Persuasion Essays (Examples)

Persuasion / Tu Quoque Fallacies

Persuasion.

I remember an occasion when I went on a canoeing trip with my friend David from high school. David is the sort of person who always totally speaks his mind about anything -- he is not shy about commenting (often in an almost abrasive manner) on the person you are dating, or the clothes you are wearing, or anything else that happens to pop into his mind. He organized several people from our high school to go on a river canoeing trip, mostly because it would be a good way to spend time together, and get some exercise which would not be too taxing. We went to a canoe rental place, and paid to do a 4-hour trip along an easily navigable creek: there was nothing dangerous about the canoeing part of it, the water would rarely be deeper than four feet, and there…

A second everyday advertisement that most people often encounter comes in the mail or stapled to the pizza box. It is an advertisement, perhaps with a coupon, to dine at a local or chain restaurant. This attempt at persuasion uses the tactic of controlling the context. Even with poor wording or graphics, the existence of the coupon, and the fact that one is forced to hold the advertisement when one gets his or her mail, suggests the effectiveness of this type of advertisement. One advertisement, from Gelsosomo's Pizzeria and Pub, features red wording, in a multitude of fonts and sizes, on green paper. The word choice is rather scrambled, with everything about the restaurant being crammed onto the advertisement, and the color scheme is unattractive. egardless, the advertisement represents an excellent persuasion attempt because of the three circles that appear in the center of the advertisement, which lists specials in…

References

Exploring Language: Words and Meaning. (2002, March 7). Retrieved September 15, 2008, from English Online.

Web Site: http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/resources/exp_lang/words_meanings.html

Gelsosomo's Pizzeria. (2008). Advertisement. Flyer.

Kaplan, Don & Carl Campanile. (2008). Political Ads Rock on MTV. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from the New York Post. Web Site:  http://www.nypost.com/seven/06262008/news/nationalnews/political_ads_rock_on_mtv_117200.htm

Shaping, reinforcing, and changing responses. Shaping; mind-sets are "shaped" by relating satisfying environments with a product, individual, or a thought. Reinforcing; opposite of the accepted belief, many persuasive communications are not intended to change people, but to strengthen a place they already embrace. Changing; it is one of the most significant persuasive impact and the one that comes in to mind immediately when we think of persuasion. Communications can and do transform attitudes.[footnoteRef:4] [3: Miller, G.R. (1980). On being persuaded: Some basic distinctions. In M. Roloff, & G.R. Miller (Eds.), Persuasion: New directions in theory and research, 11 -- 28. everly Hills, CA: Sage.] [4: Persuasion. (n.d.). Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP), external Affairs Vice Presidency the World ank Washington DC, Accessed from: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTGOVACC/Resources/Persuasionweb.pdf on 4/6/2013]

Means of Persuasion: The social scientist Aristotle categorized the means of persuasion, into three Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.[footnoteRef:5] [5: A General Summary…

Bibliography:

A General Summary of Aristotle's Appeals, (n.d.). Accessed from:  http://courses.durhamtech.edu/perkins/aris.html 

Persuasion. (nod.) Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (Comma) external Affairs vice Presidency. The World Bank Washington DC, Accessed from:  http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTGOVACC/Resources/Persuasionweb.pdf Miller, R.G. (1980). On being persuaded: Some basic distinctions. In M. Roloff, & G.R. Miller (Eds.), Persuasion: New directions in theory and research, 11 -- 28. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Perloff, M.R. (2003).The Dynamics of Persuasion: Communication and Attitudes in the 21st Century, 2nd ed., Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Mahwah, New Jersey.

Simons, H.W. (2001). Persuasion in society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

This can be a difficult balance to attain though. It proceeds from the view that persuasive communication is only partially defined by the delivery of a message. An equally significant part of this, at least when contextualized by interpersonal forms of communication, is the effectiveness with which one appears to have received communicated ideas and information from those who will receive the message in question. Indeed, the ability to establish trust through simultaneous communication and message reception is one of the most effective measurements of the success with which teams are built. Thus, trust earns a central role in our discussion regarding this process of actively listening. For participants on either the transmitting or receiving side, the establishment of trust through open, honest and direct communication will contribute to a positive pattern of active listening. For me personally, this is the most important part of working on my skills as…

Persuasion in Television Advertisements

Advertising and marketing specialists frequently use specialized techniques to communicate with audiences by appealing to a specific type of customer and helping a brand or product to be memorable or appealing. Advertisements frequently accomplish this by using spokespeople, slogans, or visual symbols or displays that grab the intended audience's attention and appeal to the customer's curiosity, sense of ascetics or humor. This paper will assess two such television advertisements by sampling two different examples of popular commercials and analyzing the marketing tools used to capture audience attention and attract potential customers.

Geico: "Little Piggy"

Geico's "Little Piggy" advertisement begins with a handsome middle-aged man speaking directly to the audience. This spokesman begins by asking, "Could switching to Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance?." The announcer then asks the rhetorical question, "Did the little piggy cry 'wee, wee, wee' all the way home?."…

References

Geico. "Little Piggy." Online Posting. YouTube, 13 July 2010. Web. 19 October 2011.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F_G2zp-opg 

Old Spice." The Man Your Man Could Smell Like." Online Posting. YouTube. 4 Feb 2010. Web. 19 October 2011.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

his diagram describes my proposal for assessments:

Operator Services Manager

Senior Operator Senior Operator Senior Operator

15 Operators 15 Operators 15 Operators

his task delegation will make regular assessments administratively feasible, and will contribute to task diversity for the most Senior Operators in the department.

Costs

he main points of concern expressed by you involving costs to the company involved the expenses involved in hiring a Learning Services Manager and the development of an incentives program. First, the Learning Services Manager (LSM) will be hired as an independent contractor, and will not be on company salary. his position will be paid on a project-by-project basis. herefore, the LSM will be employed for approximately one month twice a year, times at which Operator Services does their hiring and training for existing employees. he gains that will result from this hiring will far outweigh the expense. Second, the incentives program is generous,…

The main points of concern expressed by you involving costs to the company involved the expenses involved in hiring a Learning Services Manager and the development of an incentives program. First, the Learning Services Manager (LSM) will be hired as an independent contractor, and will not be on company salary. This position will be paid on a project-by-project basis. Therefore, the LSM will be employed for approximately one month twice a year, times at which Operator Services does their hiring and training for existing employees. The gains that will result from this hiring will far outweigh the expense. Second, the incentives program is generous, but it will motivate employees to work hard in order to meet productivity goals. The 25% increase in productivity observed in 2005 resulted in $800,000 of increased revenue that could be directly attributed to the productivity growth within this department. If an incentives plan was in place then, each Operator within Operator Services would have received a profit sharing check in the amount of $800. This is well within the salary budget allocated for the department.

