1 Jeffrey Walker Professor Alicia Bolton English -101 September 23 2013

Logos and Ethos vs Emotion

What makes a goo! arg"ment# When an attorney makes an arg"ment in a co"rt room he is trying to con$ince the %"ry in many &ays' (ne he is trying to pers"a!e the %"ry by "sing reasoning' )he attorney is also trying to pers"a!e the %"ry by appealing to there emotions' Pro$ing or !ispro$ing someones cre!ibility is another &ay that attorneys try to con$ince a %"ry in a co"rt room' )his is $ery similar to ho& an a"thor presents an arg"ment in an aca!emic essay' *n an aca!emic essay &e "se rhetorical appeals like logos ethos an! pathos to pers"a!e the rea!er' +icholas ,arr-s .*s /oogle 0aking 1s St"pi!#2 an! 3i4 A!!ison-s .)&o 5ears Are Better )han 6o"r2 are t&o arg"mentati$e essays that make an attempt at meeting these re7"irements' ,arr-s .*s /oogle 0aking 1s St"pi!#2 makes the arg"ment that /oogle may be re&iring o"r brains' 8e arg"es that o"r e$ery !ay "se of the internet is changing the &ay &e rea! an! think' A!!ison-s .)&o 5ears Are Better )han 6o"r2 arg"es that t&o year collages are better than fo"r' She arg"es that many people can not affor! to go to a prestigio"s fo"r year "ni$ersities an! that t&o year colleges are a life sa$er for many people' Altho"gh both are $ali! arg"ments ,arr-s essay is more effecti$e at "sing logos an! ethos to establish a clear an! arg"able position

2 6irst ,arr-s .*s /oogle 0aking 1s St"pi!#2 "ses ethos as a rhetorical appeal $ery effecti$ely' 8e e9plains his o&n e9perience as &riter to gain cre!ibility:

* think * kno& &hats going on' 6or more than a !eca!e no& *-$e been spen!ing a lot of time online searching an! s"rfing an! sometimes a!!ing to the great !atabase of the internet' )he Web has been a go!sen! to me as a &riter' ;esearch that once re7"ire! !ays in the stacks of perio!ical rooms can no& be !one in min"tes' A fe& /oogle searches some 7"ick clicks on hyperlinks an! *-$e got the telltale fact or pithy 7"ote * &as after' E$en &hen *-m not &orking *-m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web-s info-thickets rea!ing an! &riting e-mails scanning hea!lines an! blog posts &atching $i!eos an! listening to po!-casts or %"st tripping from link to link' <1nlike footnotes to &hich there sometimes likene! hyperlinks !on-t merely point to relate! &orks= they propel yo" to&ar! them'><,arr ?32>

,arr gains the rea!ers tr"st by e9plaining his o&n research strategies as a &riter' )his is an effecti$e "se of ethos as an arg"ing strategy'

A!!ison-s "se of pathos is o$erblo&n in .)&o 5ears Are Better )han 6o"r2' 8er arg"ment is base! primarily on her o&n opinion an! is not backe! "p &ith any cre!ible e$i!ence' 6"rthermore A!!ison-s ass"mption that .)his collage broch"re is not marketing for the parents beca"se the parents nor gran!parents probably ne$er &ent to college themsel$es2 <A!!ison 212> is a fallacy' )his is a generali4ation that is not backe! "p &ith any facts' A!!ison is making an ass"mption that ca"ses her to lose the tr"st of the rea!er'

Another strength of ,arr-s essay is his "se of con$incing reasons an! e$i!ence'

3 8e "ses a tr"ste! e9pert opinion of 0aryanne Wolf a !e$elopmental psychologist at )"fts 1ni$ersity an! the a"thor of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain' When trying to e9plain ho& the internet is changing the &ay &e rea! an! therefore changes the &ay &e think:

;ea!ing e9plains Wolf is not an instincti$e skill for h"man beings' *t is not etche! into o"r genes the &ay speech is' We ha$e to teach o"r min!s ho& to translate the symbolic characters &e see into the lang"age &e "n!erstan!' An! the me!ia or other technologies &e "se in learning an! practicing the craft of rea!ing play an important part in shaping the ne"ral circ"its insi!e o"r brains' E9periments !emonstrate that rea!ers of i!eograms s"ch as the ,hinese !e$elop a mental circ"itry for rea!ing that is $ery !ifferent from the circ"itry fo"n! in those of "s &hose &ritten lang"age employes an alphabet' )he $ariations e9ten! across many regions of the brain incl"!ing those that go$ern s"ch essential cogniti$e f"nctions as memory an! the interpretation of $is"al an! a"!itory stim"li' We can e9pect as &ell that the circ"its &o$en by o"r "se of the +et &ill be !ifferent from those &o$en by o"r rea!ing of books an! other printe! &orks' <,arr ?3@>

*n contrast A!!ison-s .)&o 5ears Are Better )han 6o"r2 intro!"ces a $ali! arg"ment b"t !oes not present con$incing reasons or real e$i!ence to back "p the arg"ment' )he essay relies too m"ch on pathos an! not eno"gh on ethos an! logos'

*n concl"sion ,arr-s .*s /oogle 0aking 1s St"pi!#2 is the better arg"mentati$e essay' )he essay "tili4es all the strategies s"ch as logos ethos an! e$en pathos' )he essay presents strong e$i!ence to s"pport the arg"ment that it is presenting' ,arr gains cre!ibility by e9plaining his o&n e9perience "sing the internet for many years' 8e e$en talks abo"t the e9periences his frien!s &ho &ork

A in the same fiel! e9perience &orking on the internet as &ell' A!!ison-s .)&o 5ears Are Better )han 6o"r2 gi$es a far less con$incing arg"ment' She relies on pathos an! !oesnBt "se logos or ethos in any con$incing &ay' )he ma%ority of A!!ison-s arg"ment is base! on emotion rather than a strong arg"ment With con$incing e$i!ence to back "p her claim' A!!ison also looses the cre!ibility an! the tr"st of the rea!er beca"se she presents a fallacy going on her o&n opinion rather than facts to back it "p' )his is an e9ample of t&o e9tremes &hen it comes to presenting a goo! arg"mentati$e essay' ,arr-s essay is a great e9ample of the right &ay to present an arg"ment &hile A!!ison-s is the &rong &ay'

Works Site!
A!!ison 3i4' .)&o 5ears are Better than 6o"r'2 They Say I Say with Readings' E!' /eral! /raff' +e& 5ork: W'W' +orton an! ,ompany 2010' 212' Print' ,arr +icholas' .*s /oogle 0aking 1s St"pi!#2 The Norton Field Guide to Writing' E!' 0arilyn 0oller' +e& 5ork: +orton 2013' ?32' Print' ,arr +icholas' .*s /oogle 0aking 1s St"pi!#2 The Norton Field Guide to Writing' E!' 0arilyn 0oller' +e& 5ork: +orton 2013' ?3@' Print'