Rhetorical Appeals
Drawing from credibility
What is Ethos?
Appealing to one’s reason
What is Logos?
"F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a masterpiece because it is one of the greatest American novels ever written."
(Instead of proving why it is great, this just repeats that it is great using different words.)
You should buy this specific brand of acne wash because LeBron James uses it and says it's the best.
What is appeal to authority?
At a meeting about new standards in education, the featured speaker is a college professor, who argues for the new standards.
What is Ethos? Explain.
Misrepresenting the other side
What is Straw Man?
Mr. Dubosse is known for hitting the target with 96% accuracy, so I want him on my team for paintball.
What is Ethos?
Giving a child a smartphone is like giving them the keys to your car.
What is False Analogy?
If the school allows students to wear hoodies on Fridays, pretty soon nobody will wear real clothes, students will show up in pajamas and swimsuits, and the entire school will descend into total chaos.
What is slippery slope?
It is warmer this year in Las Vegas as compared to last year; therefore, global warming is rapidly accelerating
What is Generalization?
A politician argues for a new domestic spending program by stating facts and figures about the current level of spending, the current economy, and how this program is projected to improve the economy.
What is Logos?
All dogs are animals. All cats are animals. Therefore, all cats are dogs.
What is undistributed middle?
Everyone at school is wearing this specific brand of shoes, so they must be the highest quality and most comfortable sneakers available.
What is bandwagon?
What RA is this? Explain.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed
What is Pathos?
Explain the difference and similarities between logos and ethos.
Logos - stats & facts
Ethos - relevant/famous people
Both - gain audience trust
In order to really look at the problem of global warming, we must first consider how the homeless suffer when it is cold
What is Red Herring?
You shouldn't trust the arguments in this book about environmental conservation. The author is notoriously grumpy and has been divorced three times.
What is Ad Hominem?