In lieu of class today, I would like you to respond to this blog post. First, tell the rest of class how you would define or describe an appeal to pathos. That is, in your own words, how does connecting with readers on an emotional level enhance a persuasive argument? (If it helps to explain this appeal by discussing an example from any op-ed piece you’ve read in the past few weeks, then please do so.)
Then, I would like you to give us a brief update on how your paper is coming along. Where are you at in the drafting process? What are you focusing on? What is the main point of your paper, or what would you say the main claim is? (If you’re doing option three, this is less relevant.) What questions do you have about this project as you continue working on it?
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Found on the premises of Johnson-McFarlane and Centennial Halls are what
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16 years ago
When reading about pathos, it brought me back to high school. The only way that I could remember the definition os pathos is by the word pathetic. Pathetic is a word that has emotion linked to it. If some one calls me pathetic, I would be pretty upset. I believe that is you connect with the reader on a emotional level, it will make arguing your point a bit easier because they would be in a position that connected them to you. It may be very hard to do this in a persuasive argument but it could be done. When I think of an example, I refer back to Obama's State of the Union Address. He appealed to the listeners emotions by bringing up children, or speaking about a loss of jobs and the employees that write him. This is an appeal to pathos.
ReplyDeleteFor my paper, I decided to be creative and go along with the textbook examples. I am focusing on the different vocab words, and like our book does, there will be different chapters dedicated to the one word. Some of the ways that my teachers in high school taught me to rememeber these words, are being used. They are common ways so that you can rememeber them easier.
Pathos is basically the use of vivid imagery to encourage an emotional response from the reader as they try to connect with the piece. Since emotions are such a big foundation of the way people approach arguments and ideas, by swaying the person’s emotion the author’s side of the argument, the author has a greater chance of making an impression on the reader and securing their agreement. The use of pathos can be tricky however as one does not want too much emotional appeal that the reader begins to lose interest in the depth and purpose of the argument. An appeal to pathos also needs to be very reflective of the intended audience so that the scene depicted does not end up causing offence or turning the reader away from the argument. By incorporating an effective balance however has the ability to significantly alter the ideas of the opposition or at least give them greater cause to reevaluate their stance on the issue.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my paper goes, this is actually a quick break that I am taking before I delve into my final body paragraphs and conclusion, all that I have left to talk about is logos and common topics which goes hand in hand well in my opinion. The article that I decided to do the paper on is actually really interesting and not among the political analyses that have been so popular lately in both the New York Time and The Denver Post. The article discusses the issue of sexual assault and rape in American prisons. The main claim that the author is trying to get across is to focus a bit more on this particular problem in order to deter criminals from becoming habitual offenders and the author believes that by reducing the traumatic events that happen to them in jail will decrease the person’s aggression and anger when they are released back into society. The article is aimed at addressing a problem that has gone unnoticed for much too long and to encourage a solution. My stance on the piece is that the author works very hard and efficiently to use the main rhetorical appeals of pathos, ethos, and logos in congruence with the commonplace American values of equality, liberty and freedom, to encourage a response that many are likely to view as futile or unlikely in current American society. My paper applauds the author’s use of writing and argumentation in the presentation of his argument.
Connecting with an audience on an emotional level allows the author to gain sympathy, empathy, or arousal for a particular piece of writing. Pathos can appeal to a myriad of emotions in the reader including anger, sadness, or joy in order to get the audience to connect with the written text. Through sympathizing with a piece, readers also become more interested in the author’s main point.
ReplyDeleteI have completed about two and a half pages of my rough draft. My main point is to analyze how an article in the New York Times uses pathos and ethos to create an effective prose. The article is about how prison systems in the U.S. contain a lot of abuse to its prisoners. Because the article relies heavily on pathos to get it’s point across, my paper is becoming more centered on pathos.
Connecting with your audience on an emotional level, is something which every writer should attempt to do considering that it makes your piece so much more important to the reader. With a strong pathos the reader will be much easier persuaded due to the fact that the reader will be able to feel as though he or she it part of the piece whether it be through experiences, ideas, culture, or other types of connections.