Summary

My intention with this memo was to clarify some details of Project Strive that I thought may not have been adequately communicated. I hope that this clarification has addressed the concerns you expressed. If the information here has sparked any questions or concerns on your behalf, please contact me to discuss them. Thank you for your time with this matter.

Monetary wealth is intimately aligned with social standing and when the Eliot's run into financial difficulties as result of pretentious living standards, this has profound implications for the plot and main characters.

Power is also another factor that plays a role in the desire for social status. In this novel Austen explores the ways in which power over others is related to class and wealth. e have already seen how the power associated with class and social hierarchy has succeeded in changing the direction of Anne's life through the persuasion of Lady Russell. An interesting aspect of the novel is that Austen also examines the shifting and changing patterns of power in the society at that time. As a result of the Napoleonic ars, a division has arisen in English society between the old aristocracy and the new middle classes, represented by the individual entrepreneur. This can be seen in…

Works Cited

Austen J. Persuasion. Chapter 23. April 12, 2009.

 http://sunsite3.berkeley.edu/Literature/Austen/Persuasion/persuasion23.html 

Perkins W. Persuasion: Criticism. April 12, 2009.

She has spent the last ten years in sadness and solitude, even in her own family. She could have had ten years of happiness and contentment had it not been for Lady ussell, who finally acknowledges she made a grave mistake when she gave Anne advice about the man. Late in the novel Austen writes, "There was nothing less for Lady ussell to do, than to admit that she had been pretty completely wrong, and to take up a new set of opinions and of hopes" (Austen). Lady ussell was instrumental in turning Anne and her father against Captain Wentworth, and it was a bad decision. Anne finally finds happiness despite the meddling of others, and so, the novel ends happily. However, Lady ussell's advice caused her years of pain and suffering, and that is a significant aspect of this novel, thus, Lady ussell is a key character in the…

References

Austen, J. Persuasion. Retrieved from the Bibliomania.com Web site: http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/6/11/frameset.html2 August 2007.

Once the presenter has understood the type of audience that is before him, he will be able to effectively handle the entire audience and make the presentation a success.

There is however the aspect of tension that is always experienced in most presentations. This comes even after the presenter has well understood his audience as mentioned above. There are four basic sources of tension in a presentation that if well understood and dealt with can leave room for a good presentation.

The first kind if tension is between the presenter and the audience which can be diffused by the presenter striving to create a bond between him and the audience. The second tension is that between the audience themselves, this leaves each member of the audience wondering who the person seated next to them is, this can be solved by informal session of introduction to immediate neighbors. The next tension…

References

Changing Minds, (2012). Four Audiences. Retrieved December 9, 2012 from  http://changingminds.org/techniques/general/four_audiences.htm 

Tony Jeary, (2009). Four Types of Audience Tension During a Presentation. Retrieved December 9, 2012 from  http://www.candogo.com/search/insight?i=1736

None of the participants had received any education in the arts at the time of the study. Each of them reported no interest in pursuing the arts as a career.

The participants looked at a series of pictures that provided designated clues to measure the responses with.

"Aesthetic judgments of beauty of 49 novel, formal graphic patterns were collected from non-artist participants. In the framework of Social Judgment Theory (Hammond et al., 1975), the data were subjected to individual Judgment Analyses deriving quantitative paramorphic models of the judgment processes. These models reflected the individual's strategy of aesthetic judgment, cue use, and degree of linear judgment capture, largely converging with participants' verbal reports of judgment strategies. A group model was constructed using the same method applied to group-average rating data. Filtering out individual judgment strategies, the group-level analysis showed that larger arrangements of the basic element, with a tendency towards forming…

References

SOCIAL JUDGMENT THEORY

 http://www.as.wvu.edu/~sbb/comm221/chapters/judge.htm 

Jacobsen, Thomas (2004) Individual and group modeling of aesthetic judgment strategies. British Journal of Psychology

Boyd, Henry (2006) Persuasive talk: is it what you say or how you say it?

Persuasion

Compare the style and persuasion methods of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence with Paine's Crisis essay. Why does Jefferson advocate that natural aristocrats would make the best leaders?

During the American evolution, both Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson delivered similar kinds of messages (i.e. freedom from tyranny and oppression). While the two were similar, the audiences are much different. This is because both works were intended to sway the opinions of different demographics. In the case of Thomas Paine, his essay was focused on reaching out to colonists that were living in America. At the heart of his message, is to question why everyone is accepting this kind of situation. When in reality, everyone should standup for their rights and demand their basic freedoms from England. ("Declaration and Crisis," 2010)

While Thomas Jefferson, was writing directly to: the King of England and the members of Parliament. In his message, he…

References

Declaration and Crisis. (2010). Mr. Brimhall. Retrieved from:

 http://sites.google.com/site/mrbrimhall/pages/declaration-crisis 

The Natural Aristocracy. (2011). Great Books. Retrieved from:

 http://www.greatbooks.org/resources/publications/guides00/the-natural-aristocracy-by-thomas-jefferson/

Persuasion is writing technique to persuade a reader to ones own point-of-view. This involves not only hard work but also involves the human psyche, which has to be satisfied. Persuasion is not merely ones opinion but it basically requires arguments based on facts. persuasive paper must contain good grammar, good paragraph structure and of course good logic. Winning an argument is the essence of a convincing writing in order to peruse reader to buy your logic. write-up is said to be convincing when it presents the document before the reader in a logical step-by-step manner.

