Analysis Of Jay Heinrichs 'Thank You For Arguing'

In “Thank You For Arguing” Jay Heinrichs uses his personal life experiences and the experiences of those around him to convey powerful tools of the art of persuasion to the reader. Using a variety of characters from pop culture and media, he shows how argument is a natural occurrence in life and what the reader must know to win over an audience who goes against what they believe.

Heinrichs starts every new section by introducing a “Persuasive Tool” to the reader, explaining when to use said tool and what its effect is on an audience. A great example of this is when Heinrich begins explaining Aristotle’s Big Three. He starts his explanation with pure fact by stating the threes are “logos, ethos, and pathos”. He then goes into detail of all three rhetoric ideas starting with logos, simply stating that “if arguments were children, logos would be the brainy one”. This personification of logos introduces the reader to a persuasive path based on logic and reason. But Heinrichs does not stop there, rather he continues simplifying the other two of the three as an introduction to understanding the rhetoric.

The entirety of “Thank You for Arguing” is packed with wisdom from a rhetoric expert but one chapter that taught me the most and struck me as most important was the 14th titled “Spot Fallacies”.

Heinrichs begins by telling of seven “logical sins” of which he dedicates seven different sections of the chapter to. For example, the first sin he denotes is the “false comparison” fallacy, which he explains in the few pages after, is comparing two things that seem similar that actually could not be more different using a few examples and showing how they are wrong. His method of pulling apart the different fallacies helps the reader to be able to recognize the error, furthermore the reader is even encouraged to find what is wrong in the examples before he

explains.
So why pick “Thank You for Arguing” as the go to for persuasive knowledge? Well

Heinrich himself is a rhetoric genius who has spent years mastering the art of persuading and has stored the entirety of his knowledge in the writing within the pages. His down to earth wisdom of arguing with family and friends is of great use to any person, no matter the education or need for persuasion. He finds strength in his family, who gives him stories that are both knowledgeable and humorous. Studying the media on TV, the internet, or even ancient roman scripts has given him needed insight to how we are persuaded. Finally, Heinrichs is a rhetoric genius in a common man's world, meaning that he knows how to relate to the reader in his text, no matter the readers rhetoric background.
In conclusion, “Thank You for Arguing” is a very enjoyable read and teaches everything about the art of persuading from sarcasm and rhetoric to knowing when to defend your point in a conversation. Heinrichs way of simplifying complex terms and processes brings in readers and his humor and wit keeps them turning pages no matter who is reading from teachers and professors to someone just trying to settle a score.

Work Cited
Heinrichs, Jay. Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion. revised paperback ed., Three Rivers Press, 2013.