this is a lesson on the rhetorical triangle a quick guide to evaluating rhetorical situations and rhetorical appeals hi my name is Chad and in this lesson I will teach you what the rhetorical triangle is and how it helps you identify and analyze rhetorical Appeals before considering the rhetorical triangle one must begin with a definition of rhetoric and although hundreds of nuances and amendments have been proposed few definitions have been as influential and universally recognized as Aristotle's definition in its discourse on rhetoric Aristotle proposes that rhetoric is an ability in each particular case to see the available means of persuasion thus for Aristotle rhetoric is not reducible to mere persuasion but encompasses the ability to adapt communication to given situations and recognize which appeals or means can be used to communicate in a persuasive way Aristotle popularized a tool for understanding and analyzing persuasive communication which has come to be called the rhetorical triangle the rhetorical triangle consists of three artificial though helpful divisions for analysis the audience the author and the text these three agents are involved in every act of communication and these categories help one to understand and articulate how communication works in any given situation the author is the one communicating the text or the message the audience is the recipient of that text and the text is what connects the two characters and is the vehicle of communication used by the author related to these categories are the rhetorical appeals the rhetorical appeals describe how persuasion takes place and not just the agents present in the situation as the rhetorical triangle does thus and appeal to ethos is the author's appeal to Authority character or credibility people are often persuaded more effectively by authors with Authority good character and credibility and appeal the LA Goss as the author's appeal through the inner consistency a reasonableness of the message and text characterized by reason and logic is often deemed persuasive and appeal to pathos is the author's appeal to the audience's emotion communication that evokes feeling our affection often has a better chance of being persuasive than those that do not thus these three rhetorical appeals are the proper and necessary means of persuasion so in every instance of persuasive communication these three categories and related appeals offer a distinguishable schema for understanding and evaluating persuasion let's first consider and appeal to ethos that is credibility Authority and character and appeal to ethos establishes why the author should be trusted to speak about the subject at hand this credibility can be the hardest to generate because it often requires a background of expertise experience or first-hand knowledge if authors carry themselves with dignity and respect toward other viewpoints and demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the subject or field they will likely gain a hearing when seeking to identify the appeals to ethos look for how the author demonstrates the following trustworthiness credibility reliability expert testimony or liable sources and fairness individual to the right of the screen Gatorade appeals to ethos attempting to build authority and credibility by associating its product with a star athlete borrowing from Bryce Harper's fandom to promote its product second let's consider and appeal to Lagos that is consistency reasonableness and logic and appeals of log-off's contends that the inner consistency and airtight logic of the text speaks for itself and should be compelling enough on its own merits to persuade the audience Aristotle regarded the appeal to Lagos as the most important appeal since despite the other appeals upon this one the argument stands or Falls if authors ground their argument in strong reasons and evidence explain their approach or process and go only where the evidence permits then they will likely be persuasive and appeal the log-off's requires the audience to attend to the flow of the argument and to listen carefully to how the argument is developed or evidenced when seeking to identify the appeals to Lagos look for how the author includes the following facts case studies statistics experiments logical reasoning analogies anecdotes Authority voices individual to the right of the screen this anti-smoking ad appeals to Lagos attempting to rationalize their message through statistical evidence that develops a compelling case for abstaining from smoking this visual also appeals to pathos with the visual which is the third appeal we will consider third let's consider and appeal to pathos that is emotions affections in empathy and the pilla petha seeks to make an emotional or affective connection with the audience evoking a sense of commonality antipathy virtue or conscience this appeal is perhaps the easiest to employ and the easiest to spot and appeal to pathos can easily be corrupted numerous advertisements manipulate the audience's sentimentalities about themselves or their quality of life when seeking to identify the appeals to pathos look for how the author includes the following higher emotions like belief in fairness love pity etc and lower emotions like greed lust revenge etc in the visual to the right of the screen this PETA ad appeals to pathos attempting to evoke a visceral sense of horror and rage at the mistreatment of animals to slake the consumers craving for luxury apparel although these three rhetorical appeals ethos pathos and logos are the proper and necessary means of communication it is possible that these appeals could be wielded corruptly if a person chooses to degrade persuasion down to coercion or deception here is a brief list of some common fallacies pulled from our website for a more comprehensive list of fallacies visit our web site where you can download a PDF handout entitled recognizing 40 fallacies ad hominem attacking a person rather than his or her argument literally argument to the person moral equivalency comparing a minor masti with a major atrocity to discredit a policy on moral grounds poisoning the well attacking preemptively what others might later claim supplying any information that may produce a biased result false authority appealing to an expert went out of his or her field of expertise this second list covers fallacies of reason that is fallacies relating to an appeal to Lagos non sequitur deductive fallacy meaning it does not follow arriving