1. Persuasive Appeals and The Rhetorical Triangle
* Indicates what is important information (take notes!!)

2. Rhetoric is the art or technique of persuasion usually through the use of language.

3. *The Three
Persuasive Appeals
& Examples

4. *What is The Rhetorical Triangle?
Ethos
Author
Credibility
Pathos
Logos
Audience
Values, Beliefs
Argument
Text

5. Ethos how the character & credibility of a speaker influence an audience to consider him to be believable.
Questions to ask:
What does he know about the subject?
What experiences does he have that make him especially knowledgeable?
Why should I pay attention to this writer?

6. Ethos Continued A person is trustworthy or credible on this issue.
Look for the author showing respect for the audience, making reasonable claims and backing them up with evidence from trustworthy sources, connecting their beliefs with values and core principles that are widely established and respected.

7. Ethos Continued A person has good motives for addressing this issue.
Look for the author acknowledging possible conflicts of interest and then explaining why they don’t matter to them, telling the audience where their loyalties lie.

8. Commercial #1 Got Milk? Commercial “Miss Carolina”
- How did this commercial try and sell the product?
- How does using this celebrity make the audience believe the product does what they say? Why?
- Who was the man in the commercial?
“Miss Carolina”
- What is she trying to convince the judges of? - Why is having good credibility important?
- How does she lose her credibility?

9. How this can be accomplished:
Pathos is the use of emotional appeals to alter the audience’s judgment
How this can be accomplished:
Can be done through storytelling or presenting the topic in a way that evokes strong emotions in the audience.
The author may try to connect with readers to show that they understand the readers’ experiences, thereby building the bridge between the author and the readers.

10. PAthos Continued
The author may try to get the reader to identify with the author’s experience.
Using humor is an emotional appeal.
Always ask yourself: What emotion is the author trying to get the audience to feel? (Example: Sadness, anger, pride, fear, etc…)

11. Commercial #2 Sarah McLachlan Commercial
How does this appeal to you as the audience?
What emotion does it try and make you feel?
What does it try to get you to believe/do?

12. How this can be accomplished:
Logos is an argument based on facts, evidence, and reason
How this can be accomplished:
Hard evidence—witnesses, testimonies, statistics, data, facts (including past historical events), surveys, and polls
Past Precedents – actions or decisions in the past that have established a pattern for subsequent actions (important in legal cases)

13. Logos Continued
Reason and Common Sense- authors use shared cultural assumptions and values to make an argument

14. Commercial #3 Snuggie Commercial
- How did this commercial appeal to the audience?
- What was the reasoning behind purchasing a Snuggie?

15. What is The Rhetorical Triangle?
Author
Persona
Ethos
context
Audience
Pathos
Argument
Logos

16. Audience – the individual or group being addressed
PERSONA - person’s perceived or evident personality
Personal image
Public role
Audience – the individual or group being addressed
Argument – the main idea of the text.