9/24: Rhetorical Devices:
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Module #3
Notebook page 2L2R
Rhetoric: What is rhetoric?
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Rhetoric is the art of discourse
 Discourse is any written or spoken communication
The purpose of rhetoric is to improve the capability of
writers or speakers to inform, persuade, or motivate
particular audiences in specific situations.
It is intended to affect the audience in specific
situations by getting a reaction from audience
members.
Often uses figures of speech and other techniques.
Rhetorical Devices:
Persuasive Appeals
Famously and historically used by
Greek philosophers, especially
Aristotle.
– Aristotle’s three persuasive appeals:
Ethos
Pathos
Logos
–
Ethos
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Ethos: Ethics (knowing the difference between right and wrong)
To make the audience decide whether something is
right or wrong
Political issues, national beliefs, religious issues,
etc…
The speaker’s character and credibility is taken into
consideration:
–
–
trustworthy & credible? Or not…
Often uses celebrity spokespeople to speak on behalf of
their product or company to improve credibility
Ethos

Can you give an example of a commercial or
advertisement that appeal to an audience’s
ethos?
Pathos
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
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Pathos: Emotion
To make the audience feel something about
what is presented to it
Children, animals, illness, memories, etc…
“Tugs at your heart strings”
–
Use vivid pictures and images
Pathos

Can you give an example of a commercial or
advertisement that appeal to an audience’s
pathos?
Logos
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
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Logos: Logic
To make the audience think about what is
presented to it
Statistics, facts, studies, authorities, etc…
Very straightforward, and not “fluff”. It has a
very scientific, factual approach.
Logos

Can you give an example of a commercial or
advertisement that appeal to an audience’s
logos?
Can some advertisements have
more than one appeal?

Yes! The more appeals used in an ad the
more likely the consumer is to connect with it.
Intended Audience


Who is being targeted?
What do the advertisers/authors/speakers want
audience members/readers to do or think?
–

Buy something? Think a certain way? Make a
donation? Change an action?
What appeal(s) will work best for the intended
audience?
–
Example: How would an advertiser appeal to a 20
year old male vs. a 35 year old female?
Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?
ETHOS!
Making news
channels seem
untrustworthy,
and unreliable
to deliver the
news.
*Most political
issues will be
Ethos.
Ethos,
Pathos, or
Logos?
PATHOS:
Emotional
responses
when
addressing
family
members
and cancer.
Ethos,
Pathos, or
Logos?
PATHOS:
Playing
upon the
emotions of
audience
members
buying
sweat-shop
shoes.
Ethos,
Pathos, or
Logos?
LOGOS:
Giving you
statistics and
making you think
about your eating
choices.
Ethos,
Pathos, or
Logos?
ETHOS:
Using a more marketable
spokesperson who appears more
credible.
Ethos,
Pathos,
or
Logos?
LOGOS/PATHOS:
Logic of smoking being bad for you,
but emotional ties of chemo.
Ethos,
Pathos,
Logos?
LOGOS:
Logically giving
statistics about
dentistry.
Ethos,
Pathos, or
Logos?
PATHOS:
Tradition and
memories tied to
Christmas.
Ad Analysis: Chart
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
You and a partner will analysis 4 ads.
Complete the following for each:
–
The # & Name of “product” being advertised
A: Intended Audience
B: Spokesperson (if there is one)
C: Purpose of advertisement – what do the advertisers want
you to do?
D: Type of persuasive appeals-briefly explain how you came
to that conclusion
FOR EXAMPLE: Ad Analysis
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#1: Michelin Tires
Little Baby
Don’t skimp on the
important stuff, we
need good tires our
families depend on it.
Pathos (little babies
are cute and we want
them to live)
Magazine Activity (still page 2)
Company/Prod Persuasive
uct/Campaign Appeal
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Explanation
Review

Ethos/Pathos/Logos
TEXT LOG: page 3L
Driving Question:

How do writers use rhetoric and persuasive
appeals to promote their opinions?
Title &
Author
1.
2.
3.
4.
Persuasiv
e appeal
Quote
Explanation
Homework: Due Friday, 8/28
Find an advertisement to analyze (like we just
did)
2. Take a picture, a screen shot, print it, or bring in
the magazine ad.
3. State what persuasive appeal is being
employed. Explain how you know. Describe
whether this ad is successful/ effective or not.
* This homework will be included with your quiz on
Ethos/Pathos/Logos and rhetorical devices on Fri.
1.
8/25: Do Now:
Grab 6 slips of colored paper from the front
table (try to get a variety of colors)
2. Enter the following into your table of contents:
8/24: 3L Text Log E/P/L
8/25: 3R: “3 Ways to Persuade”
8/25: 4L: Annotations
1.
TEXT LOG: page 3L
Driving Question:

How do writers use rhetoric and persuasive
appeals to promote their opinions?
Title &
Author
1.
2.
3.
4.
Persuasiv
e appeal
Quote
Explanation
“Three Ways to Persuade” p. 29 p. 3R
- Read and take notes using the ASE
note-taking strategy.
- Discuss your assigned questions with
your group and write down your answers
- Be prepared to share your responses.
8/25: Notes: Annotations and
De-Coding Vocabulary pg 4L
Foldable
1.
2.
3.
4.
Line papers up with ½” spaces (tabs)
Fold over in half
Staple twice at the top
Title as “Annotation Strategies with your name
on the front
Annotations Review:

Little notes that you write on a text to help you
remember and understand what you read

