In my junior year of highschool, I took an english class where the main focus was rhetorical analysis and persuasive essays. In that class rhetoric was described as writing in a persuasive manner, through the use of logic, emotion, or credibility.
Logic, commonly called logos, uses logic and reason to attempt to make a viable argument or point. Typically, authors or speakers will use facts, such as data from studies and research. Alternatively, they could also break something down to lead an audience to a desired answer or use an allegory to try and show an audience a desired outcome. For example, a speaker may say something about the strength of the U.S. economy, and back it up with a statistic.
Emotion, commonly called pathos, attempts to use the emotion of an audience to sway their opinion. There are many ways to do this, from as simple as a Made in America sticker appealing to our sense of patriotism, to evoking pity and sorrow when talking about the Australian wildfires. This is mainly how propaganda works. Propaganda, such as “Uncle Sam Wants you for the U.S. Army,” works by appealing to one’s sense of patriotism, and Rosie the Riveter by appealing to women wanting to be empowered in a workplace.
Finally, Credibility, commonly called ethos, tries to use the merits of the author or speaker, typically something like their career or their education, to give weight to what they have to say. A speaker may preface what they are about to say by giving a background of their life, education, or career, in order to support their arguments and back them up. Anyone can start to speak about anything, but without some sort of credibility in that area, people might not believe them. For example, doctors have degrees from their medical schools saying that they are capable of examining a patient accurately. People would probably rather go to a licensed doctor than only google their symptoms and believe what the internet says you have because the doctor’s degree says that they are credible. On top of this, ethos can also extend to the data that you are using, and if that is credible. Is it coming from a university study or did you hear someone say it on the street? If your facts cannot be supported, they are not facts and lose their weight.
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