Albert Einstein Rhetorical Analysis

In a letter that Albert Einstein writes, he uses ethos and logos to effectively answer Phyllis Wright’s question on whether scientists pray. In order to achieve this, Einstein first utilizes ethos to give credibility to the answer. He explicitly states that the response is his own opinion by saying “my answer” in the first sentence. This man is considered to be the greatest scientist of the twentieth century and if it is his answer, Wright will be convinced with his response. Also, Wright specifically wrote to him and so when he responds personally, Wright will trust the response because she respects Einstein enough to write to him. Additionally, Einstein successfully employs logos to assist in his purpose to answer the question. For example,
Einstein writes, “Scientific research is based on the idea…holds for actions for the people.” This is an effective application of logos as the quote gives a clear reasoning about scientific research that leads into his explanation of prayer for scientists. For Wright, since she is only a sixth-grade student, having this straightforward explanation of scientific research and how it leads to prayer helps her understand the topic and eases her into Einstein’s explanation. The specific logos is accustomed to Wright’s needs as a young girl and Einstein makes use of it to efficiently respond to the subject. The use of ethos and logos throughout the letter is exquisite and makes his response immensely effective.