My Rhetorical Strategies

Every day we converse with friends, family members, and professionals in distinctly differently manners, especially when we are trying to persuade them of something. Through experience, I have learned which rhetorical strategies are most successful and integrated them into a fictional attempt to obtain $500 for textbooks from three people after depleting my funds. I varied the degree of formality in my register and tone, incorporated emotional appeal, and altered my level of transparency and the extent of my honesty toward each person to accomplish this task.
The first request to my aunt employed a consultative register to induce feelings of familiarity while keeping a theme of respect. I asked her questions about her children and reminded
Because of this, I found it advantageous to be completely honest and transparent about the situation so that she could see how out of character it was for me and that I am truly desperate. I wrote, “I blew through all of my cash for books so quickly I didn't even realize it was happening. I've never done something like this, I feel so dumb,” which provides my friend with insight to how I feel about being so careless and how unlike me it was to do so. My friend would pick up on my regretful tone and be convinced that her help is warranted. I attempted to lighten the mood and instill a morsel of humor by offering to lend my friend “my boyfriend’s heated gloves,” to make up for the fact that she would not be able to buy a car heater. Our friendship values humor so I know that she would appreciate this offer. To really dig deep into the emotional core of our friendship, I added “you’re my person” to the end of the letter. This is a term of endearment we share when times are tough and want to remind each other of the strength and security of our relationship. Adding this line would remind her of all the things I have done for her in the past and how I have always kept my word, which would almost certainly persuade her to loan me the
To begin my inquiry about a loan from the department’s discretionary fund, I kept the register formal and avoided using a pleading tone so that I came off as competent and not desperate. I proposed a deal to the Chair, “In order to pay back this loan, I would organize a bake sale fundraiser through the Cognitive Science Club”. This tactic makes my request hard to refuse because not only would I earn back the money, but I would also be promoting the club and the department at the same time. It would be a disservice to his constituency to decline my request and puts him in a position that almost guarantees his cooperation. In this regard, I appealed to the Chair’s emotional interests in his academic commitments. I also ensured the Chair of my responsible reputation by securely guarding the true circumstances of my financial instability, only disclosing that “I recently ran into financial trouble”. This lack of transparency is more effective for this specific audience, for being honest would ruin my chances of persuading him to provide