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Why this Website?

Persuasion Analysis in the Composition Course

How to Use It

"Teaching English" usually means two things in America today: the composition of exposition (from kindergarten ABCs to the 500 word essay in college) and the analysis of literature (fiction, poetry).

Both of these studies have very important goals, usually expressed in terms of individual competency and social utility, personal enrichment and cultural literacy.

Schools need to teach all of these things, but also need to examine what kinds of language study have been neglected or omitted.

Persuasion analysis, for example, has been grossly neglected by the schools despite the increasing sophistication of the "professional persuaders" (especially, advertisers and politicians) and the increasing situation of inequality between these professional persuaders and average citizens, the persuadees.

Yet, the schools continue, almost as if nothing's happening, doing very little to prepare students to analyze such persuasive messages. For example, if "argument" is taught, the focus is usually on rational, logical argument, not on the emotional, non-logical persuasive techniques often seen in ads.

Even though commercial advertising is the most commonly encountered persuasion in our society, less than 10% of high school English teachers surveyed responded that they do anything at all with advertising. Many of those who do "something" about advertising emphasize spontaneous creativity ("Let's write an ad!"): enjoyable, but not a systematic analysis of the principles of persuasion.

Political language is often such a hot potato issue that many teachers simply avoid dealing with it. Other teachers are often accused of using their podium as a pulpit for their own partisan beliefs, if they deal with any current political persuasion. It is very difficult to do non-partisan analysis.

Furthermore, speech and media literacy courses, which sometimes do teach some persuasion analysis, are under budget attack in many school districts as being "frills." ("Kids already see enough television at home, blah, blah.") In college, frequently the introductory speech course is devoted primarily to student oral presentations, the "three minute speech." Only a few upperclass students, often those majoring in Advertising or Politics, the future persuaders, will take a rigorous course in persuasion.

Thus, the closest thing American colleges have as a common denominator, as a universally required course for all students, is the basic "Rhetoric & Comp" courses - English 101 - or whatever it's called locally. Here's the last chance to reach a wide, non-specialist, audience involved in language studies.

Democracy depends upon the informed choice of its citizens. Such informed choice, in turn, depends on a cluster of key concepts: free speech, a free press, an open society, and an educational system which prepares all citizens to understand and to evaluate ideas, information, and opinions.

Thus, I advocate persuasion analysis as a form of such critical thinking which needs to be taught to the widest possible audiences: not restricted to elite elective courses for the few, but incorporated within the classrooms, textbooks, and courses for the many.

Some teachers will share with me these democratic goals of providing the greatest number of citizens with some simple and useful tools for analyzing persuasion. If so, consider using these teaching aids.

Curriculum changes are needed eventually, I believe, in order to produce the largest number of citizens capable of analyzing sophisticated persuasion techniques, from persuaders of all sorts, commercial or political, Left or Right, foreign or domestic.

Realistically, however, I don't think such changes are coming soon. Don't hold your breath. Any major reform involves a slow complex process. Yet, without waiting for whole systems to change, teachers can do something right now, as individuals, to incorporate change within existing systems.

Advertising analysis, I believe, is the best starting point for a better understanding of all persuasion. Ads are fairly easy to analyze, come in carefully crafted packages, are easily available in great quantity and variety, and are frequently interesting and entertaining.

Political persuasion, in contrast, is harder to analyze because it usually appears in bits and fragments, edited by others, and is intrinsically more complex than the typical simplicity of an ad.

The means in this website (A Companion to Composition provide you with useful items which can be incorporated within your course, if you are willing and able.

1. Online: 11 sequential weekly assignments (Introduction & 10 sections) concurrent with your existing syllabus.

2. Online: emphasize individual units (e.g. purpose, audience, structure, limits) related specifically to parts of your existing text or syllabus.

3. In-class: you may download and print-out for class sets. (Permission granted.) Note also the available classroom one-page teaching aids.

3. Individual student assignments as topics for outside papers.