PATHOS - Emotional Appeal (adapted from Thos. Kane, Oxford Guide to Writing, 1983)

1. PATHOS - Emotional Appeal(adapted from Thos. Kane, Oxford Guide to Writing, 1983) • the emotional appeal (pathos) is an important and legitimate means of persuasion • prompts changes in beliefs and behaviour of the audience by arousing happiness guilt anger laughter ambition fear excitement self-love boredom altruism moral indignation • emotional appeals are the essence of advertising, public relations, political image-making • as SSW states, pathos can effectively reinforce a rational argument (as in your research paper)

2. … from last week… • “Persuasion: Non-Rational Modes:” • “Unlike argument, emotive persuasion poses a moral problem. It can be used more easily than argument to move us against our will, and even, perhaps, counter to it” (Kane, 501). Discuss this, giving a few examples. • “To assume that advertisements and press releases and political claims are all lies is no wiser than taking them at face value” (Kane, 502). Do you agree or disagree? Discuss. • Identify the 3 modes of emotive persuasion discussed by Kane (502). Be prepared to give some contemporary examples of each. • Find and be prepared to present some contemporary examples of emotional fallacies mentioned by Kane, 512-514

3. Cautions from T. Kane • Emotional persuasion can move us against our will and judgment • When emotion is appealed to, it cannot respond; it can only resist. • Manipulation promotes cynicism: aware of the manipulation of image-makers, we turn off all messages, both the false and the worthy ones. • Cultivate a critical awareness; advertisers now routinely exploit cynicism for their own ends.

4. Conveying an Emotional Appeal • A speaker can use voice tone, gesture, body attitude, laughter, weeping, sad or solemn looks. • A writermust use powerful words and images • see readings on style, tone, figurative language • When reading or writing an emotional appeal, remember: • clever, cynical writers and speakers can project emotions they don’t feel (be on guard for insincerity & emotional fallacies) • emotional sincerity alone is not enough (write expressively when you need to, but avoid fallacies)

5. Propaganda & Emotion • Propaganda= information spread to promote a cause (can include gossip, lies, half-truths) • used by political & religious & special interest groups, advertisers, media, government; often • manipulates human weakness to achieve an emotional, not logical, reaction • exploits most people’s lack of critical reading, thinking, and listening skills • regularly, aggressively employs fallacies: • name calling & ad hominem attacks • glittering generalities • guilt by association • card-stacking

6. Propaganda & emotion • Propaganda= information spread to promote a cause (can include gossip, slogans, lies, half-truths) • is a feature of daily life: used by advertisers, media, business, government, political & religious organizations & special interest groups • is neutral in itself but its negative connotation (like that of “rhetoric”) exists because propaganda often • manipulates human weakness to achieve an emotional, not logical, reaction • deliberately exploits most people’s lack of critical reading, thinking, and listening skills.

7. Propaganda, cont. • regularly, aggressively employs certain fallacies: • name calling & mis-representation • glittering generalities • guilt by association • card-stacking • see, for example, political party websites, (Nov. 2007 & Nov. 2008) websites • (2007-8; access through WaybackMachine) attacking Stephan Dion: http://notaleader.ca • S. Harper and S. Dion on fed. Conservative Party site, and post-election site: http://www.conservative.ca/ • S. Dion & S. Harper on fed. Liberal Party site (2007), and post-election site: http://www.liberal.ca

8. Emotional appeal & complexity • Persuasive discourses often use complex forms of emotional appeal, identified by ancient rhetoricians & still used, including: • Satire • Eloquence • Pathos • All are legitimate means of persuasion. • But: use them sparingly and with judgment in professional discourse • Satire often falls flat; demands intimate knowledge of audience, genre, subject.

9. (1) Satire • very complex, with a moral base - ridicules folly & vice by posing them against wisdom & virtue • Mainly explicit: depicts both the folly/vice and the ideal • e.g., The Daily Show, Colbert Report, This Hour Has 22 Minutes • Mainly implicit: reveals the folly, but expects readers to supply the norm for themselves • MOST of the Simpsons; Family Guy • ??? South Park • Satire uses irony, sarcasm, invective, ironic contrast, parody(see Kane, pp. 503-507)

10. Satiric Devices: Irony • Irony: language used in a manner that contrasts with its conventional sense • “Nice day!” • subtlety of irony is its strength and weakness; audience has to recognize it, or effect is lost • e.g., “Told You So” • sometimes an author or text can begin with ironic commentary, transcend it to create a sympathetic and/or believable reality; e.g.: • The Godfather [tragedy] > Analyze This / “Fat Tony” on The Simpsons [comedy] >The Sopranos [tragedy] • Simpsons / S. Park / Family Guy: whenever the audience begins to “care” about the characters

11. Situational Irony • occurs when an event’s outcome contrasts with actors’ or audience’s expectations • can be comic, biting, or serious; suggests truths & paradoxes of human existence, large & small • Alanis Morrisette’s song, “Ironic”(c. 1997): It’s like rain on your wedding day / A free ride when you’ve already paid / Good advice that you just didn’t take / … Meeting the man of your dreams then meeting his beautiful wife…” • Sophocles’ play, Oedipus the King (c. 427 BCE): to rid his city, Thebes, of a plague, Oedipus vows to find & punish the killer of the previous king, unaware that he, Oedipus, had been the killer (of his father) & is now married to his own mother.