Examples: (label each flap on your foldable)
Creating titles/ sub-titles for longer paragraphs
Asking questions about the text
Summary points
* next to important, main ideas
Highlighting main GIST words
? To to confusing portions or words and de-coding
them
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
“A Change of Heart About Animals” pg. 33
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Read the first 4 paragraphs from the article
Annotate these first 4 paragraphs by using one of
each of the types of annotations
Creating titles/ sub-titles for longer paragraphs
Asking questions about the text
Summary points
* next to important, main ideas
Highlighting main GIST words
? Next to confusing portions or words and de-coding
them
8/26: Read:
“A Change of Heart About Animals”
p. 33 with annotations and text log
DQ: How do authors use persuasive appeals to
promote their ideas?
Title &
Author
1.
2.
3.
4.
Persuasiv
e appeal
Quote
Explanation
Example:
2 What these researchers are finding is that many of
our fellow creatures are more like us than we had
ever imagined. They feel pain, suffer and experience
stress, affection, excitement, and even love – and
these findings are changing how we view animals.
3 Strangely enough, some of the research sponsors
are fast food purveyors, such as McDonald’s, Burger
King, and KFC. Pressured by animal rights activists
and by growing public support for the humane
treatment of animals, these companies have
financed research into, among other things, the
emotional, mental, and behavioral states of our
fellow creatures.
De-Coding Vocabulary (Next
large foldable title)

4 main steps to de-coding or understanding difficult
vocabulary (label the remaining flaps with each)
1.
Apposition
Context Clues
Root-words or word parts
Dictionary/ thesaurus
Follow those steps, in order. If one doesn’t work,
move on to the next strategy
2.
3.
4.
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1. Apposition
Definition: position of things side by side
 In grammar, an appositive is the re-naming of a
noun or pro-noun with more clarifying
information
 Appositives are set aside by commas
Example 1: Tom, my postman, delivered the mail
even though it was raining. ( “my postman”
is the appositive that is re-naming, or giving
more information about Tom)
Example 2: The combine, or machine that
harvests grains, needed an oil change.
Q: What is the appositive here?

“or a machine that harvests grains”
2. Context Clues


Clues within the sentence (or the paragraph) that
allow you to make an educated guess about the
meaning of a word.
Example: The cat has a kind disposition and
would never bite or claw anyone.
–
What do you think “disposition” means?
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What kind of cat would never bite or claw anyone?
What clues can you use?
So, what do you think disposition means?
Example: Diane was lethargic and didn’t have the
energy to get out of bed.
–
What do you think “lethargic” means based on other
words in the sentence?
3. Root Words or Word Parts
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
Parts of the word that hold meaning
Example: “Summary”
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What is the “sum” in math?
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The total
So summary could be the total information
Example: “His actions were malintented.”
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What does the root “mal” mean?
What about intent? What does it mean if someone has
good intentions?
So if mal =_______ and intent= ___________,
malintented= ____
4. Dictionary/Thesaurus


If the first 3 strategies don’t help, use a dictionary
to look up the definition or a thesaurus to find other
synonyms for the word
Always reword definitions into an easy, Tier 1
definition when annotating
Example:
2 What these researchers are finding is that many of
our fellow creatures are more like us than we had
ever imagined. They feel pain, suffer and experience
stress, affection, excitement, and even love – and
these findings are changing how we view animals.
3 Strangely enough, some of the research sponsors
are fast food purveyors, such as McDonald’s,
Burger King, and KFC. Pressured by animal rights
activists and by growing public support for the
humane treatment of animals, these companies
have financed research into, among other things, the
emotional, mental, and behavioral states of our
fellow creatures.
8/26: Read EITHER “Hooked on a
Myth” p. 36 or “Of Primates and
Personhood” p.38





Annotate your article using a variety of
techniques discussed
Complete your text log for your article
Be prepared to discuss the main parts of your
article and your text log with each other.
Now, explain the main points of your article
with your partner
Share your text log information
8/27: Timed Writing: 20 minutes
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
1.
2.
PROMPT: How do authors use rhetoric and
persuasive appeals to promote their opinions?
FORMAT:
Thesis statement/claim answering the prompt
Body paragraph developing your idea and
supporting it with cited, textual evidence from
any of the articles.
–
Your evidence should support the idea that authors
use ethos/pathos/logos to promote their agenda…
Short Answer:
Decide between Ethos/Pathos/Logos (1 pt ea)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Which persuasive appeal utilizes emotional
reactions?
Which persuasive appeal typically has statistics
and facts to support claims?
Which persuasive appeal often has a celebrity
spokesperson promoting their product?
Which persuasive appeal triggers memories
and/or traditions?
Which persuasive appeal makes audience
members decide what is right versus wrong?
Extras
Rhetorical appeals in commercials
Complete the following chart for the
following commercials (Page 3R)
Product/Camp Persuasive
How do you
aign
Appeal (E/P/L) know?
1
2
…
15
8/25: (Continue with rhetorical
notes…)
So how do persuasive appeals and
rhetorical devices translate into
reading and writing?
Reading
1.As a reader, you need to know what the author’s
purpose is
–
2.You
To make you act? To make you think? To make you
feel? To change some aspect? To inform?
need to identify persuasive appeals that
author’s use to further their agenda
3.You need to decide if the author is credible
So how do persuasive appeals and
rhetorical devices translate into
reading and writing?
Writing/ Speaking
1. As a writer, you need to clearly state your
opinion (thesis statement/claim) about a topic
2. You need to use persuasive appeals to your
benefit
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–
3.
Evidence
Credibility (citing your sources)
You need to determine what you want YOUR
audience to do
Page 43, Activity 11