Rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos)

Summary

This lesson focuses on rhetorical analysis, specifically the identification of rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, logos, and Kairos. The instructor explains each appeal using examples from advertising, politics, and public service announcements. Ethos pertains to credibility, pathos to emotions, logos to reason and logic, and Kairos to timing. The lesson emphasizes that rhetorical analysis is about identifying these appeals rather than evaluating the argument's quality.

Takeaways

• 📈 Rhetorical analysis involves understanding the strategic choices authors make to persuade their audience, known as rhetorical appeals.
• 🗣️ Ethos is an appeal to credibility, often associated with status, education, or experience, and can be used by politicians or celebrities to endorse products.
• 🎭 Pathos is an appeal to the audience's emotions, which can be positive or negative, and is often seen in ads aiming to evoke feelings like happiness or sadness.
• 📊 Logos is an appeal to reason, using facts, statistics, and logical arguments to persuade, such as in health claims on food packaging or in political discourse.
• 🕒 Kairos refers to the opportune moment, where the timing of a message can make it more persuasive, like Disney's Super Bowl commercials featuring recent players.
• 🤝 Credibility doesn't always require high status; it can be effective to connect with everyday citizens, as seen in political campaigns.
• 🌐 Ethos is commonly seen in politics and advertising, where credibility is leveraged to sell products or ideas.
• 🐶 Appeals to pathos can be very impactful in ads, like pet adoption campaigns that use sad imagery and music to tug at heartstrings.
• 📦 Logos can be identified through the use of quantifiable information, logical statements, and analogies in arguments.
• 🚫 Rhetorical analysis does not require the evaluator to judge the quality or accuracy of the argument, only to identify the appeals used.
• 🌎 Authors can use multiple rhetorical appeals simultaneously, as seen in a PSA about gun control that combines logos with pathos.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the lesson?

The main focus of the lesson is to teach students how to identify and understand rhetorical appeals, specifically ethos, pathos, logos, and Kairos, as part of their rhetorical analysis for a major assignment.

What is an appeal to ethos?

An appeal to ethos is a persuasion strategy that relies on the character or credibility of the speaker or the source. It can involve referencing a person's status, educational background, or professional experience to lend credibility to an argument.

Can you give an example of an appeal to ethos from the lesson?

An example of an appeal to ethos given in the lesson is a politician on the campaign trail mentioning their humble upbringing to connect with the citizens and establish credibility.

What is an appeal to pathos?

An appeal to pathos is a strategy that attempts to evoke emotions in the audience, such as happiness, love, fear, or sadness, to make an argument more persuasive.

How are appeals to pathos often used in advertisements?

Appeals to pathos in advertisements might include sad music with images of lonely animals in pet adoption ads or images of joy and friendship to sell bubble gum, aiming to make the audience feel a certain way to influence their purchasing decisions.

What is an appeal to logos?

An appeal to logos involves persuading an audience through reason, using facts, statistics, quantifiable information, or logical arguments like cause-and-effect statements or analogies.

Can you provide an example of an appeal to logos from the lesson?

An example of an appeal to logos from the lesson is a Cheerios cereal box claiming that consuming the cereal can lower cholesterol by 4% in six weeks, using a specific statistic to persuade consumers.

What is an appeal to Kairos?

An appeal to Kairos is when the author takes advantage of the timing or the event to make their argument more effective. It's about delivering a message at the most opportune moment.

How does Disney use an appeal to Kairos in their Super Bowl commercials?

Disney uses an appeal to Kairos by airing commercials immediately after the Super Bowl ends, featuring the winning players. This capitalizes on the excitement and freshness of the event to promote their brand effectively.

What is the role of a student when conducting rhetorical analysis?

When conducting rhetorical analysis, a student's role is to identify the rhetorical situation and the rhetorical appeals being used without evaluating the quality or correctness of the argument. They should be a neutral observer.

Can an author use multiple rhetorical appeals in a single document?

