The Power of Persuasion: What persuades?

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What makes for worthy persuasion in our society?

What Persuades?

1. List times during the last week or so you encountered persuasion--times when either someone tried to persuade you in some way, or when you tried to persuade someone else in some way.



2. Let's look at our chart: Can you identify which techniques are good examples of persuasion? Which are bad?

Notes: some types of persuasion--threatening, begging, whining, crying, throwing tantrums, holding your breath until your face turns blue--are rather immature and not worthy of our consideration, even if they sometimes work.

Please write brief responses to each of the following aspects of persuasion:

Observe it: What can persuasion do?

Classify it: What kinds are there? What varieties or forms does it come in?

Analyze it: What is persuasion made of? How is it done? What are the parts? What does it take to persuade you of something?

Defend it: What's good about persuasion?

Trash it: What's bad about it?

Relate to it: What persuades you?

Define it: What is persuasive? What isn't persuasive?




**SHARE: in your groups, share your responses, adding to or clarifying your initial responses. After 10 minutes I will share

-I will pass out a sheet of large paper

-Draw a line down the middle:

On one half: Write a clear definition of what persuasion is (what is the main goal of persuasion)?

On the other half: draw images that represent kinds or different types of persuasion--where we encounter it or engage in it ourselves (ex: advertisements might be one of your images)