Persuasive Appeals

There are three types of persuasive appeals: appeals to reason, appeals to character, and appeals to emotion.

Appeals to reason-- Logos

• These appeals use facts, chains of logical reasons, statistics, authoritative opinions and testimonies, and concrete eveidence.
• Both quantity and quality of appeals to reason can be evaluated by external criteria that are usually agreed on within the discipline.
• Appeals to reason are most affective when linked to an assumption or value held by the audience.
• This is the most common appeal found in academic arguments, particularly in scientific disciplines.

Technical writing is a form in which this kind of argument is made following an explicit form that has also been agreed on in the discipline.

Appeals to character-- Ethos

• This kind of argument appeals to the reputation or character of the writer/speaker.
• It refers to the trustworthiness or credibility of the writer/speaker based on how others perceive his/her character.
• The writer/speaker tries to convey the goodness of his/her character through his/her speaking/writing.

The effectiveness of this kind of argument can be seen is the trust we accord doctors, religious leaders, professors, and so on. Advertisers often try to use this trust by promoting their products or services with ads that feature celebrities that are publicly perceived to be honest and reliable, such as Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts.

A writer/speaker can control his/her ethos by the way the self is presented:

• Point of view: using "I," "we," or "you," can create a connection with reaë/listeners, while avoiding "I" can create the appearance of objectivity.
• Sharing personal information can create a feeling of trust, but can also appear too informal or unprofessional.
• Word choice: assuming the same language as readers, or assuming a more formal tone in order to sound more authoritative and credible.

Appeals to emotion-- Pathos

• The key is the ability of language to evoke feelings or an emotional response in us.
• This type of appeal is often used in political speeches, propaganda, sales pitches, sermons, etc.

  Advertisers often attempt to appeal to your emotions. For example, an ad might try to make you laugh in order to make you feel good about or remember a product. Clothing ads often play on our vanity, our fear of rejection, or desire to succeed. Many types of ads focus on our deisre to find a romantic partner, or become wealthy.

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  People can be convinced logically that they ought to believe or do something, and yet still not follow through. But people made to feel strongly about something will often act on those feelings, even when they are not sure why. Appeeals to emotion are used to move people to action (e.g. making donations to relief efforts in disaster areas, pledging money during telethons). Such appeals can be used ethically and responsibly, but are often subject to abuse.

  A writer/speaker can control pathos in some important ways:

  • Using concrete examples: descriptive details/language. If carefully chosen, these can evoke a powerful emotional response. For example, a single family in crisis vs. statistics of families them. As Mark Twain said, : "Don't say 'the woman screamed,' bring her on and let her scream."
  • Word choice: "cheap" vs. "inexpensive," "bold" vs. "aggressive"
  • Hyperbole or exaggeration: "the part of the century."
  • Understatement: A devastating earth quake "did a bit of damage."
  • Words with emotional connections: "rape" as in "rape of the earth."

    Adapted from materials by Herman Fong