When we read a particular piece of literature the author has a main point that she wishes to be heard and understood. In order to do this effectively, many writers use Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle. The interplay of presenting facts, soliciting emotional responses, and creating a tone of credibility is important in order to persuade the reader of the writer’s point of view. The use of logos cites facts, statistic, and evidence to substantiate the claims made and to validate the argument. Pathos is used to bring emotion to the work so the reader can connect on a psychological level. This is accomplished using certain words, quotes, interviews, or images. Words can elicit feelings of sympathy, pity, anger, or can motivate entire crowds of people to action. Last, but certainly as important as the two preceding concepts, is ethos. This allows the author to set a persuasive tone in the work that makes the piece a believable and trustworthy source of information. It…
Ethos is our level of credibility as perceived by the audience. Pathos is the quality of a persuasive presentation which appeals to the emotions of the audience. An emotional connection can be created in many ways by a speaker, perhaps most notably by stories. The goal of a story, anecdote, analogy, simile, and metaphor is often to link an aspect of our primary message with a triggered emotional response from the audience. Logos is synonymous with a logical argument. The message we are trying to convey should be based on facts, statistics, and…
Rhetorical situations are defined by the kinds of appeals that may affect an audience, the pistesis. There are three types: the rhetors credibility (ethos), the emotions (pathos), and the systems of reasoning (logos). While both rhetorical situations rely on all three types of pistesis, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech relies more heavily on the “ethos”, whereas Coca-Cola’s relies more heavily on the “pathos”.…
In Dinesh D' Souza’s essay, "Two Cheers for Colonialism,” he attempts to convince the audience about several concerns regarding colonialism and Western civilization. He employs various methods to make the audience see his point of view. He uses a lot of emotional appeals, humor, ethos, logos, and anecdotes to argue that the West did not become influential through colonial oppression. He says, "By suggesting that the West became dominant because it is oppressive, they provide an explanation for Western global dominance without encouraging white racial arrogance. They relieve the Third World of blame for its wretchedness,"(1) and "The West did not become rich and powerful through colonial oppression. It makes no sense to claim that the West grew rich and strong by conquering other countries and taking their stuff"(2). He uses rhetorical strategies such as evidence-based arguments like the one above, to make a strong logical appeal to the audience.…
It is the art of persuasive writing and the use of figures speech and compositional method. Define the three major rhetorical appeals? Ethos – is a plea to ethics and the means of convincing somebody of the personality. Pathos – is a plea to emotion and a way of persuading spectators of an argument through making an emotional reaction. Logos – is a plea to logic, and a way of convincing spectators in motive.…
Rhetorical appeals in "The story of stuff" Persuasion is the art of being able to convince your audience with your point of view and change their opinion and beliefs. To achieve that the speaker or author must appeal to his/her audience from three directions; the ethical, logical and emotional, also known as ethos, logos and pathos. Ethos, which is the ethical appeal, is how the speaker proves his/her credibility and that s/he is the right person to discuss that topic. Logos the logical appeal is convincing by the use of logic, reason and facts. Pathos which is the emotional appeal is how the speaker makes his/her audience relate to his/her topic using certain emotions like pity and anger ("pathos ethos logos").…
In the late 1940’s through the late 1950’s McCarthyism was a wide spread epidemic here in America. The government had a very intense suspicion that there were influences of communism on our soil. Many were accused and prosecuted for “un-American activities” throughout the states. The FBI had no grounds or evidence to stand on when accusing these people. The Salem witch trials in The Crucible were very similar to these situations. Witten by Arthur Miller The Crucible was Miller’s way of protesting and speaking out against these trials while trying not to draw any attention to him. He uses many rhetorical devices to help better his message as it if brought forth to the reader. Irony, repetition, imagery, and metaphors are examples of some of the devices Miller uses to capture the reader and keep the story on track with the protest of McCarthyism.…
