Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Ethos, Pathos and Logos
Even someone living under a rock has most likely heard of the ongoing debate for and against outsourcing. Outsourcing is defined as enlisting help from an outside supplier or manufacturer in order to increase profit. To make someone gain interest in one’s view on something such as outsourcing, one needs to make a persuasive argument. A good persuasive argument contains three aspects: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos is established in the character or displayed character of the writer or speaker. Logos uses logical evidence or reason usually with facts or statistics. Pathos appeals to the reader’s emotions. Thomas Friedman, three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author and The New York Times columnist, uses rhetoric to increase the persuasiveness of his pro-outsourcing article “The Great Indian Dream.” Meanwhile, David Moberg, senior editor and contributor to numerous national publications, uses different examples using the same tools in his anti-outsourcing article “High-tech Hijack.” Articles, such as these for and against outsourcing, use rhetorical persuasion by citing different examples and facts to add appeal to a specific view.
“The Great Indian Dream,” the pro-outsourcing essay, contains several examples of persuasion using rhetoric. Thomas Friedman discusses how India came to be a workforce to compete with, in a logical and easily understood approach. Friedman demonstrates knowledge on the issue by acknowledging the opposing argument that outsourcing can be bad news from a competition point of view, but claims there is a solution. Friedman, citing what an Indian executive once told him, explains how all the United States needs to do to eliminate concern for outsourcing is “redouble their efforts at education and research”(Friedman). This is a truly persuasive statement because it establishes the character of the writer making him seem unbiased with this simple solution. Pathos is often demonstrated with the use of children, animals, and
Even someone living under a rock has most likely heard of the ongoing debate for and against outsourcing. Outsourcing is defined as enlisting help from an outside supplier or manufacturer in order to increase profit. To make someone gain interest in one’s view on something such as outsourcing, one needs to make a persuasive argument. A good persuasive argument contains three aspects: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos is established in the character or displayed character of the writer or speaker. Logos uses logical evidence or reason usually with facts or statistics. Pathos appeals to the reader’s emotions. Thomas Friedman, three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author and The New York Times columnist, uses rhetoric to increase the persuasiveness of his pro-outsourcing article “The Great Indian Dream.” Meanwhile, David Moberg, senior editor and contributor to numerous national publications, uses different examples using the same tools in his anti-outsourcing article “High-tech Hijack.” Articles, such as these for and against outsourcing, use rhetorical persuasion by citing different examples and facts to add appeal to a specific view.
“The Great Indian Dream,” the pro-outsourcing essay, contains several examples of persuasion using rhetoric. Thomas Friedman discusses how India came to be a workforce to compete with, in a logical and easily understood approach. Friedman demonstrates knowledge on the issue by acknowledging the opposing argument that outsourcing can be bad news from a competition point of view, but claims there is a solution. Friedman, citing what an Indian executive once told him, explains how all the United States needs to do to eliminate concern for outsourcing is “redouble their efforts at education and research”(Friedman). This is a truly persuasive statement because it establishes the character of the writer making him seem unbiased with this simple solution. Pathos is often demonstrated with the use of children, animals, and