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The Rhetorical Appeals
ETHOS
(author)
PATHOS
(audience)
LOGOS
(argument)
The rhetorical appeals are three modes of persuasion described by Aristotle around 350 B.C.
Ethos is based on the credibility of the speaker or writer. Extrinsic ethos is established by
what the author has accomplished outside of the text itself (through education, work,
research, writing, demonstrations of character, and so on). Intrinsic ethos is
established by the knowledge and sense demonstrated by the author in the text itself.
Pathos is associated with the audience. It appeals to the audience’s emotions and its sense of
community or identity. In doing so, pathetic appeals seek to connect with the
audience’s values and self-interests. Pathos often appears in the use of metaphor,
narrative, emotionally loaded word choices, and visual images.
Logos is found in the argument itself. It consists of verifiable facts, statistics, other data, and
the soundness of the logic used to connect claims, reasons, and evidence. The
demonstration of careful and thorough research also supports the logical appeal.
Few arguments rely on only one of the rhetorical appeals. In fact, the appeals work best when
they connect with and support each other. Convincing logos strengthens the author’s
intrinsic ethos. Pathos can bring the dry data of logos to life in the minds (and
consciences) of the audience. A board-certified doctor, citing smoking-related death
statistics during an examination, combines all three appeals.
Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are
three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the
speaker; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of
mind; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words
of the speech itself. Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal
character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him
credible. . . . Secondly, persuasion may come through the hearers,
when the speech stirs their emotions. . . . Thirdly, persuasion is effected
through the speech itself when we have proved a truth or an apparent
truth by means of the persuasive arguments suitable to the case in question.
—Aristotle, On Rhetoric (trans. W. Rhys Roberts)