The Art of Persuasion Professor, Ole Bjorn Rekdal of Bergen University College, in his article, Academic urban legends, discusses the importance of proper citation to keep information accurate to keep academic urban legends from happening (639). Rekdal’s it trying to show his audience of those who have “original research on science, technology and medicine” (Social Studies of Science) how sloppy, improper citation is causing bits and pieces of information to be lost causing false legends to circulate as truth. However, according to reporting intern, Charlie Tyson, in his web article, How rumors spread via sloppy citation practices, he writes a summary of what Rekdal has written in his article stating it is also false, and debunked by criminologist. Further he also writes about what he feels is wrong with incorrect citations to his audience of those with higher level education, such as grad students to vice presidents (About Us). Both Rekdal and Tyson are trying to convey the same point to similar groups of people. Therefore to persuade there audience to think simarly about this issue as they do Rekdal and Tyson use the art of persuasion as discussed by Smith in, Building Bridges through Writing by using pathos, ethos, and logos (Smith 23-4). In both articles Rekdal and Tyson use pathos, “an appeal made to the audience emotion” (Smith 24) to try and form a connection with the audience.
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Rekdal uses humor to appeal to his audience in his headings such as “The simple truth is too simple” (640) and “The risk of buying a pig in a poke” (642). Using these clever headings to grab the audience attention was a clever idea by Rekdal. In response he know has an interested audience in wanting to know just what these sections of his article are about. In similarity Tyson also uses pathos to catch the audience attention, but more so in the fact of the ease of his language. Tyson writes as if he is not above his audience but equal. Moreover he catches attention by his simple but straight forward title. In the same way that both Rekdal and Tyson use pathos to appeal to the audience they both also use ethos as well. Ethos “demonstrate the authority and credibility of the speaker or writer” (Smith 23). Rekdal demonstrates credibility by quoting articles for various places including the Journal of Internal Medicine and the British Medical Journal (639-41). Rekdal does this to convince the audience that he is knowledge and worth listening to. However, Tyson also establishes credibility by quoting articles from various place, but he also goes one step further and quotes people that he has spoken directly to. Moreover, the fact that he has spoken directly to the author and not just quoted their work gives extreme credibility to Tyson and portrays him as someone worth listening to. Similarly both Rekdal and Tyson have established themselves as creditable; however do they both have a logical argument. Therefore by using logos that “focus on logic, either by argumentative structure or proof/ evidence for the writer’s claims” (Smith 23). Rekdal supports his logic on the data and evidence received in others articles. He backs up the evidence with giving his own analysis of the information he has research, and further supports it by associating it to something the audience can relate to such as the “whisper game” (641). In relating it to something so simple he argues the consequence of improper citation
Rekdal uses humor to appeal to his audience in his headings such as “The simple truth is too simple” (640) and “The risk of buying a pig in a poke” (642). Using these clever headings to grab the audience attention was a clever idea by Rekdal. In response he know has an interested audience in wanting to know just what these sections of his article are about. In similarity Tyson also uses pathos to catch the audience attention, but more so in the fact of the ease of his language. Tyson writes as if he is not above his audience but equal. Moreover he catches attention by his simple but straight forward title. In the same way that both Rekdal and Tyson use pathos to appeal to the audience they both also use ethos as well. Ethos “demonstrate the authority and credibility of the speaker or writer” (Smith 23). Rekdal demonstrates credibility by quoting articles for various places including the Journal of Internal Medicine and the British Medical Journal (639-41). Rekdal does this to convince the audience that he is knowledge and worth listening to. However, Tyson also establishes credibility by quoting articles from various place, but he also goes one step further and quotes people that he has spoken directly to. Moreover, the fact that he has spoken directly to the author and not just quoted their work gives extreme credibility to Tyson and portrays him as someone worth listening to. Similarly both Rekdal and Tyson have established themselves as creditable; however do they both have a logical argument. Therefore by using logos that “focus on logic, either by argumentative structure or proof/ evidence for the writer’s claims” (Smith 23). Rekdal supports his logic on the data and evidence received in others articles. He backs up the evidence with giving his own analysis of the information he has research, and further supports it by associating it to something the audience can relate to such as the “whisper game” (641). In relating it to something so simple he argues the consequence of improper citation