Persuasion in English

 

Persuasion in rhetoric refers to the art of influencing someone or a group of people to agree with something by rational and emotional means. Persuaders use spoken or written words to express feelings, information, and opinions or a combination of the three. A persuader must identify goals, the message, and his audience. Persuasion differs from manipulation as it involves the use of appeal rather than force. It helps in problem-solving and benefits the parties involved at the end. Orators are known for their exceptional skills in persuading the public. They use various linguistics tools and great eloquence. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the different methods of persuasion and rhetorical devices used by Public Orators, especially Dr. Martin Luther.

To successfully persuade a public, Public Orators use different methods. They include Ethos, Pathos, Logos, and the least used Kairos. Logos is one of the most effective means of persuasion. Logos in English means logic. It is the use of logical ideas to appeal and persuade people. Logical appeals are either inductive or deductive. Inductive reasoning moves from specific to general facts, for example, every goat has four legs, therefore, all goats have four legs. On the other hand, deductive reasoning moves from a generalized conclusion to specific. According to Aristotle, logos goes beyond making private feeling public. Logical thinking is what differentiates human beings from animals, due to the ability to make it clear to others the difference between what is significant and harmful, between just and unjust, and differentiate good and evil. Orators apply logos through the use of statistics and known facts, referencing of research to support their argument, and being specific (Burg, B 2011, p.24).  Moreover, an argument from facts always wins because it is hard to manipulate factual data. The factual evidence makes Orators appear more prepared and knowledgeable of their audience. Martin Luther shows logic when he tells the people that he is not unmindful of that some people came from jail and some of them came from areas where talking about freedom led to serious torture. His audience is mainly comprised of Black Americans who have gone through racial discrimination in the United States (King, M. L. 1985, p.4).

Pathos is the second useful method of persuasion. Pathos refers to the process of appealing the audiences’ emotions. Humans are emotional beings, and Orators use their experience to draw a path into peoples’ emotions. Their main aim is making the audience to feel a certain way, like confident, sad, angry among other emotions, when communicating with them. Public orators use humor to engage the audience, chose words to get people excited or show different images to evoke stronger emotions (Cockcroft, R. & Cockcroft, S, 2013, p.26). Also, feelings are an important part of real life, and by using pathos in their speech, Orators can draw their narrative and messages closer to real life. Without the implementation of pathos, other persuasion technics cannot work. This is because pathos activates the urge to change. Martin Luther uses pathos to make people see their suffering at the hands of the whites. He intended to trigger peoples’ emotions to resist against oppression. “Storms of persecution…winds of police brutality”.

Orators also persuade their audience based on their character of the audiences’ character. This method is known as Ethos. Aristotle defined ethos as being trustworthy to one’s audience. There are two types of ethos: Authority and credibility. Authority entails having enough knowledge and power. Human beings are more likely to trust people with admirable characters, like honesty, generosity, and ethical values (Burg, B 2011, p.28). The personal language in the speech, ‘my friends’ makes it clear that the people can rely on Luther and his goals. Also, Orators are more likely to persuade people if they possess similar characteristic to them. Luther was a black man fighting for the rights of black people. Thus it was easy to persuade them. Reputation is also important when persuading people. A good reputation attracts people towards something. Using celebrities to advertise one’s idea makes it more understandable.

Orators use a combination of persuasion and argumentation for effective speech called classical rhetoric. Three Greek teachers namely; Plato, Aristotle, and Isocrates invented classical rhetoric. They thought of language because they found texts, spoken or written to have particular influence. The ability to efficiently persuade was considered an achievement in Politicians (Rhys Roberts, W. 2008, p.34). Their control demanded citizens participate in the speech act of voting and deliberation. There are three genres of classical rhetoric: Deliberative, Forensic and Ceremonial. Deliberative discourse aims at persuading a person to do something he would not do if given a choice. This genre is concerned about the future. Second, Forensic is genre concerned with the past, which seeks to support or oppose one’s actions. Lastly, Ceremonial is a present-based genre which aims to celebrate or denounce.

