Ethos Pathos Logos

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Politicians and government institutions have been around for over thousands of years. Such organizations and public figures hold tremendous value to society and the individuals within those societies, usually exercising great influence in how local, state and federal government conduct business. Their role as political figures in a democracy is to represent the mass public in different issues, and in order to convince their audience to support a particular matter they use various tools such as diction, tone, and appealing to one’s ethos, pathos, and logos. A series of variables (including audience, purpose, and situation) influence the approach a politician takes in order to communicate their ideas to the public. While Hilary Clinton, Donald …show more content…

Like Hillary Clinton, he appeals to his audience’s patriotism in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. Not only does he chant “USA! USA! USA!” with the crowd several times throughout the speech, but he also says: “our plan will put America First. Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo.” (Trump), We Will Make America Strong Again. We Will Make America Proud Again. We Will Make America Safe Again. And We Will Make America Great Again.” (Trump) Such attempts to promote patriotism are one of the key components of his campaign. He builds fear against those who promote the concept of globalism and the integration of other cultures within America’s border, especially as a tactic to attack his greatest opponent, Hillary Clinton. He also develops his ethos in order to express his qualification for the presidency when he states, “I have made billions of dollars in business making deals – now I’m going to make our country rich again. I am going to turn our bad trade agreements into great ones.” (Trump) Many of his supporters buy into the idea that by being a successful businessman he will make America rich like his businesses. The only sense of hope and positivity in his speech is expressed when he discusses the possibility of him being president and what he would do to “make …show more content…

also makes use of ethos and pathos in order to appeal to his audience in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington during the civil rights movement. Although his speech’s circumstance differs from the other two political figures, he also makes use of patriotism as a form of connection with the audience listening and watching him as he states: “When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men –yes, black men as well as white men–would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (King) He appeals to the audience’s sense of Americanism by mentioning the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. He also makes reference to children and God several times in order to connect with those who have kids and are religious. In addition, he makes up scenarios and gives examples of what being African-American is like in different places of the United States and how America, as a country, cannot be satisfied with the reality of these scenarios: “We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro is victim of unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” (King) He cleverly makes the distinction between the states that support the civil rights movement and those, mostly in the South, that do not: “We cannot be satisfied as long

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