Ethos, Logos,

Pathos, and
Kairos
Review of Rhetorical Appeals
Text and images from
www.gcsnc.com
What is Rhetoric?

 Rhetoric (n) - the art of speaking or writing effectively

(Webster's Definition).
 According to Aristotle, rhetoric is "the ability, in each
particular case, to see the available means of
persuasion." He described four main forms of rhetoric:
Ethos, Logos, Pathos, and Kairos.

 In order to be a more effective writer, you must

understand these terms. When you better understand
their meanings, your writing becomes more persuasive.
 Ethos: the source's credibility /
authority
 Is the source trustworthy,
educated, reliable, credible,
honest, fair, and respectable?
 Examples:
 Client testimonials
 Success stories
 Celebrity endorsements
 Personal anecdotes
Product:
George Foreman Grill
Ethos Example:
Repertoire: boxing champion and a
preacher

Why is George Foreman credible?

Logos (Greek
 Logos: for “word”)
the logic/reasoning used
to support a claim; the facts and
statistics used to help support
the argument
 Examples:
 Case studies
 Cause and effect reasoning
 Facts and statistics
 Analogies
Logos Example:
 Product: Cheerios
 Logic: “Lower your
cholesterol 4% in 6
weeks!”
Pathos
 Pathos:(Greek
appeals for “suffering”
to the audience’s capacity for
orempathy;
“experience”)
wants you to care about the subject
matter
 Typical Emotional Appeals:
 Love
 Pity
 Patriotism
 Hope
 Jealousy
 Anger
 Fear
Pathos Example:
 Product:Dorothy
Gray Salon
 Emotional Appeal:
jealousy / fear
Kairos (Greek for “right
time,” “season,” or
 Kairos: establishes the timeliness of the issue;
“opportunity”)
appeals to the viewer’s or reader’s sense of
urgency (“it’s the right time to say or do the
right thing”)
 Kairos Factors:
 Setting
 Time
 Place
Kairos Example:

 Speech: “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr.

 Historical Context and Importance: Together, the
“where” (the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C.), the “why” (the culmination of a
march on Washington by thousands of members of
the civil rights movement), and the “when” (during
the centennial celebration of the Emancipation
Proclamation, at a time of day when broadcast
networks could carry the speech live, and during a
march which had drawn more than 250,000 people to
the capital) created the perfect moment for King’s
message to reach the largest number of receptive
listeners.
What appeals are being used in the ad above?
 What appeals are
being used in the
ad? Is there one
that is a stronger
approach than the
others?
 Elements of an Argument
 The hook is an opening that grabs the
reader’s attention and establishes a
connection between the reader and the
writer.
 The claim is a clear and straightforward
statement of the writer’s belief and what
is being argued.
 Concessions and refutations are
restatements of arguments made by the
other side (concessions) and the writer’s
arguments against those opposing
viewpoints (refutations) and why the
writer’s arguments are more valid.
 Support is the reasoning behind the
argument. Support can include evidence as
well as logical and emotional appeals
(logos and pathos). It may also anticipate
objections and provide reasoning to
overcome those objections.  Kairos is the attempt to convince the
 Summary/Call to action, which is a closing
statement with a final plea for action.
Rhetorical Appeals
 Pathos, or emotional appeals, attempt
to persuade the reader or listener by
appealing to the senses and emotions.
 Ethos are ethical appeals that attempt
to persuade the reader or listener by
focusing on the qualifications or the
character of the speaker or by
claiming that “it” is the ethical
“thing” to do.
 Logos, or logical appeals, attempt to
persuade readers or listeners by
leading them down the road of logic
and causing them to come to their own
conclusions. Logical appeals state the
facts and show how the facts are
interrelated.
audience that the issue is so important
that they must act now.
Other
 Rhetorical
Repetition: Strategies:
using the same words frequently to
emphasize a message or point

 Parallelism: is repetition of the same pattern of

words/phrases and grammatical structure within a
sentence or passage to show that two or more ideas have
the same level of importance; may create a sense of
rhythm and momentum
 **All parallelism is repetition, but not all repetition is
parallelism!**

 Analogy: a comparison in which the subject is compared

point by point to something far different, usually with
the idea of clarifying the subject by comparing it to
something familiar