Logos, Pathos, Ethos, Audience, Meta-Awareness

LOGOS, PATHOS, ETHOS

Ethos, or ethical appeal, means convincing by the character of the author. People tend to believe a person or
source whom they respect. Ethos deals with how the character and credibility of a speaker influence an audience
to consider him to be believable. Culture, religion, politics, socio-economic status, morals, and perceived
expertise all influence the perception of ethos. Ethos is the character, attitudes, or morals of a community as
well as the characteristic mood or outlook of an institution or social organization. Using ethos relies on
convincing the audience by the character of the author because people tend to believe people whom they
respect.
There are three categories of ethos:
1. phronesis - practical skills & wisdom
2. arete - virtue, goodness
3. eunoia - goodwill towards the audience.
Some violations of ethos:
The speaker has a direct interest in the outcome of the debate.
The speaker has a vested interest or ulterior motive in the outcome of the debate;
The speaker has no expertise.

Pathos means persuading by appealing to a person’s emotions. the use of emotional appeals to alter the
audience's judgment. This can be done through metaphor, amplification, storytelling, or presenting the topic in a
way that evokes strong emotions in the audience. Language choices affect the audience's emotional response.
Emotional examples can be used to enhance an argument. Advertisements are usually created on pathos. Notice
that television ads usually make the viewer think that the consumer of their product is superior to other people.

Logos is appeal based on logic, reason and knowledge. Academic writing is usually based on logos. Logos
means persuading by the use of rational arguments based on facts. Supporting the fact that the earth is round
based on the observation that the hull of a ship disappears on the horizon before the mast is an example of a
logos based argument. Logos means persuading by the use of reasoning. appeals include appeals to statistics,
math, logic, and objectivity. For instance, when advertisements claim that their product is 49% more effective
than the competition, they are making a logical appeal.

Inductive reasoning uses examples (historical, mythical, or hypothetical) to draw conclusions.

Deductive reasoning uses generally accepted propositions to derive specific conclusions.

Bathos is a ludicrous descent from the elevated to the low, in writing or speech. It is an anticlimax, a change
from a serious subject to a disappointing one, triteness or triviality of style, and insincere pathos.

Allegory is a story where items in the story are used to symbolize and suggest something else. For example, a
tree that withers from lack of water could be used to symbolize a person who grows bitter from lack of love.
Allegory is metaphorical symbolization throughout an entire work.

Analogy is making a comparison between two different things for the purpose of showing the similarity
between them. Analogies are often used to explain new or complex concepts by using familiar concepts. For
example, it is an analogy to say that a hand has the same relationship to an to arm as a foot has to a leg. Another
common analogy is using the activities of a ship’s captain to represent how a head of state runs a country.

Irony is saying one thing with the understanding that something different is meant. The meaning is implied and
is often the opposite of the actual words being used. People can express rudeness by being overly polite. If a
male gets turned down when he asks for a date , it would be irony for his friend to say to him with a smile, "I
see you are still irresistible to women!" A more direct way of saying this without irony would be, “You are such
a loser and socially incompetent.”
 Logos, Pathos, Ethos, Audience, Meta-Awareness
Metaphor is the substitution of one idea or object with another. Metaphor is often used to convey difficult ideas
or express abstract concepts using words that refer to more concrete examples. It is found throughout languages
and is essential to language. To say that "the Internet is an information superhighway" is a metaphor that
expresses the similarity that highways allow cars to move quickly and the internet allows information to move
quickly. Metaphors identify one concept, object, or idea with another.

Sarcasm is a humorous form of irony. Sarcastic words usually mean the exact opposite, and are intended to be
rude or make fun of a person. If someone says, “You look good today,” to someone who looks sick with bad
hair that is sarcasm.

• AUDIENCE

Argument requires audience adaptation. Arguers must keep in mind that not all arguments are persuasive to all
audiences. Additionally, some techniques might be more successful than others for specific audiences:
professionals are more likely to want polished, analytical, logical presentations, whereas protestors are more
likely to want highly charged, emotive argument that rallies moral indignation for their cause.

Argument requires establishing credibility. Credibility, as classical rhetoricians recognize, involves

intelligence, character, and goodwill. Intelligence means having knowledge of your subject and arguing in a
clear, logical fashion. Character means displaying traits your audience admires like honesty, sincerity, integrity,
and moral commitment. Goodwill means treating your audience with respect, putting your case in terms they
can understand, and acknowledging their points of view. Aristotle notes that credibility is often the controlling
factor in persuasion; if the audience does not perceive the speaker as credible, then the audience will not be as
attentive to the message itself.

• META-AWARENESS

Listening to and performing music is much like reading and writing. I once knew a jazz musician who
played the saxophone. His name was Steve. Sometimes I would accompany him to the jam sessions of his
fellow jazz musicians. These jazz musicians would get together in a room and play music. They played real
good. The music was melodic, emotive, and involved. When I asked Steve about the music that they played, he
told me that there was no music written for it. They made the songs up as they played together. It was totally
improvised.
It was real art. One musician’s line of musical notes would blend with, fade into, and raise above the
notes of he other musicians and their various instruments. They played the piano and the saxophone, and other
woodwind and stringed instruments. They played in unison and they understood what the other musicians
would and might do.
There is a difference between me and those musicians. They understood their music. I could only listen
to it. They were meta-aware of their music.
Meta-awareness means knowledge of the structure and components of a subject.
steps/half-steps: words / chords: sentences / melody: text
Those musicians were also meta-aware of how the music was put together. They understood how to
make the representative sounds of various genres of music like jazz, country-western, ragtime, etc. They could
distinguish the various characteristics and patterns of a type of music and play within the parameter of a style.
Writing also has various characteristics and patterns that distinguish good writing from bad writing,
poetry from prose, or drama from humor.