The author’s purpose in the letter “You Have Insulted Me”, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., is to persuade the school board to reinstate his book by using the rhetorical techniques ethos, pathos, and logos. First, Vonnegut embeds ethos into his letter when he writes, “I have six children...They have all turned out well” (Vonnegut 3). This is an example of ethos because the author is referencing his parenthood to validate his discretion. Vonnegut recognizes his successful children to affirm that Vonnegut understands the boundaries associated with school appropriateness. Next, pathos is applied when Vonnegut says, “Again: you have insulted me, and I am a good citizen, and I am very real” (Vonnegut 5). This quote represents pathos by ingraining emotion
In Martin Luther King Jr.ʻs (MLK) “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” excessive use of rhetoric devices are used such as logos (logical), pathos (emotional) and ethos (ethical). Although all examples of rhetoric are present, some seem to appeal more than others. Some of the most effective rhetoric used in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” are logos and pathos. While there are multiple examples of ethical (ethos) rhetoric and many more additional rhetorical devices, logical and emotional appliances seem to have an abundant amount of examples relative to these two devices. Therefore, in this prompt, I will further explore the meanings of these implements and examples referring to this topic.
The beginning of any thought provoking essay will hook its audience using a form of pathos. “Two of his sons returned home from the battlefield whole and healthy. The third, however, came home suffering multiple seizures a day”-(Rorabacher). The quote generates sympathy within us making us yearn to see a welcoming outcome and leaving the audience hooked. Eli Hager’s article follows a similar route informing us that “The state of Missouri sent Harris to the penitentiary in Boonvilee, 250 miles from his home and baby daughter”-(Hager). Again we sympathize with the loss of a family, but not all of the articles used grievance to hook us. In the “Quiet Alarm” the audience is informed of a vaudeville performer who performed deadly stunts involving hatchets, pins, and guns on himself to generate shockwaves in the audience. From these examples we identify how our emotions lure us into these texts.
Joey Franklin makes masterful use of rhetoric in his essay “Working at Wendy’s” to construct an entertaining and compelling argument in favor of recognizing that the workers of the service industry are not just undistinguished drones, but rather complicated people, each with their own desires and stories. To this end, the author utilizes the effective rhetorical device of pathos, logos, and ethos. Franklin demonstrates an excellent use of imagery that serves as a conduit for empathy, which is vital for the use of pathos, the emotional appeal. In reference to logos, the appeal to logic, he paints the picture of a hard-working father that needs to provide for his family. This is a clear representation of common logic and ties into ethos, which is the rhetorical appeal to authority and ethics, in the sense that many people can relate to caring about and working to support family. For ethos, he establishes himself as your everyday working man — part of the working class. This shows that he’s clearly apt for speaking of the position he’s in, and allows the audience to relate to him through pathos.
Have you ever heard the saying “stop and smell the roses”? It can often be used when someone overlooks the true meaning of something. Author of the article “What Is College For?”, Gary Gutting, feels very strongly about this concept as it pertains to college and the experience it offers. Gutting received a doctorate from St. Louis University and enjoys studying the philosophy of religion and science. He feels as though students are lacking academic engagement, and do not enjoy college because they are there for the wrong reasons. In his article, “What Is College For?”, Gutting effectively convinces his audience that college is a haven for knowledge and new perspectives. Through his use of surveys and analyzation of perspectives and his statistical knowledge based on former studies he is able to persuade his readers that college is the right path. [This is a good start, but you want to get a little more specific—how is Gutting using ethos, pathos, and logos? What specific uses of it make his argument strong?]
Likewise, another appeal used by Sherman is pathos. Pathos, or argument by emotion is most prevailing in the text due to the frequent theme of obstacles presented to the author, and how those struggles evict emotion from the audience. First, Sherman describes his father in a way that excites strong emotion, and possible empathy. “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well” (Sherman 1). In general love is a strong word, adding to sentiment, Sherman then uses the phrase “aching devotion”. When phrased together not only do these words bear positive feelings and connotations, but also gives the reader something to empathize with. Considering Sherman decided to love books because his father did too, it is made clear that he looks up to his elder. Idolizing parents, a common opinion, gives the audience another point to relate to. Furthermore, Sherman switches up his point of view in compliance of a pathos strategy. Throughout the entire text, the author remains
Pathos is used in order to link the essay with the reader’s emotions and ethos is used to show the writers moral character. For example, pathos is used when Kozol speaks to a student of a Bronx high school, “Think of it this way,” said a sixteen-year-old girl. “If people in New York woke up one day and learned that we were gone…how would they feel?...I think they’d be relieved.” (Kozol 205) This part of the essay really made me feel sad for this girl who lives in a society where she has grown up feeling like now one cares about her or others of her race.
