Triggering Pathos in Red Harvest
discuss how Hammett’s protagonist (known only as the Continental
Operative) carefully uses appeals to pathos in order to persuade and manipulate the citizens of
Personville. As usual, I want you to discuss the way in which Aristotle’s system of rhetoric can
help shed light on the aims and methods of our literary protagonist. Be sure to review my lecture
note on the Appeal to Pathos and refer directly to this theory of persuasive manipulation.
Don’t write an essay with a thesis statement like “Throughout the book, the Continental Op uses
appeals to pathos in order to persuade and manipulate the citizens of Personville.” That kind of
overly general thesis will get you a C+ at best. You’ll need to narrow this down and focus on
something more specific than that in order to harvest an A or a B on this assignment.
This assignment is based on the book Red Harvest by Hammett.