Lackawanna ENG115 2021 April Module 4 Discussion (dq1+dq2) Latest

ENG115 Business Communications

Module 4 Discussion

DQ1 Rave Reviews

Discussion Introduction

Being persuasive is a component of rhetoric, which is the art of communication. Rhetoric means knowing our audience and developing our message in direct consideration of that knowledge; appealing to audience logic with research and fact; and appealing to audience emotion without being biased.

We use rhetoric daily, most times without even realizing we do. For example, rhetoric is what enables us to decide on the most effective way to ask a friend for a favor – and knowing how that plan would differ if we were asking a professor, a supervisor, or someone we just met.

Employing the rhetorical appeals thoughtfully is what enables us to be successfully persuasive, whether we are sharing our low stakes recommendation on something like the best show on TV or the best car on the road, or we are arguing for something more significant like the unparalleled benefits of your business product or service or support for your workplace promotion.

However, becoming aware of a concrete and proven framework for effective persuasion enables us to construct an argument more thoughtfully, deliberately, and convincingly. Review that framework in the introduction and lesson resources in this Module before joining in to this discussion.

Discussion Question

First:

Think of what you consider to be the best product on the market today. Convince your classmates to buy it. For a scaled down version of the effective persuasive structure, address the five following minimum points in your argument. Also, don’t forget to choose words wisely!

*Gain three bonus points for successfully incorporating (and identifying) each of the elements of rhetoric.

Your clear and detailed opinion of the product

Three distinct and different reasons for your opinion

Evidence, by way of research or examples, in support of your reasons

Acknowledgement and response to at least one opposing opinion

Details that enable the audience to take action to purchase

  Second:

Compare and contrast, then critique the recommendations of any two (or more) of your classmates and answer explain who was more effectively persuasive – and explain, specifically, why.

DQ2 Convincing Candidates

Discussion Introduction

At any point during any day we are experiencing someone’s attempt to persuade us of something. We pass billboards advertising community events, tickertapes reassuring us of investments, churches beckoning us to come in with clever messages on sandwich boards, retail merchandisers offering special discounts, radio stations repeating songs until we can’t get them out of our head, and so on and on.

But nowhere is this as prevalent or obvious – as well as more potentially impactful – as in politics. Each candidate runs on a platform built on persuasion. And based on how well they construct their argument, an entire school, team, community, organization, city, state, or country puts its trust in these candidates’ skills, abilities, and promises.

Further, politics are developed on carefully constructed messages steeped in rhetoric. Endorsements enable the audience to feel comfortable in the reliability of a candidate (ethos), facts and figures provide supporting evidence that makes each argument seem logical (logos), and attention to the causes closest to our heart inspires an emotional connection (pathos).  

However, rhetoric is a word as powerful as any, and it also experiences the impact of connotation and denotation as discussed in the previous Module. Political rhetoric – especially in evidence of candidates’ failed follow-through – is a most common culprit for rhetoric’s connotation as negative.

It is a reminder, though, that a well-constructed argument – even constructed without the best intent – can still be impactful. It is therefore necessary to be able to recognize when each of its elements is being presented more as hyperbole than discourse. Great practice is in analyzing political promises.

To engage in this discussion, check out the 2020 Presidential election (Links to an external site.) hopefuls and dropouts. Choose any one of them and engage in some research to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their argument.

Avoid duplicating a candidate a classmate has already analyzed.

Discussion Question

Identify your candidate and explain the most convincing and unconvincing elements of the campaign.

 What is your opinion on where, why, or how this candidate most effectively and/or ineffectively communicated a political platform?