Because persuasive writing's purpose is to influence people's thoughts and actions, it is often one of the most challenging types of writing. It is often aimed at an audience who may be anywhere from neutral to hostile towards our ideas, so audience awareness is critical in this type of writing. Most people have opinions on…

ASSIGNMENT PREPARATION GUIDE, A GUIDE FOR STUDENTS IN PHILOSOPHY ON ESSAY WRITING, ASSESSMENT, AND TERMINOLOGY. http://www.uq.edu.au/philosophy/essays.html

Persuasive Writing  http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/tpers.htm 

Persuasive & Logical Writing http://www.uvsc.edu/owl/handouts/logic.html

podium, flagrantly flanked by four American flags, John Kerry shakes his fist in apparent anger. "Three million jobs lost!" The scene cuts to a profile of Kerry continuing his statement, "That is an astonishing failure." ithin ten seconds, viewers of the John Kerry presidential campaign ad know that the candidate is trying to appeal to blue collar workers, members of the middle class or any citizen concerned about the needs of the working class. The Kerry advertisement from February 22, 2004, posted on his website http://www.johnkerry.com/videos/console.php?video=031204_misleadingand entitled "Jobs Lost," appeals to the majority of working class Americans. The ad is specifically geared for those who care about job security and who fear the repercussions of overseas outsourcing and tax breaks for the corporate culture.

Amid photo ops of Kerry shaking hands with hardhat-wearing workers, the soothing male voice-over states, "John Kerry's got the strength and experience to fight for America's…

Works Cited

Kerry, John. "Jobs Lost." Advertisement posted on  http://www.johnkerry.com/videos/console.php?video=031204_misleading#031204_misleading .

Persuasion

Opening facts and statistics to grab the reader's attention.

Development of main ideas, leading to thesis.

The war on drugs must be stopped for two main reasons: the financial costs, and the social costs.

The social costs associated with the war on drugs are severe, including increased organized crime and high rates of incarceration.

The financial costs associated with the war on drugs are also severe, including law enforcement and corrections.

The war on drugs should be reframed, so that drug use and abuse is a public health concern and not a criminological issue.

If the war on drugs ends, rates of drug use will plummet while costs associated with the war on drugs can be channeled into more meaningful law enforcement and criminal justice activities.

Conclusion

A. Restatement of the thesis that the war on drugs has failed and should be replaced by a more sensible strategy.

B.…

Works Cited

Drug Sense. "Drug War Clock." Retrieved online:  http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock 

Gierach, James. "U.N. Misses Opportunity to Address Failed Drug War." Huffington Post. 19 Mar, 2012. Retrieved online:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-gierach/commission-on-narcotic-drugs_b_1365434.html 

Szalavitz, Maia. "Top 10 Unhealthy Side Effects of the War on Drugs." Time. 17 June, 2011. Retrieved online:  http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/17/top-10-unhealthy-side-effects-of-the-war-on-drugs/#richard-m-nixon 

"Thirty Years of America's Drug War: A Chronology." PBS. Retrieved online:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/cron/

Persuasion Is a Necessary Art in the World of Business

Persuasion is especially relevant for leaders, managers, and businesspeople today because of the following reasons:

Generation X and Baby Boomers both question authority and traditional hierarchies in their organizations.

Business are run differently than they used to be, are more team focused and less hierarchical in nature.

Email and other forms of electronic communication have also helped flatten the organizational hierarchy, making unquestioned authoritative measures ineffective.

With a flattened organizational hierarchy, a more diverse organizational culture, and the irrelevance of formal authority, persuasion becomes one of the most important communications tools in business.

What Is Persuasion?

Persuasion essentially addresses one of the main questions on the mind of employees: Why should I?

Employees no longer need to know what to do; they need to know why they are doing it.

Persuasion tells them why, and in doing so, creates a…

Reference

Conger, J.A. The necessary art of persuasion. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved online:  http://hbr.org/1998/05/the-necessary-art-of-persuasion/ar/1

Persuasion is defined as the procedure through which a message or information provokes a change in attitudes, beliefs or behaviors (Myers, 2013). In essence, the change in thoughts, attitudes, behaviors or beliefs through persuasion takes place without coercion or duress but is largely influenced by the impact of the message or information on the individual. Persuasion tends to take place is a set up that involves communication, which entails conveying a message or information. Even though not all communication is designed to be persuasive but to inform and entertain, it ends up being persuasive based on the impact it has on the receiver of the information. Therefore, persuasion is regarded as the process through which an individual's thoughts, behaviors or attitudes are influenced by communication from others.

Based on this description, persuasion comprises several elements that act as the path that result in a change of attitude, beliefs or behaviors…

References

"Influence of Parenting Style on Child Development." (n.d.). Boundless. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/human-development-14/infancy-and-childhood-72/influence-of-parenting-style-on-child-development-280-12815/

Myers, D.G. (2013). Social psychology (11th ed.). Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill Education.

Teixeira, T.S. (2015, October 14). When People Pay Attention to Video Ads and Why. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review website:  https://hbr.org/2015/10/when-people-pay-attention-to-video-ads-and-why

Attitude Change and Persuasion

Persuasion is a process through which an individual or groups of individuals purposely changes in behavior or the way they act, way of thinking or any other aspect of another through the employing of intellect as well as feelings. This is a very important process because through persuasion people are affected and they also affect others. In most cases persuasion focuses mainly on attitude as the main target to be changed with the belief that if one can change a person's attitude then other changes such as how a person acts, feels or thinks will automatically change. The process of trying to change the attitudes of people can be a very challenging process that requires a lot of skill to achieve the desired results. This paper is an application of a person's knowledge and understanding of effortful persuasion process .it will further look at how factors…

References

Orehek, E. (2012). Persistence of attitude change and attitude -- behavior correspondence based on extensive processing of source information | Edward Orehek - Academia.edu. Academia.edu - Share research. Retrieved March 25, 2013, from  http://www.academia.edu/1383221/Persistence_of_attitude_change_and_attitude-behavior_correspondence_based_on_extensive_processing_of_source_information

psychology and on the subtopic of persuasion. This author has decided to pursue this topic because of the importance of understanding the subject of persuasion. It is used in everything from sales to simply convincing someone of your opinion. hile the works of individuals like Robert B. Cialdini have been trailblazers in our historical memories, it is the opinion of this author that in many ways Dale Carnegie's How to in Friends and Influence People is still one of the best. hile not a clinical psychologist, Carnegie was self-taught in many ways in psychology and like Cialdini gathered his observations from years of on the job and on the spot observations that are attested to by the continued reliance upon his book and principles as taught worldwide by the Dale Carnegie Institute.