Classical rhetoric follows five steps: invention, the arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. The invention refers to the initiation of an argument. It has two categories: Non-artistic, cases that are not invented, like laws, contracts, oaths and artistic, discussions that Orators must devise. They include emotional, logical and ethical appeals. On the development of an argument, the Orator must organize his or her claims. An arrangement is an essential part of persuasion. They arrange their applications in a systematic manner: Introduction, state the facts, confirm the arguments, refutation and finally, a conclusion. According to Corbett, E.P (1965, p. 34), Orators introduce their speech to the audience to keep them informed about their arguments. After the introduction, a speaker states the facts which give the audience an insight of things to be noted before the presentation of a case. The Orator then presents the argument and defend it with logical and factual proof. It is not advisable to give an argument in descending order of strength. The debate should be sequenced depending on the occasion and the taste of the speaker. Luther argued that African- Americans should be treated equally as every other citizen in the United States. Refutation should be presented to prove the truth in an argument. And finally, the speaker concludes by restating facts, emphasize on own points and diminish an opponent’s argument include emotional appeals and inspiring the audience through their character. Emotional appeal is most potent during a speech conclusion.

Once new ideas are invented and organized, the ideas get translated into words for discourse. In his speech, Martin Luther used different rhetorical strategies and devices. They include:

Parallelism: It is used to show the similarities in the structure in a pair of related words. For example, “Go back …South Carolina”. Parallelism is used to jazz up a crowd which makes them ready to demonstrate and fight peacefully. In this speech, parallelism made the speech memorable and represented the equality of people in a country.

Climax: Orators should arrange their arguments in an ascending order which makes it attractive for the audience to follow and increase their curiosity to know how an argument would end (Trosborg, A., 1997, p.26). Martin’s speech goes from the basic information on what blacks go through to more complex on what the solutions to these problems.

Simile: A simile is the explicit comparison of two things which are entirely different. Luther uses simile to show the power of justice and righteousness, and equality should be a natural thing. “…until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (King, M. L. 1985, p.3).

Metaphor: Metaphor is the implicit comparison of two things of different nature. Luther used metaphor to capture the audiences’ attention and bring out the seriousness of the matter. “The storms of persecution…winds of police brutality”. Also, Luther uses metaphor to show that the like the American dream, his idea is spread everywhere. “…dream deeply rooted in the America dream” (King, M. L. 1985, p.4).

Anaphora: Anaphora entails the repetition of the same words at the beginning of successive clauses. It helps to show emphasis on something. “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina” (King, M. L. 1985, p.4).  

Irony: It is the cynical use of words to convey a different meaning other than the actual meaning of the words. According to Corbett, E.P (1965, p.38), the irony is used to criticize evil in the society. In Luther's speech, he uses irony to show black people that they should not take suffering as a regular thing, they should rise and redeem themselves. “Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive” (King, M. L. 1985, p.4).

Repetition: It is the restatement of an idea several times to promote clarity and encourage the acceptance of an opinion. When an idea is said several times, it sinks into the audiences’ heads which eventually makes them believe the view (Trosborg, A., 1997, p.29). Luther used repetition to make his concept more memorable and to describe the essential part of the speech, “I have a dream…”

Alliteration: Luther uses words with similar initial letters to create rhythm in their speech. Alliteration keeps the audience entertained. It also shows a speaker’s poetic knowledge. “Trials and tribulation… today and tomorrow”.

Motif: Motif shows the purpose of the whole speech. Dr. Luther’ rhetoric aims at increasing nationalism among African- Americans through highlighting the challenges they encounter.

Asyndeton: This is the intentional omission of some conjunctions. “Go back to…, go back to Alabama” (King, M. L. 1985, p.4).

In conclusion, Persuasion in rhetoric is an essential skill needed to get people to change their minds and see things on a different point of view. Orators have to skillfully use ethos, pathos, and logos when addressing the public. People believe in people in speakers who have good character and can be trusted. Additionally, rhetorical eloquence makes it easy to communicate without sounding rude, which can offend the audience. Therefore, it is important for public institutions, such as universities, to have skillful Orators who can persuade people in case of demonstrations or industrial actions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Burg, B. 2011. THE ART OF PERSUASION. Sound Wisdom.

Corbett, E.P., 1965. CLASSICAL RHETORIC (p. 496). Na.

Cockcroft, R. and Cockcroft, S., 2013. PERSUADING PEOPLE: AN INTRODUCTION TO

            RHETORIC. Palgrave Macmillan.

King, M. L. 1985. I HAVE A DREAM: A SPEECH. Thee Hellbox Press.

Rhys Roberts, W. 2008. ARISTOTLE THE ART OF PERSUASION. Megaphone e-books.

Trosborg, A., 1997. RHETORICAL STRATEGIES IN LEGAL LANGUAGE: DISCOURSE

            ANALYSIS OF STATUTES AND CONTRACTS (Vol. 424). Gunter Narr Verlag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix

“…No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulation. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you staggered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans' of creative suffering.

Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slum and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, though, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the America dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up live out the true meaning of its creed…”