Ethos Pathos Logos

When writing argument essays you strive to persuade people to believe your opinion or argument. Any subjective piece of writing will contain some type of persuasive phrasing that is targeting the audience to see the writer's point of view. But now you may be thinking that the whole purpose of writing an argument essay is to manipulate people in print. That is not the case. We do not want to be manipulated, but persuaded because it makes a difference in the net benefits between the writer and the reader. Even though there is a fine line between persuading and manipulating, the intent behind your desire to change the perception of the reader, the reliability of the evidence and the process to get to your goal, and the net benefits are what make

(Rhetorically Speaking), she states: “rhetoric is the art or study of using language effectively and persuasively” (99). She further emphasizes that a good argument requires logic, evidence, and a persuasive appeal to a target audience. Aristotle’s rhetoric is explained effectively by defining three different appeals: Logos aims to persuade the audience by using objective facts, ethos employs a credible character; lastly, pathos is the emotional appeal. For instance, when writing an argument essay, in order to persuade, you need to back up your claims with evidence, appeal to the audience’s emotions, and assure the reader that you are a reliable character. In “Ten ways to think about writing: Metaphoric Musings for College Writing Students,” E. Shelley Reid states that when the audience changes, your message has to change too. Not all audiences are swayed by the same arguments, and even the same individuals must sometimes be argued with differently for different scenarios. A skilled writer could work an audience into frenzy just by pressing the right buttons and persuade the readers into agreeing with his or her position. All in all, by applying rhetoric you can persuade the audience effectively without crossing the line to

By using manipulation, the reader will be harmed as the information acquired through the crafty paper will distort previous knowledge and point of view and shape it to the writer’s advantage. Therefore, it can potentially change the reader’s future acceptance to other claims and opposition to already acquired knowledge. In addition, when or if the reader realizes the trickery, the feeling of being deceived can damage his trust about reading other related, and even unrelated, papers. However, by using persuasion, the reader will have a better understanding of the writer’s claims and is most likely to gain some new constructive knowledge from reading the text. Also, persuasion can potentially give the writer a stronger credibility and establish a regular audience attracted by the evidence, trustworthiness, and appeal of the writer and