Chapter Preview Questions

Specific strategies of argumentation that work as persuasion are cause and effect, example or illustration, and comparison-contrast.  Cause and effect demonstrates the benefits of using each product. The picture below shows an example of cause and effect. The ad is saying that without their phone your life will be chaos, but once you buy there phone you will be a much more organized person. An example or illustration shows how to use a certain product or how this product can change someones life. Lastly, comparison-contrast compares their product with someone else's product to show that theirs is better. 

Logos, pathos and ethos all play an important role in helping sell a product and keeping it popular. Without these rhetorical appeals the audience would not stay interested. The producers of every ad think of these three things carefully to make sure there ad is appealing to everyone. The best ads are a mix of all three things.  Logos is based on logic, statistical evidence, quotations from authorities, and proven facts. Pathos appeal to emotions. Adding emotion to ads really gets the point across. Seeing the effects of things in an emotional way will lead more people to believe it. Ethos appeals to character and authority. Aristotle states the ethos establish a goodwill or credibility of the writer. Almost everyone uses ethos. Ad artists construct their idea and then put it down on the paper while thinking about their word choice and tone. I think the picture below shows an excellent example of all three. It has a quote that persuades the audience, and the quote is an actual fact that can happen to real smokers. It also conveys ethos by feeling sorry for the man who has a hole in his throat. This ad also uses ethos because I'm sure the artist thought of this idea and found someone with this horrific problem to show how bad the effects of smoking are. 

Exaggerating logos causes the post hoc fallacy which confuses cause and effect, the cum hoc fallacy which interprets correlation as cause, the hasty generalization which draws conclusions too quickly without providing supporting evidence, the either or argument which reduces an argument between two choices ignoring other possibilities, stacking the evidence which offers evidence for only one side of the issue, begging the question which uses an argument as evidence for itself, or the red herring which distracts the audience rather than focusing on the argument itself. Exaggerating pathos can cause over-sentimentalization, the scare tactic, the false need, or the slippery slope fallacy. Over-sentimentalization distracts the audience from evidence or relevant issues causing a person to focus on just the picture and not the facts. The scare tactic scares the audience by picking out their worst fears to prove a point. The false need amplifies a perceived need or creates a completely new one. Lastly the slippery slope fallacy suggests that an event will send the audience down a slippery slope to a serious consequence. Exaggerating ethos causes parody. Which is when deliberately mocks a text or convention. For example, the new Kotex commercial which sells their product by making fun of other feminine product ads and saying that it shouldn't be so dramatic.

Considering the context in an argument makes sure that you are using it in the right time and place.  Thinking about what's going on in the world at that moment and using it in your ads will be a more persuasive argument. Audience, text, and context are the main things to out into an ad to make it persuasive. I can use all of these ideas in my own writing to make persuasive arguments. Just as they are persuasive with ads they are also persuasive in writings or television shows. Making sure I am using pathos, ethos, and logos and focusing on the context will make for an excellent paper. Also, using examples, comparing and contrasting, or using cause and effect will all make a paper have a stronger point and persuade my audience to believe my point.