Rhetorical Analysis Of Gary Slutkin's TED Talk

Writers do their job because they want to express their ideas to make an impact on the readers. Sometimes they want to convince their audience through persuasion. They can do it using different rhetorical elements such as logos, ethos, and pathos. These are Greek words that mean logic, character, and emotion consecutively.

Ethos, pathos, and logos are three means of persuasive appeals were developed by the Greek philosopher, Aristotle (“Ethos, Pathos, and Logos”). Ethos, or ethical appeal, is persuasion through the credibility of the author. Generally, readers tend to believe people who they deem knowledgeable or experienced. Pathos is persuasion through the appeal of the reader’s emotion, often influenced through strong word choice. Logos is persuasion through reasoning, clarity, supporting evidence, and logic. These three elements are used in nearly

Logos, the appeal to logic and knowledge, is most commonly used with facts, statistics, or just logical reasoning. On example of Sanders supporting his argument with this appeal is when he cites statistics. In chapter 4, Sanders notes after asking his students how many of their peers cheated it was between 70-90 percent. These numbers create a concrete image in the reader's mind appealing to their logical side that this is the vast majority of his students. Next, the appeal of ethos is the appeal to credibility and authority. Sanders supports his argument with the appeal of ethos by validating the fact that he is a college professor and sees students versus learners all the time. For instance, Sanders says “I see this [students being afraid of being wrong] most often when students turn in written papers (Sanders 4). By mentioning his first-hand account he is building is authority and trustworthiness on the subject at hand. Finally, Sanders appeals to pathos when he involves emotions and presents his invitation to students to become a learner. He addresses the reader as “you” to form the basic relationship. He then notes “I am confident that you…” Implying he has faith in his reader and instills confidence in them (Sanders 5). By using emotions the author makes the reader attached and interested even more in the specific

President Obama 's speech to school children should go to school because it can benefit their future uses rhetorical appeals to help persuade the readers and schoolchildren. One example of a rhetorical appeal that Obama used to persuade his reader was pathos. Pathos can help persuade a claim because it can cause emotions in the reader and make them feel that they can do something about it. Obama uses is when he states that, “I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him longer-hundreds of extra hours- to do his school work. But he never fails. He’s heading to college this fall,”(Obama

In 1741, Jonathan Edwards delivered a sermon called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” to a congregation in Enfield, Connecticut. This sermon was so influential and poignant that today it has transformed into a piece of literature that many study in classes. This bit of literature is so utterly jam-packed with the use of rhetorical appeals, often referred to as ethos, pathos, and logos. These three appeals are derived from ancient Greece, or more precisely, the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Ethos appeals to the audience’s sense of trust, pathos, to their sense of emotion, and logos, to their sense of logic. The use of ethos, pathos, and logos in any type of writing or speaking can create a commanding and arresting effect on the reader/listener.

I’m currently working on an essay and have included two of the three rhetorical appeals Logos and Ethos. The main appeal is Logos, because There is a lot of information and facts. Ethos also, because there is authority that will help back up the claims. My audience is not directed to any individual group it is intended for everyone.

David McCullough, in his Wellesley High School Commencement Address, utilizes imagery to convey to his audience that each individual possesses the same common potential. While addressing the graduating class of 2012, McCullough makes a point to emphasize how unexceptional the students are. By bringing to light the fact that the students are all wearing the same “ceremonial costume…shapeless, uniform, one-size-fits-all” (McCullough 1), he illustrates the conformity of the crowd. By depicting the cap and gown, McCullough demonstrates that each student at the ceremony are at the same level. This indicates that the members of the audience are all capable of achieving just as much as the one sitting next to them. McCullough also gives the students

Although Jim Valvano earned many prestigious accolades throughout his life, all overshadowed by a speech that lasted a mere nine minutes. Mr. Valvano was an American basketball player that graduated from Rutgers University as the senior athlete of the year in 1967. Valvano coached at multiple different schools before finding his home at North Carolina State University. Here, he coached the wolves to both ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament championship wins. After leaving North Carolina State, Jim became a basketball commentator for ESPN. In June 1992, Valvano announced that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Mr. Valvano took a small break from broadcasting after receiving the news before returning to the broadcasting chair in October 1992. On March 4, 1993 Jimmy V. was awarded the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the first ever ESPY Awards. Upon receiving the award, Valvano gives a speech that he will forever be remembered for.