12. Other Satiric Devices • Sarcasm: biting, scathing remark; narrowly, such a remark, expressed as simple irony • He’s a brave man (said of a coward) • Invective: abusive, insulting language • (the film As Good As It Gets): Q: How do you write women so well? A: I start with a man and take away reason and accountability • Ironic contrast:shows ideal & actual together; common in literature, film, tv • Parody: mocking imitation of a style of speaking or writing; MadTV, Daily Show, Adbusters, etc….

13. Ironycan benegative, neutral, or positive; depends on tone, context and attitude of speaker towards the object being discussed and the audience. • Sarcasm:can be comic;always belittling, negative • Parody & contrast:need not be negative • Invective:always neg-ative; not always ironic • Irony can be playful, belittling, or not directly critical (situational) -not self-reflective -self-reflective -superiority to aud. -can reveal self to aud. -certain meaning -negotiable meaning -closed meaning -open meaning belittling, negative criticism comic, playful criticism Irony - fr. Gk. eiron, dis- sembler at least two meanings at once

14. (2) Eloquence • language used powerfully & fluently to appeal to our nobler emotions: • desire to reach toward and appreciate virtue sense of honour • love of country • Examples • entire eulogy for Diana • Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” and most of “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

15. (3) “Pathos” • in narrow, contemporary use, is an appeal to emotions of pity and compassion • “’Why don’t you go back to Africa?’”(“Invisible Woman”) • “Who will protect the children?” (all-purpose appeal) http://www.torontohumanesociety.com/

16. Motivation and Persuasion(Institute of Financial Education, Writing to Persuade, 1990) • Consistency theory: assumes you must overcome readers’ resistance to change by • increasing anxiety about severity of the problem • reducing anxiety about the impact of the change • offering significant rewards for change. • These approaches are prominent in advertising

17. Motivation & Advertising, cont. • Maslow’s hierachy of needs: humans need/desire 1) security > 2) affiliation > 3) achievement > 4) power > 5) self-actualization • Advertising targets early links in this chainby seeking to motivate behavior through appeals to • safety, comfort, belonging, appearance • fulfillment through sensory pleasures. sex • humor, novelty • economy (savings), durability • power/control, fame, exclusivity • knowledge

18. 10 Basic Advertising Techniquesadapted from J. Schrank’s Deception Detection (1975), in W. Adams & J. Spira, Reading Beyond Words, 1978 (1) weasel claim: seems substantial, but is hollow • Listerine fights bad breath (fights does not = stop) (2) unfinished claim: suggests product has something others don’t, without saying what • Twice as much of the pain reliever doctors recommend (twice as much of what? aspirin? morphine?) (3) “we’re different & unique” claim: • There’s no other lipstick like it (does this mean it’s better or worse than other kinds of lipstick?)

19. 10 Techniques, cont. (4) “water is wet” claim: says something true about the product, but it’s also true for any product • Dairyland Fat Free Skim Milk (all skim milk is fat free) (5) “so what” claim: claim is true, but there’s no advantage to it • strong enough for a man but made for a woman (only for women but strong enough for men?) (6) vague claim: unclear; emotional appeal • for luscious lips… (what are luscious lips?) • (classic example:) Winston tastes good like a cigarette should

20. 10 Techniques, cont. (7) endorsement or testimonial: using well-known people to push products • “got milk?” ads with Elizabeth Hurley, etc. (8) scientific claim: makes the product sound as though some statistics, scientific evidence, or special ingredient makes it the best • Kraft 2% milk slices: Twice the calcium of other slices (which other ones?) • Revlon Results cream with Alpha Recap 50 (what “results” are promised?)

21. 10 Techniques, cont. (9) “compliment the consumer” claim: we all like to be complimented. Advertisers know it and use this technique to get us on their side. • Because you demand the very best… (10) rhetorical question: no answer expected, but assumption is that the answer is what the advertisers want • Where will your best ideas end up? (IBM) • When will you stop drinking and driving? (Counter-Attack) • Isn’t it time you started thinking about #1? (Carlton low-tar cigarettes)

22. Abuses of Emotional Appeal • Hyperbole: • Rhet. A figure of speech consisting in exaggerated or extravagant statement, used to express strong feeling or produce a strong impression, and not intended to be understood literally.    • gen. Excess, extravagance. rare. • Maudlin: • Having reached the stage of drunkenness characterized by tearful sentimentality and effusive displays of affection; characteristic of (the behaviour of) someone who has reached this stage. • Sentimentality: • The quality of being sentimental; affectation of sensibility, exaggerated insistence upon the claims of sentiment.