Are you buying it? Persuasive Genres

Persuasive Genre, genres which are crafted for the specific purpose to convince people to buy their product, change their behavior, or support their cause.

Persuasive genres include but are not limited to:

• Advertisements

• Public Service announcements

• Documentaries

• Manifestos

• Tweets

• Facebook Posts

• Sermons

• Political rallies

• Recruitment booths

• Radio spots

Some of these are Audio, visual or face-to-face modes.

This is a commercial which ran in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. This is one of the major television viewing events of the year where companies throw a lot of money into composing television advertisements that are memorable.

After viewing this commercial, think about why this mode (television)? Why Casey Neistat as spokesperson? Who is the audience they are attempting to reach considering that it aired on television during the NCAA Tournament? And is it effective?

Generally persuasive genres have two genre conventions:

• Make an explicit argument or position statement

• Taps into an audiences' values or emotions

All other genre conventions would be determined by the Mode. A TV spot has a specific time limit. A documentary would need to rely on evocative images. A speech would rely on repetitive statements.

When composing a persuasive genre, be sure to use the rhetorical appeals.

• Ethos: Make sure the viewer/reader/listener knows you are a person of authority. Introduce yourself. Tell them why they should listen to you.

• Logos: Be clear. Make sure your arguments make sense. Make sure your ideas connect.

• Pathos: Believe in what you are saying. It is very difficult to fake enthusiasm, interest, belief or passion in a concept.

BEWARE of these techniques which are often used in persuasive genres but are usually ineffective:

• Barking orders - telling people how to live their life is not connecting to people. Don't play the morality card.

• "Isn't this sad" - passive pathos, throwing together a bunch of pitiful images, like the ASPCA ads

• Auctioneer statistics - blinding the audience with numbers. This is usually an attempt to confuse the viewer/listener/reader.

Now, watch this Ted Talk.

This is a persuasive genre. Pay attention to what techniques she uses in this audio mode and face-to-face media (she’s addressing the audience, not those who happen to see this video online) in order to persuade her audience. Take in the whole picture:

• Audience: Who is she speaking to and how does she appeal to them?

• Style/Design: What does she use to make her speech visual stimulating? What impression does her choice of clothing give?

• Is this a hybrid genre?

Also note, she makes a bid at the beginning of the video. She makes a promise to the crowd and then at the end she fulfills that promise. This is a strategy that persuasive genres often use: offering the viewer an intriguing gift, one which seems impossible, and keeps the viewer/listener/reader a reason to continue to the end. The gift is usually something the viewer/listener/reader had all along.

Before 11:59 pm on FRIDAY 9/22

Compose post for Wix page (200-300 words): Select an advertisement which has caught your eye this week. (all modes are acceptable: Visual, auditory, text-based, muti-modal). Post the advertisement and perform a rhetorical analysis on the ad.

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