Up to this point in your persuasive essay, you have been focusing on your main opinion (in your thesis statement) and logical facts and examples (in your reasons and evidence). The majority of a good argument is built on these two foundational elements.

However, appealing to your audience's emotions is also important because it helps connect them to your ideas and it builds empathy for your argument. When done well, emotional appeals invite the audience to engage their feelings in what you are saying. This gives them the opportunity to make a decision based not just on logical thinking but on heartfelt feelings, too.

As you saw in previous lessons, emotional appeals sometimes miss the mark. Recall that emotional appeals that condemn, mock, or talk down to the audience are ineffective and even detrimental to an argument. Similarly, other appeals that fail are ones that attempt to distract the reader or use over-the-top emotions to make a point.

The best kind of emotional appeal is one that people think is related to the issue at hand and treats them respectfully. In other words, the audience understands the connection between the logical point you are making and the need for an emotional appeal. They also see that you are not trying to distract their attention or manipulate their emotions. Ultimately, a good emotional appeal is one in which you treat the audience as the knowledgeable, rational, co-equal people that they are.

As you look through your rough draft and think about where you should insert an emotional appeal, ask yourself this question: "At what point in my paper does it make the most sense to engage the audience's emotions?" Once you've found that place and inserted your emotional appeal, then ask yourself these questions:

Locate the files where you started writing your rough draft. Add at least one emotional appeal if you have not already included one. Then be sure to save the file.