Answer:
the peripheral route to persuasion
Explanation:
the peripheral route to persuasion refers to a method of persuasion that rely on OTHER FACTORS BESIDE the actual content of argument/message given in the persuasion.
This route tend to be used to manipulate the perception or the emotion that people feel. This is suitable with the excerpt above because we can see that Eric is trying to influence the professor making his essay look compact rather than actually produce a good quality Essay.