An author’s purpose is to make their readers feel something or some kind of way by conveying emotions, ideas, and thoughts. This is achieved by utilizing three different appeals- pathos, ethos, and logos- in order to create a cohesive story or argument. Independently, each appeal is weak and does not make for a very convincing story or argument, but when used in unison all three are extremely effective and complement each other well. When taking into account Malcom X’s speech, The Ballot or the Bullet, each line contains a separate appeal but often one line may be considered as multiple appeals combined. Rhetorically, the use of appeals is what makes this speech so successful and persuasive to X’s intended audience. Having credibility …show more content…
Logos, the most important of all appeals, provides a logic to an argument by providing “reason an evidence to support claims” (Lunsford et al). The entire seventh and eighth paragraphs of The Ballot or the Bullet is an appeal to logic. X explains how the fight for civil rights holds no candle to the fight for human rights. Civil rights are unique to the US and cannot be fought for by anyone other than Americans, because outsiders have no say in how the US government works or what rights are bestowed (X 2). However, all humans my fight for and defend human rights. The United Nations for example, has an entire General Assembly committee that’s sole purpose if is to discus and protect human rights issues (X 2). X also goes onto demonstrate how issues regarding African, Hungary, Asia, and Latin American have all been brought before the UN to be debated upon and resolves, but how there hasn’t ever been an incident where a problem specifically about Negros brought to the UN (X 2). These scenarios don’t sound very logical, the world cares about everyone but the Negro community? No, the world doesn’t know about issues happening in the US with not only segregation, but white hypocrisy (X 2). X shows Americans are always so busy worrying about civil rights and changing them and protecting them, when in reality …show more content…
A successful author can incorporate aspects into his/her writings that are relatable and make the reader feel something. Pathos is an emotional appeal that “stirs feelings and often invoke values that the audience is assumed to hold” (Lunsford et al) Concerning emotions, the entire speech is meant to make the reader feel something, whether it be angry, empowered, or outraged, and while ethos is the last appeal Malcom X uses to convey his message, and in paragraph three a major usage is found. X uses a metaphor of dining to compare eating to being an American (X 1). Malcom X introduces that idea that just because a person is invited into an event, doesn’t mean they are going to be included into the conversation (X 1). “I’m not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner, unless you eat some of what’s on that plate” (X 1). Through this, the readers morals are put into play. If the reader put themselves at the table and gave food to someone but wouldn’t let them eat it, that would be extremely rude, and the person they gave the food to would believe the reader has bad morals and
Rhetorical Analysis of David Brook’s “People Like Us” The goal of argumentative writing implies the fact of persuading an audience that an idea is valid, or maybe more valid than somebody else’s. With the idea of making his argument successful, and depending on which topic is being established, the author uses different strategies which Aristoteles defined as “Greek Appeals”. Pathos, the first appeal, generates emotions in the reader, and it may have the power of influencing what he believes. Ethos, or ethical appeals, convince the reader by making him believe in the author’s credibility.
Doctors are infamous for their unreadable writing; Richard Selzer is not one of those doctors. A talented surgeon, Selzer has garnered critical acclaim for his captivating operating room tales, and rightfully so. A perfect exhibition of this is The Knife, a detailed illustration of a surgery. What may seem like an uninteresting event is made mesmerizing by Selzer’s magnificent account of the human body and the meticulousness that goes into repairing it. The rhetorical appeals, tone, and figurative language that Selzer uses throughout The Knife provide the reader with a vivid description of the sacred process of surgery.
Rhetorical Analysis: “Why McDonald’s Fries Taste So Good” When it comes to writing, the hardest part is getting the audience interested in what you have to say. Four techniques writers use to attract readers are the use of ethos, logos, pathos and Kairos in their text. Ethos is a method used to gain trust in the author. Logos uses facts and statistics to add credibility to the author. Pathos is used in stories or experiences to connect the readers emotionally to the text.
No Nickels or Dimes To Spare In the book, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich writes the story, “Serving in Florida.” She describes her experience living as an undercover waitress when in reality she’s a journalist for culture and politics with a doctorate in biology. Ehrenreich experiences trying to survive on multiple low income jobs to understand what it is like to be in their shoes instead of being apart of the higher middle class.