Recent Discoveries/Developments

Robert B. Cialdini and Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

One of the most influential psychology text…

Works Cited

Carnegie, D. (1936). How to win friends and influence people . New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Cialdini, R.B. (2006). Influence: The psychology of persuasion . (Revised ed. ed.). New York, NY: Harper Business.

Powers of persuasion for future leaders. (2012). Retrieved from  http://www.utrechtsummerschool.nl/index.php?type=courses&code=L31 .

The best method for persuasion that is totally ethical is communication that would persuade the audience to voluntarily act in the desired way. Persuasion communication would use honesty and provide truthful information, which would make it ethical and ensure that no one is forced into making the decision or acting involuntarily.

Reasons for agreeing with the text

The text provides valuable insights in regards to methods a person can use to persuade an audience. The different methods of persuasion presented all have examples to demonstrate the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of a method. From the text, one is able to learn how to persuade an audience in different scenarios, which is vital in persuasion. For example, the case where the city council intends to turn the local athletic field into a parking lot, the authors have demonstrated different methods that the residents can use and ensure that this does not happen,…

This is an absolute approach to ethical analysis and leaves no room for consideration of exceptions for extenuating circumstance where the better outcome could be achieved by violating a rule to which adherence is more beneficial, generally (Mihaly, 2007). As applied to persuasion, strict rule utilitarianism would lead to a different result in both of the situations outlined in connection with virtue ethical analysis. It would require a true answer to the murderer because society is better off generally when citizens are truthful and it would prohibit lying to the kidnapper even to spare the lives of his hostages (Mihaly, 2007).

Unethical Approaches to Persuasion in Contemporary American Politics

Unfortunately, contemporary American politics and big business often demonstrate the moral corruption of persuasive argument tactics, such as where business organizations tout their stated commitment to ethical responsibility while simultaneously exploiting moral loopholes in statutory law and policy (Svensson & Wood,…

References

Mihaly, M. "Moral Theory: The Fundamentals." Ethics & Behavior Vol. 17, No. 4;

(2007): 406-407.

Stevens, B. "Corporate Ethical Codes: Effective Instruments for Influencing Behavior."

Journal of Business Ethics Vol. 78, No. 4; (2008): 601-609.

Attitude and Persuasion

riefly discuss persuasion as an effortless cognitive process.

In cognitive psychology, change is the focus of all mental health officials in addressing the various issues that are impacting someone. To achieve this objective they are looking at: what the person thinks and is telling themselves mentally. Once this takes place, the patient will then begin to discuss how these issues are affecting them and the way that they are impacting their lives. The psychologist will then introduce, some kind of pattern interrupt to change the way they are thinking and viewing various events. This is accomplished is by: asking a series of different questions about the underlying meaning and its effect on their lives. This is designed to transform how the person is thinking by: forcing them to respond those thoughts that are affecting them. This is the point that the mental health professional can be able…

Bibliography

Burns, D. (1992). Feeling Good. New York, NY: Avon Books

Attitude Change and Persuasion:

The total fertility rate in Singapore has declined to a record low of 1.22 in 2009 and 1.16 in 2010 from 1.28 in 2008. The problem of the low fertility rate is common across the three major ethnic groups in the country. Some of the reasons attributed to this problem include the postponement of marriage and lack of marriages at all by the country's citizens. In addition to this, the married people in Singapore do not have many children. Consequently, the nation's government is exploring ways of solving the problem including encouraging marriage and procreation. The government seeks to encourage marriage through providing incentives for marriage like 50% subsidy to buy HBD flats and a reduction of income tax by 50%. On the other hand, the provision of free medical services for childbirth at governmental hospitals is being considered as a means for encouraging procreation. Additional…

References:

"Cognitive Dissonance." (n.d.). Behavioralfinance.net. Retrieved March 29, 2012, from  http://cognitive-dissonance.behaviouralfinance.net/ 

James, J. & Gutkind, E. (1985). Attitude Change Revisited: Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Development Policy. World Development, 13(10), 1139-1149. Retrieved from http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=51931

Moss, S. (2008, October 18). Psychological Reactance Theory. Retrieved March 29, 2012, from http://www.psych-it.com.au/Psychlopedia/article.asp?id=65

Ramesh, S. (2011, January 18). MM Lee Weighs in on Singapore's Record-low Fertility Rate.

Friends are a great treasure that one cannot live without because we are intrinsically social beings. For the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about our friendship and how much you mean to me. Since I met you, I have cherished and enjoyed every moment that we have shared despite the challenges we have experienced over time. You have brought joy, a sense of order, and fulfillment in my life that has helped me appreciate the true value of friendship. I cannot imagine what these past few years would have been for me without you and your support. I feel a deeper sense of connection, love, and affection for you and would do almost anything to stay with you forever.

As a result, I sincerely ask you to stay with me because you have helped me change my perspective about life and been a strong pillar. I would like you…

Reference
Vandersteen, S. (2014, September 2). The Value of Friendship. Retrieved September 25, 2017, from  http://www.chvbv.ca/the-value-of-friendship/ 
 

The familiar surroundings and accommodations make the timeshare seem more like a second home than any hotel could.

Some timeshare properties are geared for individuals with specific interests, too. For example, many are located near golf courses, beaches, or swimming pools. At the same time, our properties are ideal for individuals who love to relax while on vacation because of their spaciousness and luxurious accommodations.

Timeshares offer a way to get away on a budget and to enjoy a spacious and luxurious property. By investing in our properties, you will be giving you and your family the gift of travel. Any time you want to head to your favorite destination, the property will be waiting for you. You can afford to travel in style: invest in a timeshare and look forward to years of fun, affordable, relaxing vacations.

There are also other aspects that could be included in the study of susceptibility factors, such as unemployment and criminality.

