The Art of Persuasion

What is exigency?

To accomplish persuasion

What is rhetoric?

The art of using language of persuasion

Types of persuasion:

Logos- persuading using evidence and facts

·    One could argue that technically the whole book itself is logos because it is a mash up of all different facts from various resources that Larson put together to create the book; but the story itself within the book is not all logos—it is a combination of all different types of persuasion

Ethos- persuading using trust and character with morals and ethics

Pathos- persuading using emotions and personal experiences

Helping to understand logos, ethos, and pathos.

In a YouTube video titled The Science of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini and Steve Martin, they give further examples of persuasion which consist of:  

"Science of Persuasion" YouTube video

 

Reciprocity- obligation to give when you receive: be the first to give personalized and unexpected

·    Around Christmas time, many of us receive presents but never give back to others or our community; for me and my family, when we receive Christmas presents from each other, we make sure to give one back to each other as well so we all feel appreciated. We also give back to our community by volunteering each winter. This season, we gave back by volunteering at an inner city elementary school working with little kids doing crafts, games, and more. 

Scarcity- people want more that they can have less of: benefits + unique+ what they gave to lose without product

·    When a new iPhone comes out, everyone wants the new and improved one but there are only so many that are made that not everyone can have one. We want more iPhones but we cannot all have one right when they come out; some are put on a waiting list for months to wait to receive theirs.

Authority- people follow credible experts with knowledge: ethical + costless

·    Students listen to their teachers and trust that they know what they are talking about and teaching us because we know they are credible sources in the field that they are teaching. They are credible because they have been to school specifically for the subject they are speaking about and have gotten their teaching degree.

Consistency- asking/looking for commitments that can be made: voluntary, active, public commitments

·         The Devil in the White City example below

Liking- people prefer to say yes to people they like: people who are similar to us, people who pay us genuine compliments, and people who cooperate with us

·         The Devil in the White City example below

Consensus- look to actions/behaviors of other to determine our own: point to what other similar people are doing

·         The Devil in the White City example below

In Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, he uses many examples of persuasion throughout the story. Part one of DWC begins with the moral climate of Chicago in the late 1800’s—about the people of the city, mostly the single young women. It discusses Chicago’s declining morality which is portrayed by the mass of nightclubs and changing social norms and also by the frequent deaths in the town.

Worlds Fair 1893

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There are two main characters known throughout the book that both use different types of persuasion to get their way—one for the better of the city and one for the worse:

Herman Webster Mudgett: otherwise known as H.H. Holmes is a doctor, pharmacist, and soon to be serial killer who builds a hotel right outside the fair grounds to attract incoming tourists and kill them. They call it a castle after he is caught because of the numerous torture rooms he uses inside.

·    Holmes uses his charming personality (ethos) and is own personal experiences in his field as a pharmacist (pathos) to convince the local drug store owner Mrs. Holton to hire him in her drug store- pg. 64. Again, Holmes uses persuasion ethos to convince Mrs. Holton to let him buy the store from her and she can live in the apartment above the store, pg. 66.

·    Holmes used logos to persuade contractors and architects to help him renovate the hotel he bought near the sitting for the fair. He frequently hired and fire new employees so no one would get suspicious of what he was really doing and so that no one would ask questions. “Once again Holmes’s method of segregating tasks and firing workers was proving successful. Clearly none of the workers had gone to the police,” pg. 85.

·    Holmes used the tactic of “liking” towards the police of Chicago so none of them had any suspicion about his killing. “Holmes knew each man by name. A cup of coffee, a free meal in his restaurant, a fine black cigar—policeman valued these gestures of affinity and grace,” pg. 85.
 

·    Holmes used “consensus” because he looked towards Jake the Ripper, a world renowned serial killer in England, as part of his inspiration, pg. 12 and pg. 70.

·       In part two of DWC, Holmes fellow customer Ned Connor suspects his wife of “…she and a young man had begun courting…” To convince her husband otherwise, she would cry, making him feel bad and, “he believed her tears must have resulted from something he had said or done,” pg. 123. This is Gertrude using her emotions (pathos) to persuade her husband.

Daniel Burham was born in New York and was John Root’s partner in the building of the fair. He was the public relations genius and business man of the project. Burham soon moves positions and becomes the Chief of Construction of the fair.

·    Burham use the logos persuasion to convince workers from all over the United States to work for him and help him build the fair, pg. 94

·     Burham uses “consistency” to constantly persuade the architects of New York City to come and work for him and also persuade architects around the United States to work for him such as Henry Van Brunt of Kansas City, pg. 94. “He offered Olmsted a consulting fee of one thousand dollars…Olmsted declined…Olmsted did think about it and began to see to see the exposition as an opportunity…,” pg. 49-50.

·       In part two of DWC on page 120, Burnham wanted to attract women to the fair as well and make them feel as if they had a role in the production of the fair; so, he conducted a contest in order to hire a woman architect named Sophia Hayden. Burnham is using “liking” to make him and his fair more attractive to women hoping that in return, they would attend the fair too and feel equal in helping with the fair.

Resources

Cialdini, Robert and Steve Martin. “Secrets from the Science of Persuasion.” Posted by YouTube by Influenceatwork. 26 Nov 2012. 10 Jan 2014. Web.

Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. New York: Vintage, 2004. Print.