PERSUASIVE
APPEALS:
Logos, Pathos, Ethos
RHETORICAL
STRATEGIES
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DESCRIPTION
NARRATION (anecdotes)
ILLUSTRATION (examples)
PROCESS-ANALYSIS
DIVISION and CLASSIFICATION (roles, types)
COMPARISON and CONTRAST (similarities, differ.)
DEFINITION
REFUTATION
PARADOX
CAUSE and EFFECT
ANALOGY
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TYPES of EVIDENCE
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FACTS
STATISTICS
FIGURES, NUMBERS, DATES
EXAMPLES
REASONS
DETAILS
ANECDOTES
EYE-WITNESS TESTIMONY (first-hand, primary)
EXPERT TESTIMONY
HOW TO EVALUATE
EVIDENCE
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TIMELINESS (relevance)
INTENT (to entertain, to persuade)
CREDIBILITY (sincerity, agendas)
CONTEXT (circumstance, situation)
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HOW TO EVALUATE
EVIDENCE
• LOGICAL:
o reasons, examples, details, facts, stats, figures
• EMOTIONAL:
o examples, anecdotes, eye-witness testimony
• CREDIBLE:
o details, facts, stats, figures, expert testimony
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LOGOS
THE
Rhetorical
TRIANGLE
PATHOS
ETHOS
• Not to be confused with Alexandre Dumas’ Three
Musketeers:
o Athos
o Porthos
o Aramis
o (and d'Artagnan )
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BACKGROUND: ARISTOTLE and the
RHETORICAL TRIANGLE
• In Rhetoric (350 BC), the Greek philosopher Aristotle
(384-322 BC) suggests that the fundamental human
characteristics include:
o logic, reasoning
o emotion, empathy, compassion
o credibility, trust (perception of character)
• Thus, he divided the persuasive appeals of rhetoric into
3 parts:
o Logos,
o Pathos,
o Ethos
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LOGOS
• “logic”
• SUPPORT, PROOF, “GROUNDS”:
o logic,
o reasons,
o examples,
o details,
o facts
o “Just the facts, ma’am.” (Dragnet)
o appeals to the Vulcan inside us (Star Trek)
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EVALUATING LOGOS
• PURPOSE= to stir readers’ thoughts, to offer readers
different perspectives, for readers to see something in a
new way
• THESIS= reasonable
• EVIDENCE= accurate; clear, convincing; relevant,
appropriate
• REASONS= make sense, no fallacies
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LOGOS EXAMPLES
SHAKESPEARE’S SONNET #18:
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
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LOGOS EXAMPLES
SONNET 18:
• LOGICAL CONSTRUCTION:
o ordered structure
 3 quatrains + 1 couplet
 evidence to support the point + concise statement
of the point
• RHYME SCHEME (ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG)
• REGULAR RHYTHM
o 14 lines of rhymed iambic pentameter
• LOGIC, REASONS
o COMPARISONS and CONTRASTS
Other Examples of Logos
in Shakespeare
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Macbeth on regicide
Hamlet on anything (esp. suicide)
Brutus on Conspiracy
Jacques on the world stage
Jacques on the 7 ages of man
Ulysses on degree
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LOGOS in everyday life
• to win an argument on any subject:
o receipts, ticket stubs
o photos, video
o text or phone or e-mail messages
o witnesses, quotes
o examples, instances, incidents, anecdotes
o weather, financial, medical, legal reports
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LOGOS in everyday life
FRIENDS:
• to win an argument on sports (e.g.):
o use reasons supported by statistics, highlights
(examples), details, facts, spectator (witness)
SCHOOL:
• to argue a grade:
o refer (rationally) to the syllabus, assignment sheet,
textbook, test question, lecture notes, handouts
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LOGOS in everyday life
PARENTS:
• to argue for a raise in allowance
• to argue to borrow the car
• to argue to extend curfew
o refer to “record” (stats) or make a bargain
CAR:
• to buy a car, to repair/keep vs. trade/sell/junk
o use a debit sheet, refer to an advertisement
o Kelley Blue Book, NADA, Edmunds.com, Lemon Law
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LOGOS in everyday life
WORK (with your boss):
• to argue for a raise, day off
• employment file, service, dedication, time card, schedule
WORK (with a customer):
• refer to circular, advertisement, sign, computer, register
WORK (as a customer):
