1.5 Using Rhetorical Appeals

Aristotle, a Greek philosopher who lived between 384 and 322 BCE, defined rhetoric as "the ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion." He described three ways to appeal to an audience: ethos, logos, and pathos. Writers still consider these three elements to be vital tools for effective writing.

Ethos

Ethos, or the ethical appeal, is based on the character and credibility of the writer. It is related to the words ethics and ethical but actually describes the way the author or speaker is perceived by the audience. Usually the goal is to come across as someone who is honest, well informed, and fair. As a writer, you should do the following:

• Use only data from credible sources, and use correct citations. This means you must clearly indicate where your material came from and use quotation marks when using the exact words of a source.

• Establish common ground with your audience, especially readers who hold an opposing view. This means that you find something you can agree on, usually values and beliefs.

• Accurately state the opposing argument and then respectfully answer it. Don't exaggerate the claims of the other side or minimize the evidence that supports it.

• Keep your tone fair and balanced. Don't exaggerate or use emotionally inflammatory language. On the other hand, it is important to sound convinced in order to be convincing. Don't use expressions like "I think" and "in my opinion." They weaken your paper and are obvious anyway. It's your paper—who else's opinion would it be?

• Share your personal insights and experiences. In essays and other papers where appropriate, your personal experiences can show that you have had a reason to thoughtfully consider the subject.

Logos

The word logos comes from the same root as the word logic, which has to do with the relationship between ideas. Your job as a writer is to establish a strong relationship between your claim and the arguments you use to support it. When we discuss the DACC approach to writing, we are really talking about logic. As a writer, you must be able to do the following:

• Present a clear and arguable claim

• Present a strong reason to support the claim

• Present solid and convincing evidence

• Evaluate and analyze the evidence to show its strengths and weaknesses

• Show the relationship between the evidence and the conclusion

Following this process will ensure that the logos in your paper is strong. In addition, it is important to be aware of common logical fallacies, which are discussed in the next section. These are errors in reasoning that weaken an argument and undermine the credibility of the author. It is important to be aware of common fallacies and work to avoid them. 

Pathos

The word pathos has the same root as the word sympathy. When we use pathos as an approach to reach our audience, we appeal to emotion. Two ways to do this are to use anecdotes that illustrate your claim and to use emotional words.

Anecdotes: Use a Personal Experience

If you are trying to convince your audience that an economic crisis has affected the housing market, you could list statistics. How many people have lost their homes? How many people are making payments on a home that is now worth less than the mortgage? Statistics can show how widespread the problem is. This use of logos can be very effective.

But in order to connect to the audience in a deeper way, it might be effective to focus on an anecdote of one particular family who has lost their beloved home. You might describe how they are forced to sell many of their possessions, including the piano that belonged to their grandmother. They leave behind the garden they worked hard to make beautiful. The five of them live in the crowded basement of a relative while the parents both work two jobs, trying to save enough money to move out. They don't feel welcome but have nowhere else to go. These details help us to picture the displaced family and see the reality of the situation, something we couldn't do by just reading facts and statistics.

In his essay "Black Men and Public Space," Brent Staples uses an anecdote to show what it can be like to be at the receiving end of racial prejudice. He describes walking into a jewelry store in a wealthy part of town as a way to pass time while waiting for his next assignment.  

The details create a vivid picture; we can see the owner, terrified only because the man who walked into her store is African American. We can also sense Staples' feeling of dismay at being seen as dangerous when he is nothing of the sort. An explanation in general terms would not have this powerful of an effect.

Choose Words That Evoke Emotion

Sagoyewatha, a Native American leader also known as Red Jacket, gave a speech in which he addressed white missionaries who had come to teach his people about Christianity. Red Jacket pointed out that the white people had come to a land that was not theirs and had taken more and more territory:

We feel for Red Jacket and his people more than we would if he had simply listed the places they had once lived. And the statement "we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets" paints a sympathetic picture of a displaced people.

An emotional appeal can be an effective companion to the other appeals, but used on its own it is a form of manipulation rather than a powerful argument. Your paper must contain logical arguments and clear and credible evidence. Pathos is used to supplement these elements.

Make sure your emotional appeal supports the claim you are making. Be careful that you are not presenting an exaggeration that distracts from the real argument and may even misrepresent reality. Although Red Jacket's statement "we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets" is somewhat exaggerated—a use of hyperbole—in this case it works because we understand that it is a poetic device. It presents a picture in our minds, but we are not deceived by it.

You should never use emotion to misrepresent a situation or to frighten or anger your audience into agreement. The use of pathos makes the readers more willing to examine your reasons and evidence. It should never be the only reason they are persuaded. Without it, however, your readers may never perceive the importance of what you are saying or its relevance to them.

A Balance of Appeals

These three rhetorical appeals are often presented in a diagram as a triangle with equal sides, as shown above. That does not mean you use them exactly equally, but that you decide what balance of the appeals will work best in your paper for your particular audience. Remember Aristotle's statement at the beginning of this section. You must carefully consider your particular case—including your purpose and your audience—as you decide which type of appeal will carry more weight in your paper. In most scholarly papers, pathos is used minimally if it at all, but in an argument essay, all the appeals are important. Your readers will be persuaded if you can do the following:

• Establish that you are a fair person who has weighed the evidence carefully

• Present clear, logical reasons supported by credible, responsibly interpreted evidence

• Touch not only the minds but also the hearts of your readers

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