Rhetorical Strategies

  Aristotelian Appeals

Logos (Logical Appeals)Ethos (Ethical Appeals)Pathos (Emotional Appeals)

Logos: Logical Appeals

Using logical arguments to create a reasonable case, appealing to one’s intelligence and sense of order.

Appeals to the head using logic, numbers, explanations, and facts. Through Logos, a writer aims at a person's intellect. The idea is that if you are logical, you will understand.

Logos (Logical Appeals)

Ex. : Fair trade agreements have raised the quality of life for coffee producers, so fair trade agreements could be used to help other farmers as well.

Ethos: Ethical Appeal Appeals to the conscience, ethics, morals,

standards, values, principles. Establish common ground with your audience,

often this can be done by acknowledging values and beliefs shared by those on both sides of the argument.

You must convince your audience that you are a wise, honest, and credible source for information. Here you’ll try to appeal to values that are shared by your audience.

Also, appeal to their sense of duty, responsibility, or morality

Ethos - ExamplesBut more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.  Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town.  Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

Pathos: Emotional Appeals Appeals to the heart, emotions,

sympathy, passions, sentimentality Pathos,the emotional appeal, appeals to

an audience's needs, values, and emotional sensibilities.

Only use an emotional appeal if it truly supports the claim you are making, not as a way to distract from the real issues of debate. An argument should never use emotion to misrepresent the topic or frighten people.

Pathos - Example

For example, telling the story of a single child who has been abused may make for a more persuasive argument than simply the number of children abused each year because it would give a human face to the numbers.

Pop Quiz

Imagine that you’ve gone out for pizza with a group of friends. As you walk through the door of the pizza place, you realize that you left your wallet sitting on your desk at home. You’ll have to borrow money if you want to eat. Suddenly, you find yourself in a rhetorical situation, in which you’ll need to use communication to convince your friend to help you.

Name that appeal.

“You know that I have always paid you back promptly. I only need to borrow enough to eat; I don’t need a desert or money for arcade games.”

Answer: Ethos (Ethical)

“You know that I have always paid you back promptly. I only need to borrow enough to eat; I don’t need a desert or money for arcade games.”

“I have money to repay you with at home, but it would be a lot easier if you could cover for me now instead of having the group split up.”

Answer: Logos (Logical)

“I have money to repay you with at home, but it would be a lot easier if you could cover for me now instead of having the group split up.”

“You know that I would lend you money if you were in this situation. It would really mean a lot to me if you would be nice enough to lend me a few dollars.”

Answer: Pathos (Emotional)

“You know that I would lend you money if you were in this situation. It would really mean a lot to me if you would be nice enough to lend me a few dollars.”