The purpose of this 11th-grade unit on language is to acquaint students with persuasion because it is one of the basic functions of discourse and a principal method of achieving change in a complex and democratic society. In this unit, students are provided with opportunities for recognizing, evaluating, and using persuasive discourse. The unit moves inductively from example to generalization and is organized around three categories for the analysis of persuasion--(1) the writer or speaker as persuasive agent, hero, or model, (2) the discourse itself as a tool of persuasion, with emphasis on abstraction levels and logical and psychological methods of language manipulation, and (3) the audience and the context of persuasion--the historical and geographical context, the sociological context of group values, and such psychological motives as subsistence, social approval, mastery, and habit. Materials in the unit include lectures, procedural notes, discussion questions, suggested activities, speaking-writing assignments, a list of resource materials, and a bibliography on the rudiments of persuasion. (See TE 001 328 and TE 001 329 for 10th-grade units on discourse.) (JB)