Thank You For Arguing By Jay Heinrichs

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

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

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