Rhetoric (n) - the art of speaking or writing effectively (Webster's Definition). According to Aristotle, rhetoric is "the ability, in each

particular case, to see the available means of persuasion." He described three main forms of rhetoric: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.

In order to be a more effective writer, you must understand these

three terms. You will better understand their meanings which will make your writing more persuasive.

Ethos- Ethical appeal Logos- Logical appeal Pathos- Emotional appeal

Ethos: the source's credibility, the speaker's/author's authority

We tend to believe people whom we respect. One of the central problems of argumentation is to project an impression to the reader that you are someone worth listening to, in other words making yourself as author into an authority on the subject of the paper, as well as someone who is likable and worthy of respect.

For example, when a trusted doctor gives you advice, you may not understand all of the medical reasoning behind the advice, but you nonetheless follow the directions because you believe that the doctor knows what s/he is talking about. 

For example, professional football players have established their credibility in sports by playing in the NFL. If LT tells us that VIZIO is the best plasma television for watching the game, we believe that he knows what he is talking about.

Logos: the logic used to support a claim (induction and deduction); can also be the facts and statistics used to help support the argument.

Persuading by the use of reasoning. An effective and persuasive reason that

supports your ideas.

Few of our children breath fresh air in their schools, which are being sprayed, inside and out, with millions of pounds of deadly, nervous system destroying pesticides.

What are the details provided in this claim?

We don’t have single-sex toilets at home, and we don’t need them at the office. Then there’s also the small question of efficiency. I see my male colleagues waiting in line to use the men’s room, when the women’s toilet is unoccupied. Which is precisely why Delta Airlines doesn’t label those two bathrooms at the back of the plane as being solely for men and women. It just wouldn’t fly.

The University of Chicago just got the 10 single-use restrooms on campus designated gender neutral. It’s time Yale followed suit. And this is not just an academic problem. There are tens of thousands of single-use toilets at workplaces and public spaces throughout the nation that are wrong-headedly designated for a single-sex. All these single-use toilets should stop discriminating. They should be open to all on a first-come, first-lock basis.

—Ian Ayres, “Looking Out for No. 2”

Idea: Students should be allowed to use cell phones during school hours.

List three supporting facts and/or statistics that will support the aforementioned idea.

Pathos: persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions. Emotional appeals, are used to persuade. Language choice affects the audience's emotional response, and emotional appeal can effectively be used to enhance an argument.

Both words and pictures can achieve this appeal.  In this picture, Haitian children are collecting water.  Children and adults spend all day digging for water because most of Haiti does not have access to water.

How do these advertisements appeal to emotion? Why?

Logos = logicLogos is an

argument based on facts, evidence and reason.

Using logos means appealing to the readers’ sense of what is logical.

Ethos = Ethics / Image

Ethos is an argument based on character.

The writer or speaker presents him or herself to the reader as credible, trustworthy, honest and ethical.

Pathos = argument based on feelings

Using pathos means appealing to readers’ emotions and feelings