Po-Ta-Toes

=Persuasion: How to Get People to Give You What You Want=

What do you want? To be heard? To have or do something? To change someone's mind?

Improvisation Activity:
What are some of the motives behind persuasion?

Everyone will pair off into groups of two and sit in a circle with the rest of the class. The teacher will pull a real life situation out of a bag/hat. The paired teams will have no more than one minute to think about a way for one character to persuade the other in the given circumstance. One team will start with their persuasion and then the teacher will pass the attention to the next group without pause by giving a code word, noise, or gesture if they have something different. Example: If the topic were "You need to persuade your parents to give you the keys to the car tonight," students would have less than a minute to plan a short skit then present their skit (no more then 15 seconds) with some possible responses: pleading: "Please, please, please, mom! I really want to go (somewhere)!" or a calmer, more logical argument: "Mom, Dad, I would really like the keys to the car, because (list logical reasons why you need to go wherever you want to)" or perhaps bribery: "If I can have the car tonight, I'll pick up (something) for you on the way..."

How many forms of persuasion can we think to use on one topic?

Ready?! Go!

Po-Ta-Toes:
Watch the video below, then think about: What are the motives behind this video? Is it persuading us of something? What techniques of persuasion does it use? We will take a moment to write a response. Start also thinking about: What do you believe in that you would want to convince someone to believe, too? What do you want that you need to persuade someone to get for you or allow you to have? What do you care about that you want to persuade someone to care about, too? media type="youtube" key="Gn4aHkOS2Q0" height="349" width="425" align="center"

While watching this next video, think about these questions: Are the motives behind this video the same as the first? Compare and contrast these videos. Are there different persuasive techniques used in this video, or is it basically the same as the first? media type="youtube" key="q7uyKYeGPdE" height="349" width="425"

= **Convince Me** =

===Write a persuasive essay with a specific reader in mind: your teachers, parents, friends, enemies - anyone you want to convince to do or believe something. Make sure to include who your anticipated reader is in the heading along with your name, class number, and date.===

Apply some of what you know about persuasion and rhetoric:

Appeal to your subject's logos - i.e. logic - form a logical argument Appeal to your subject's pathos - i.e. emotions - use what they care about to persuade them to care about what you're saying. Appeal to your subject's ethos - i.e. morals - show the validity of your argument through credibility or character - trust.

Use a few of the rhetorical devices listed [|HERE]

Use all of the [|TOP 20] correctly without disrupting the flow of your essay for extra credit!