Modes of Persuasion

Ethos is a technique for persuading an audience by relying on the authority or credibility of the persuader. An example of this is John Kasich's 2016 Ohio primary victory speech. 

"And you know, ladies and gentlemen, my whole life has been about trying to create a climate of opportunity for people.

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You know, as my father carried that mail on his back and his after was a coal miner, and you know, I was just told by my cousin—I didn't realize this—that my mother, one of four [children], was the only one to graduate from high school. The other three barely made it out of the eighth grade because they were poor.

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And you know, as I've traveled the country and I look into your eyes... You want to believe that your children are going to have ultimately a better America than what we got from our mothers and fathers. That's the great American legacy: that our kids will be better than we are. 

- In this speech, Kasich intends to emphasize that he is "just an ordinary American" and that he will advocate for other hardworking  Americans by stating that he comes from a humble background.

Pathos is a persuasive speech technique that appeals to the audience's emotions. Pathos is a method of persuasion that involves evoking an emotional response from the audience. When trying to persuade an audience, you can use pathos by appealing to their hopes and dreams or appealing to their emotions. An example of this is Ronald Reagan's 1987 "Tear Down This Wall" speech.

"Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe...Yet it is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly...Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar...

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

-- By referring to the Wall as a "scar", Reagan evokes outrage from his audience. "Every man is a Berliner", he tells the audience, assuring Germans that the rest of the world is concerned about the city's issues. Finally, he exclaims and rejuvenates the audience by daring Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev to "bring down this wall!".  

Logos is another type of technique that convinces an audience by using logic and reason. Logos is a useful tool of persuasion because your audience is more likely to be persuaded if you can 'prove' your argument through logic and facts. This can be done using statistics, facts, and charts. An example of this is from a speech of Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union Address.

"But tonight, we turn the page. Tonight, after a breakthrough year for America, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. Our unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the financial crisis. More of our kids are graduating than ever before. More of our people are insured than ever before. And we are as free from the grip of foreign oil as we’ve been in almost 30 years."

- In this example, Obama talks about historical precedent and economic data from previous years to support his claim that the country's economy is in a good shape. 

1) What are we doing? We are learning about Pathos, Ethos, and Logos by finding their definition as well as some of their examples.

2) Why are we doing it? So we have an idea where to use them in our upcoming persuasive writing

3) What questions do I have? Nothing in particular.