Pathos Ethos Logos

For the pass few day, in my English 155 class, we have been focusing on Aristotle's Appeal which are ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos has to do with the credibility. Logos is the logical of the text while Pathos is the emotional appeal of it all. These three forms of rhetoric are what make an essay "grab" the reader's attention. It is what makes the cupcake of Delta Dave have all the ingredients that it needs in order to make a perfect, tasteful cupcake. However, what makes one less important than the other one? I belief that there is not one that is more important because you need all of them to have a "perfect essay" because in a way they are all tight in together. However, I do belief that depending on your essay one has a bigger effect than the other two.

After reading "Introduction: Framing the Controversy," in my course reader, I concluded that the most effected Aristotle Appeals for me is Pathos. Pathos is Greek for suffering or experience and it means the emotional or motivational appeals; vivid language, emotional language and numerous sensory details (www.u.arizona.edu). I believe it is the most important because if you relate to the writer and to the story he or she is presenting then you tend to feel more connected to the text and the writer.

I also feel that when the text has to do mostly with Pathos, I tend to pay more attention to it and understand it. I also have a lesser change of zooming out while I am reading. Take for example the story in our course reader about a rainy day. In here, they give us two sketches about the same rainy day. In the first one, it explains the rainy day with a more emotional appeal and it uses words that describe the situation with warmth and care making it Pathos. It makes you see the bright side in a rainy day. Unlike the second one that it has no emotion for you to relate with because it describes everything in a technical way that it makes you sometimes zoom out. I guess the way that it was put in makes all the difference for me.  In addition, I think that the first one is easy to read and understand while the second one you have to put all your focus and attention to it.

While all three are important in their own special way separately, they work better when you unite them. They each attracted each other in a way that they work together to bring one point out.  When you put them together, it has a better and bigger affect on the reader because you give them all the qualities to make the essay stand out. Each one supports each other because if the reader gets the idea that the writer is not a reliable source than the whole text falls apart. If you do not have an emotional appeal then you essay does not relate to the reader making the reader thought the ethos and logos. But Logos is also very important because you need to support your ideas and arguments and if you do not then your ethos fall apart.

Regardless, all of Aristotle claims are important but Pathos to me is number one. Pathos is what tights everything together for it and me is what I relate to the most.