In conclusion, the main technique that the Klan uses to entice and retain members is the ideological component of their dogma and rhetoric. This is supported by factors such as the search for meaning among the youth and fear. The Klan uses fear of poverty, dispossession and other social factors to maintain a hold on their members. These aspects are strengthened and grounded in various religious perceptions and theories, which tend to justify and legitimize the actions of the Klan to existing members, as well as making the society more attractive to newcomers.

ibliography

Summary of the Panel Discussion on Cults. Retrieved November 12, 2008, at http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:zw-HeZTvIMJ:www.bcskeptics.info/re/11.02.pdf+What+persuasion+techniques+does+the+Ku+Klux+Klan+use+to+recruit+and+retain+members&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=za

Apocalypse: Definition of Key Terms. Retrieved November 13, 2008, at http://csuold.csuohio.edu/english/earl/nr0apoc1.html

evilaqua J. The FI, COINTELPRO-WHITE HATE and the Decline of Ku Klux…

Bibliography

Summary of the Panel Discussion on Cults. Retrieved November 12, 2008, at http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:zw-HeZTBvIMJ:www.bcskeptics.info/re/11.02.pdf+What+persuasion+techniques+does+the+Ku+Klux+Klan+use+to+recruit+and+retain+members&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=za

Apocalypse: Definition of Key Terms. Retrieved November 13, 2008, at http://csuold.csuohio.edu/english/earl/nr0apoc1.html

Bevilaqua J. The FBI, COINTELPRO-WHITE HATE and the Decline of Ku Klux Klan Organizations in Mississippi, 1964-1971. Mississippi Historical Review. 2004. Retrieved November 13, 2008, at http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/lofiversion/index.php/t11464.html www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5006805072

Bostdorff, D.M. (2004). The Internet Rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan: A Case Study in Web Site Community Building Run Amok. Communication Studies, 55(2), 340+. Retrieved November 13, 2008, from Questia database:  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5006805072  www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000318309

Intercultural Management

Persuasion tactics are popular strategies applied in dispute management and decision-making in international negotiations. Persuasion is the core center of various alternative dispute resolution approaches. Persuasion is the only way for people to refine an international negotiation that is not working according to their expectations. Since persuasion is, the most popular tactic used to solve conflicts in international negotiations. Therefore, it is necessary for all negotiators to be familiar with negotiation skills and dynamics. However, some persuasion tactics used in international negotiations have shown to be undesirable and would not elicit productive and efficient results (Michaelowam, 2011).

Negative effect in international negotiation: even before the beginning of any negotiation, people in a negative mood lack the desired confidence. They become unable to use cooperative strategies. In the process of negotiating, negotiators who are in a negative mood will not enjoy the interaction; they will demonstrate minimal contentious behavior,…

References

Albin, C. (2001). Justice and fairness in international negotiation. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Michaelowam, K. (2011). Cross-Cultural negotiation and Decision Making. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Leadership: Transference and Persuasion

Maccoby (2004) defines transference as "the often irrational tendency to relate to a leader as some important person from the past -- a parent, a sibling, a close friend, or even a nanny" (p. 119). Transference forms the basis of how employees perceive their leader, as well as what they expect from him/her. I totally agree with the author's position that transference, if not properly checked, can lead to over-expectations and, subsequently, to unnecessary misunderstandings at the workplace, especially if the leader fails to meet the expectations and perceptions imposed upon them as the transferred pattern. To this end, leaders can better understand their employees by first understanding the effect of transference at the workplace. In a competitive marketplace, employee retention is key; employee motivation is a crucial retention tool, and transference can either be a source of motivation or discouragement. Leaders can prevent employee walk-outs;…

References

Garvin, D.A. & Roberto, M.A. (2008). Change through Persuasion. In Harvard Business Review on the Persuasive Leader (pp. 145-166). Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review.

Maccoby, M. (2004). Why People Follow the Leader: The Power of Transference. In Harvard Business Review on the Persuasive Leader (pp. 119-144). Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review.

Walker, S.J. (2013). UK Higher Education: Let's Not Follow the Leader but Develop Our Own Vision. The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2014 from  http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/may/21/uk-higher-education-own-vision

Media Pesuasion

Compae and contast the media theoies pesented in the chapte. Using you expeience with media, discuss the degee to which each explains you elationship with media.

Theoists such as Walte Ong focus on the impotance of the medium though which pesuasive and othe types of communications ae conveyed. The electonic media conveys a sense of intimacy. It is possible to follow a politician on Twitte, as well as listen to his o he moe caefully-cafted fomal speeches. The Intenet allows people to gain access to eveyday people though eading blogs, as well as media souces fom aound the wold. But the Web can be deceptively intimate, and also only tansmit a faily shallow and supeficial pesentation of issues because the infomation must be conveyed quickly. The Intenet has undoubtedly contibuted to the polaization of the cuent political envionment in Ameica. If desied, people can simply ead websites and…

references make the audience more open to hear what is said, and moved to agree with the persuader. These referents also encourage identification with the speaker.

Attitude Change & Persuasion

Examine the functions of attitudes and use appropriate examples to support the discussion.

Mark Snyder and Kenneth G. DeBono reference "functional theories" about attitudes; they explain that the functional aspect of attitudes allows people to "…execute plans and achieve goals" (Snyder, et al., 1989). Interestingly, the functional theory often serves "…very different functions for different people" because albeit two people may have very "similar attitudes," the persuasive conditions that are needed to change those similar attitudes may "…be quite different" (Snyder, 340). That last sentence is backed up by the fact that in order to "successfully change an attitude," the specific function that is being served by that attitude must be addressed, Synder continues.

The authors provide four different functions that attitudes can perform. The first function they call "Ego-Defensive"; people protect themselves from "accepting truths about themselves" that are not desirable truths (and may be…

Works Cited

Hansen, Flemming Yssing, and Christiansen, Sverre Riis. (2007). Emotions, Advertising and Consumer Choice. Frederiksberg, DK: Copenhagen Business School Press.

O'Guinn, Thomas, Allen, Chris T., and Semenik, Richard J. (2008). Advertising & Integrated

Brand Promotion. Independence, KY: Cengage Learning.