at a conclusion that does not logically follow from its premises post hoc fallacy deductive fallacy of doubtful a came before be there for a Cosby Association does not equal causation begging the question deductive fallacy assuming the premise and conclusion at the same time circular reasoning exemplified in definition by opposition appeal to ignorance inductive fallacy claiming that a thesis is true because it cannot be proved false or vice-versa thus ignoring that some theses may never be proved or disproved with certainty this third list covers fallacies of reason that is fallacies relating to an appeal to Lagos bandwagon appeal seeking to establish a thesis based on the quantity of people who believe it zeitgeist or who have believed it in the past tradition scare tactics seeking to force an idea or action by veiled threats fear that is not based in fact is a fraud false analogy proposing an analogy meant to inflame fear appeal to pity using emotional appeals that are irrelevant to the topic with so many fallacies one must learn to counter them and both avoid and disarm fallacies as they rise don't counter a fallacy with another fallacy avoid identifying and confronting a fallacy fallacies left unaddressed eventually become accepted and are only routed out with extreme difficulty use generalizations and fail to make distinctions due being engaging in reflective listener asked courteous yet incisive questions about their arguments such as why based on what evidence how did you arrive at that perspective can you walk me through your thought process ask for an example name the fallacy and address inconsistencies without being abrasive or condescending pose your objections not only as statements but also in the form of questions guiding your conversant through your own logical steps here are some excerpts from Martin Luther King Junior's letter from Birmingham jail note what appeals King uses and how he uses them to persuade his audience in the following excerpt King appeals to Lagos critiquing the rationale of his opponents and explicate his position on the topic please feel free to pause the video and read this paragraph for yourself in the following excerpt King appeals to pathos arousing sympathy or some form of empathetic identification to confirm his claim please feel free to pause the video again and read the following paragraph in the following excerpt King appeals to ethos posturing himself as an extremist for love and justice in a long line of virtuous extremists again feel free to pause the video and examine this paragraph for yourself so how would you begin to analyze MLK's letter in light of the rhetorical triangle first start with diagnostic questions what does the ad tell you about the author what is the intended message or argument who is the target audience then identify the appeals how does the author appeal to ethos using or not using Authority or credibility to persuade the audience perhaps Kings first-hand experience or identification with a tradition of virtuous figures how does the author appeal to Lagos emphasizing or de-emphasizing the consistency of his logic perhaps Kings long periodic sentence that reveals a causal logic moving from evidence and various cases to a conclusion and ruling how does the author appeal to pathos trying to make you feel believe and respond maybe revulsion to the injustice around them and direct action in support of desegregation perhaps in the form of seemingly extreme though necessary measures finally identified the fallacies does the appeal to ethos fall apart if so where does the appeal to Lagos fall apart if so where does the appeal to pathos fall apart if so where consider the second attempt at persuasion just a typical Super Bowl car ad or a hilarious beer at war whatever ad this is whatever but it's a tie dad what it's a tie dad we'll make sure to tighten down there are no stains look at those clean clothes what else would this be an ad for a razor no dad cold refreshing tie that meet the all-new it's a tie dad tied so does this make every Super Bowl ad but I'd have I think it does watch and see [Music] it is interesting to observe that written media like King's letter tend to feature logical Appeals while visual media like this tine ad feature character in emotional Appeals this advertisement never develops a robust appeal the Lagos but favors appeals to path offs asking the audience to temporarily suspend reason in order to feel or experience the superiority of tide so how would you begin to analyze this advertisement in light of the rhetorical triangle first start with diagnostic questions what does the ad tell you about the author's what is the intended message or argument who is the target audience then identify the appeals how do the author's appeal to ethos using or not using Authority or credibility to persuade the audience perhaps how they co-opted all other brands and demonstrate a wider user base that is everyone uses tide how did the author's appeal to Lagos emphasizing your D emphasizing the consistency of the ads logic maybe the author's just sidelined this appeal and bind their argument up with the appeal to pathos how do the author's appeal to pathos trying to make you feel believe and respond perhaps the surprising twist in comic relief soften you to the idea of buying tide finally identify the fallacies where does this appeal the ethos fall apart where does the appeal to Lagos fall apart where does the appeal to pathos fall apart these lines of inquiry are just the first steps in developing a rhetorical analysis of this advertisement these questions will guide you into new ways of evaluating and critiquing various kinds of persuasive artifacts ask these in other engaging questions to understand the argument evaluate the reasons and evidence critique fallacies and eventually offer a solution or argument of your own practice this process of analysis and evaluation on your own with ads essays speeches conversations and numerous other attempts at the persuasive communication that you encounter every day I hope you found this lesson helpful as you seek to understand the rhetorical triangle and analyze rhetorical appeals for more information check your writing manuals visit local writing centers or consult online writing helps or check out more at our YouTube channel and visit southeastern Writing Center where you will find dozens of helpful links and handouts offering writing assistance for a variety of situations and audiences thank you