Ethos, Logos, Pathos
Rhetorical Appeals for Argumentative Reading and
Writing
What you will learn…
What does it mean to be a rhetorical reader
and writer?
What is ethos and how is it used?
What is logos and how is it used?
What is pathos and how is it used?
Ethos, logos, and
pathos are three
classical rhetorical
appeals for
argumentative reading
and writing identified
by Aristotle.
What does it mean to be a rhetorical
reader and writer?
Rhetoric means “the art of using words
skillfully in speaking or writing” (Websters 764).
So, to become a rhetorical reader and writer,
you must learn how to question texts, both
what you read and what you write, understand
how people might question the text you are
writing.
What is ethos?
According to Bean, Chappell, and Gillam,
authors of Reading Rhetorically, ethos is “the
persuasive power of the author’s credibility or
character” (70).
How do I use ethos?
As readers, we must take information in from
the writer to determine his/her personality
and/or views on a particular subject. We do
this by evaluating the following:
content, tone, word choice, figurative
language, organization
Some questions to use when
determining ethos:
1.Does this writer seem knowledgeable?
2.What does the writer like and dislike?
3.What are this writers’ biases and values?
4.What seems to be the writer’s mood? (angry, questioning, happy,
confused)
5.What is the writer’s approach to the topic? (formal v. informal,
logical v. emotional, mixed attitude)
6.What would it be like to spend time in this writer’s company?
What is logos?
Logos is the “persuasive power of the author’s
reasons, evidence, and logic” (Bean 70).
Logos is mainly used to persuade readers through
logic or reason (Bean 72).
In order to get readers to accept the point of view of
the author, the author anticipates what they think the
intended audience already believes and then uses
those beliefs to bridge the reader’s thinking (Bean 72).
How do I use logos?
As readers (and writers), we have to learn to not
take the author’s arguments at face value (Bean
73). We are intelligent enough to come up with our
own conclusions.
In order to carefully examine logos, we need to be
able to examine the basic elements of an argument:
claims, reasons, evidence, and assumptions (Bean
73).
What is a claim?
A claim is the “key point that a writer wants
readers to accept” (Bean 73).
EX: We must pass gun control laws that limit
access to guns…
What is reason?
A reason is used to support a main claim. It is
usually linked to a claim using the word
“because” (Bean 73).
…because doing so will make children safer
at school.
What is evidence?
Evidence are the “facts, examples, statistics,
personal experiences, and expert testimony that
an author offers to support his or her view of
the topic” (Bean 74).
EX: According to CNN News, the United
States’ loose gun control laws are allowing our
youth to possess and use guns at schools.
What is an assumption?
An assumption, in an argument, is “often
unstated values or beliefs that the writer expects
readers to accept without question” (Bean 74).
EX: An assumption that an author can make
about gun control laws is that Americans do
not want our youth to be gunned down at
school.
Some questions to use when
determining logos:
1. What perspective or position does the writer
want me to take toward the topic?
2. Do the writer’s claims, reasons, and evidence
convince me to take this perspective or position?
3. Do I share the assumptions, stated or unstated,
that authorize the writer’s reasoning and connect
the evidence to the claim?
What is pathos?
Pathos is the “persuasive power of the
author’s appeal to the interests, emotions,
and imagination of the audience” (Bean 70).
Pathos is how an author engages a reader,
uses hooks, keeps the interest of the reader,
makes readers care about subjects (Bean 75).
Who do authors engage readers?
Four basic ways that writers engage readers on an emotional
or imaginative level—by influencing the reader to identify:
1. with the writer;
2. with the topic or issue, including people mentioned in
the text;
3. with a certain group or fellow readers;
4. with particular interests, values, beliefs, and emotions
Diction
Within pathos, readers need to consider the diction the
author uses.
Diction refers to “speakers’ and writers’ selection and
expression of words (including matters of tone an
formality) (Bean 76).
Also included in considerations are the use of
figurative language, sentence structure and length, and
punctuation.
Some questions to use when
determining pathos:
On what basis do the opening sentences engage a readers
attention?
What kind of relationship does the author try to establish with
readers?
How does the author try to make readers care about the topic?
What interests and values does the author assume the audience
shares?
Do I, as the reader, consider myself part of this author’s
intended audience? Why or why not?
Ethos Logos Pathos video
Duration 4:20