Telling Sentimental From Documentary Appeal

The idea

Reform writing persuades in two ways and the exam asks which a passage is doing. A sentimental appeal works by making the reader feel: it puts a mother, a child or a deathbed in front of you, uses direct address, and asks what you would do in that case. Stowe is the type, and the technique treats emotion as evidence. A documentary appeal works by making the reader see: it accumulates verifiable detail, names places, dates, prices and owners, and dares the reader to check. Douglass and Northup are the types, and the technique treats specificity as proof. Most reform texts use both, so the question is which carries the weight in the printed passage. Count the concrete particulars; if they are verifiable facts, the appeal is documentary, and if they are gestures, tears and appeals to the reader's own heart, it is sentimental.