The Art of Rhetoric: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

Rhetoric (n) - the art of speaking or writing effectively. (Webster's Dictionary) 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 Pathos

ETHOS Ethos is appeal based on the character of the speaker, product, or writer. An ethos-driven document relies on the reputation of the author. One question to ask yourself while looking at a source to see if it has ethos is “Why can I trust this source?”

LOGOS Logos is appeal based on logic or reason. Often, you will see facts, figures, statistics, and other sources being used to prove the point of the source. Documents distributed by companies or corporations are logos-driven. Scholarly documents are also often logos-driven.

PATHOS Pathos is appeal based on emotion. Advertisements tend to be very pathos-driven. Remember that pathos can be any emotion evoked by the source. These emotions can range depending on the audience.

LAST NOTES ABOUT RHETORIC An effective source would incorporate all three forms of rhetoric. These three forms of rhetoric are often found together. For example, very rarely do you find a source that only uses ethos. However, generally one form may stand out to the audience a bit more. In this case, we would say the source is more heavily driven by one form of rhetoric. For example, the ProActiv ads use all three forms of rhetoric; however, many would argue that they are much more heavily ethos driven due to the celebrities, testimonials, etc.