Pathos Ethos Logos Ethos Ethics Credibility and Authority

Pathos Ethos Logos

Ethos – Ethics, Credibility, and Authority § Ethos is a means of convincing an audience of the reliable character or credibility of the speaker/writer, or the credibility of the argument. The writer (or character) presents him or herself to the reader as credible, trustworthy, honest, and ethical.

Pathos - Emotions § Pathos is the way of creating a persuasive argument by evoking an emotional response in the audience/reader. § Uses vivid, emotional language and numerous sensory details. § You can use pathos when trying to persuade, by appealing to an audience’s hopes and dreams, playing on their fears or worries, or appealing to their particular beliefs or ideals. EFFECT: Evokes an emotional response

Logos - Logic Logos is an appeal to logic and reason by using facts and evidence. § Very straightforward, and not “fluff”. § It has a very scientific, factual approach. § If you can ‘prove’ an argument, you can persuade the reader. § This can also include analogies / comparisons EFFECT: Evokes a cognitive, rational response

When you put it all together… When an author uses a combination of these three elements in persuasive writing, it will appeal to the audience’s emotions, sense of reasoning, and belief in you (the character); therefore, the writing will be more convincing.

Example 1 “’She’s nothing to me; she shouldn’t have had books. It was her responsibility, she should’ve thought of that. I hate her. She’s got you going and next thing you know we’ll be out, no house, no job, nothing. ’” “’You weren’t there, you didn’t see, ’ he said. ”

Example 1 - Pathos “’She’s nothing to me; she shouldn’t have had books. It was her responsibility, she should’ve thought of that. I hate her. She’s got you going and next thing you know we’ll be out, no house, no job, nothing. ’” “’You weren’t there, you didn’t see, ’ he said. ”

Example 2 “I wanted to talk to you. ” He paused. “You took all the pills in your bottle last night. ” “Oh, I wouldn’t do that, ” she said, surprised. “The bottle was empty. ” “I wouldn’t do a thing like that. Why would I do a thing like that? ” she said. “Maybe you took two pills and forgot and took two more, and forgot again and took two more, and were do dopey you kept right on until you had thirty or forty of them in you. ”

Example 2 - Logos “I wanted to talk to you. ” He paused. “You took all the pills in your bottle last night. ” “Oh, I wouldn’t do that, ” she said, surprised. “The bottle was empty. ” “I wouldn’t do a thing like that. Why would I do a thing like that? ” she said. “Maybe you took two pills and forgot and took two more, and forgot again and took two more, and were so dopey you kept right on until you had thirty or forty of them in you. ”

Example 3 The scene where the old lady decided to burn in her home with her books, she says the following: “We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out. ” Beatty rubbed his chin, “A man named Latimer said that to a man named Nicholas Ridley, as they were being burnt alive at Oxford, for heresy, on October 16, 1555. ”

Example 3 - Logos “We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out. ” Beatty rubbed his chin, “A man named Latimer said that to a man named Nicholas Ridley, as they were being burnt alive at Oxford, for heresy, on October 16, 1555. ”

Example 4 “Once –” Montag hesitates, then continues, “once you must have loved books very much. ” “Touché!” the Fire Chief responds. . The man who loved books, no, the boy who was wild for the, insane for them, who climbed stacks like a chimpanzee gone made for them. I ate them like salad, books were my sandwich for lunch, my tiffin and dinner, and midnight snack. I tore out the pages, ate them with salt, doused them with relish, gnawed on the bindings, turned the chapters with my tongue! Books by the dozen, the score, and the billion. I carried so many home I was hunchbacked for years. Philosophy, art history, politics, social science, the poem, the essay, the grandiose play, you name ‘em, I ate ‘em. And then. . . ” The Fire Chief’s voice fades.

Example 4 - Ethos “Once –” Montag hesitates, then continues, “once you must have loved books very much. ” “Touché!” the Fire Chief responds. . The man who loved books, no, the boy who was wild for the, insane for them, who climbed stacks like a chimpanzee gone made for them. I ate them like salad, books were my sandwich for lunch, my tiffin and dinner, and midnight snack. I tore out the pages, ate them with salt, doused them with relish, gnawed on the bindings, turned the chapters with my tongue! Books by the dozen, the score, and the billion. I carried so many home I was hunchbacked for years. Philosophy, art history, politics, social science, the poem, the essay, the grandiose play, you name ‘em, I ate ‘em. And then. . . ” The Fire Chief’s voice fades. This extensive experience and familiarity with books makes him an expert to speak of the subject of the worth of books.

Example 5 “’Go home. ’ Montag fixed his eyes upon her, quietly. ‘Go home and think your first husband divorced and your second husband killed in a jet and your third husband blowing his brains out, go home and think of the dozen abortions you’ve had, go home and think of that and your damn Caesarean sections, too, and you children who hate your guts! Go home and think how it all happened and what did you ever do to stop it? Go home, go home, ’ he yelled. ‘Before I knock you down and kick you out the door!’”

Example 5 - Pathos “’Go home. ’ Montag fixed his eyes upon her, quietly. ‘Go home and think your first husband divorced and your second husband killed in a jet and your third husband blowing his brains out, go home and think of the dozen abortions you’ve had, go home and think of that and your damn Caesarean sections, too, and you children who hate your guts! Go home and think how it all happened and what did you ever do to stop it? Go home, go home, ’ he yelled. ‘Before I knock you down and kick you out the door!’”

Example 6 “And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy. Any man who can, nowadays, is happier than any man who tries to slide rule, measure, and equate the universe, which just won’t be measured or equated without make man feel bestial and lonely. I know, I’ve tried it; to hell with it. ”

Example 6 - Ethos “And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy. Any man who can, nowadays, is happier than any man who tries to slide rule, measure, and equate the universe, which just won’t be measured or equated without make man feel bestial and lonely. I know, I’ve tried it; to hell with it. ”

Example 7 “That woman, the other night, Millie, you weren’t there. You didn’t see her face. And Clarisse. You never talked to her. I talked to her. And men like Beatty are afraid of her. I can’t understand it. Why should they be so afraid of someone like her? But I kept putting her alongside the firemen in the House last night, and I suddenly realized I didn’t like them at all, and I didn’t like myself at all any more. ”

Example 7 - Ethos, Pathos, and Logos “That woman, the other night, Millie, you weren’t there. You didn’t see her face. And Clarisse. You never talked to her. I talked to her. And men like Beatty are afraid of her. I can’t understand it. Why should they be so afraid of someone like her? But I kept putting her alongside the firemen in the House last night, and I suddenly realized I didn’t like them at all, and I didn’t like myself at all any more. ”

Persuasion and Fahrenheit 451

RHETORICAL DEVICES IN PERSUASION - Arguments Appeals: §to logic through reasoning (Logos) §through research, evidence (Logos) §Analogy through comparison (Logos) §to emotion (Pathos) §to ethical arguments/beliefs (Ethos) §through personal anecdotes / stories (Ethos or Pathos)

Responding in Writing Directions: §Write the argument being used (state as a claim) §Find page number(s) §Cite corresponding quotation that answers question