| Acknowledgements | 第1-6页 |
| 摘要 | 第6-7页 |
| Abstract | 第7-9页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第9-14页 |
| ·Persuasion as a Speech Act | 第9-10页 |
| ·Significance and Purpose of Studying Persuasion | 第10-12页 |
| ·Organization of the Thesis | 第12-14页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review on Persuasion Studies | 第14-26页 |
| ·Previous Studies of Persuasion: An Overview | 第14-18页 |
| ·Persuasion in Rhetoric | 第14-15页 |
| ·Contemporary Perspectives on Persuasion | 第15-16页 |
| ·Psychological Theories | 第15-16页 |
| ·Sociological Theories | 第16页 |
| ·Studies of Persuasion in Ancient China | 第16-18页 |
| ·Present Studies in China | 第18页 |
| ·Defining Persuasion | 第18-20页 |
| ·Classifications of Persuasion | 第20-21页 |
| ·Strategies of Persuasion | 第21-24页 |
| ·Compliance-Gaining | 第21-23页 |
| ·Contextual Influences | 第23页 |
| ·Individual Differences | 第23-24页 |
| ·Persuasion and Other Closely Related Terms | 第24-26页 |
| ·Persuasion and Coercion | 第24页 |
| ·Persuasion and Argument | 第24-25页 |
| ·Persuasion and Other Related Speech Acts | 第25-26页 |
| Chapter Three Studies of Persuasion from the Perspective of Pragmatics | 第26-34页 |
| ·Pragmatics and Persuasion | 第26-27页 |
| ·The Cooperative Principle and Persuasion | 第27-28页 |
| ·Politeness and Persuasion | 第28-32页 |
| ·Brown and Levinson's Face Theory | 第28-30页 |
| ·Leech's Politeness Principle | 第30-31页 |
| ·Chinese “Face”, Politeness (limao) and Persuasion | 第31-32页 |
| ·The Indirect Speech Act Theory and Persuasion | 第32-34页 |
| Chapter Four Methodology and Data Analysis | 第34-46页 |
| ·Research Questions | 第34页 |
| ·Subjects | 第34-35页 |
| ·Instruments | 第35-36页 |
| ·Two Facets of Persuasion | 第36-41页 |
| ·Persuasion Types | 第36-37页 |
| ·Persuasion Strategies Used in This Study | 第37-41页 |
| ·Rewarding Activity | 第38页 |
| ·Punishing Activity | 第38-39页 |
| ·Expertise | 第39页 |
| ·Activation of Internalized Commitments | 第39-40页 |
| ·Activation of Interpersonal Commitments | 第40页 |
| ·Request | 第40-41页 |
| ·Hint | 第41页 |
| ·The Applying of Excuses | 第41页 |
| ·Data Analysis | 第41-46页 |
| ·Distribution of Persuasion Types | 第41-43页 |
| ·Distribution of Persuasion Strategies | 第43-46页 |
| Chapter Five Cultural Analysis of Persuasion in Chinese and American English | 第46-50页 |
| ·Persuasion and Culture | 第46-47页 |
| ·Dominant American and Chinese Cultural Patterns | 第47-50页 |
| Chapter Six Findings and Conclusions | 第50-53页 |
| ·Findings of the Study | 第50页 |
| ·Implications of the Findings | 第50-52页 |
| ·Implications for Cross-Cultural Communication | 第50-51页 |
| ·Implications for Foreign Language Teaching and Learning | 第51-52页 |
| ·Limitations of the Study | 第52-53页 |
| Bibliography | 第53-57页 |
| Appendix A | 第57-59页 |
| Appendix B | 第59-61页 |
| List of Abbreviations | 第61-62页 |
| List of Published Articles by the Author | 第62-63页 |
