Transcript Ethos, Pathos, or Logos? - Mercer Island School District

Rhetoric
• Rhetoric = the study of principles and rules of
composition (merriam-webster)
• Rhetoric = study of effective speaking and
writing (merriam-webster)
• Rhetoric = the art or study of using language
effectively and persuasively (byu)
The Art of Rhetoric:
Three Main Rhetorical Styles
1. Ethos
2. Pathos
3. Logos
Image of Rhetorical Triangle
Ethos (Greek for “character”)
• Trustworthiness or credibility of writer
– Tone and style of message
– The way the writer refers to different views
• Establishing author as respectable and
authoritative
• Ethical appeal or appeal from credibility
Pathos (Greek for “experience” or
“suffering”)
• Appeal to the audience’s sympathies and
imagination
• Persuading by appealing to the reader’s emotions
• Identify with the writer – to feel what the writer
feels; the writer’s values, beliefs,&
understandings of writer are implicit in story and
conveyed imaginatively
– Language choice
– Audience awareness
Logos (Greek for “word” )
• Persuading through reasoning
– Internal consistency
– Heart of argumentation
– Ways we support/substantiate a thesis
– Deductive and inductive
Objective:
As you view each advertisement that comes up
on the screen, decide if it’s appealing to your
sense of ethos, pathos, or logos.
ETHOS, PATHOS, and LOGOS
– AS YOU ANALYZE THE ADVERTISMENTS:
• Ethos: Does it lend itself to credibility?
• Pathos: Does it appeal to your emotions,
sympathies, or imagination?
• Logos: Does it use reasoning?
Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?
What appeal are advertisers using to
get you to buy their product?
Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?
Ethos,
Pathos,
or Logos?
Ethos,
Pathos, or
Logos?
Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?
Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?
Ethos,
Pathos,
or
Logos?
Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?
Ethos,
Pathos,
Logos?
Ethos,
Pathos,
or
Logos?
Examples of Ethos, Pathos, Logos
Find an example of an advertisement or piece of
writing that appeals to
1) Ethos
2) Pathos
3) Logos
Back to Aristotle, our first logician
Logical Fallacies
– mistakes/errors in reasoning
Why learn about the fallacies? Just teach me
how to do it right all the time!
– Impossible to be 100% right, 100% of the time
– Be a critical reader
– Good to have a “logic map”
Logos: Inductive Reasoning
“…inductive reasoning involves a transition from
the sensible singular to the universal"
(Fundamentals of Logic 114).
Antecedent:
This fire warms
And this fire warms,
And this fire warms, etc.
Consequent:
Therefore every fire warms. (Fund. of Logic, 114)