The Retorical Triangel: Is it Effective or Not?

The Rhetorical Triangle: Is it Effective or Not?

The rhetorical triangle is a technique used to utilize and compose thoughts in a way that appeal to and persuade an audience. The three components that base these persuasions are pathos (emotions), ethos (creditability), and logos (reasoning). Many creditable people have used the rhetorical triangle in their speeches showing this technique to be effective. Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s sixteenth President, is a perfect example showing that when effectively used the power and application of the rhetorical triangle can positively alter thoughts and feelings of an audience.

Abraham Lincoln is well-educated man who uses powerful inspirational words in his speech the Gettysburg Address, and has received great success by using emotions or pathos in his speech. Pathos means to appeal emotionally to the heart and mind of an audience. In order for a speech to be successful, the audience must embrace the emotions that are within a speech. The orator not only needs to appeal to the heart but also to the mind of an audience and if the audience does not grasp these feelings, the result will be unsuccessful. However, in Lincolns’ case the use of intense emotions persuades the audience to empathize with him the painful and heart wrenching loss of the many lives on the battlefield during the Civil War. Lincoln gives reinforced concern for the victims using words such as “hallow,” “brave,” “unfinished work,” and “that these dead shall not die in vain” (Lincoln, 1635). Lincoln’s use of pathos shows compassion for the lives lost and exhibits that he is not just speaking for those who sacrificed themselves for a better future “…which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced,” but also t...

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...ent, Abraham Lincoln is one of the most influential Presidents that ever lived and the inspirational speech Gettysburg Address, brought together by the powerful logos used helped to end slavery in the United States.

The rhetorical triangle is an active interaction between the person who is speaking, the audience, and the direction the presentation is going. Without an equal relevance of the three elements pathos, ethos, and logos, a speech can end in an unsuccessful result. However, if all elements correlate in the speech such as in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, then the result will prove to be effective.

Work Cited

Lincoln, Abraham. Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature: 1820 to 1865_Vol B. 7th ed. Gen Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2007. 1635. Print.