Download Pathos, Ethos, and Logos

Pathos, Ethos, and Logos
Rhetorical Appeals that
get the audience on your side
What is rhetoric?
o Rhetoric is the art of persuasion.
o Rhetorical prowess dates back to the
Greeks when philosophers such as
Aristotle and Plato engaged in
dialogues about the humanities –
democracy, morality, civilization,
The duty and office of rhetoric is to apply reason to
imagination for the better moving of the will.
-- Francis Bacon
Why appeal to the audience?
o Well, of course, the writer wants the
audience to find the argument
persuasive.
o So, since both the reader and the writer
are seeking truth, it is the job of both the
writer and the reader to make meaning.
o The writer must then be conscious of the
audience to whom he/she is writing or
directing the appeal.
According the Greeks,
there are three ways to
appeal to the
audience – these are
the three pillars of
public speaking
Pathos: appeal to emotions
Logos: appeal to logic
Ethos: appeal to conscience,
morality, and trust
What’s the appeal here?
Pathos: Appealing to Emotion
o Draws on the emotions so the audience will
be sympathetically inclined to accept or buy
into the central ideas and arguments
o Example: A commercial shows images of
hurt and abused animals, and then it asks
you to give money to help save an animal in
need
How to identify pathos:
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Vivid, concrete language and descriptions
Emotionally loaded language
Connotative meanings
Emotional examples
Narratives of emotional events
Emotional tone
Figurative language
What’s the appeal here?
Logos: Appealing to Logic
o A clear, reasoned central idea.
o Develops ideas with appropriate evidence
to appeal to an audience’s sense of logic
o Example: A commercial for Florida features
Clark Howard who says it is affordable and
close by.
o The main focus is traveling to Florida and there are
two supporting reasons that are logical, focused, and
offered by a financial expert.
How to identify logos:
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Factual data and statistics
Denotative or exact meanings
Literal and historical analogies
Definitions
Quotations
Citations from experts and authorities
Informed opinions
What’s the appeal here?
Ethos: Appealing to Ethics
o A moral argument that appeals to the
reader’s sense of morality (right and wrong),
conscience, or justice.
o Offers evidence that the author is credible
and trustworthy who has the reader’s best
interest in mind
o Example: A commercial has a doctor promoting a
specific brand of headache medicine
How to identify ethos:
o Develops the writer’s sense of trustworthiness
and credibility in discussing the subject matter
o Language appropriate to audience and subject
o Restrained, sincere and fair-minded; writer does
not exaggerate or use inflammatory language
o Correct grammar and appropriate level of
vocabulary for audience
An effective writer will employ
all three types of appeals in
order to persuade an audience
to agree with his/her position