1-1.5 Persuasion in strategic comunication

Question 1

Definition of persuasion

Answer 1

Persuasion may be defined as an inevitable and commonplace, dynamic, interactive or intersubjective process, involving at least two interlocutors, actors, or parties: the persuader and the persuadee(s). Persuasion is a process, and a dynamic one, in which participants aim to influence or produce an action, broadly intended as a change in beliefs system or behavior.

Question 2

Characteristics of persuasion

Answer 2

• inevitable and commonplace (pervasive): “one cannot not communicate”
• dynamic, interactive or intersubjective: balance between liking and being liked, which can be obtained through the interchange of roles and with the passing of time
• goal-oriented: aimed by the goal of influencing or producing an action

Question 3

strategic vs. ev everyday communication

Answer 3

In strategic communication, the intent to persuade is evident and deliberate, and it is often declared by the context in which the communication happens

Question 4

Discourse

Answer 4

Discourse is a social practice, a process ‘substance’ which can be experienced, acted, observed.

Question 5

Genre

Answer 5

“A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members of which share some set of communicative purposes. These purposes are recognized by the expert members of the parent discourse community, and thereby constitute the rationale for the genre. The rationale shapes the schematic structure of the discourse and influences and constrains choice of content and style.” A class of communicative events. The communicative purposes are recognized by the expert members of the discourse community, and constitute the foundation of the genre. This foundation shapes schematic structure and choice of content and style.

Question 6

Register

Answer 6

The “formal shape” of the text, it includes:

• Field: area of activity (ex. science, technology, etc.)
• Tenor: roles of the participants (expert-to-expert or expert-to-student)
• Mode: role played by the language, including the channel (written/spoken) and the rhetorical mode (persuasive, expository, didactic)

Question 7

Context

Answer 7

Definition of the situation, setting (time, place), ongoing actions (including discourses and discourse genres), participants in various roles and their mentality (goals, ideologies, etc.) Context is subjective to participants’ interpretation.

Question 8

Evaluation

Answer 8

the speaker’s stance, viewpoint, or feelings about what they’re talking about

Question 9

Ideologies

Answer 9

basic systems of fundamental social cognitions organizing the attitudes and other social representations shared by members of groups. They indirectly control the mental representations (models) that form the interpretation basis.

Question 10

Conflict frames

Answer 10

• fairy tales: the hero and the villain

* Manichean: the world is divided in a good and bad side, the good side will win in the end