Popular Persuassion

According to Alfred North Whitehead, an English-born mathematician and philosopher , "Periods of tranquility are seldom prolific of creative achievement. Mankind has to be stirred up" (Whitehead, 1929). Whitehead is making the point that people are more productive and creative when they are not in a tranquil state of mind. Therefore, I found this quote to be appropriate for my paper. In this paper I will be analyzing a persuasive bumper sticker by specifically looking at the rhetor's use of logos and pathos. Lastly, I will connect these appeals to the sticker's desired outcome and intended audience.

The bumper sticker I chose to analyze is one regarding stress and that I find very relevant to my coat of arms. The bumper sticker states, "If it weren't for stress I'd have no energy at all". The bumper sticker, with its green background makes sure that the word "stress" stands out by highlighting the text in yellow and making it slightly larger than the rest of the text. The rest of the text is colored pink. The text is also in all caps and there are no graphics on the bumper sticker. The artifact comes from the website "Internet Bumper Stickers" ("Tribulations" 1), making the website the rhetor. Since, the bumper sticker comes from a commercial website; we can assume that the website is more interested in getting a person to buy the bumper sticker, rather than understanding the meaning behind it.

The bumper sticker plays on the use of logical appeals. This can be seen through its use of a syllogism. Syllogisms consist of a major premise, minor premise and a conclusion and follow strict rules of logic. The major premise is that I am stressed and the conclusion is that I have no energy without stress. The bumper sticker's minor premise, which is unspoken, says that stress gives energy. Because the minor premise is implicit, the sticker makes an enthymeme. "The premises provide the logical evidence to help the audience determine the truthfulness of the conclusion" (Warren,20). The use of logical appeal helps the author attempt to persuade the audience to realize that stress can be a positive thing by provoking energy.

Along with logos, the bumper sticker also uses pathos, or emotional appeals, to persuade the audience/viewer. The main