1. Unit 2: Pathos
I can identify and explain how an author’s use of pathos makes an author’s claims more convincing.
RI.11.6 – Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how the style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.

2. Agenda MUGShot Bell Ringer Pathos Review
Language Use
Anecdotes
Practice with Khizr Khan’s speech at the DNC
Formative Assessment: MLK Jr’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”

3. Pathos Appeals to the audience’s emotions
May make reader/listener feel angry, outraged, sad, scared, inspired, motivated, etc.
Strategies that create pathos:
Strategic Language Use
Includes imagery, connotative diction, and figurative language
Anecdotes/personal stories and experiences
These connect to the audience through feelings of sympathy
Note: Speakers must be careful not to alienate their audience by making them feel too uncomfortable or even offended.

4. Using Language Strategically to create emotion
Author’s use language in order to create emotions in their audience.
Imagery utilizes vivid details and sensory words.
Figurative Language uses words to convey a meaning that is different than the literal meaning of the words
Diction is the author’s word choice. In order to create emotion in their audience, author’s choose words with strong connotations.
Ex. “With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day” - MLK

5. Using Anecdotes to Create Emotion
Writers often use anecdotes to create an emotional appeal and support the author’s claim.
An Anecdote is a brief story in which the author relates a personal experience or an experience of someone/something which he/she is familiar with.
Anecdotes create an emotional connection with the audience by sharing the thoughts and feelings of the speaker.
Ex. “But I want to tell you that a very good friend of mine, Victor Goodman, a prominent member of the Jewish community in Ohio, asked me to take him over to look at that memorial before it was unveiled. We walked over behind the tarp. I had my arm around his shoulder. And we read the inscription at the memorial together. And I will never forget, when he finished reading it, he buried his head in my chest and wept. And we wept together. And he looked at me and said, John, thank you for what you have done here. This will exist as long as the State of Ohio exists.” – John Kasich, speaking about the Holocaust Museum in Columbus, Ohio.

6. Using Anecdotes in your own Arguments
Anecdotes CAN be effective as evidence to support an argument, but we need to be careful not to OVER-rely on it.
If this happens, someone can accuse you of using anecdotal evidence
This usually carries a negative connotation of not having enough FACTS to support the claim.
“So, OK, like right now, for example, the Haitians need to come to America. But some people are all, "What about the strain on our resources? But it's like when I had this garden party for my father's birthday, right? I said R.S.V.P. because it was a sit-down dinner. But people came that, like, did not R.S.V.P. So I was, like, totally buggin'. I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, squish in extra place settings; but by the end of the day it was, like, the more the merrier! And so, if the government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, we could certainly party with the Haitians.” – Cher, Clueless

7. Practice: Khizr Khan’s speech at the DNC
convention-khizr-khan-father-of-us-muslim-soldier-entire-speech- sot.cnn
Identify the speaker’s argument.
Identify the use of pathos:
Strong Language
Imagery, Connotative Diction, and Figurative Language
Anecdotes
Explain how the use of pathos strengthens the speaker’s argument.

8. Formative Assessment
Step 1: As you read, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” annotate the text for the use of language.
Be sure to look for examples of imagery, connotative diction, and figurative language.
Step 2: Identify MLK Jr’s overall argument
Step 3: Analyze the MLK Jr’s use of pathos to develop his overall argument