Rhetorical appeals Notes

What Are Rhetorical Appeals?

1. When you analyze rhetorical appeals, you're asking:
   1. Ethos: Why should I trust this speaker, writer, or brand?
   2. Pathos: What emotions are they trying to trigger, and why?
   3. Logos: What reasons or evidence are they using, and does it hold up?
2. Strong persuasive texts usually combine all three.

How Can Ethos Build Trust And Authority?

1. Ethos answers the audience's silent question: "Why should I believe you?"
2. A text can build ethos by presenting the speaker as reliable, knowledgeable, fair, or morally trustworthy.

Common ways texts create ethos

1. Ethos can be built through:
   1. Expertise (qualifications, experience, professional roles)
   2. Reputation (awards, testimonials, endorsements)
   3. Confidence and control in tone (clear, measured language)
   4. Fair-mindedness (acknowledging complexity, addressing counterarguments)
   5. Shared values (showing the speaker is "one of us")
2. In persuasive writing, ethos is often created even when it is not directly stated.

Ethos and bias

1. Bias isn't always obvious.
2. Some texts hide bias by presenting one viewpoint as if it is simply common sense.
3. If a writer avoids showing uncertainty, or ignores alternative perspectives, the text may gain ethos with some audiences, but at the cost of fairness.

How Does Pathos Shape Feelings To Shape Decisions?

1. Pathos works because people rarely make decisions using logic alone.
2. Advertisers and speakers often try to create a mood (a targeted emotional atmosphere), such as excitement, fear, hope, guilt, pride, or nostalgia.

Pathos through imagery and emotive language

1. Speeches frequently use imagery (language that creates mental pictures) and emotive language (words with strong emotional associations).
2. In famous political speeches, vivid metaphors can make suffering, injustice, or hope feel immediate and personal.
3. A helpful way to spot loaded language is to compare near-synonyms:
   1. "slender" versus "skinny"
   2. "assertive" versus "pushy"
   3. "youthful" versus "immature"
4. The basic idea is similar, but the emotional coloring changes the judgement you are encouraged to make.

Euphemism: softening reality

1. Euphemisms can be harmless (polite language around difficult topics), but they can also be used to hide or soften reality.
2. If a text uses euphemisms, ask what might be obscured. What would the situation sound like in plain, direct language?

Pathos in advertising: mood, theme, setting

1. Advertisements often build pathos through:
   1. Mood: creating an emotional state (relaxed, adventurous, luxurious)
   2. Theme: a central idea such as "freedom," "family," or "time"
   3. Setting: choosing locations and visuals that help the audience imagine themselves there

How Does Logos Use Reasoning, Evidence, And Structure?

1. Logos is about the strength of the argument. A text uses logos when it offers:
   1. Facts that can be checked
   2. Statistics (numbers, percentages, comparisons)
   3. Cause-and-effect reasoning (if X happens, then Y follows)
   4. Examples and explanations
   5. Logical structure (claims supported by reasons)
2. However, logos can be performed rather than truly delivered.
3. A speech may sound logical while using weak evidence or unverifiable claims.

Stating opinion as fact undermines logos

1. A common persuasive move is presenting speculation as though it is proven.
2. If a speaker confidently states what "must have happened" without evidence, the statement may feel like fact to the audience, especially if it is delivered with authority.
3. When analyzing bias, one crucial skill is distinguishing between what can be checked and what is being assumed.
4. In persuasive speeches, claims framed as facts can discourage disagreement, because "facts" are harder to argue with than opinions.

How Do Appeals Combine To Create Bias And "Objectivity"?

1. Persuasive texts often mix appeals in ways that strengthen bias:
   1. Pathos can make the audience feel urgency, anger, or hope, which lowers their resistance to weak reasoning.
   2. Ethos can make audiences accept claims because the source appears trustworthy.
   3. Logos can give the message an "objective" shape, even when the evidence is selective.
2. Some persuasive texts are designed to look balanced while still pushing a viewpoint.
3. They may:
   1. Use formal tone and "neutral" vocabulary (ethos)
   2. Include some data but omit context (logos)
   3. Avoid openly emotional language while still implying value judgements (subtle pathos)

How Can You Analyze Rhetorical Appeals?

1. Identify the purpose and audience. What action or belief is the text pushing? Who is it targeting?
2. Track ethos, pathos, logos separately. Find at least one strong example of each (even if one is minimal).
3. Zoom in on language choices. Look for loaded language, euphemism, and imagery.
4. Test the logos. Which claims are verifiable facts? Which are opinions presented as facts?
5. Judge the overall effect. How do the appeals work together to influence the audience?