Snyder, Mark, and DeBono, Kenneth G. (1989). "Understanding the Functions of Attitudes:

By taking the initiative to accomplish this task, I showed leadership skills that my supervisor later praised me for, which was definitely encouraging.

E.

My supervisor was excellent in many aspects of her job, but could be forgetful when it came to returning client calls or attending to invoices that came due. When an item requiring her attention came across my desk, I would always be sure to have a face-to-face conversation with her, and to hand her a written not regarding the details of the same issue. I found that by communicating in both verbal and written messages it was far more likely that the needed information would actually be not only remembered but acted upon by the supervisor. The writing helped to ensure accuracy, of course, but I think it was of greater importance that she had a physical artifact simply to remind her that there was any…

Measurement of Social Persuasion

Social Persuasion Defined

The term 'social persuasion' has been defined differently by various researchers and scholars in different fields of study. For purposes of this text, however, Kaptein's (2012) definition and scope will be adopted. Thus, social persuasion is defined as the symbolic ability "to convince other people to change their attitudes or behaviors regarding an issue, through the transmission of a message in an atmosphere of free choice" (Kaptein, 2012, p. 1). In other words, it is the art of getting a target to change their attitude or opinion about something, and to consequently adopt a different viewpoint.

This conceptualization draws from the early works of Cartwright (1959) and Kurt ewin (1951), both of whom hold the view that an individual's behavior/attitude is the product of a range of forces or tensions within their life space, and their ability/inability to resist the same. Towards this…

Liu, O.L. & Wilson M. (2010). Sources of Self-Efficacy Belief: Development and Validation of Two Scales. Journal of Applied Measurement, 11(1), 24-37.

Schwenk, G. (2009). Evaluating Social Influence Relations: An Item-Response Modeling Approach. Metodoloski Zvezki, 6(1), 27-50

Swasy, J.L. (1979). Measuring the Bases of Social Power. In William L. William & M. Ann Abor: Association for Consumer Research Vol. 6. (pp.340-346).

Social Psychology: Examining the Principles of Persuasion Influencing Group Behavior

Introduction & Outline of the

esearch Evaluation

Concepts of Social Psychology

Attitudes and Persuasion

Social Identity Theory

Social Influences

Cultural and Gender Influences

Social Psychology: Examining the Principles of Persuasion Influencing Group Behavior

Introduction & Outline of the Essay

Social psychology deals with different aspects of social life and social behavior. People not only have feelings and opinions about nearly everything they come into contact with, but the argument has been made that we need to have these feelings and opinions. The current essay is aimed at exploring the principles of persuasion influencing group behavior. The foundation for this essay is text book "Social Psychology" by Myers (2010) which discusses the attitude theory and persuasion, reviewing how attitudes are structured and how this structure influences their susceptibility to change

The essay is divided into four sections. In the first section…

References

Baker, David P. And Deborah Perkins Jones. 1993. "Creating Gender Equality: Cross-national Gender Stratification and Mathematical Performance." Sociology of Education 66:91-103.

Bassili, J.N. (2008). Attitude strength. In W.D. Crano & R. Prislin, (Eds.), Attitudes and attitude change, Frontiers of social psychology. New York, NY; Psychology Press, pp. 261-286.

Cialdini, R.B. 2001. Influence: Science and Practice. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Eagly, A.H. & Chaiken, S. (1993) The Psychology of Attitudes. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Feminist Reading of Austen's Persuasion

"I Will Not Allow ooks to Prove Anything":

Women Reading and Women Writing in Austen's Persuasion

Feminist criticism is equally concerned with female authorship and with female readership and in the case of Jane Austen, both issues must be addressed. Frantz in 2009 noted that on one level Austen's influence on female readership has been immense: she claims that "readers and authors of contemporary romance claim Jane Austen as the fountainhead of all romance novels," a genre which constituted the "largest share of the consumer market in 2008" but which is assumed to have an exclusively female readership. Yet feminist criticism of the early novel overall has begun to focus specifically on the rationale offered for novel-reading in the eighteenth century, when the printer's apprentice Samuel Richardson wrote Pamela in imitation of what Jenny Davidson describes as "conduct manuals," or books of etiquette for female…

Bibliography

Austen, Henry. "A Memoir of Jane Austen." A Memoir of Jane Austen and Other Family Recollections. Ed. Kathryn Sutherland. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. 147-154. Print.

Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park. New Jersey: Gramercy Books, 1981. Print.

Austen, Jane. Persuasion. Project Gutenberg. Web.

Davidson, Jenny. Hypocrisy and the Politics of Politeness: Manners and Morals from Locke to Austen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print.

Obedience in Jane Austen's Persuasion

Is obedience a virtue or a vice? Actually, it can be either. As Shakespeare notes, "Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, / And vice sometime by action dignified" (2.3.21-22). This means that one can obey an unjust order and commit a sin, or one can disobey an unjust order be virtuous. The question of obedience in Austen's Persuasion is a serious one because what hinges upon it is the fate of two individuals who love each other. It is the age-old theme of two people who are in love being separated by some authority figure. Austen explores this tension by locating it in the social context of Bath, where high society flourishes in a state of superficial exuberance. Thus, the question of obedience is tied to the social view of poverty. Anne's family and Lady Russell try to convince her that poverty is the main…

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Persuasion. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1899. Print.

Duffy, Joseph. "Structure and Idea in Jane Austen's 'Persuasion'." Nineteenth-Century

Fiction, vol. 8, no. 4 (March 1954): 272-289. Print.

Milgram, Stanley. "The Perils of Obedience." Harper's Magazine, 1974. Web. 28 Nov

Mandatory

An attitude of 'firm persuasion' means that we have a sense of mission in what we do; a mission that cannot be easily diverted or silenced. At his core, Morrie's firm persuasion was that he was a teacher. Even when facing tremendous physical challenges and obstacles, he continued to teach Mitch and others about the nature of his life. One way to figure out what our life's work is and to steel ourselves with 'firm persuasion' is to ask: what would I be doing if I had my choice, more than anything else in the world? Painting? Playing sports? Writing? Although not everyone can be a teacher, painter, professional athlete, or writer, we can all find ways to ensure that we are able to pursue our passions every day.