• with the cashier, customer service representative
• refer to circular, advertisement, sign, register receipt
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LOGOS in everyday life
• Card Stacking
o present only one side of the issue
o failure in Iraq
• Erroneous, faulty data
o WMD
o mistaken witness
o false credentials
o assumption, inference, implication (not fact)
• Faulty reasoning
o poor induction or deduction
BAD LOGOS
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PATHOS
• “sympathy,” “empathy,” “pathetic”
• appeal to emotions (*fear, pity, guilt)
• human emotions= affection, anger, contempt, delight,
despair, disgust, embarrassment, envy, excitement, fear,
guilt, hope, horror, humiliation, humor, jealousy, joy,
love, royalty, passion, pity, pride, remorse, ridicule,
sadness, shame, shock, shyness, sorrow, vengeance
• *often stronger than LOGOS
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EVALUATING PATHOS
• LEGITIMATE & APPROPRIATE
o NOT forced,
o NOT faked,
o NOT manipulative
• With RESTRAINT
o NOT exaggerated,
o NOT overdone with wild hysterics
• With a SENSE of AUDIENCE
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EVALUATING PATHOS
DANGERS:
• manipulative:
o can lead readers from their better judgment
o mob mentality
• often uses loaded language
o emotionally charged words or phrases
o words with strong connotations
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PATHOS EXAMPLES
Shakespeare’s Sonnet #29:
When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Other Examples of Pathos
in Shakespeare
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Macbeth’s “Tomorrow” (self-pity)
Lear on ingratitude (self-pity)
Lear with “Mad Tom”
Lear with dead Cordelia
Ophelia’s madness, Gertrude at Ophelia’s, Horatio at
Hamlet’s death
• Mark Antony with Julius Caesar’s wounds
(manipulative)
• Timon’s or Coriolanus’ vitriol
• Romeo and Juliet’s death
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PATHOS in everyday life
FRIENDS:
• peer pressure
• teasing
SCHOOL:
• to argue a grade, to submit a late assignment
o appeal to your bad day, death in the family
o the evil computer (“the computer ate my homework”)
o your race or gender, the teacher’s race or gender
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PATHOS in everyday life
PARENTS:
• guilt-trips by/to your mother
o previous events or relationships
o other siblings
o playing one parent against the other
RELATIONSHIPS:
• guilt-trips by/to your significant other
o previous events or relationships
o other boy/girlfriends
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PATHOS in everyday life
CAR:
• to buy or keep
o attraction, sentimentality, frustration
• to try to get out of a speeding ticket
o appeal to your bad day, death in the family, race or
gender, to the officer’s race or gender
o flirt, act dumb or innocent
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PATHOS in everyday life
WORK:
• to argue with your boss (raise, promotion, break)
o use your family, dedication, years of service, long shift
• as a customer:
o to argue a price, repair work, warranty coverage
o use your years of customer loyalty, justifiable anger
or indignation
o threaten to take your business elsewhere, to write or
call the supervisor, to take your issue up the “food
chain”
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PATHOS in everyday life
• Sentimentality: save the children commercials
• Hatred: mobs, gangs, voters, anti-? demonstrations
• Patriotism: rallies, parades, 9/11, commercials,
commercialization (not just USA patriotism)
• Love: Valentine’s Day, ad/commercials, Web sites
• Sex: ad/commercials (cars, TAG), Web sites
• Humor: stand-ups, late-night shows, cartoons (hit&run)
• Religiosity: guilt-trips, hell fire & brimstone, hypocrisy,
extremists, fundamentalists, cults
BAD PATHOS
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ETHOS
• “ethics”
• writer’s credibility, character
• characteristics of an ethical person: benevolence,
courage, credibility, decency, dedication, dignity,
enthusiasm, good will, honesty, honor, idealism,
intelligence, morality, nobility, patriotism, resolve,
respect, responsibility, seriousness, sincerity,
trustworthiness, valor, wisdom
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EVALUATING ETHOS
Is the writer… ?
