I am continuing on with the evaluation of Leo Szilard and his Petition to the President of the

United State in this week's essay. Each person has strengths and weaknesses in their methods of
persuasion and will typically bring the 3 common argumentative methods (ethos, pathos, logos)
in varying degrees of strength.

To that end my Thesis is: How does and how well does Mr Szilard utilize the 3 argument
modalities in his Petition to the President of the United States

Outline:

Paragraph 1 - Introduction and general discussion to reintroduce the Petition.

Paragraph 2 - Evaluation of the ethos (ethics) component the Petition. Szilard opens with a
strong ethical statement "It places in your hands, as Commander-in-Chief, the fateful decision
whether or not to sanction the use of such bombs in the present phase of the war against Japan."
(Szilard)

Paragraph 3 - Evaluation of the pathos (emotion) component the Petition. Emotionally, Szilard
makes a connection between the US war methods and Germany's

Paragraph 4 - Evaluation of the logos (logic) component of the Petition. Logic is noted but takes
a backseat to the other modalities.

Paragraph 5 - Discussion, conclusions and closing

Szilard, Leo and Cosigners. “ A Petition to the President of the United States.”
Atomicarchive.com. 2011. Web. 11 May 2012.

Critical evaluation is required to some extent on every source of a research document so that a
proper discriminatory process can be applied. A low credibility source would be set aside for
stronger materials.