Persuasive levers 1-4: Character, Emotion, Argument, & Combined

We did it! That's the end of the lesson!

It's a big one, but we hope you got a lot out of it.

A few reminders before we go:

• Character, emotion, and argument can all work together.
• Each lever is complex in its own right, with many aspects and flavours.
• Our way of categorising things in this lesson is not comprehensive or rigid; it's just a way to help you explore the landscape.
• Argument and reason are about trying to reach agreement on reality and values.
• Persuasion is about trying to change an audience.
• They are related but not the same:
  • Argument is persuasive, but persuasion does not need argument.
  • An audience can be persuaded by character or emotion alone.

Even though this has been a mammoth lesson, there were many great examples of persuasive writing that we couldn't include.

We'll end the lesson with one of them, in which a community debates how to spend a $3 million fine collected from their local nuclear power plant:

See you next time!