Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Pathos being effective
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the speech, “You’ve got to find what you love,” by Steve Jobs, Jobs uses the opportunity at the convention address to inspire young people to find something they're passionate about. In his speech Jobs uses a very uplifting tone. “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice,” (paragraph #25) by saying this, Jobs encourages his young audience to not give up on their dreams. When looking through Steve Jobs speech the rhetorical technique that is used most successfully would be pathos. For example, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in my life,” (paragraph #21) showing that Jobs was attempting to make his story as emotional as
Steve Sheinkin, award-winning author, in his novel Bomb: The Race to Build- and Steal- the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon (2012) addresses the topic of nuclear war and proves that no matter what actions are taken (during war) there will be negative outcomes by depicting the characters with anxiety, describing horror-filled battle scenes and revealing the thirst for power during these times. Sheinkin supports his claim by using memorable moments in the novel such as when the bomb is dropped on Hiroshima and the entire city is close to being wiped out; also when Stalin is upset that the Americans completed the atomic bomb which leads to another race of building upwards
Through the accompaniment of rhetorical devices and pathos, one can strengthen an argument to the point where others see no other option. When spoken at the right occasions and with enough of supporting evidence, an argument will intrigue the audience and make people find the argument logical and appealing. Patrick Henry made his speech less than a month before the Revolutionary War came to pass. Thomas Paine commenced a series of articles when the call for men to fight was urgent. When someone makes an argument, even the smallest detail counts.
Towards the beginning of the speech he relates success to wanting to breathe. Asthma attacks make your life stand still and “you weezin’. Huuu. Huuu. The only thing you trying to do is get some air. You don’t care about no basketball game, whose on TV, whose callin’.” If someone listening to this has asthma they would know exactly what Thomas is talking about which makes this such a successful use of a ethos. It is pretty common knowledge that this generation is worried about our cell phones and TV more than we want to be successful and that is exactly his point. Everyone says they want to be successful, “but you don’t want it bad, you kinda want it.” “This is a soft generation. Our people made it, Harriet Tubman not only made it, but she went back and got some more.” The material he ties together is ingenious and makes his message so much more compelling and inspirational because of the way he gets his message across, it makes one want to find that drive within and keep grinding. His ethical appeal is impeccable, making the audience so much more interested in what he has to say. He does this over and over again, using people from the past and present to get his message across. He references an interview to 50 cent, when 50 was asked when he sleeps, “he said, I don’t sleep. I got an opportunity to make a
Mothers always want the best for their daughters, it’s a given feeling for a mother. Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom is written in her perspective as the mother. In The Joy Luck Club, Amy tan writes the novel through her eyes as the daughter of the relationship. Both passages portray the harsh emotions between the mother and her daughter. These emotions are caused by the mother pressuring her daughter to achieve expectations. The two excerpts have similar stressful tones but Amy Tan’s novel is much more intense and displays a uglier relationship.
Through the accompaniment of rhetorical devices and pathos, one can strengthen his or her argument to the point where others see no other option. When spoken at the right occasions and with enough of supporting evidence, an argument will enrapture the audience and make people find your argument logical and appealing. Patrick Henry made his speech less than a month before the American Revolution took place. Thomas Paine began a series of articles when the call for men to fight against the British was urgent. When someone makes and argument, even the smallest detail counts.
Effectively communicating an idea or opinion requires several language techniques. In his study of rhetoric, Aristotle found that persuasion was established through three fundamental tools. One is logos, which is used to support an argument through hard data and statistics. Another is ethos, which is the credibility of an author or speaker that allows an audience to conclude from background information and language selection a sense of knowledge and expertise of the person presenting the argument. The impact of pathos, however, is the most effective tool in persuasion due to the link between emotions and decisions. Although each of these tools can be effective individually, a combination of rhetorical devices when used appropriately has the ability to sway an audience toward the writer’s point of view.
In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, pathos, logos and ethos are evidently and effectively used to persuade the audience into believing Caesar was not ambitious and that he was an innocent man. Throughout the speech the citizens were easily persuaded, but Anthony’s intellectual speeches made the audience question and imagine what they have turned into. Anthony used these three rhetorical appeals to win back the citizens just like many people do today. The power of pathos, logos and ethos in a speech can change one mind in an instant and if successfully used can change a mind to be fully persuaded without confusion.
Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most convincing civil rights activists recorded in history; but what made his speeches so successful to the public? According to Aristotle, there are three rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos appeals people through trustworthiness, pathos appeals by creating empathy from the crowd, meanwhile logos is the appeal of reason.
“The best compositions establish a sense of momentum and direction by making explicit connections among their different parts, so that what is said in one sentence (or paragraph) both sets up what is to come and is clearly informed by what has already been said.” This piece of advice that is mentioned in the book “They Say, I say with Readings” is very useful when constructing an elaborate string of ideas and the writer intends to make them flow smoothly and effectively for his audience. The four techniques that are used in implementing this flow are: “using transition terms,” “adding pointing words,” “developing a set of key terms and phrases for each text you write” and “repeating
Clinton and Sanders connected pathos to their speech by appealing to their audience’s emotions and through their diction; and used ethos by providing credentials and experience so the people know they can be trusted. It was necessary for these politicians to use pathos in order to fully and effectively connect with their audience and increase the chance of a vote. As well as using ethos to establish a sense of trust between the candidate and audience that they are capable as president to make them want to vote. The rhetorical approaches these politicians use can be applied to everyday life in order to convince people, so it is important to remember when and how people use these rhetorical
Pathos is the rhetorical device that is used to convince an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response (Burton). On his speech, Washington shared his emotions, “We are crawling up, working up, yea, bursting up. Often through oppression, unjust discrimination, and prejudice, but through them all, we are coming up, and with proper habits, intelligence and property, there is no power on earth that can permanently stay our progress” (Washington). He emphasized the struggle of colored people and how hard they worked to uplift the equality among the white Americans in the society. Through his speech, he mentioned that the Negro people were differentiated in the society and were forced to work with low wages in the fields and were not allowed to go to school. Due to continuous discrimination, the Negroes started thinking that they do not deserve freedom. Despite all racial tension, the Negroes found encouragement which inspired them to work hard and become a better person. They got better at the fundamental skills and reached the way up to victory(Negroes). Another example of Pathos is, “While we are thus being tested, I beg of you to remember that wherever our life touches yours, we help you hinder. Wherever your life touches ours, you make us stronger or weaker(Washington). By using this example, he was trying to tell
He uses pathos throughout his talk to appeal to the emotions of the audience by the way he dresses, his casual demeanor and what he says about the events leading up to his world record performance.
An example that is used in the source is “one must look for how the trustworthiness of character or perspective is conveyed in ethos” which can be explained deeper into how the audience can trust the speaker with their sources for the topic being discussed. When the primary source says pathos is “how the speaking uses moods and emotions” that can be further explained by how the speaker engages with the audience. If a speaker is very monotone or doesn't seem to care about the topic, the audience will not be persuaded or want to listen to the speaker. Lastly, the primary source says logos is “how the speaking is specifically worded and composed” which can be looked into further by how the speaker is using their words to speak to the audience, especially if talking to different types of people because one wants to be able to persuade everyone.
Pathos is used in speeches to appeal to the emotions of the audience, and convince them by evoking an emotional response. In his speech at Scotch College, Shane Maloney says “Well, all this is hardly the fault of the current crop of students.” He then goes on to say "It is not your fault…" two more times in the following sentences. This passage is relying heavily on the use of pathos, in addition to groups of three and personal pronouns. By positioning the audience to feel that they are victims, and by emphasising that it is not their fault, but that they have been placed in an undesirable
I consider Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005 to be one of the most effective speeches. He uses mechanics of speech to craft a well-rounded speech that is crowned by his use of rhetorical devices. Jobs gives relevant and fundamental knowledge of his life and experiences with his rhetorical approach. In his speech to the Stanford’s graduation class, he tells different stories of love, loss, discovery and difficulty he faced in his life to encourage new graduates as they continue to mature in life. He encourages students to pursue their dreams and not be discouraged by failures they might experience in life.