• fair-minded,
• trustworthy,
• believable,
• sincere,
• honest,
• well-prepared
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EVALUATING ETHOS
AN ETHICAL WRITER ...
• presents both sides of the issue AND
• is fair to both sides (Rogerian Method)
• shows different points of view
• appears well-versed on subject (accuracy)
• gives biography (job, education, credentials)
• uses data that’s well-researched (*authority)
• has displays of intellect/knowledge
• exhibits a sense of right & wrong
• is not manipulative (*with PATHOS)
• uses the voice of a concerned citizen addressing a serious societal issue
• perhaps is challenging givens/bullies
• demonstrates good will & good intentions
• appears dedicated to the truth
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ETHOS
TONE: (toward the subject and the audience)
• concerned,
• caring, compassionate
• interested
• genuine, frank, earnest, honest
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NOT sarcastic,
NOT self-aggrandizing, self-righteous
NOT condescending,
NOT arrogant,
NOT insincere
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ETHOS
DANGER:
• exploited to serve unethical ends:
• pretending to be moral,
• irresponsible/immoral persons presenting themselves as
responsible/moral
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ETHOS EXAMPLES
SHAKESPEARE’S SONNET #130:
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red, than her lips red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,
As any she belied with false compare.
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ETHOS EXAMPLES
SONNET #130:
• Same LOGOS as #18 (14 lines of rhymed iambic
pentameter, 3 quatrains + couplet, contrasts)
• BUT…
• What is the Speaker’s tone?
o Down-to-earth honesty, wit (anti-Petrarchan)
o Mean-spirited sarcasm
o “dun,” “black wires,” “reek”
o “rare” = 1) precious, special, 2) unusual, freakish
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ETHOS EXAMPLES
POLONIUS to LAERTES:
Yet here, Laertes? Aboard, aboard, for
shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail
And you are stayed for. There, my blessing
with thee.
And these few precepts in thy memory
Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no
tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption
tried,
Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of
steel,
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade.
Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear 't that th' opposèd may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear but few thy voice.
Take each man's censure but reserve thy
judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy—rich, not gaudy,
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and
station
Are of a most select and generous chief in
that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell. My blessing season this in thee.
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ETHOS EXAMPLES
• Polonius’ LOGOS:
o practical information
o aphorisms, maxims, clichés
• Polonius’ ETHOS:
o rambling, meddling old man
o fathering at last minute (and the ship’s waiting!)
o not practical, but selfish, self-serving
o opposite of Jesus: Beatitudes & faith, hope, love/charity
o making Laertes into a “mini-Polonius”
• Polonius’ TONE?
o loving, tough love, thoughtful
o rambling, babbling, long-winded
o crude, manipulative, sinister, worldly
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ETHOS EXAMPLES
• CLAUDIUS at PRAYER:
“My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. / Words
without thoughts never to heaven go.” (3.3.98-99)
BAD ETHOS = “words without thoughts”
• insincerity, artificiality, dishonesty, duplicity, hypocrisy
• heart vs. words
Other Examples of Ethos
in Shakespeare
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• Claudius on death
• Claudius at prayer
• Lady Macbeth attacking her husband’s manliness to
convince him to murder Duncan
• Decius’ re-interpretation of Julius Caesar’s dream to get
him to go to the capital
• Mark Antony’s eulogy of Julius Caesar to sway the mob
against the Conspirators
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ETHOS in everyday life
FRIENDS:
• your best interest, no ulterior motives
• advice from personal experiences
POLITICS:
• political, religious, sports scandals (who do you believe)
• voting for a politician (record, accountability)
SCHOOL:
• request for help or argue a grade
o factors: attendance, participation, preparedness, tone
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ETHOS in everyday life
PARENTS:
• advice from experience
• fair, consistent rulings (parents)
• honesty, reliability, responsibility, accountability (you)
RELATIONSHIPS:
• trust
• honesty, best interests, morals, values, sincerity
• responsibility, accountability
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ETHOS in everyday life
CAR:
• reliable dealer, quality service, good reputation
• responsibility, accountability, dependability
WORK:
• attempt to be fair-minded, understanding, calm, rational
• you, your boss, the customer
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ETHOS in everyday life
• false charm:
o proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing
o politician, serial killer, ex-boy/girlfriend
• hypocrites:
o who say one thing but do another
• arguing a grade:
BAD ETHOS
o disrespectful tone, poor record
• relationships:
o poor record, caught in a lie (lipstick, cig. smell), faulty
reasoning, limited sense of right & wrong, bullying
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THE
PERSUASIVE
APPEALS
in everyday life:
A CASE STUDY
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BASEBALL & STEROIDS
The STEROID Era
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MITCHELL REPORT
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Kirk Radomski
Barry Bonds
Brian McNamee
Sen. George Mitchell,
union leader Donald Fehr,
commissioner Bud Selig
Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Miguel Tejada
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HE SAID-HE SAID
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CREDIBILITY?
