Getting to Understand Rhetoric

Argument by character = ethos

Argument by logic = logos

Argument by emotions = pathos

These are the “Big Three” according to Aristotle (39). These types of arguments are the three basic tools of rhetoric. One may not notice, but we use these every single day of our lives, we my mean it but it also comes out naturally. Lets start by ethos. Ask yourself how many times your father/mother has gave you an order and you have to follow it just because they are your parents. Here is an example to what I consider ethos:

Daughter: Dad can I go to the party

Dad: No

Daughter: But why?

Dad: Because I am your dad and I’m telling you that you can’t go

In the example above, the girl’s dad is telling her what she can and cannot do because he is a “trustworthy persuader” (40). According to Aristotle ethos is the “most important appeal of all”(45). I have to agree with him because when someone that has a certain authority over you or has an “ability to look trustworthy,” one tends to believe what him/her are saying (40). If through all these explaining you did not get what ethos meant, then here is an other example. This a video from Pepsi Generation featuring Michael Jackson. This commercial is trying to imply to the audience that if you drink Pepsi you are going to the dance like The King of Pop. The video is using Michael Jackson’s persona to get people to drink their product, therefore applying ethos.

Then we have logos. The way logos work is by arguing with logic, it’s the one that gives reasons why. According to Aristotle when it comes to every point you make in an argument while using ethos it has a “flip side” (42). This is an example that Jay Heinrichs, the author of Thank You for Arguing, gave for logos:

Dad: “Look, Calvin. You’ve got to relax a little. Your balance will be better if you’re loose” (42).

Calvin: “I can’t help it! Imminent death makes me tense! I admit it! “(42).

Did you spot it? Because I did. In this example the dad is telling him to relax, but then is telling him why he should do it. Also Calvin uses it as well by telling his why he can’t relax. Here is my personal advice for identifying logos. If the persuader is answering the question why while presenting his argument, then he/her is using logos.

Last but not least is pathos. This is the rhetorical device that appeals to the emotions. Have you ever wondered were the word “sympathy” comes from. I never did, until I read this book. It’s root is pathos. Thank you Jay Heinrichs now it all makes sense. Sympathy = emotions = pathos. When using pathos the persuaders must show its concern towards the audience’s problem. One should let the audience “see your emotional change as you make you point” (43).

Pathos just like other rhetorical devices can also be used in novels. An example could be in The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon. Actually pathos is the one that is used the most out of the three in this book.  "'I'm trying, but it's hard,' andy my voice sounds really whiny and babyish" (68). This quote could be a great example of pathos. The author is not personally using it in argument, but he is using it so the audience takes sympathy towards the character.

So this it, my understanding of rhetoric.

Vocabulary:

hypophora: "it is a figure of speech.. which asks a rhetorical question and then immediately answers it" (39).