Pathos, Ethos, and Logos
Persuasive Appeals
What is Pathos?
Definition
Pathos is one of the three 'appeals' of persuasive writing. When you use pathos, you're appealing to your reader's
emotions to convince them of something. The other two appeals of persuasive writing are logos (logic) and ethos
(credibility). All three were identified by Aristotle in 350 BC.
How to Use Pathos
Sensory Detail
Using sensory details--things you can see, feel, smell and hear--is an effective way to invoke an emotional
response. It's the familiar concept of 'show vs. tell'. When a pizza company advertises, they don't just tell you the
food is good, they show you what it looks like and the facial expression of people enjoying it. You probably
won't use images in your persuasive essay, but if you're hoping to persuade people with emotion, it's important to
include plenty of sensory detail. For example, if you're writing to persuade the reader about the importance of
helmet laws, you might begin with sensory details of specific injuries people suffered because they weren't
wearing helmets.
Strong Word Choices
You can connect your reader emotionally to your argument when you use strong word choices. For a stronger
emotional connection, avoid ordinary words when you're describing extraordinary circumstances. Don't be afraid
to replace 'bad' or 'sad' with 'horrific' or 'tragic' if the circumstances truly reflect that.
Anecdotes
An anecdote is a brief story, and useful for illustrating a point. Anecdotes are more inviting than a list of facts
and figures, so it's wise to use them at the beginning of your persuasive essay. You can add the facts and research
(logos) for support in subsequent paragraphs. To apply the technique of pathos, choose anecdotes that will draw
an emotional response from your readers. For example, if you're writing about the need for more police in a
particular neighborhood, or more shelters for the homeless, begin with an anecdote about the people suffering in
these conditions.
Rhetorical Triangle: Pathos Logos and Ethos
When you combine pathos, logos and ethos, you're using the rhetorical triangle of effective persuasion.
Rhetoric is language that persuades. Pathos (emotion) is only one way to effectively persuade your reader. If
emotion isn't supported with facts (logos) and your overall credibility (ethos), you may attract attention, but you
won't be as effective.
One way to increase your ethos is by sharing your personal experience, and by including professional credentials
if these are relevant. For example if you're a veterinarian writing about animal cruelty, you could boost your
ethos by mentioning your veterinary degree or by including the suffix 'DVM' after your name. Your ethos also
increases when you use a balanced approach, which you can do by considering opposing views. You can also
increase your credibility by using outside sources for support. Use sources your readers will recognize as
reliable, such as research from scholarly journals or reputable news organizations.
Avoid Fallacies
Be careful to avoid logical fallacies in your persuasive writing. A common fallacy with pathos is the slippery
slope.
Example of slippery slope: The recent increase in tuition at the state university is a sign that no one will be able
to afford college in five years.
This fallacy exploits your reader's fears, and undermines your credibility. Always use the tool of pathos
carefully, and avoid relying too heavily on emotion to persuade.
Summary
Find a dramatic anecdote that illustrates your point, and practice your skills of descriptive writing to increase the
emotional appeal in your writing. Remember that pathos alone isn't convincing in the long run without a credible
author and solid evidence. Try to keep all three appeals in balance.
What is Ethos?
Definition
Ethos is a term with Greek origins, and it refers to the morals, values and beliefs of a person, or even an entire
culture. Ethos is also one of the three rhetorical appeals identified by Aristotle. The other two appeals are logos
(logic) and pathos (emotion). In persuasive writing, 'ethos' is all about your credibility as an author.
Ethos comes in two forms. There is extrinsic ethos, the authority, education and experience of speaker or author
and intrinsic ethos, the way the speaker goes about the act of persuading (skilled or unskilled with language and
terminology).
Rhetorical Appeals and Ethos
Rhetoric is language that's designed to persuade people. Politicians use it all the time.
They pick certain details about themselves to share with the public, to persuade voters. If
a politician says he wants to fight for farmers and he's a farmer himself, then his ethos
increases. A farmer stands a better chance of persuading farmers, than say, a stockbroker
would. Of course, he would have to include logos and patho' in his speeches so farmers
could make a sensible choice, but being a farmer gives this politician a degree of credibility.
Using Your Ethos
When you're writing arguments for a persuasive essay, your ethos can be projected in a variety of ways. Let's say
your thesis is that online learning is the best way for working students to learn.
Like the farmer, if you'd taken classes online, you'd draw from this experience when you write your arguments.
