Assignment Due

Appeals are rhetorical devices used to help persuade an audience. Appeals do not necessarily make an argument credible; however, they can make the argument more relatable or believable. The appeals listed below can strengthen an argument when used correctly and in proper moderation, but can cheapen a rhetorical work if misused or overused. 

Socratic Appeals: 

Ethos--offers the audience evidence that he or she is credible. The communicator attempts to prove that he or she is well-informed about the topic at hand and that he or she is a good person with the audience’s best interests in mind. This type

of appeal may use testimonials, specialists, or God as support for his or her work. 

Logos--offers the audience clear, reasonable ideas developed through reasoning and logic. This type of appeal may use reasoned examples, details and/or statistics. 

Pathos--draws on the audience’s emotions so they will be sympathetic to the communicator’s ideas. 

General Appeals (that fall under the umbrella of ethos, logos or pathos): 

Altruism--appeals to an audience’s sense of goodness or morality. 

Anger--appeals to an audience’s sense of anger, outrage or hate. 

Fear--appeals to an audience’s fears or anxieties.

Flag-waving or patriotic--appeals to an audience’s sense of patriotism. 

Intelligence--appeals to an audience’s reasoning or wisdom. 

Plain Folk--appeals to the experiences of the common man.

Snob--appeals to an audience’s taste for the finer, and usually unobtainable, things in life. 

Practice: 

Find at least one example of each of the 10 appeals listed above from the images on the internet; examples can be in the form of words and/or images. Create a PowerPoint or Google slides with the example(s) of each of the appeals and provide a brief explanation of how the words and/or images embody that appeal.