MITCHELL REPORT:
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George Mitchell, former Senate Majority leader, Maine Democrat (retired 1995)
20-month investigation & report has no legal standing
relied on McNamee and Radomski (limited contact)
only 2 active players involved (Giambi, Frank Thomas)
o only 5 approached to be interviewed
only 68 of 500 former players interviewed
remainder of the 700 = current or former club officials, managers, coaches, team physicians,
athletic trainers, or resident security agents
failure to release most of the evidence from his probe on doping in baseball
o (50+ documents referenced in footnotes )
Conflict of interest:
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Mitchell is on the board of directors for the Boston Red Sox; no BRS prime player was named, but
prime NY Yankees players were
leaked information prior to Game 7 of ALCS (Indians-Sox) @ Paul Byrd’s (Indians pitcher) alleged
steroids use
chairman of the board of the Walt Disney Co., parent of ESPN, which has an eight-year, $2.4 billion
contract to televise MLB games & is currently producing a reality show with Barry Bonds
Mitchell was hired by the Commissioner’s Office and then suggests in the report that the CO have
more testing power, rather than outside, independent testing
players were named, but not team officials (who knew @ steroid use, traded players when they quit)
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CREDIBILITY?
RADOMSKI:
• a former New York Mets clubhouse attendant (11 yrs.)
• became the chief supplier of drugs for baseball players after the 2003 federal
shut-down of BALCO
• after a December 2005 federal raid on his NY home (operation base)
• pleaded guilty last year (April 2007 ) in SF to money laundering & to the illegal
distribution of anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, Clenbuterol,
amphetamines, & other drugs to McNamee and current & former MLB
players
• cooperated (17+ months) with the federal authorities and Mitchell’s
investigators in exchange for leniency (plea deal)
o 17+ months of cooperation
o “undercover” distribution of steroids (wire)
o his own distribution of steroids
o his witnessing of steroid usage among Mets players
o knowledge of steroids in general
o Sentence: five years' probation & an $18,575 fine
• faced up to 25 years in prison & $500,000 in fine
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CREDIBILITY?
McNAMEE:
• a prior sexual assault allegation against him
• prior public denials about giving steroids to ballplayers
• cooperated with federal authorities & Mitchell as part of
a plea agreement on steroids-dealing charges
• “drug dealer”
• kept “blackmail” evidence
• brought in Clemens’ wife
• RC was not at the 1998 J. Canseco party in Miami
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CREDIBILITY?
CLEMENS:
• Andy Pettitte’s recollection of a 1999 conversation w/RC
• Clemens’ wife Debbie used HGH, from McNamee, in 2003
• McNamee was right @ Pettitte and Knoblauch
• Mitchell Office’s notification to MLBPU in July
• only B-12 and Lidocaine injections from McNamee
o Clemens had a "palpable mass" on his buttocks that
was, according to Toronto Blue Jays' doctors &
trainers, unlike anything they had ever seen caused by
such injections
• Why would McNamee lie @ Clemens but not @ AP, CK?
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CREDIBILITY?
CONGRESS:
• divided on party lines
o Republicans = supported Clemens
o Democrats = supported McNamee
o Why? Clemens is from Texas and is a friend of the
Bush family.
• off-topic: supposed to be on the credibility of the
Mitchell Report and not on individual culpability
• race: Barry Bonds = black, Roger Clemens = white; in
order not to appear to have shown any bias, Congress
wants to pursue Clemens with the same zeal it did Bonds
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CREDIBILITY?
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MAJORITY (Democrats)
Henry Waxman, Chairman, California
Ed Towns, New York
Paul E. Kanjorski, Pennsylvania
Carolyn B. Maloney, New York
Elijah Cummings, Maryland
Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio
Danny K. Davis, Illinois
John F. Tierney, Massachusetts
William Clay, Missouri
Diane Watson, California
Stephen Lynch, Massachusetts
Brian Higgins, New York
John Yarmuth, Kentucky
Bruce Braley, Iowa
Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia
Betty McCollum, Minnesota
Jim Cooper, Tennessee
Chris Van Hollen, Maryland
Paul Hodes, New Hampshire
Chris Murphy, Connecticut
John Sarbanes, Maryland
Peter Welch, Vermont
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MINORITY (Republicans)
Tom Davis, Ranking Member, Virginia
Dan Burton, Indiana
Christopher Shays, Connecticut
John M. McHugh, New York
John Mica, Florida
Mark Souder, Indiana
Todd Russell Platts, Pennsylvania
Chris Cannon, Utah
John James Duncan, Jr., Tennessee
Michael R. Turner, Ohio
Darrell Issa, California
Kenny Marchant, Texas
Lynn Westmoreland, Georgia
Patrick McHenry, North Carolina
Virginia Foxx, North Carolina
Brian Bilbray, California
Bill Sali, Idaho
Jim Jordan, Ohio
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CREDIBILITY?
Committee Jurisdiction
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Legislative Responsibilities
The legislative jurisdiction of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
includes the following areas, as set forth in House Rule X, clause 1:
Federal civil service, including intergovernmental personnel; and the status of officers
and employees of the United States, including their compensation, classification, and
retirement;
Municipal affairs of the District of Columbia in general (other than appropriations);
Federal paperwork reduction;
Government management and accounting measures generally;
Holidays and celebrations;
Overall economy, efficiency, and management of government operations and activities,
including federal procurement;
National archives;
Population and demography generally, including the Census;
Postal service generally, including transportation of the mails;
Public information and records;
Relationship of the federal government to the states and municipalities generally; and
Reorganizations in the executive branch of the government.
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CREDIBILITY?
Oversight Responsibilities
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The oversight responsibilities of the Committee are set forth in House Rule X, clauses 2, 3, and 4.
House Rule X, clause 2(b), provides that the Committee shall review and study on a continuing basis—
(A) the application, administration, execution, and effectiveness of laws and programs addressing subjects within
its jurisdiction;
(B) the organization and operation of Federal agencies and entities having responsibilities for the administration
and execution of laws and programs addressing subjects within its jurisdiction;
(C) any conditions or circumstances that may indicate the necessity or desirability of enacting new or additional
legislation addressing subjects within its jurisdiction (whether or not a bill or resolution has been introduced with
respect thereto); and
(D) future research and forecasting on subjects within its jurisdiction.
House Rule X, clause 3(i), provides that the Committee shall “review and study on a continuing basis the
operation of Government activities at all levels with a view to determining their economy and efficiency.”
House Rule X, clause 4(c)(1), provides that the Committee shall:
(A) receive and examine reports of the Comptroller General of the United States and submit to the House such
recommendations as it considers necessary or desirable in connection with the subject matter of the reports;
(B) evaluate the effects of laws enacted to reorganize the legislative and executive branches of the Government;
and
(C) study intergovernmental relationships between the States and municipalities and between the United States
and international organizations of which the United States is a member.
And House Rule X, clause 4(c)(2), provides that the Committee “may at any time conduct investigations of any
matter without regard to clause 1, 2, 3, or this clause [of House Rule X] conferring jurisdiction over the matter to
another standing committee.”
<http://oversight.house.gov/rules/>
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RECORD BOOK