An appeal to pity is an attempt to make a person feel bad, and in turn persuade them to think what you think. This is another way of manipulating a person. For example... When I was in 4th grade I had a teacher who was an absolute push over. Kids in my class would never do homework assignments and they would make it so the teacher did not punish them. They would never do assignments so I thought I did not have to either. Everyday when I got home from school I would tell my mom I did not have homework; then finally one day she found out I did always have homework but my teacher was a push over still was going to pass me anyways. She went on to tell me, "Son, even thought other kids don't do their homework, doesn't mean that you do not have to. Just do your homework for the sake of your teacher, just to make her happy for a change."
This is considered an appeal to pity because my mother convinced me to do my homework just because I felt bad for my teacher. So as you can see, appealing to pity can also be a good tool for manipulating people.
Hello Kalem!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! I totally agree with you regarding you definition of appeal to pity and your example was pretty funny. Your example reminded me of some of kids I tutor at my job the kids are around 4 to 6. They would make sad faces and lie to me just to get out of doing their work. I remember this one time a little girl told me she needed to go home and that her mom told her to just take the work home. At first I was like alright I believe you. But the next day she says the same thing again and that happened two more times. Finally, I had to talk to her parents and her parents was totally surprised. Its very sad actually at such a young age they already know how to lie. What had this world become! I would blame the parents they should teach their child better morals especially at such a young age. They shouldn't be lying especially when they grow up they could lie all they want. Anyways, your example made me chuckle. GREAT POST! Keep up the great work!
Hey Kalem. I love using pity to win over a person. I always did this when I was young and even in high school to teachers. No one really guilt trips me to do my homework. I would go up to a teacher in high school and tell them that I had a lot of things going on like sports practice and other big test coming up so I can not finish my paper on time. I will tell them that I am so tired, and that I got home late the night before because of away games. Most of the time it does work whether I was lying or telling the truth, especially on my AP Government teacher. It was bad, but at least I do not do it anymore. Great post this week!!
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