Essay Writing 101 - persuading your audience

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Goal:

I understand what ethos, pathos and logos is and I am confident I can use this in my writing and speaking

Debating

'Sport' in which convincing the other is the main goal.

Rhetoric: the art of persuasion

 Putting the audience in a certain frame of mind:

 debating techniques.

1. Ethos

2. Pathos

3. Logos

Ethos

• Ethos or the ethical appeal, means to convince an audience of the author’s credibility or character.
• An author would use ethos to show to his audience that he is a credible source and is worth listening to. Ethos is the Greek word for “character.” The word “ethic” is derived from ethos.
• How to use this in your essay/speech: Ethos can be developed by choosing language that is appropriate for the audience and topic (this also means choosing the proper level of vocabulary), making yourself sound fair or unbiased, introducing your expertise, accomplishments or pedigree, and by using correct grammar and syntax.
• Most importantly: you  need to come across as someone who can be trusted and knows what their talking about.

Pedigree = afkomst

Ethos

Pathos

• or the emotional appeal, means to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions.
  
• Authors use pathos to invoke sympathy from an audience; to make the audience feel what what the author wants them to feel. 
• A common use of pathos would be to draw pity from an audience. Another use of pathos would be to inspire anger from an audience, perhaps in order to prompt action. Pathos is the Greek word for both “suffering” and “experience.” The words empathy and pathetic are derived from pathos.
  
• How to use this in your own essay?: Pathos can be developed by using meaningful language, emotional tone, emotion evoking examples, stories of emotional events, and implied meanings.
• So most importantly: know your audience and know what emotions you want them to feel.

Logos

• or the appeal to logic, means to convince an audience by use of logic or reason.
  
• To use logos would be to cite facts and statistics, historical and literal analogies, and citing certain authorities on a subject. 
  
• How to use this in your essay: Logos can be developed by using advanced, theoretical or abstract language, citing facts (very important), using historical and literal analogies, and by constructing logical arguments.
• So most importantly: Make sure your speech is well-structured and make sure the information you use is correct!

DIY: Can you identify Pathos, Logos and Ethos in Greta Thunberg's speech at the 2019 UN climate action summit.

How does the author use ethos in this text? Quote the first two words of the sentence and explain your answer.

Imagine this: a small dog sits in a dark, cold garage. His hair is matted and dirty; he is skinny and weak from going days without food. There is no water for him to drink, no person to give him love and no blanket to keep him warm at night. While this might be a hard scenario to imagine, it is not an uncommon one in America today. According to the Humane Society of the United States, nearly 1,000,000 animals are abused or die from abuse every year. As a veterinarian with 30 years of experience, I have seen how even one incident of abuse can affect an animal for the rest of its life. As a society, we need to be more aware of this terrible problem and address this issue before it gets worse.

How does the author use ethos in this text? Quote the first two words of the sentence and explain your answer.

"As a veterinarian"

Ethos: the author establishes their own credibility by stating their occupation and experience.

How does the author use pathos in this text? Quote the first two words of the sentence and explain your answer.

Imagine this: a small dog sits in a dark, cold garage. His hair is matted and dirty; he is skinny and weak from going days without food. There is no water for him to drink, no person to give him love and no blanket to keep him warm at night. While this might be a hard scenario to imagine, it is not an uncommon one in America today. According to the Humane Society of the United States, nearly 1,000,000 animals are abused or die from abuse every year. As a veterinarian with 30 years of experience, I have seen how even one incident of abuse can affect an animal for the rest of its life. As a society, we need to be more aware of this terrible problem and address this issue before it gets worse.

How does the author use pathos in this text? Quote the first two words of the sentence and explain your answer.

"Imagine this" Pathos: the author paints a vivid picture to evoke a feeling from the reader—sadness and pity for the abused animal.

How does the author use logos in this text? Quote the first two words of the sentence and explain your answer.

Imagine this: a small dog sits in a dark, cold garage. His hair is matted and dirty; he is skinny and weak from going days without food. There is no water for him to drink, no person to give him love and no blanket to keep him warm at night. While this might be a hard scenario to imagine, it is not an uncommon one in America today. According to the Humane Society of the United States, nearly 1,000,000 animals are abused or die from abuse every year. As a veterinarian with 30 years of experience, I have seen how even one incident of abuse can affect an animal for the rest of its life. As a society, we need to be more aware of this terrible problem and address this issue before it gets worse.

How does the author use logos in this text? Quote the first two words of the sentence and explain your answer.

"According to the Humane Society" Logos: the author uses a startling statistic to appeal to our intellect. Keep in mind that these three strategies can often overlap. This sentence qualifies as both Logos and Ethos because it cites a reputable organization, so we know the author is using credible sources.

I understand what ethos, pathos and logos is and I am confident I can use this in my writing and speaking

😒🙁😐🙂😃

Questions?

The importance of vocabulary...

How do the words you help you to persuade your audience?

Does this sentence convince you?
"Maybe the company could think about making a programme about wildlife in the region"?

1. Yes
2. No

What specific words stand in the way of this sentence being a convincing sentence: "Maybe the company could think about making a programme about wildlife in the region".

Can you re-write this sentence and make it more convincing? "Maybe the company could think about making a programme about wildlife in the region."

"Power Verbs sell and convince"

Choose one of the verbs in the next slide (preferably one you don't know already) and try to use it in a sentence. 

Not: This is the most beautiful laptop ever (adjective).

Example: This laptop shatters all other laptops (verb).
 

Think of one sentence using one of the words: