When I used to teach high school English, this particular week was always dedicated to rhetorical strategies because of Superbowl Sunday. So, now it’s your turn to learn all about ethos, pathos, and logos! Yayy!!!
Oh, don’t worry, I’ll explain why you’ll want to know this. And what it has to do with the game.
You see, rhetorical strategies (appeals, devices) are, basically, the parts of a speech that make an argument believable. They’re important to know because you can use them to persuade someone to do something, and catch when someone’s trying to convince *you*.
Click below to watch a 3-min video that explains it so well:
Ethos (credibilty) help show the qualifications of the speaker. An audience is more likely to follow medical advice coming from a doctor rather than, say, a politician (oh, wait…).
Logos (logic) are the proven facts – not opinions – related to the topic, usually done with numbers and statistics.
Pathos (emotion) is anything used that makes someone feel something. A person will only take action if they’re passionate about the issue on hand, whether that be through anger, happiness, fear, sadness, etc.
A speaker might only use one of these. They might use all three. But being able to both use & identify them is going to help you in a ton of ways:
Wanna know when you’re being tricked into doing something? Wanna be able to persuade any size & demo audience? Wanna win every single argument, every single time?
Well, sure you do! Guess who else wants to be able to do that too?
Probably those companies who spent 7 million dollars to air a 30-second commercial during the Superbowl game. (When I started teaching, it cost $3.5 million, which I thought was absolutely crazy.) Maybe those high-level marketing teams whose primary goal is to quickly persuade a large audience to buy a certain thing?
Now, I ALWAYS start by showing students this old SPCA commercial – it’s a great example of an organization’s use of rhetorical strategies to get you to donate money:
Ethos (credibility) – celebrity Sarah M (careful, they don’t know who she is anymore) is explaining why you should donate.
Logos (logic) – statistics, rates, numbers are shown…
Pathos (passion, emotions) – the song paired with images of neglected animals makes the audience sad and longing to help.
Ok, let’s try a newer one:
When a speaker is determining which rhetorical strategy to use, it’s crucial they focus on their specific audience. For example, these two commercials are by the same company, advertising the same product during the same Superbowl, but to two different types of consumers:
Budweiser first uses the puppy as pathos to make their feminine audience associate their beer with cuteness and happiness. Then, Budweiser uses logos boldly emphasizing facts like “not a fruit cup” to persuade their masculine audience to drink their beer.
Politicians use rhetorical devices every time they open their mouths to get you to vote for them. Musicians use them to get you to listen to their songs. Writers use them to get you to read their blog posts.
You used ethos, logos, and pathos when you wanted a later curfew. Or a raise. Or a date.
But now that you actually know them you can use them to your advantage. And identify when they’re being used on you. Like in those commercials.