Download Triangle Diagram ethos logos pathos

Speaker
Tone
Purpose
Audience
Medium/Genre
Subject
(Framing Subject)
The rhetorical or Aristotelian triangle is a way to describe the interaction among subject, speaker,
and audience (or subject, writer, reader), and how this interaction determines the structure and
language of the argument.
Writers or speakers first choose a subject and then evaluate what they already know about it,
what others have said about it, and what kind of evidence or proof will sufficiently develop their
position. The identity of the speaker is not always obvious in either your own writing or someone
else’s. Are you speaking as a poet, comedian, or scholar? Are you speaking as an expert on ice
skating, popular music, or a specific software program? Are you speaking as a literary critic in
your English classroom or as a concerned citizen in your local community?
It is also imperative that you think about the audience. What does the audience know about the
subject? Each audience requires you to use different information to shape your argument
effectively. Who will be reading what you wrote or listening to what you say? What will they
expect? What is likely to influence them?
Ethos – an appeal to ethos or character to demonstrate and establish credibility. Appeals to ethos
often emphasize shared values between the speaker and the audience. Tone, such as a tone of
goodwill, reason, concern etc., establishes ethos as well.
Logos- using logic and reason and offering clear, rational ideas. Appealing to logos means
having a clear main idea, (or thesis), with specific details, examples, facts, statistical data, or
expert testimony as support. There is an underlying assumption or belief that links to seemingly
contrasting ideas. Another way to appeal to logos is to acknowledge a counterargument – that
is, to anticipate objections or opposing views.
Pathos – appeals to emotion. Choosing language that engages emotions of the audience can add
an important dimension to writing. Writing that relies exclusively on emotional appeals is rarely
effective in the long term. This kind of appeal is generally propagandistic and generally more
polemical (controversial; verbal attack).
Adapted from:
Shea,Michael, et.al. The Language of Composition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2013. Print