Ethos Logos Pathos

Rhetoric is the technique that speakers, writers, artists, filmmakers use to convince their audience to agree with their point of view.

The art of rhetoric has its roots in ancient Greece. The philosopher Aristotle wrote a text called The Art of Rhetoric which outlined rules how one engaging in rhetoric should behave. Aristotle argued one must use rhetoric “by all means of persuasion” to reach their message to their audience.

 Argument: any text or utterance that expresses a point of view. The purpose is to lead an audience to some form of the truth.  Persuasion: change an audience’s point of view or to move an audience to action.

EthosPathos Text Logos A more specific way Aristotle suggested we analyze rhetoric is looking at Ethos, Pathos, Logos, also known as the Rhetorical Triangle.

 Aristotle defined Ethos as an appeal to character that demonstrates a speaker is trustworthy (ie: street cred).  A speaker evoking ethos can be a writer, orator, painter, scientist, graphic novelists, songwriter, blogger, etc.

 Aristotle defined Pathos as a way a speaker engages the audience to illicit an emotional response, be it nostalgia, anger, compassion, etc.  Evoking Pathos is important for a speaker to establish a bond between himself and his audience.

Aristotle defined Logos as an argument based on evidence such as facts, statistics, testimonies, and those based on logical reasoning and common sense. Appealing to Logos is important because it demonstrates a speakers expertise on a subject by providing evidence to support her claim.