Choose ONE of the following as the topics for your essay. If you do not like these, you may select your own topic: Argue for a change in your current college or former high school, or in the school yo
A number of appeals are used in arguments. These tools help you present a persuasive case to your reader. Classically, the terminology used is that we combine the appeals to logos (logic), pathos (emotion and values), and ethos (character) in order to build a strong argument.
Logos is the appeal that you are probably most familiar with. Examples, statistics, and facts are solid evidence that helps convince a reader that your claims are well founded.
Pathos is a very important appeal but one that is easy to misuse, and the fear of this misuse might make you shy away from this. It would not be valid to build an argument only on appeals to values and emotion. (This is, in fact, what propaganda is, and it’s the basis of mob mentality and groupthink.) But don’t try to ignore people’s feelings and values. People are not robots and so don’t respond only to logic. If you build a logical argument that ignores people’s values, they are likely to reject the argument even if they admit that the facts are good. In many of the most important issues of our day, we can see that people are divided not by the facts but by values and beliefs.
Even in small things, one’s values help to dictate behavior. One example is that of an air conditioner salesman whose territory included neighborhoods in Florida populated mostly by middle-class retirees. His logical appeal that they would feel more comfortable with cooler air wasn’t working because this group was very concerned about not outspending their retirement income. That suggested to him that the group’s main value was security. He started pointing out that closing their windows in the Florida heat was physically dangerous but leaving them open could lead to break-ins. Showing how their security would be enhanced by air conditioning appealed to their values, and sales improved dramatically. Part of your audience analysis, then, is figuring out what your audience values.
Ethos, appeal to character, can’t be ignored because so much of your writing will either strengthen or weaken this. First, a writer gains credibility through responding to the topic in the way that readers expect. Each discipline has expectations about the types of evidence used. Using the right type of evidence builds credibility. Also, using the right terminology (jargon) also helps to build credibility.
When writing arguments, tone is very important for credibility. When you concede points and avoid disrespectful language toward the opposing side, you show the readers that you are reasonable and approachable. Too much of our culture ignores this, I believe, in showing attack ads about politicians and insulting language toward the people and ideas that commentators oppose. These aspects provide entertainment. They are not valid academic arguments and don’t improve the writers’ credibility.
Even surface-level aspects of your writing affect this appeal. For instance, your writing has to follow the right format. Why do I grade your papers partially on something as silly as whether you use the right material in a heading, for instance? This is because academic essays follow a format, just as memos or lab reports do. Your use of the format called for in this class (MLA, the standard for English papers) shows that you are a student who is paying attention to the details needed to write in the way college students write. Not following the format says carelessness about following directions. After all, if you can’t get something as simple as a heading correct, did you really put a lot of work into the harder parts of the essay?
In any field, correct writing is needed for ethos. People can usually figure out what writers mean even when they misspell a word or use a comma incorrectly. But readers also figure that the writers either don’t know the correct use (which weakens the picture of the writers’ education and/or intelligence) or that the writers don’t care about the document. Clearly, either of these characterizations weakens the writers' credibility. This is seen most clearly when hiring managers review job application materials. Most of them will throw out a cover letter at the first writing error, no matter what the job is. The hiring managers assume that people who can’t check their cover letters or resumés carefully either don’t really want the job or are the type of people who are careless about details.
Much of what we cover in this class is designed to help you improve on all three appeals, but I think that the appeal to ethos is the most significant one for the class. As a college student, you are often writing from the position of one who is learning and is not yet an expert. But by using good evidence, arranging the materials clearly, editing well, and paying attention to your audience, you will acquire good credibility in your papers.
