How Author's Use Language to Persuade and Influence Readers

PATHOS 

ETHOS 

Tools of Persuasion 

LOGOS 

AISD Language Arts © 2010

Authors write for many purposes: 

• Sometimes, they write to share information about 

things (expository) 

• Sometimes they write to tell an amusing or 

interesting story (narrative) 

• And sometimes they write to influence the reader to 

think or do something (persuasive) 


Authors have a lot of tricks to influence readers 

and get them to agree with their views: 

They can support their opinions with 

facts and statistics: 

“Nearly 80% of children have choked on chewing 

gum. We must act now to make chewing gum 

illegal!” 




They can convince the reader with 

an appeal to emotion: 

“Can you imagine being kept in a dark cage with 

thousands of other people your whole life? That’s 

how we treat chickens at chicken farms.” 




They can persuade the reader with 

an appeal to conformity: 

“None of the cool kids smoke any more – they all think 

that smoking is disgusting.” 




They can frighten the reader by 

taking advantage of self-consciousness: 

“If you don’t use our deodorant, then you smell bad.” 




They can persuade the reader with 

an appeal to authority: 

“Nine out of ten dentists chew this gum.” 




They can influence the reader with 

name calling: 

“The president, being the moron that he is, decided to 

support these new rules and regulations.” 




They can attract the reader with meaningless 

sparkle and glitter: 

“This car is new and improved, and comes with rich 

Correnthian Leather.” 




They can motivate the reader with 

a sense of urgency: 

“This car is on sale now, but only for a limited time!” 




They can influence the reader with 

humor or sarcasm: 

“People who have too much money and too few brains 

should buy all of their clothes at the mall!” 


Using Tools Effectively 

Words are a writer’s tools, and a good writer can use these 

tools very effectively to manipulate readers. 

Using emotionally charged words, citing facts and statistics, 

and appealing to the readers sense of fairness or reason are 

just a few of the things that authors do to convince readers to 

change their beliefs or behaviors. 

Use these tools well if you are a writer, and beware of them if 

you are a reader.

How Author's Use Language to Persuade and Influence Readers

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