ReplyDeleteI am about 3 pages into my essay. I have not yet written a conclusion but feel as though there are some good points in my body paragraphs to expand on. My paper deals with the kairos and ethos of the marijuana article in the Denver Post. This article is very interesting to write about considering it concerns my age group, whereas other prominent issues such as health care will not affect my for the next few years.
Pathos is the emotional appeal of the reader used as a persuasion tool. The choice of context and words will essentially affect the audience’s emotional response. This naturally will enhance an argument. By initiating audience’s sympathy, the reader is not only responding emotionally but now also can identify with the author’s point of view. Values, understandings and beliefs all come into play when using Pathos.
ReplyDeleteMy paper is coming along…The drafting process brought up slight confusion in basing my points on articles and such, but it worked out. I am focusing on the third prompt, which expresses a more creative side of the writer. I focus on Logos, Pathos, Ethos and Kairos.
An appeal to pathos is very important in almost any type of writing. There is always a need to connect with the audience on a human, emotional level. An appeal to pathos often involves stories or events that everyone can relate to and have a strong emotional response to. In order to invoke a certain emotion, writers must be able to incorporate things that are often controversial, sad, or empowering. Drawing on these emotions is often difficult to do and requires a strong writer. This appeal to pathos greatly enhances writing and persuasion in a way that none of the other rhetorical strategies do. This is the most raw appeal that there is and is the most human in a way. If the reader has a emotional response to a piece of writing then the writer has accomplished something amazing. This can cause the reader to be persuaded one way or another.
ReplyDeleteMy paper is coming along. It still needs a lot of work but it is almost 4 pages long. I am doing the second option that deals with only ethos. It is difficult for me but i am getting some ideas out. The main point of the paper is that David Brooks is a unique and talented writer. I just need to keep working on developing ideas and getting more specific ideas down about Brooks.
Pathos is a very strong and essential technique to use in persuading the audience in a rhetorical situation. Pathos is the use of emotional stories, events that moves the readers feeling and makes them emotionally vulnerable to agree with the writer. The use of pathos is very important because it build this emotional connection between the writer and the reader because the shortest way and the easiest way to convince someone is to reach his/her heart and not her/his mind. The beauty about emotions is that they are not logical; emotions are irrational thoughts that don’t correlate with the mind rational process of thoughts. For an example to collect donations for the victims of Haiti commercials with the faces of the Haitians people and the destroyed families are aired on TV to move the emotions of people so they can donate and help. My paper is coming really well my draft is now 4 pages and my main focus in this paper to rhetorically analyze one of Paul Krugman articles about the United States economy. The main focus of the article is both of the United States and Canada have the same banking systems but in the same time the United States is facing a financial crisis while Canada isn’t. Paul Krugman in the article is questioning the reasons for that by using common topic and places with logos and ethos.
ReplyDeletePathos is the use of strong vocabulary used to paint a picture for the reader. It connects the reader on an emotional level and draws him into deeper understanding of what you are trying to portray as a writer. It can be used to help convince a writer and has a strong power for helping with this if its done right. This is the fastest way and easiest way to pull the reader over to your side of the argument and to get them to agree. The best part about pathos is that with the right choice of words, any one can be convinced.
ReplyDeleteMy paper was difficult to write the desired length because the article I read was rather short and there was only so much that could be picked apart. Charles Blow writes to please the local people of his city and it is evident because he tries to please them as much as possible and tries to rally them to join his side on this issue about holding the court cases for the 9/11 attacks in New York. He does a good job of getting the readers to sympathize with him and knows how to use pathos very well.
Aristotle divided three categories of persuasion into: ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos deals with an author's credibility or appeal. Logos is logic and using reason to persuade. Finally is pathos which deals with appealing to a reader's emotions. If an author is able to connect with their reader emotionally, they have more of a chance of persuading their reader. It is easy to persuade somebody if you are able to connect with them emotionally. For example, if someone is to write an article about how bad for your health smoking cigarettes is the author could share a story of losing a close relative to lung cancer caused by cigarettes. If one of the readers comes across this article and has been in the same position, they would more likely be interested in the article because it pertains to them.
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