Online Assignment #7: Evaluating Emotional Appeals

Instructions: In class we discussed a range of different emotions that can be incorporated into an emotional appeal and tips for doing so effectively. For this assignment, you will find an emotional appeal, identify why it is an emotional appeal, and explain whether it is effective (i.e., persuasive). Refer to class notes from Unit 7: Pathos & Emotional Appeals, as well as the Nabi (2012) reading, to help you complete this assignment.

Find an example of an emotional appeal online. It may be an advertisement, commercial/video, PSA, campaign, newspaper article, etc. Based on the emotional appeal you find, address each of the following:

• Provide the link for the emotional appeal.

• In one sentence, describe the purpose of the persuasive appeal. In other words, what was the appeal trying to persuade people to do/think/believe?

• In one paragraph, describe the persuasive appeal in detail. (e.g., What images did it use? What words did it include?)

• What emotion did the appeal attempt to arouse? Provide at least three specific elements from the appeal that support your claim.

• Was this appeal effectively persuasive? In other words, did it persuade you? Explain why/why not (and if it did not persuade you, what could have been added/improved to persuade you).

This assignment is aligned with Course Learning Outcomes 1 and 3.

A completed hardcopy of this assignment will be due at the beginning of your next class meeting.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to the principles of communication in public contexts. As developed by the Department of Communication Studies, three learning outcome goals are associated with COMM 104. Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

• Identify the theories, principles, and concepts associated with communication in public contexts;
• Create messages appropriate to a specific audience, purpose, and context; and
• Critically analyze messages.

There are objectives specific to this course that serve to facilitate these outcome goals. The objectives associated with this course are:

• Identify how various communication traits and abilities contribute to effective communication in public contexts;
• Identify how various communication traits and abilities affect the ways in which we interpret messages in public communication contexts;
• Construct compelling and logically sound persuasive appeals;
• Apply systematic approaches and critical thinking to problem solving and argumentation;
• Identify the role of ethos, pathos, and logos in persuasive communication;
• Identify fallacies to logic and relevance in arguments;
• Identify ethical approaches to rhetorical communication; and
• Critically analyze issues confronting society from a rhetorical perspective.