Enter therhetorical appeals.Rhetoric, the art Essays - Rhetoric

Enter therhetorical appeals.Rhetoric, the art ofpersuasion, is built on making connections between the text, the author, and the reader. If you want to get through to a resistantaudience, you'll need to leverageyourmost convincing claims andevidence,yourown skills and expertise, and what you know aboutyouraudienceandtheirexpectations. These rhetorical appeals are called logos , ethos , and pathos . Image retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org This unit will explain what each appeal is and how to use it effectively in your writing. Logos Logosrefers to thelogical appeal. When a writer developslogos, he or she supports claims with reasons andevidence. The basic essay is a logical structure because it starts with aclaim(also known as athesis statement). Thethesis statementis supported by reasons (akamain points).Main pointsare supported byevidence(such as examples).Logosis the rhetorical appeal that is most convincing to academic audiences.However, other audiences are also impressed by a strong logicalargument. Imagine that you are applying for a promotion atyourcompany. You need to write a cover letter explainingyourqualifications. To establishlogos, you would provide aclaim, supported by reasons, supported byevidence. In this case, youclaimthat you are qualified for theposition. You might write, "I am applying for thepositionof Project Manager because I am highly qualified to do the job well." That's a strongclaim. The hiring manager will probably want to know more, though. What makes you qualified? "My experience and education have prepared me for more responsibility in the company." You gavetwogood reasons that you are qualified. The hiring manager will still probably want to know more: "I have worked for the company for five years and have successfully contributed to many projects. I have also recently completed my bachelor's degree in business." Now the manager knows thatyou'requalified and why. This is the basis of a logical structure to anargument: Ethos Ethosrefers to the ethical appeal. Establishingethosmeans that you present yourself as someone credible and trustworthy. Sometimes, you will come out and explain whyyou'rea credible authority on a subject. Most of the time, however,ethoswill be established through more subtle means such as referring to the work of others, keeping an appropriatetone, using the correctformat, andeditingfor correctness. Everyone has opinions, but not every opinion is equally valid. What makes an opinion valid? Being supported by facts and corroborated by others. Show that you have doneyourhomework on this topic and are knowledgeable by incorporating sources intoyourwork. This might sound a little likelogosagain. Supporting claims with reasons andevidenceimprovesyourethos. Providing clear support foryourideas gets youtworhetorical appealsfor the price of one. What a bargain! Tonealso contributes toyouroverallcredibilityand likeability. Let's think about the cover letter we're writing to our manager to get a promotion at work. Consideryourimpression of the writer of this line: "You have to give me the job because I have worked here for five years without ever being late once. I deserve it." The impression that you have of the writer is the writer'sethos. This line makes the writer soundtoodemanding and maybe a little desperate. Consideryourimpression of the writer of this line: "I have been a hardworking and dependable employee for this company for the past five years." In this line, the writer seems confident and professional.Ethosis inyourtone. Finally,editingis an important part of establishingethos. You know the saying, "don't judge a book byitscover." Well, people do judge books bytheircovers andyour readers judgeyourcredibilitybyyourformatting andgrammar. It's not fair that good ideas often go ignored because of poorediting, butit'sreal. If we turned in a cover letter that was not in business letter format , we would not be taken as seriously. If we misspelled words and blended our sentences together, the manager would be distracted by the errors and lose interest in the content of our message. Consider the following examples: Which would you pull off a stack of cover letters when looking to promote someone? Just at a glance, you can see that the letter in business letterformatlooks more professional. A well-formatted text adds instantcredibilitytoyourmessage. The final consideration when establishingethosiseditingcarefully forgrammarand correctness. Usinggrammarthat is unconventional foryouraudienceandpurpose hurtsyourcredibility. Whenyourgrammardoes not meet the expectations ofyourreader, he or she will viewyourgrammaruse as an error and may think you didn't care enough about the writing to edit for correctness. To avoid seeming hasty and sloppy inyourwriting, runyour text through a spell andgrammarchecker and give it a final read-through before sending or submitting it.In short,ethosrefers tocredibility. Establishyourcredibility by supportingyourideas, using an appropriatetone, andeditingforformatandgrammar. Pathos Pathosrefers to the emotions of theaudience. In establishingpathos, you think aboutyouraudience. How can you drawyourreader intoyourtext and make them