The goal of argumentative writing implies the fact of persuading an audience that an idea is valid, or maybe more valid than somebody else’s. With the idea of making his argument successful, and depending on which topic is being established, the author uses different strategies which Aristoteles defined as “Greek Appeals”. Pathos, the first appeal, generates emotions in the reader, and it may have the power of influencing what he believes. Ethos, or ethical appeals, convince the reader by making him believe in the author’s credibility. Logos, or logical appeals, imply the use of reasoning, and, moreover, it may be the most powerful strategy in the pocket of the author as his audience is more likely to believe in facts. In the article “People Like Us”, written by David Brooks, an American author and conservative political and cultural commentator for the New York Times, justifies that the United States is a fairly more homogeneous country, rather than diverse, by providing facts and approaching to his audience emotions, even though his ethos appeals are not the best.

When it comes to writing, the hardest part is getting the audience interested in what you have to say. Four techniques writers use to attract readers are the use of ethos, logos, pathos and Kairos in their text. Ethos is a method used to gain trust in the author. Logos uses facts and statistics to add credibility to the author. Pathos is used in stories or experiences to connect the readers emotionally to the text. Kairos is used to determine when is the right time to release your piece of literature. Eric Schlosser, author of “Why McDonald’s Fries Taste So Good”, properly uses these four techniques to persuade his friendly audience to keep on reading.

What makes a speech effective? Using rhetoric, a person can appeal to others emotion and logic to persuade a person into doing a desired action. They can encourage a person into success or they can discourage a person into wanting to prove others wrong. The two speeches that will be discussed in this paper will be from Remember the Titans Gettysburg Speech and Glory Road Final game speech. The Gettysburg speech was made in the middle of movie. This speech happens after the football team run up the hill where battle at Gettysburg happen. The coach uses the battle to help illustrate the battle the team is facing with not only people within the team but with people wanting them to fail, the people who refuse for change. This speech was used to

There are many writers that affect our emotions or that make us think that his or her statements are reasonable, whether they are authors of books, or script writers for a movie or a play. In Morgan Spurlock’s film, Supersize Me, he uses three common rhetorical strategies: ethos, pathos, and logos. He uses all three effectively, however pathos has the greatest effect out of all three rhetorical strategies.

In Act III, Scene 2 of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Marc Antony is able to change the mood of the crowd. The commoners transform from a confused, depressed group of people to an angry mob wanting to get back at the conspirators for their despicable action. Antony manages to do so by using ethos, pathos, and logos. These three persuasive techniques all appeal to the audience in a different way. Ethos are phrases that relate to ethics or morals and make oneself sound fair and unbiased. Pathos control the emotions of an audience and evoke a certain feeling to persuade the crowd in this case. Finally, logos convince an audience using reasoning and logic. Antony expresses a variety of persuasive techniques throughout his entire speech and change the mindset of the commoners using ethos, pathos, and logos.

Socrates was a greek philosopher who found himself in trouble with his fellow citizens and court for standing his grounds on his new found beliefs from his studies about philosophical virtue, justice, and truth. In “Apology” written by Plato, Socrates defended himself in trial, not with the goal of escaping the death sentence, but with the goal of doing the right thing and standing for his beliefs. With this mindset, Socrates had no intention of kissing up to the Athenians to save his life. Many will argue that Socrates’ speech was not very effective because he did not fight for his life, he just accepted the death sentence that he was punished with. In his speech he said, “But now it’s time to leave, time for me to die and for you to live.”

At the very beginning of Robbins’ speech, he establishes his credibility and takes hold of the audience's emotions in order to push his message into the minds of his audience. He prompts laughter when he states that as a motivational speaker “the shortest seminar I usually do is 50 hours.” Their confidence in his ability to provide excellent knowledge on this topic is strong, allowing the information to settle in their minds without doubts. Combined with the pathetic response to his quote, the audience becomes relaxed and trusting. Robbins gets their emotions involved from the very start because he knows that they are one of the biggest motivating factors behind actions.