Figurative Language
This device involves using words like "bang," "thud," or "crash" to imitate the natural sounds of an event.
Onomatopoeia
A speaker who uses deeply upsetting or heart-wrenching stories about victims to sway the audience is relying primarily on this appeal.
Pathos
The emotional attitude conveyed by a speaker who repeatedly apologizes for not having "more to say" or not being able to "fix it in a snap."
When a speaker describes the community's outrage as "a wall of fire moving through the city," they are using this type of comparison.
A doctor speaking about public health policy establishes this appeal by emphasizing her twenty years of experience in the field.
Ethos
The attitude of a speaker who uses sharp, insistent language and rapid pacing to demand immediate, focused activity from the audience.
Passionate, urgent, insistent, cares a lot
The repetition of the phrase "We must vote. We must organize. We must succeed." at the beginning of successive sentences employs this device.
Anaphora
When a persuasive text includes detailed policy recommendations, budgetary figures, and statistical evidence, it is primarily invoking this appeal.
Logos
The tone of a public figure who advises officials to implement a specific oversight committee to prevent future mistakes.
Cautious, afraid, responsible
A speaker references the myth of Sisyphus to describe a perpetually failing effort, relying on this literary device.
Allusion
The appeal created when a politician discusses their upbringing in the local neighborhood and their long history of civic duty in that community.
Ethos
I baseball bat a b*stard
I’m bad news
I’m crazy and clever
Cut throats of crews
This appeal is used when a speaker contrasts the immense pain of a tragedy with the triviality of the legal punishment meted out to the perpetrators.