EMOTIONAL APPEAL

Ján Michalko
 WHAT IS IT ?

• pathos represents an appeal to the

audience’s emotions
• accomplished in a multitude of
ways
• logical fallacy, when a debater
attempts to win an argument by
trying to get an emotional reaction
PURPOSE
 EXAMPLES
• often used by charities and politicians
• pictures of starving children
• political motions

• slogans:

“For the children” or “think of

the children”
PRODUCING AN EMOTIONAL APPEAL

• Producing an emotional appeal

requires an understanding of
your audience and what may
strike their emotions the most
 ETHICAL USAGE

• It may be appealing to take a

shortcut toward making the
audience sympathize with your
point of view
• be sure to substantiate your
emotional appeal with both logic
and facts
EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION

• emotional appeal could be used in a political rally to

persuade people to vote for the candidate
• This is especially critical for situations, such as
politics, which people generally have emotionally
charged opinions about.
THANKS FOR PAYING ATTENTION
 RESOURCES

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4396134/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDQ1Mi5I4rg
• https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-communications/chapter/emotional-appeals/