Aristotle's Persuasive Appeals - Logos, Ethos, and Pathos

Who was Aristotle? Greek Philosopher 384-322 B.C. His father was a physician to the King of Macedonia—which greatly influenced his life Student of Plato- studied under him for 20 years.

A Student and a Teacher Began his own school tutored famous leaders such as Alexander the Great Spent his entire life studying, teaching and writing Wrote books on many subjects including: Physics, poetry, zoology, ethics, government, rhetoric, biology, logic

Rhetoric Became known as the Father of Rhetoric (the art of persuasion) Noticed people used three types of arguments when convincing others-labelled theses the “3 Proofs of Persuasion.” Believed that like a three-legged stool, an argument needed to use all three “proofs of persuasion” to successfully stand.

What are Aristotle's 3 Proofs of Persuasion? LOGOS – appeals to common sense ETHOS – appeals to morality PATHOS – appeals to feelings

LOGOS - Techniques Analogies – historical or literary Common sense reasons Definitions Examples from real life Expert advice Factual Data Personal anecdotes Quotations Scientific facts or theories Statistics

ETHOS - Techniques Sincerity and fair mindedness Moral and ethical likeability Professional and respectful tone Reference to professional accomplishments or vast knowledge/wisdom

PATHOS - Techniques Testimonials Bandwagon effect – to be like others Emotional examples (fictitious or real)‏ Emotional tone (humor, sarcasm, guilt, romance)‏ Emotionally loaded language Figurative language (similes, metaphors, idioms)‏ Vivid descriptions/Imagery

How might YOU convince your parents to let you stay up late to watch a TV show?

Logos 99% of the time I get enough sleep on school nights, so one night of staying up late won't affect me. I usually get plenty of sleep. Please let me stay up tonight!

Ethos I'm a responsible kid, I know that if I stay up late I'll still have to be attentive in my classes tomorrow and get all my schoolwork done. You can count on me. Please let me stay up tonight.

Pathos If I don't watch this show, then all the other kids at school will make fun of me for being a geek and going to bed early. I won't be able to talk about the show with my friends, and I'll become a social outcast. Please let me stay up tonight.

Which technique would work best on your parents? The logos appeal used a statistic and common sense to make it sound reasonable for the student to stay up late one night The ethos appeal used good character to convince the parents that the student is able to handle the responsibility of staying up late The pathos appeal used guilt from social pressure and the bandwagon effect to convince the parents to let the student stay up late

Now You Try! Think about how you might use each of the three appeals to convince your parents/guardians to buy you the latest expensive cell phone. On a piece of paper, write your argument for each appeal.

Examining Advertising Number a piece of paper from 1 to 5. Read the advertising lines on the next slide. Jot down next to each number whether the appeal is an example of logos, ethos, or pathos

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Examining Advertising Logos Pathos Ethos