Persuasive Appeals in Editorial Discourse

Abstract

This paper considers the application of the persuasive/rhetorical appeals system of language to newspaper editorial and op-ed articles, and letters to the editor. The paper discusses, in particular, the pragmatic use of presuppositions and implicatures as rhetorical devices strengthening the function of the appeals system to persuade readers of newspaper editorial and op-ed articles of certain opinions. In other words, the paper describes the importance of the pragmatic presuppositions and implicatures which are used as rhetorical devices and persuasive means to manipulate peoples’/ readers’ social cognition, through strengthening the affect of the appeals on the rational side of the readers, to construct mental models preferred to accept without challenge the editor’s/ writer’s opinions and attitudes that are implicitly presented in the text (in our study, encouraging US strong and rapid response against attackers involved in the events of Sept. 11, 2001).