Aristotle
Aristotle is one of three figures mentioned in the book’s subtitle and so, as might be expected, plays a huge role as a character, if you will. It is to Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, that the author credits the “Big Three” of rhetorical argumentative devices: argument by logic, argument by character, and argument by emotion.
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln is the second figure mentioned in the subtitle. The 16th President of the United States becomes the model by which the author reveals the tools and power of the argument by character with his suggestion that while Lincoln’s arguments were often dubious on the point of fact, he was able to persuade by the power of his character.
Homer Simpson
The patriarch of the America’s favorite animated family is the third famous figure mentioned in the subtitle and quotes spoken by Homer from The Simpsons are peppered throughout the book primarily as a means of bringing up logical fallacies. Homer’s logic is consistently portrayed as twisted and utterly illogical…yet often persuasive in some elemental way.
John Quincy Adams
It was another President—not Lincoln—who surprisingly is responsible for this book. In his Preface, the author admits that he is among that most selected of human beings: those whose life was changed by not only one of the lesser known Chief Executives, but not even the most well-known President named John Adams. It was the son of the more famous one who introduced the author to the power of rhetoric.
Jay Heinrichs
Although ostensibly a kind of textbook intent on teaching the tools of rhetoric to manipulate the power of language, it is anything but a dry, objective text. One of the many effective rhetoric tools that the author subtly implements to demonstrate how they can be used is to insert himself into the narrative to personalize the lessons, stories and examples he is discussing. As a result, the opening paragraph of the first chapter consists of a scene between the author and his teenage son.
