A Bit of Work Today--Why Not?

Ethos
When a writer appeals to her own ethos, she is attempting to persuade her audience and validate her claims by building trust between herself and her reader; she fortifies her evidences through her own credibilities and perhaps her own experiences.
A writer using ethos
= demonstrates she is knowledgeable
= claims authority
= writes in the appropriate tone for the genre and/or
= pays close attention to details such as conventions and format.



Pathos
When a writer appeals to his reader’s pathos, he is attempting to persuade his audience and validate his claims by establishing an emotional connection with his reader; he strengthens his argument and/or point of view by appealing to the “heart.”
A writer using pathos
= attempts to arouse emotions
= causes his reader to empathize/sympathize with the situation and/or
= makes writing more memorable and engaging.



Logos
When a writer appeals to her reader’s sense of logos, she is attempting to persuade her audience and validate her claims through appeals to traditional forms of “reason”; she bolsters her arguments by providing evidence to what she claims as “true”:
A writer using logos
= provides “hard” facts such as statistics, surveys, polls, and “outside” studies
= appeals to cultural assumptions that may be taken as “common knowledge” and/or
= writes in an authoritative tone often from one particular world view, ideology, or perspective.




[Compiled with aid from Lunsford’s, et. ali., Everything’s an Argument, @2004]