Table of Contents for:

 

Persuasion: History, Theory, Practice

George Pullman

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Note to Students, Note to Readers in General

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

What Is This Book About?
Why Study Persuasion?

 

 

CHAPTER 1: ASSESSING PERSUASIVE ACTS:

 

Reading with and against the Grain

 

Logic:
     Deductive reasoning—think geometry
     Inductive reasoning—think empirical science
     Common errors in reasoning

 

Toulmin's Model of Argumentation

 

Critical Thinking:
    Checklist for assessing eyewitness testimony
    Checklist for assessing arguments based on sources (authority)
    Checklist for assessing the credibility of websites
    Checklist for assessing arguments based on survey data

 

Cognitive Biases

 

 

CHAPTER 2: PRODUCING PERSUASIVE ACTS:

 

The Persuasion Process:
    The presentation of self
        Ethos
            Good character
            Good sense
            Goodwill
       Ethos and writing assignments
        Autobiography as self-rhetoric and the rhetoric of the self

 

   The presentation of others
       Characterization
            Bios
            The traditional topics of bios
            Stereotypes
            Audience analysis (demographics)
            Personas
            The creation of pseudoaudiences (astroturfing)
            Why knowing your audience matters and what it means
            Creating a virtual audience

 

Emotion, Reason, and Persuasion:
   The emotion/reason false dichotomy
   The social construction of emotions
   The influence of emotions can be monitored and mitigated (and exploited)
   Assessing your emotional involvement
   Common emotional strategies
   Positive emotions
   Asynchronous persuasion and emotions

 

 

CHAPTER 3: THE FIVE CANONS OF RHETORIC:

 

Invention:
   Dialectic
      An example of Platonic dialectic:
            Notes on Gorgias and dialectic
      Dialectical topics—argumentative heuristics:

            The basic rules of inference
   Dialectical invention, the non-conversational form
   Summary
   A parody of dialectic from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
   Transition from dialectic to topics:
         Topics
         Aristotle's general topics of the preferable
         The topics of praise and blame
         Topics of interpretation
         Topics of last resort
         Summary
         Stasis:
                 What is an issue?
                 Asystasis—non-issues

     Framing
        Frame-breaking strategies
     Commonplaces

     Signs
     Proverbs, maxims, aphorisms: On the origin of sound bites
  Summary of invention

 

Arrangement:
   Introduction (exordium)
      Division (partitio)
      Background (narratio)
      Confirmation (conformatio)
      Refutation (refutatio)
      Conclusion (peroration)

 

Style:
   Diction
      God and devil terms
      Positive, negative, neutral language
      Figures of speech
      The editing checklist
      What's the opposite of plain?
      Editorial strategies for producing a plain style

 

Memory:
   Origins of the art of memory

   Mnemonics

   Backgrounds and images
   Segmented hypergraphics—image maps
   Plato and memory and writing

 

Delivery:
   Body language
      Common gestures and how they are commonly interpreted in the Western world

 

Putting the Canons to Work: From Writing Process to Rhetorical Practice:
   When someone gives you an assignment
      Revising
      Before you turn in an assignment
   Presentations: Putting the show in show and tell
   Slides and the persuasion process
   Practice (rehearsal)
   Be prepared
   Anxiety—stage fright
      Strategies for dealing with stage fright

 

 

CHAPTER 4: EVIDENCE-CENTERED FORMS OF PERSUASION:

Academic Argumentation:
   The blueprint for academic arguments
      Assertion
      Proof
         Evidence
          Modality
          How much proof do you need?
     Common argumentative errors
     Putting it together

           Introduction
           Don't bury the lead
           Interior paragraphs
           Conclusion

 

Plagiarism:
   Cross-examination
         Interrogation
         Body language and deception—tells
         Two approaches: Ingratiation and intimidation
         Examination versus cross-examination
           Irving Younger's 10 Commandments
            Alternatives to cross-examination

 

Decision making: Deliberation, justification, and intuition:
   Deliberation
   Justification
   Intuition—pattern recognition

 

Steps for generalized decision making:
   Basic deliberative pattern: Problem—solution
         Problem
         Solution
   The setting matters
   The role of luck
   The sources of bad decisions
   Learned helplessness
   Probabilities
   Negotiation and sales
          Negotiation
          Research is crucial
          Price and cost
          You are always negotiating with yourself
          Negotiation basics
          Ready, set, negotiate

 

The rhetoric of retail:
Psychological math—shell games with numbers
Common sales techniques
Forms of indirect marketing

 

Narrative:
Elements of a persuasive story
Humor

 

The dark side:
Power and persuasion
Ingratiation
Allegory
Clairvoyance: The art of cold reading
Machiavellian rhetoric

 

 

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION:

Character Traits of the Rhetor

 

Glossary
Appendix: Selections on Rhetoric and Writing from Plato and Aristotle
Suggested Reading
Works Cited
Index

 

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