Strategies of Persuasion

The way that we use rhetoric writing is strikingly similar to the way an advertiser uses rhetoric strategies for their ad. As a writer, our goal is to make the reader believe our side or take our side. For an advertiser, their goal is to get the audience to buy their product. Some of the strategies that are used in advertisements are strategies we can use in our own writing. For example, we can use narration, comparison-contrast, example or illustration, cause and effect, definition, an analogy, process, description, and classification and division. The most popular one the advertisers use is the comparison-contrast strategy, like in a hair ad. There are three types of rhetorical appeals, Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. Logos is mainly used in an argument based on facts, statistics, quotes, etc. In Pathos, the goal is to make the audience be in a certain mood. One of the more common types of Pathos appeal is the appeal to sexuality, especially in ads, for example, Victoria Secret ads. Ethos is what we use when we make an argument to persuade with evidence or research. As a writer, we also have the ability to use these appeals in different ways. For example, with Logos we can make mistakes and mislead the audience with a slogan or something that we write. This is called a logical fallacy. For pathos, some advertisers can use scare-tactics or false needs, which is basically an exaggeration. Kairos is another type of rhetoric writing. It is used for an argument at the right place and time. All of these types of writing of advertising are what we can use when we write something persuasive or something we can notice that an author is doing to us when we are the audience. Knowing these types of appeals can make it easier to analyze our chosen text for the rhetorical analysis project.