Yes, authors can and often do use multiple rhetorical appeals simultaneously in a single document or advertisement. The lesson provides an example of a public service announcement that uses appeals to logos and pathos.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Introduction to Rhetorical Appeals

The instructor begins by introducing the topic of rhetorical analysis, specifically focusing on rhetorical appeals. They explain that rhetorical analysis involves understanding the rhetorical situation and identifying the appeals used by authors to persuade their audience. The instructor mentions ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos as key appeals and emphasizes that the effectiveness of these appeals depends on the rhetorical situation, including exigence, purpose, author, and audience. Ethos is described as persuasion through credibility, with examples such as celebrity endorsements and politicians connecting with everyday citizens.

05:04

😢 Appeals to Pathos

The second paragraph delves into appeals to pathos, which are strategies that aim to evoke emotions in the audience. The instructor provides examples of both positive and negative emotional appeals, such as pet adoption ads that play on feelings of sadness and guilt, and bubble gum ads that promote happiness and friendship. The goal of these appeals is to persuade the audience by tapping into their emotional responses.

10:04

📊 Appeals to Logos

In the third paragraph, the instructor discusses appeals to logos, which involve persuasion through reason, using facts, statistics, and logical arguments. Examples given include a Cheerios box claiming health benefits and a Colgate toothpaste commercial emphasizing the reduction of plaque. The instructor also mentions that students often focus on statistical information but should also consider logical statements and analogies as forms of logos.

15:07

⏰ The Concept of Kairos

The final paragraph introduces kairos, described as the opportune moment for making an argument. The instructor uses Disney's Super Bowl commercials as an example of an appeal to kairos, where the timing of the advertisement is crucial for its effectiveness. The instructor also reminds the audience that rhetorical analysis is not about evaluating the credibility or correctness of the author but identifying the rhetorical situation and the appeals used.

Keywords

💡Rhetorical Appeals

Rhetorical Appeals are strategic choices made by authors to persuade their audience. In the video, the instructor explains that these appeals include Ethos, Pathos, Logos, and Kairos. Understanding these appeals is crucial for analyzing how an author's argument is constructed to influence the audience.

💡Ethos

Ethos refers to an appeal to credibility or character. It is used when an author or a speaker tries to establish trust and reliability. In the script, the instructor mentions endorsements by celebrities and politicians sharing their humble backgrounds as examples of ethos.

💡Pathos

Pathos is an appeal to the audience's emotions. It aims to evoke feelings to influence the audience's response. The script provides examples such as pet adoption ads that play on viewers' sadness to encourage pet adoption.

💡Logos

Logos is an appeal to logic and reason. It involves the use of facts, statistics, and logical arguments to persuade an audience. The instructor gives examples like the health benefits of Cheerios and a Colgate toothpaste commercial that use quantifiable data to make their case.

💡Kairos

Kairos represents the opportune moment. It is the strategic timing of a message to make it more persuasive. The script describes Disney's Super Bowl commercials as an example of Kairos, where they capitalize on the excitement of the event to promote their brand.

💡Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis is the process of examining the components of a message to understand how it persuades an audience. The video's main theme revolves around teaching students how to conduct rhetorical analysis by identifying the rhetorical situation and the appeals used.

💡Rhetorical Situation

The Rhetorical Situation refers to the context in which communication occurs, including the exigence, purpose, author, and audience. The instructor explains that understanding this situation helps authors decide which rhetorical appeals to use.

💡Persuasion

Persuasion is the overall goal of rhetorical appeals. The script emphasizes that authors use various appeals to persuade their audience to adopt a certain viewpoint or take action. The concept is central to understanding the purpose behind rhetorical strategies.

💡Strategic Choices

Strategic Choices are the deliberate decisions authors make to craft their message effectively. The instructor discusses how these choices are influenced by the rhetorical situation and the desired impact on the audience.