Having a 'firm persuasion' in doing what makes our life feel meaningful means being able to tolerate and rebound from…

Attitude Change and Persuasion

Attitiude Change And Persuasion

Attitudes May Affect Judgments About the Accuracy of Factual Statements

We as humans utilize heuristics as mental shortcuts or rules of thumb when we lack time for full-processing, are being overloaded by information, when we deem issues unimportant, or when we have little solid information to use in decision making. In viewing attitude heuristics, we tend to determine what is true in our own minds based upon our feelings for things. Such determinations often lead to a halo effect, which causes our general first impressions to influence all of our future ratings, and also to the false consensus affect which leads us to overestimate reality and believe that everyone else likes and perceives things in the same way we do.

Some studies have shown that attitudes serve as a heuristic for estimating an answer about past behavior. For instance, when an attitude…

References

Courchaine, K., MacNair, R., Metzler, A., and Neimeyer, G. (1991). Changing personal beliefs: effects of forewarning, argument quality, prior bias, and personal explanation. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 10.1: pp. 1. Web. Retrieved from: ProQuest Database.

Goldberg, J., Welker, T., Wenze, S., Gerstein, R., and Beck, A. (2008). Dysfunctional attitudes and cognitive schemas in bipolar manic and unipolar depressed outpatients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196.1: pp. 207-210.

Pratkanis, A. (1987, May). The attitude heuristic and selective fact identification. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED285107.

Attitude Change and Persuasion

eliability and Validity

eliability

eliability refers to the capacity of an instrument to capture the most accurate and "truest" score of an individual. A reliable test enables us to distinguish one individual from another with confidence that errors will primarily be generated by individual differences, and to a lesser extent, to the imperfections of the instrument. Indicators that a test is reliable include test-retest reliability that is accounted for by the internal consistency in the components of the test. The test-retest criteria is generally considered a manifestation of the consistency of measurement for individual performance over time, such that the score a person gets on a test today will be the same -- or nearly the same -- as the score the person gets on a test, say, in three, six, or twelve months. There are a number of substantive issues with the test-retest criteria, including chance covariation, memory, and…

References

Huck, S.W. (2012). Reading statistics and research (6th ed.).Columbus, OH: Allyn & Bacon.

Newton, P.E. & Shaw, S.D. (2013) Standards for talking and thinking about validity. Psychological Methods, 18(3), 301-319. Doi: 10.1037/a0032969

Sireci, S.G. (2007). On validity theory and test validation. Educational Researcher, 36(8), 477-481. (ProQuest Document ID: 1403803131)

Schwenk, G. (2009). Evaluating social influence relations: An item-response-modeling approach. Metodoloski zvezki, 6(1), 27-50.

I do not believe there is anything the website could do to persuade people out of an addiction; the best it could hope for is to persuade people to begin fighting an addiction.

The web site really did not impact me personally, but it was not due to a design flaw in the web site. I am a non-smoker who does not have any plans to ever become a smoker. I grew up in a smoking household and am sensitive to cigarette smoke, so I spent much of my childhood with smoking-related illness. A website that tries to prevent people from smoking does not have to be very persuasive for me to listen to its message.

One of the things that I think the website failed to do, which would have made it more persuasive, was to work with the ABCs of attitude. I think it missed the opportunity to…

Populist Persuasion," Michael Kazin sees populism as a vehicle for the weak and disenfranchised common person to address and challenge the ruling elite. As such, Kazin views populism as an "impulse" that is at the very root of American democracy. Kazin's view of populism can be seen as an outgrowth of the democratic ideology of the American Revolution, as described by ood. Kazin argues that populism has gradually moved from the political left to the right of the political spectrum. George . Bush's current attempts at economic and moral populism give us a better understanding of Kazin's arguments. Finally, "All the King's Men" explores the relationship between populism and the corruption of the political system.

Kazin feels that populism is a more of an "impulse than an ideology," and that populism is the very language of democracy. He defines populism as a political language that regards "ordinary people as a…

Works Cited

All the King's Men. Cast: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, et al. Director: Robert Rossen. Columbia/Tristar, 1949.

Kazin, Michael. The Populist Persuasion: An American History.

Cornell University Press, 1998.

Library of Congress. Religion and the Founding of the American Republic. 17 November 2002.  http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/

Jane Austen's Persuasion: Anne Elliot's Coming Out The writings of Jane Austen are often considered to be the representation of an excessively conservative era. Though this may truly be the case especially in regards to the formal and informal interactions between the opposite genders. A woman's reputation could be made or broken by a simple turn of events. The challenge of maintaining these standards for conduct, where even the minutest misunderstanding might cause years of disassociation seems to be as formidable as any. The story is one of the personal growth of the heroine Anne Elliot. She branches out into a world, limited by her position but much less so than before.

Though waters of social understanding were often murky the reality of Persuasion is such that the heroine, Anne Elliot is assuming the role of "director" of her own life. Austen is telling the story of a woman learning…

Works Cited

Austen, Jane Persuasion. Hertfordshire, UK: Wordsworth Ltd., 1993.

Psychology

Attitude Change and Pesuasion

What is evolutionay psychology? How does it explain mate selection?

Evolutionay psychology (EP) is an advance that looks at psychological taits such as memoy, peception and language fo a contempoay evolutionay pespective in egads to social and natual sciences. It attempts to categoize which human psychological taits ae alteations that have evolved (Confe, Easton, Fleischman, Goetz, Lewis, Peilloux & Buss, 2010). In othe wods, which functional poducts of natual selection o sexual selection ae evolved adaptations. Adaptationist thinking in egads to physiological mechanisms, such as the heat, lungs, and immune system, is fequent in evolutionay biology. Evolutionay psychology elates the same thinking to psychology, aguing that the mind has a modula makeup simila to that of the body, with dissimila modula adaptations seving diffeent functions (Confe et al., 2010).

Evolutionay psychologists dispute that a lot of human behavio is the output of psychological adaptations that…

references, Jealousy, and Aggression. Retrieved from  http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/denisiuk.html 

Sommer, H. (n.d.). Evolution, Sexuality, Mate-Selection, and Begging Methodological

Questions. Retrieved from http://www.heathsommer.com/21.html

Thiessen, D. (1999). Social influences on human assortative mating. In M.C. Corballis, S.G.

