What type of appeal engages an audience's feelings to persuade them?

Emotional appeals are a powerful persuasive technique that seeks to elicit specific feelings from the audience, such as empathy, sadness, joy, or anger. This method aims to connect with individuals on a personal level, making the message more relatable and impactful. By engaging the audience's emotions, speakers can effectively motivate them to respond in a desired way, whether it's supporting a cause, agreeing with an argument, or taking action.

In the context of persuasive communication, emotional appeals play a crucial role because they can often override logical reasoning. When people feel strongly about an issue, their emotional response can drive decisions and opinions more forcefully than facts or statistics alone. This type of appeal can be particularly effective in advocacy and debate settings, where connecting with the audience's values and experiences can enhance persuasion.

Other options fail to focus on audience feelings in this way. An appeal to authority relies on the credibility of an expert to persuade the audience, while civil disobedience refers to the act of resisting certain laws peacefully, which does not inherently involve emotional engagement. The arrangement fallacy is a logical error related to the organization of an argument rather than an appeal to emotions. Therefore, emotional appeals stand out as the choice that specifically engages feelings to persuade.