The

Power of
Persuasion

Rhetoric has been dened as:

the art of using words to persuade in

wri7ng or speaking.

When a writer a<empts to persuade, he or
she uses certain kinds of appeals in order to
make a case and persuade the reader or
listener.

These appeals can generally fall into one of

three broad categories.

Aristotle rst iden7ed these categories of

appeals and called them appeals of
pathos, ethos, and logos.

Today, they are also referred to as
emo/onal, ethical, and logical appeals.

 Writers and speakers choose the kinds of

appeals to use in their arguments based on
their intended audience, purpose, and the
nature of the argument itself.

REVIEW
What is rhetoric?

Rhetoric is the skill of choosing words that
are most eec7ve for persuading or for
crea7ng visual images in the listeners or
readers mind.

Imagery

PATHOS
Examples:
Poli7cal ads that show
poli7cians kissing babies or
shaking hands with the
elderly oIen appeal to the
emo7ons.

These appeals usually
include statements with
vivid sensory details,
which are used to awaken
the senses and perhaps
manipulate the emo7ons
of the audience.

Pathos (emo7onal appeal):
This type of appeal
a<empts to persuade the
reader or listener by
appealing to the senses
and emo3ons.

ETHOS
Ethical appeals focus on the
speaker even more than the
situa7on.

Examples of ethical appeals in
adver7sing are expert or
celebrity endorsements of
products.

Other examples of ethical
appeals are a teens argument
that he or she should be allowed
to do something because he or
she has never been in trouble, or
because his or her friend is a
perfect ci7zen, and so on.

Ethos (ethical appeal):
This type of appeal
a<empts to persuade the
reader or listener by
focusing on the
qualica7ons of the
speaker.
The speakers credibility
is paramount in an
ethical appeal.

LOGOS

Logos (logical appeal): This

type of appeal a<empts to
If/then statements
persuade the reader or
are examples of
listener by leading him
logical appeals.
down the road of logic and

causing him to come to his

own conclusion.
Logical appeals are

oIen used in
courtroom
Logical appeals state the
situa7ons.
facts and show how the
facts are interrelated.

PRACTICE:
iden7fy the type of appeal used in each of the
following statements:

Ques/on 1
If Mr. Nabors says that he was home by 10
p.m., yet Mr. Naborss neighbor claims he saw
him arriving home at 2 a.m., doesnt that lead
you to believe that Mr. Nabors might be lying?

Ques/on 2
I deserve the posi7on because I have worked
faithfully for the past 30 years. I always try to
go above and beyond what is required. I was
even selected to be the Employee of the
Month.

Ques7on 3

The animal shelter desperately needs your
support. It is over owing with lonely li<le
ki<ens who spend their days mewing and
whimpering and staring forlornly out of their
7ny li<le crates.

TURN IN the following 3Qs

Write your thoughts in response to the following
ques7ons:

1. Under which circumstances might emo7onal
appeals be most eec7ve?

2. What about ethical appeals?

3. Logical appeals?