Lea, M.C. Corballis, S.G. Lea (Eds.), The descent of mind: Psychological

Interpersonal Persuasion

How has the media age influenced personal selling? Please provide examples to illustrate your discussion. Have electronic media made it more difficult for salespersons to persuade audience members?

The media age has transformed the nature of personal selling. Consumers have access to a wealth of information about the products and services available to them: from broad Google searches to browsing through customer reviews on specific vendor websites or on Consumer eports (Chapter 14). Social media also enhances the ability of the consumer to acquire information about products, as friends share information about their experiences with a product, service, or brand. A more educated consumer challenges the personal sales representatives to be able to answer questions and be completely honest with the answers.

New media has also altered the actual practice of personal selling. Sales representatives have at their disposal a wealth of possibilities for reaching consumers: from emails…

Other scholars have been more critical of ELM. The Morris, Woo, and Singh study, along with the Cook, Moore, and Steel study, focuses on the major shortcomings of ELM. Unlike Schroeder and Areni, these scholars evaluate ELM as an actual model for psychological studies, as opposed to just a conceptual framework. The Morris, Woo, and Singh study found that the model had an excessively narrow focus on the cognitive aspects of audience elaboration, neglecting the emotional aspects. The Cook, Moore, and Steel study found that ELM did not offer an actual causal explanation of persuasive communication and offered Positioning Theory for a causal explanation.

When Cook, Moore, and Steel use the term "causal explanation," they are getting at the predictive value of ELM, which is a very important element of a model's usefulness. One problem with the predictive value of the ELM is the model's argument variable. To test ELM,…

Bibliography

Petty, R.E., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1986). The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion. Advances in Experimental Psychology, Vol. 9).

Schroeder, L. (2005). Cultivation and the Elaboration Likelihood Model: A Test of the Learning and Construction and Availability Heuristic Models. Communication Studies, 56(3), p. 227 -- 242

Areni, C. (2003). The Effects of Structural and Grammatical Variables on Persuasion: An Elaboration Likelihood Model. Perspective Psychology & Marketing, 20(4): p. 349-375

Morris, Woo, and Singh. (2005). Elaboration Likelihood Model: A Missing Intrinsic Emotional Implication. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 14(1), p. 79 -- 98

Attitudes

Functional attitude theories hold the central notion that people have attitudes for different reasons. By understanding the different reasons that one has for an attitude and targeting these reasons can be the basis for being able to change an attitude. The basic attitude functions are:

The knowledge function of an attitude refers to the need for people to assign structure, meaning, or order to their surroundings. For instance, in studies of cognitive dissonance people need to assign order to a chaotic situation (incompatible behavior and attitude) and therefore bolster a particular attitude to do so. Advertisers have used this as strategic tactic for years when they target people who have chronic pain, depression, or some other particular condition that results in perceived disorder in their lives. Morals, ethics, and the need to find structure in ambiguous situations serve this function in much the same way. Such attitudes provide a…

Presidential Speech

The Presidents accused of scandals in the history of American politics have been known to make memorable apology speeches. Even though, the speech that the Presidents made were done by different people and in different times, marked similarities and patterns have been noted. The Lewinsky scandal was basically a political sex scandal that occurred in 1999. This scandal came out because the President was accused of having a sexual relationship with an intern in the White House, Monica Lewinsky. The Watergate scandal occurred in 1970 because five men were caught at the Democratic National Committee and further investigations led to President Nixon being found guilty of committing fraud. Another fraud that highlighted a President as the causative agent was the Iran Arms and Contra Aid Controversy. This scandal occurred when President Reagan was in the administration and the officials in charge were accused of selling arms to Iran…

Attitude Object Evaluations

Current Influences of Attitude Object Evaluations

Objects can elicit a variety of emotional and cognitive responses from an individual (reviewed by Giner-Sorolla, 2004). The emotional and cognitive components of a response together define the summary attitude taken towards the object. The degree to which an object can influence behavior appears to be linked to the 'rate' with which an individual develops a summary attitude, such that faster appraisals are more influential because they elicited a stronger attitude. Strack and Deutsch (2004) attempt to merge numerous dualistic models in an effort to delineate the elements that influence an evaluative process. Based on their reflective-impulsive model, motivation is the primary driver of behavior, but the interval between the sighting of an attitude object and the resulting behavior varies depending on whether a person reacts primarily in a reflective (cognitive) or impulsive (emotional) manner.

Findings by Giner-Sorolla (2004) suggest that…

References

Giner-Sorolla, Roger. (2004). Is affective material in attitudes more accessible than cognitive material? The moderating role of attitude basis. European Journal of Social Psychology, 34, 761-780.

Rannazzisi, Danielle Marie. (2009). Appraisal processes and emotion: An examination of the influence of relative standards on the evaluation of negative situations. (Doctoral dissertation). ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis. (Accession 2009-99220-267).

Strack, Fritz and Deutsch, Roland. (2004). Reflective and impulsive determinants of social behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8(3), 220-247.

Ineffectiveness of Gun Control: Violence in America's Schools (A Case Study on Kip Kinkel)

Psychologist Jeffrey Hicks, after counseling 14-year-old Kip Kinkel, diagnosed the young boy's condition that "Kip had difficulty with learning in school, had difficulty managing anger, some angry acting out and depression." A year later, in May 21, 1998, 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered 2 students and injured 25 others when he attacked at the school cafeteria at Thurston High in Springfield, Oregon. One day before, on May 20, Kinkel killed his parents, Bill and Faith, using a.32 caliber Beretta semiautomatic pistol. Almost 5 months after the Thurston High killings, Kip Kinkel was finally sentenced to 111 years in prison on November 2, 1999.

Kip Kinkel's case illustrates one of the most prevalent social problem in America today -- the increasing occurrence of schools shootings in the country's elementary and high schools. The Thurston High killings is just…

Works Cited

Navasky, Miri. "The Killer at Thurston High." PBS Online and FRONTLINE. 28 November 2003  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows.kinkel/ .

Recruitment of Kids to the Gun Culture." Violence Policy Center Web site. 28 November 2003  http://www.vpc.org/studies/startcon.htm .