Because of this experience, you would be more convincing than someone who'd never taken a class online. Your
ethos is working for you! If you had also been a working student and could offer solid comparisons based on
your experiences, you would have increased your ethos (credibility) even more.
Fairness is Ethos
Ethos is also about the sense of honesty or morality you project. Be sure to avoid any tendency to exaggerate
your claims, or show bias. For example, you might remark that classroom learning is a boring way of learning,
compared to online classes. Even if you believe it, your goal is to persuade your reader, not air your personal
opinions at your goal's expense. Your reader will also sense your bias and be less drawn to your arguments. Try
to stay fair.
Counter Arguments
Introducing counter arguments, or other points of view is another way to show fairness. But be careful; a
willingness to discuss them is good but being excessively critical of opposing arguments weakens your
credibility. Openly discussing the most obvious and rational opposition to your arguments (as opposed to
choosing the weird outliers), and then refuting them in the spirit of good will (they have a point!) shows your
readers that you're a balanced thinker. This increases your credibility and ethos.
Outside Sources and Skilled Presentation
Your credibility is increased by your own authority on the subject you're writing about, and also by the authority
of sources you introduce to support your point of view. For example, on the topic of online courses, you might
find a researcher who's completed a study on working college students. Presenting well-organized and skillfully
written work increases your credibility, also. You will undermine your authority if you submit work that hasn't
been thoroughly proofread for errors in grammar and spelling, or if you've used professional terms incorrectly.
What is Logos?
Logos is one of the three 'appeals' of persuasive writing and speaking. When you use logos, you're persuading
with logic based on evidence, and your skills of reason. The other two appeals are 'pathos' (emotion) and 'ethos'
(credibility). To effectively persuade, it's best to use all three appeals.
Begin With a Claim
A persuasive essay or speech should stake out a claim that invites debate. See the following examples:
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'Many video games contain violence.' This is a weak thesis statement, because few people would challenge this
position.
'Violence in video games is a concern to many parents.' This is also a weak thesis statement, because few if any
would disagree with the claim.
'The high level of violence in video games and other media must be reduced if we want to decrease the bullying
in our schools.' This is a debatable claim that states a clear connection between violence and bullying. Your
readers will be eager to see if you can prove it!
Use Relevant Evidence
The effective use of logos requires evidence and data that directly supports your claim. For example, the thesis
statement above makes the claim that there's a clear link between violent video games and bullying.To support
this claim you would search library databases for articles in peer-reviewed journals that support the claim. If you
aren't able to find relevant evidence then your claim might not be true. Avoid using evidence that offers
conflicting viewpoints, since your goal is persuade and not just generally cover the topic.
Use Facts Sparingly
Facts are critical to a logical appeal, but avoid dropping a load of facts into your essay for your reader to wade
through. Weaving evidence into your ideas and arguments will help them follow your ideas.
For example, if you begin with a topic sentence stating how games in the past were less violent, follow up with
some details about that. Were the scenes simply less graphic? Were the sound effects limited? You could then
add facts or a statistic that suggest, for example, a correlation between the rise in aggression in schools and the
graphic violence of the games, or a poll that shows teens themselves identify a connection. Include a sentence
that draws a logical conclusion based on the facts.
Reasoning
Appealing to your audience with logic involves the use of reasoning, which can be inductive and deductive.
When you use inductive reasoning, you're taking specific facts and drawing general conclusions, but there has to
be enough evidence to support the reasoning. If you say for example that students in one school vowed to stop
playing video games for one month, and incidents of bullying stopped in that school (if true), you could draw a
general conclusion that this approach might succeed in other schools.
When you use deductive reasoning, you begin with the general conclusion and apply it to something specific.
For example, you might say that since it's true that in every school where violent video games have been
discouraged or banned there have been fewer instances of bullying, it follows that bullying will be reduced in
your school if you ban violent video games.
Avoiding Fallacies
Make sure that your reasoning is solid. Review each of your arguments and make sure you're avoiding fallacies,
or faulty logic. A common fallacy is the 'Straw Man' fallacy, which misleads by ignoring someone's true
position. For example:
If your students don't support having violent video games banned then they must be bullies themselves.
Conclusion
If you want to effectively persuade, you'll need to use logos, or logic. Begin with a good thesis statement and
find research that directly supports your position. Draw solid conclusions based on the evidence. When you
combine logos, pathos (emotion) and ethos (credibility), you will be the most persuasive.