Rhetorical Appeals

Quick-write Think of something you tried to persuade a parent, a teacher, or a friend to do or believe. It could be to buy or pay for something, to change a due date or a grade, to change a rule or decision, to go somewhere, or some other issue. Briefly explain your example in your notebook. What kinds of arguments did you use? Did you use logic? Did you use evidence to support your request? Did you try to engage the emotions of your audience? Write a short description of your efforts to persuade your audience in this case.

What is rhetoric? Rhetoric is the art of speaking and writing effectively.

There are several ways to appeal to an audience. According to Aristotle, the three appeals are ethos, pathos, and logos.

ETHOS Ethos is a person ’ s credibility with a given audience. It can mean sincerity, authority, expertise, faithfulness, or any adjective that describes someone you can trust to do the right thing.

PATHOS Pathos appeals rely on emotions and feelings to persuade the audience They are often direct, simple, and very powerful

LOGOS Logos appeals rely on the audience’s intelligence to persuade them. Education causes audiences to be more skeptical of emotional arguments and more receptive to logos

These appeals are prevalent in almost all arguments.

Example 1: I remember when I argued to my mom about not wanting to wear the school dress code any more. My first point to my mom was that everyone else was getting the waiver signed so why couldn’t I? That didn’t have much logic behind it because I couldn’t really back it up. My mom came back with the old “If your friends all jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?”

That kind of shut me up, but I had another argument. I told her that I wanted the ability to express myself by wearing what I wanted to wear. The logic behind this was that I knew if I sounded like I really knew what I was talking about, she would be impressed with me and sign the waiv er. Then, to push her over the edge, I used her emotions against her by giving her the puppy dog eyes that she would not be able to resist. With the use of logic and emotions I was able to convince my mom to sign the waiver.

Which appeal is represented below?

Now we will look at some examples:

Ethos, Pathos, Logos Pancakes or waffles? Pathos Rap or Rock? Pathos Cats or Dogs? Pathos Tattoos or Piercings? Ethos Driver’s License at 16 or raise to 21? Ethos Vacation to Hawaii or Mexico? Ethos Abercrombie or Marshall’s? Logos Curfews or No curfews? Logos Football or Soccer? Logos

Ethos, Pathos, Logos Choose 3 topics using the different appeals on the following screen and develop a brief persuasive argument defending your position using the type of appeal listed in your groups of four