Mckibben "The Case for Single –Child Families." first appeared in the Christian century in 1998. In this essay Mckibben aims to convince his readers that having one child doesn’t mean that you’re child will follow the single child stereotype, and that the environmental status of our planet will worsen if we continue to have a growing population. "If we keep heating the planet at our current pace, the seas will rise two feet in the next century.” Personal anecdotes, and using and assertive serious tone are techniques McKibben used to develop a convincing essay.…
The story “I Just Wanna Be Average”, written by Mike Rose offers up a personal account of how a testing mistake early in his high school days could have changed the course of his life for the worse and how these events and those that followed solidified his perception of the educational system as an adult. The author tries to establish credibility by writing in a first-person narrative of his life as a teenager growing up in early 1960s Los Angeles and also with his complex sentence structure and big words as an adult in reflection of his life during that time period. This authority is also emphasized by the intro to the piece about his misfortunes as a teenager and his many accomplishments as an adult as an award-winning author and college professor. By putting such a glowing review about the author in front of the piece, it sets up the belief that what you’re about to read is righteous and true.…
Voting is a very touchy subject in America today. With the economy the way it is people are paying more attention to the government than before. In his article Defending Our Voting Rights; Jeffrey Toobin argues that Republicans systematically attempt to disenfranchise Democrats. He argues that the Republicans go to great lengths to try to win elections. Jeffrey Toobin adequately supports his stance by stating facts, using quotes from credible sources, and by showing data that supports his arguments.…
A large number of college graduates argue that their loan debt is comparable to a life sentence. In the article “A Lifetime of Debt? Not Likely” by Robin Wilson, argues that the college loan debt is not always as severe as some say and it almost always pays off in the long run. The article by Robin Wilson is effective in convincing the audience that taking out college loans in beneficial in the long run because she uses specific examples, logos and pathos appeals, structure and style to convince the reader to agree with her argument.…
Dave Chappelle returns to his hometown of Washington D.C. in the year 2000, during his tour around the country, to perform for the people of D.C. During his show “Killin’ Him Softly” Chappelle effectively uses rhetorical strategies by engaging his audience, understanding the culture he is addressing, as well as exemplifying the problem with racial stereotypes and the disparity of police brutality between the African American community and the white community.…
Obesity rates are soaring throughout the United States. “Today, two thirds of American adults are obese or overweight”(Brink and Querna 620). This quote is explaining how obesity has become a concern for many people in our culture. The obesity rate among Americans has gotten worse over the years. The topic of weight is very prevalent among people in today's society. Everywhere you look you see people of different weights and appearances. Obesity affects Americans of all ages, sexes, and racial/ethnic groups. This essay is targeting all Americans but talks mostly about the children and teenagers. Obesity can cause serious medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Of the four essays in the “What (and How) should we eat” this essay’s argument has all three rhetorical appeals and pathos being the strongest in my opinion.…
There have been countless speeches made throughout the course of time; some that have managed to change laws and mindsets, and others who have simply expressed a logical opinion or proposed a vengeful disputation. However, amongst these varying disquisitions, only a few have managed to remain memorable. By using various literary devices, one particular man was able to remain in the memories of many, and deliver one of the most famous patriotic speeches in our country’s history. In his eloquent speech to the Virginia Convention of 1775, Patrick Henry persuasively argues that the American people have simply no choice than to engage in war against Britain by reminding them that it is inevitable, and by making it apparent that we can either choose to live a life in pure liberty or perpetual captivity.…
In South Central, Los Angeles, there is a food epidemic taking place among the population. For miles and miles, the only easily attainable food source is fast food; causing the overconsumption of un-nutritious, greasy, and fattening food. This is the problem brought to the public’s attention by speaker Ron Finley in his Ted Talks speech, “A Guerilla Gardener in South Central L.A.” Finley explains how everywhere he looks in his native South Central, all he sees are fast food chains and Dialysis clinics opened due to the lack of nutritious food. Finley views the lack of a healthy food source as a serious problem, and brings up his point; there are miles of vacant lots throughout Los Angeles, all of which could be used for the cultivation of healthy fruits and vegetables to better the urban community’s diet and health.…