“Our Blind Spot about Guns” Rhetorical Analysis Essay American Journalist, Nicholas Kristof, in his essay, “Our Blind Spot about Guns”, addresses that if only guns were regulated and controlled like cars, there would be less fatalities. Kristof’s purpose is to emphasize how much safer cars are now than in the past, while guns do not have the same precautions. He constructs a compelling tone in order to convince the reader that the government should take more control on the safety of guns and who purchases them. Kristof builds credibility by successfully exerting emotional appeals on the audience, citing plausible statistics, and discussing what could possibly be done to prevent gun fatalities. Kristof begins his essay by discussing how automobile
1. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are important aspects in Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. The meaning behind Ethos is to appeal to ethics, which means convincing readers of the author’s credibility, meanwhile Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and is used in literature to convince readers of an argument by getting their emotions involved. Last but not least, Logos is the appeal to logic and is used to persuade readers using a force of reason. These terms are important in MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail because the foundation of the letter is built upon ideas of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
The writers accurately depict ethos because they represent multiple viewpoints and they have connected themselves to the topic. Pathos is used in the document because they expressed their emotions for
As President Kennedy enters office he gives an speech on the celebration of freedom; symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning of a new nation. Kennedy rises for the opportunity for persuasion after his inauguration has been addressed and he scarcely beats nixon. President Kennedy uses his authority for persuasion to bring the american people together under his power. The president uses the experience of war,poverty,and the desire for peace to develop an emotional appeal between the U.S and the world population. In this speech Kennedy uses ethos,pathos,logos,as well as other rhetorical devices to convince the audience.
There are many writers that affect our emotions or that make us think that his or her statements are reasonable, whether they are authors of books, or script writers for a movie or a play. In Morgan Spurlock’s film, Supersize Me, he uses three common rhetorical strategies: ethos, pathos, and logos. He uses all three effectively, however pathos has the greatest effect out of all three rhetorical strategies. Spurlock uses ethos, or ethical appeal, in his film.
Past leaders such as Andrew Jackson, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Marc Antony are evidence that society does not reward morality and good character in leadership. Society is drawn to leaders that have good rhetoric, propaganda, and charismatic personalities, and society supports them despite their immorality. Society is concerned about stability more than the morality of their leaders and will support immoral leaders in times of crisis to provide stability. In history there have been multiple leaders that have used rhetoric, propaganda and charismatic personalities to gain power, despite their morals.
Most of the time he creates pathos by evoking feelings of pride, rage, and anger. Powerful language and vocabulary is used to bring out an emotional outcry and agreement from his audience. The pathos is so well done that even one who listens to the speech decades later can still feel the power in Malcolm’s words. He demonstrates pathos in this quote: “ They don't have second-class citizenship in any other government on this Earth. They just have slaves and people who are free!
The use of ethos, pathos, and logos in any type of writing or speaking can create a commanding and arresting effect on the reader/listener.
Ethos, logos, and pathos are forms of the rhetorical choices the author used to further convey her argument to her audience. Her use of ethos is noted in the beginning of the nonfiction piece, where she discusses her career as an author and newspaper writer; she lists her credentials and gives the readers information about her life. Each of the footnotes Ehrenreich inscribed at the bottoms of pages in the book serves as a use of logos; they are statistics and historical records providing data about companies, labor laws, and other information pertinent to previous passages. Pathos involves the author appeals to the audience’s emotions, and Ehrenreich achieves this when describing her co-worker's lives. They have limited time with family and friends due to being occupied full time by their
Imagine living in a world of segregation - constantly judged by color of one’s skin and not being permitted to associate with the “superior” race. From slavery to discrimination, African-Americans experienced this horror in daily life since the beginning of their existence. Due to the fear of severe punishment, blacks were scared to fight for equality; however, on April 3, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio, one brave soul finally did. His name was Malcolm Little (known as Malcolm X), a widely acknowledged human rights activist. Although he supported black equality, he attacked the problem unlike others such as Martin Luther King Jr. did.
Writers do their job because they want to express their ideas to make an impact on the readers. Sometimes they want to convince their audience through persuasion. They can do it using different rhetorical elements such as logos, ethos, and pathos. These are Greek words that mean logic, character, and emotion consecutively.