Sunday, March 14, 2010

Persuasion

The persuasion technique that I use most in life is pathos, appealing to the emotions. Some of the circumstances I have used the method in include:

1. Convincing my mom to order something from a fundraiser. - Many fundraisers make their way to my family, especially from band. I can always convince my mom to order something by telling her that ordering helps the band get new equipment, and helps us travel. She knows I love band, so she loves band as well.

2. Getting myself ungrounded. - Once my mom grounded me from going to an event in town, but I let her know that I had already agreed to give a ride to friend, and that if I did not get to go, neither did the friend. Eventually, her sympathy and pity for the friend won out.

3. Getting a new puppy. - I told my parents that I felt left out because all the other children in the family had their own pet, and I did not. I guess they felt bad for me, because I totally got a new dog.

Others use this method in life all the time. One of the most common ways this method is used is in advertisement. Publicity agencies use this method all time to try to convince people to donate money, or help out with a special cause. Hospital ads use pictures of sick children to appeal to the emotions of people to get them to donate money for supplies or research. Charity organizations use sad stories of people whom they are trying to help to convince others to pay for food, or books, or whatever else the charity is asking for. Pathos can be seen everywhere, everyday.

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