers and readers of the upcoming generation, due to it being a low perspective in society. He chose to have his first chapter, “Open
Pathos Henry Logically, logic should be the most powerful type of persuasion, but this is not often the case. On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry stood to speak in front of a divided Virginia House of Burgesses. What he said used all forms of persuasion, yet only one is truly responsible for his success. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” pathos is by far the most persuasive technique as his strong words and heavy, hard tone form a strong hate for Britain while making an unignorable call to action.
Every writer has a goal in mind when writing. For some that goal is to entertain, for others, it’s to educate. When writing, authors have many tools or tricks they use. One of the more common tools is rhetoric. There are three main components of a good rhetoric argument, ethos, pathos, and logos.
Rhetoric is used to persuade its audience by giving information convincingly. It is the art of speaking and writing effectively. Rhetoric has three major modes of persuasion. Those modes of persuasion are ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is ethical appeal or providing credibility
Freedom Is Ringing We are inspired by great speeches because of the way they are rhetorically crafted to make us feel. The best speeches are not the ones that are informational, it’s the ones that tug at our heartstrings. John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, Martin L. King ’s I Have a Dream Speech, and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms State of the Union Address use a variety of literary devices in their speech to motivate and cajole their audiences to defend our liberties.
Jay Heinrichs beautifully transforms these approaches to rhetoric into a way that make sense today. From examples using celebrities, political powers, humor, and intellectual banter, Heinrichs truly encompasses the real art of persuasion in a way that complies with modern times, therefore proving the books continued use without a
Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion by Jay Heinrichs is a splendidly woven book that teaches people how to become rhetorical. Heinrichs spent many years working with the art of rhetorical persuasion. Even though he is a husband, father, teacher, and author, he always finds time to perfect his persuasion skills. Heinrichs’s main strategies which he uses constantly throughout the book are his backstories and examples; with that, his best chapter is Chapter nine: Control the Mood, and I believe this book should be used in college as ENGL 1301 study guides to help students get a better idea on the art of persuasion. Jay Heinrichs’s book, Thank You For Arguing, gives several techniques on how to become a more rhetorical and/or persuasive person.
Persuasion has been used to not change the minds of people, but rather to make them . “Ethos, pathos, and logos are frequently used in the Declaration of Independence,” (Root). Historical figures have used the rhetorical technique of persuasion to change the path that history takes. In the 1770’s, the Declaration of Independence was signed to show that the America’s separated themselves from the Great Britains. “That they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally Dissolved,” (pg 115 line 19).
Arguments happen everyday in history and now a days. Weather the arguments come from speeches, debates, body language, or even a paper; they contribute to everyday life. These arguments can happen by audio or visual rhetorics which help to strengthen the argument and its purpose. Both Daniel H. Cohen and FDR use great rhetorics in their speeches, ethos and pathos, while keeping in mind the audiences they are speaking to. These two men both had a purpose in their speeches, weather it to argue the importance and ways of argument winning, or the future of the country.
These devices create a speech that is clear to the audience, relatable to a wide variety of people, and develop strong pathos. It is because of his successful and abundant use of rhetoric that Obama’s speech turned him from an Illinois Senator into a rising star with a presidential
His way of constantly using these rhetorical strategies made him seem credible yet sincere. His personal experience with the argument’s issue evoked emotions that were used in a way of persuading the readers towards his stance. His variations of tones, language, and strategies made his argument clear and effective. Readers were able to be persuaded towards his stance by making us want to act towards diminishing the labels “street smart” and “book smart”. His wording resonated with many readers, stories like these are common to most people.
In conclusion, Dana Gioia applies vocabulary and rhetorical appeals to actively influence his audience to agree to his argument. Furthermore, connecting his audience to the subject and inspiring them to help his issues and understand his
Every day, persuasion is used, whether it be to get a raise, convince someone to extend a deadline, or even to get the last piece of food. This persuasion is most evident in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, specifically with the character Antony. Through a series of lectures and speeches, he manages to accomplish his main goal of getting the plebeians and other Romans to believe his points. Antony does this through rhetorical talent, by using ethos (ethics), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic) to persuade the crowd to his own way of thinking without arguing against his adversaries. (thesis statement?)
In the essay What We Can Learn About the Art of Persuasion from Candidate Abraham Lincoln: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Three Speeches That Propelled Lincoln into the Presidency, Michael Loudenslager analyzes the rhetorical devices used by Abraham Lincoln that made him the most prominent political figure of the day. When Loudenslager’s analysis is employed to real world applications in various business ventures, this knowledge can be extremely useful in becoming a successful persuader in every facet of life. To begin, Loudenslager gives a brief overview of Lincoln’s extensive legal career. This history in and of itself is not terribly important to the overall message of the essay, but it helps outline a context with which Lincoln became the
Abraham Lincoln made his speech persuasive by using a lot of figurative language like repetition, and by using a lot of pathos styled techniques. One of the ways he made his speech persuasive to people is by using repetition. “We CANNOT” is the main one example that president Abraham Lincoln used. He used this quote to really emphasize the thing we cannot do to make this country great and to make sure all people, no matter the color nor the race, shall always be free.