Part One: Reading and Response: Read pages 12–18 in Dynamic Argument and answer the following questions.
1) In your own words, define each of the three persuasive appeals.
Authority – Knowing what you are talking about or being prepared.
Emotion – Compassion or sentiment you share with your audience.
Logic – Having evidence and supporting materials.
2) When writing a research paper, what are good strategies you can use for appealing to the reader’s trust in authority? How is it advantageous for you to get your reader to trust you as an authority?
Some strategies you can use include doing research, mentioning counterpoints and views, and “borrowing” authority from other experts. It is important that readers trust you as an authority so that you are more believable and credible.
3) What are some good strategies for appealing to emotion when you’re formulating a reasonable argument? Support your claim with a hypothetical situation in which appealing to a particular emotion would be advantageous.
A good strategy to use for appealing to emotion is creating a mental image that reminds the reader of something emotional. For instance, describing the destruction caused by the falling of the World Trade Center in an argument about war on terror.
4) Are there any potential disadvantages with using a heavy appeal to emotion? Support your claim by describing a hypothetical example.
One disadvantage would be if you touch the emotions too much. The audience may lose sight of the topic. Using a joke, for example. If the joke is too funny, then the reader might forget about what is being presented.
5) What are ways you can use logos to build a strong argument? How important is using logos when formulating a reasonable argument? Support your claim.
I think logos is a very important part of a strong argument. Logos is the evidence and supporting material that gives you credibility and believability.
6) Are ethos, logos, and pathos totally separate from each other? Give an example or two that support your claim.
No, I think the need one another to work to your advantage. How I see it, you need pathos (emotion) and logos (logic) to give you that authority (ethos) needed for a strong argument. Without emotional support from your audience and logical reasoning to support your claims you cannot achieve authority.
Part Two: Applying the Concepts: Write a 250 words analyzing an essay (any essay–please remember to include title and author in your post) from Dynamic Argument for how the writer uses each of the three persuasive appeals (ethos, pathos, logos). Based on this analysis, evaluate the argument (in other words, does the way the writer uses the three appeals effective in building a persuasive argument?).
Janet Barnett
Childhood Obesity: Introducing the Fat Card
In this essay, Janet Barnett argues that teens today are fat due to the fact that their parents let them watch too much television and guide them to eating the wrong foods. She thinks that promoting better health education and giving teens fat report cards will resolve the problem at hand. I think Barnett has a strong argument because she has good use of logos, pathos and ethos. The mentioning of obese kids not being able to get jobs and die sooner than fit kids is a good touch of pathos. When reading that part I felt an emotional connection with the fat kids and it made me sad to think they will not live long if they watch too much T.V. and eat poorly. The statistics that were included were also a beneficial. I put them in the category of logos. The statistics, for example, Type II diabetes is up 800% in the last 10 years and 60% of adults are overweight, are good for supporting the claim made. Both the use of emotions and logic gives the author credibility and in turn authority. I think the argument proposed is well supported and persuasive. Janet Barnett’s uses of the three persuasive appeals (Logos, Pathos, and Ethos) were, in the end, effective.