FOREST OF RHETORIC

1. What are three forms of persuasive rhetoric?

Logos, Pathos, and Ethos

2. How would one define these devices?

Logos - the appeal to reason.

EX: When Descartes said, "I think; therefore, I am," his statement reflected in its pure concision and simple logical arrangment the kind of thought and being he believed to be most real. He did not claim, as Pascal would later do, that our being has as much to do with feeling as it does thinking. Descartes here equates pure rationality and pure being, persuading us of the accuracy of this equation by the simplicity of his statement. There is no room for the clouds of emotion in this straightforward formula; it makes a purely logical appeal.

Pathos - the appeal to emotion.

EX: Antony, addressing the crowd after Caesar's murder in Shakespeare's play, manages to stir them up to anger against the conspirators by drawing upon their pity. He does this by calling their attention to each of Caesar's dagger wounds, accomplishing this pathetic appeal through vivid descriptions combined with allusions to the betrayal of friendship made by Brutus, who made "the most unkindest cut of all":

Ethos - the persuasive appeal of one's character.

EX: In Cicero's speech defending the poet Archias, he begins his speech by referring to his own expertise in oratory, for which he was famous in Rome. While lacking modesty, this tactic still established his ethos because the audience was forced to acknowledge that Cicero's public service gave him a certain right to speak, and his success in oratory gave him special authority to speak about another author. In effect, his entire speech is an attempt to increase the respectability of the ethos of literature, largely accomplished by tying it to Cicero's own, already established, public character.

3. What is the importance of these rhetorical devices?

The purpose of this rhetoric is to add depth and credibility to your writing to provide persuasion.

4. How wide spread are these rhetorical devices?

These devices should be used in every aspect of one's writing.