Writers use pathos, ethos, and logos in their writing to appeal to their audience. Pathos is an appeal to emotions, ethos is an appeal to trust, and logos is an appeal to reasoning or logic. Frederick Douglass's, " What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" is about his views and the views of many slaves towards the Fourth of July. He uses ethos, pathos, and logos effectively to convey his central message.
The first way the author does this is when saying “marking books is not an act of mutilation, but of love” (1). This example appeals to the reader’s emotion by provoking vivid words in one’s mind that appeals to the reader’s values and beliefs of first mutilation, and then love. The author was successful at gaining the reader’s attention by provoking a shock sensation when saying love and mutilation, such powerful words in the same sentence. This strengthened his argument as a whole because he made his message personal to the readers leaving a lasting impression on each reader, and not to mention doing so encouraged other readers to see damaged books in a new perspective (1). Another example, of the author using pathos to appeal to the reader’s emotion is when Adler claims marking a book makes the book personal for the reader in the same sense as when a person buys a steak, its technically not really theirs until a person eats and digests it. This figurative language was successful at evoking vivid images causing the readers senses to kick in order to picture what the reader is describing. This example strengthened his argument as a whole by making his example relatable to every reader (1).The third example is when the author says there are three types of book owners, and the type that marks up their book is the ideal type to be. Adler’s tone in this
Graff then goes on to establish his ethos in the first few paragraphs while continuing to expand the thoughts and ideas on pathos throughout his essay. He begins to build his community and trust by recognizing his own credentials and sharing his personal background in writing. One of the first things noticed from the footnote about Gerald Graff’s professional career is that he has vast experience in the writing department. He is an English professor at a prestigious university, a past president of the Modern Language Association, and part of the professional association of scholars and teachers of English and other languages (198). But, since his background only assists his argument and does not define it, it is crucial to also look at his word choice, mood, language, and ideology in order to fully claim Graff a credible author.
In the article “War Against Boys?”, I noticed two common and reappearing rhetorical appeals, pathos and logos. The reason I chose both of these appeals is because of how Michael Kimmel thinks about how gender inequality affects boys and how this is affecting boys education in lower and higher institutions. Pathos played a huge part in this essay because of the emotional and mental impact on boys through discrimination from the school system. One example of pathos being shown is when feminism was mentioned pathologizing boyhood making boys think what is normal , another way pathos was being shown is when gender stereotyping was stated to be hurting both girls and boys (Michael 522-523). Like pathos, logos was also seen throughout the article as well. The first logos that was shown was when statistician Tom Mortensen stated that “ the graduation line 2068 will be all females”(Michael 522). Another example of logos was the statistics of gender imbalance throughout the higher educational system.
Atticus Finch’s closing argument in To Kill a Mocking Bird uses the rhetorical devices Pathos and Ethos to communicate his message about Tom Robinson.
Many writers use several diverse ways to persuade readers into believing them. Some writers may tell a story, provide facts and information, or other ideas to encourage his or her reader to agree with the argument. Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle describes three diverse appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos is based on facts and reasons explaining logical arguments that rely on information and evidence. Logos is built with enough evidence, data, statistics, and reliable information. Another type of appeal is pathos, which attracts the reader’s emotions and feelings into the work. Many writers who use pathos tend to write about their personal experience and by diction and tone. In addition to logos and pathos, ethos corresponds with
In James Baldwin's letter to his nephew, written one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Baldwin emphasizes on the issue of segregation and the challenge to not earn acceptance from a white society. Baldwins purpose is to explain not only to his fifteen year old nephew, but all young people of color in the future generations that the real issue at hand is to find acceptance for white culture in themselves rather than seeking acceptance into white culture. Baldwin achieves this purpose by using Aristotle's appeal of ethos and pathos. Baldwin used ethos as he adopts a passionate tone in order to represent his view and convince his nephew, his nephews generation and the future generations to come of his purpose. Baldwins passionate and confident tone is seen through his constant use or repetition and restatements of phrases in order to reinforce his statement. For example Baldwin uses anaphora to convince the audience of what he had seen and experienced due to the racism that exists in America, “I know what the world has done to my brother and how narrowly he has survived it and I know, which is much worse, and this is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them. By repeating I know multiple times, further reinforces Baldwins concrete and passionate tone”. This leads and convinces his audience of his argument on acceptance. Baldwin then uses pathos to grab the audience's emotional attention in order to build an emotional agreement to Baldwin's purpose of acceptance. By using constant repetition of the word you throughout the letter, it is as if Baldwin is speaking
Consider the speaker’s appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos. Identify 1 example of each and explain the effect of each. (2-3 sentences per appeal)
Nicholas Carr addresses and adapts to his audience by effectively using pathos, a rhetorical appeal. The author captures his audience by appealing to their emotions. For example, Carr explains on page five,