ABSTRACT

As economic society develops continuously and fast, international business communication activities become more frequent. In business activities, people inevitably use international business language, thus business English becomes very important. Business English correspondence is actually of great importance in business English communication. 

One of the major purposes of business English correspondence is to persuade or to understand and reach coordinated communication. About business English correspondence, many scholars study its characteristics from writing characteristics and pragmatic principles, etc. However, researches on analyzing the persuasive function of business English from the perspective of rhetoric are not enough. Persuasiveness in business English correspondence has a pivotal position in the rhetoric. As Aristotle says, “rhetoric is the art of persuasion. If discourse lacks of persuasiveness, it cannot be a good text.”This paper tries to combine the two aspects, to explore how business English correspondence use rhetoric to achieve the purpose of persuading. 

This article adopts Aristotle's theory of rhetoric as the framework to analyzes persuasiveness in business English correspondence. It aims at figuring out persuasive characteristics of business English correspondence. The author also hopes the paper can make business English writers and readers have certain understanding of persuasion.

Key words: business English correspondence; rhetoric; persuasiveness; persuasive modes; persuasive canons

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One  INTRODUCTION-1

Chapter Two  LITERATURE REVIEW-3

2.1 An Overview of Western Rhetoric-3

2.2 A Brief Introduction to Aristotle's Rhetoric-4

2.2.1 Persuasive Modes-4

2.2.2 Persuasive Canons-5

2.3 Reviews of Researches on Business English Correspondence-7

2.1.1 Researches abroad-7

2.1.1 Researches at home-8

2.3 Summary. 9

Chapter Three  RHETORICAL ANALYSIS ON THE PERSUASIVENESS IN BUSINESS ENGLISH CORRESPONDENCE-10

3.1 Rhetoric in Business English Correspondence-10

3.2 Persuasive Modes of Business English Correspondence-11

3.2.1 Appeal to Ethos-11

3.2.2 Appeal to Pathos-14

 3.2.3 Appeal to Logos15

3.3 Persuasive Canons of Business English Correspondence: Style-16

3.3.1Word choice-17

3.3.2 Syntax-19

3.3.3 Figures of speech-20

Chapter Four  CONCLUSION-22

REFERENCES-24