💡Public Service Announcement (PSA)

A Public Service Announcement is a message intended to raise awareness about an issue. The script uses a PSA as an example to illustrate how multiple rhetorical appeals can be used simultaneously to convey a powerful message.

💡Satire

Satire is a genre of humor that uses irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's vices or foolishness. The instructor points out the use of satire in a PSA that contrasts gun violence statistics with the phrase 'God Bless America'.

Highlights

Introduction to rhetorical analysis and its importance in understanding the rhetorical situation.

Discussion on the use of PowerPoint's subtitle feature for accessibility.

Explanation of rhetorical appeals as strategic choices made by authors to enhance persuasiveness.

Introduction of the terms ethos, pathos, logos, and Kairos as key rhetorical appeals.

Explanation of ethos as an appeal to credibility or character.

Example of ethos in advertising with a celebrity endorsement.

Appeal to ethos in political campaigns and its effectiveness.

Definition of pathos as an appeal to the audience's emotions.

Examples of pathos in pet adoption ads and bubble gum commercials.

Introduction to logos as an appeal to reason through facts and statistics.

Examples of logos in Cheerios and Colgate commercials.

Explanation of Kairos as the opportune moment for an argument.

Example of Kairos in Disney's Super Bowl commercials.

Emphasis on the importance of not evaluating the quality of the argument during rhetorical analysis.

Highlight that authors can use multiple rhetorical appeals simultaneously.

Analysis of a public service announcement using multiple rhetorical appeals.

Conclusion of the lesson and预告 of the next video analyzing a Chrysler commercial.

Transcripts

okay we are recording hello everyone

welcome to our lesson on the rhetorical

peels so this will be a continuation

from our lesson on Monday on the other

rhetorical situation so you may have

noticed our setup is a little different

today the reason is is because I've just

learned recently that PowerPoint has its

own subtitled feature and so I want to

play around with that a little bit and

you may also notice I'm wearing

headphones this is because later on I'm

gonna play a video for you and I just

want to be able to check to make sure

it's not too loud or not too soft those

things like that so rhetorical analysis

which is what you'll be doing for major

assignment one requires you to not only

understand the rhetorical situation and

knowing how to identify that but you're

also need to be able to identify and

understand what the rhetorical peels are

so that's what we're gonna cover in our

lesson today okay so if you have heard

of this term rhetorical appeals before

you have probably encountered these

terms as well ethos pathos logos and

Kairos and if you haven't that's that's

alright because we're gonna cover it

today but you want to think about

rhetorical appeals as strategic choices

that authors make in order to make their

arguments more persuasive so there are

like tactics there are like strategies

that authors employ in their argument

and oftentimes an author's decision on

whether or not to utilize an appeal to

ethos pathos logos and/or Kairos depends

on their rhetorical situation what I

mean by that is you know we've already

talked about the rhetorical situation

exigence purpose author and audience

these four elements are things that

authors often have to consider when they

are making their point or they're making

their argument they have to think about

the purpose behind their argument they

have to think about how they're trying

to come off as the author of the

argument they have to think about the

audience and their values and needs and

so when an author is considering all

these things that helps them decide

which appeal is going to be the most

effective because not every appeal is

going to be

effective in every situation okay so

what is ethos and appeal to ethos means

it's an it's a persuasion through

appeals to character or credibility so

for example when someone refers to a

status or educational background or

personal professional experience all

right

actually before I get to that PowerPoint

right so an appeal to eat those means

and appeal to credibility so when

someone you know for example endorses

something when when it's a letter be a

celebrity sponsors a product or a

merchandise that isn't a that is the

company's appeal to eat those right

they're trying to say hey look at the

credibility of the celebrity you know if

they use our product then you should use

our product too so whenever you see a

celebrity on a billboard or someone

famous that's trying to sell you

something that is an appeal to eat those

in action because the company is trying

to lean on that celebrity's status or

their credibility

however credibility does not always have

to be associated with an individual of

high status it doesn't always have to be

someone who's a celebrity because

oftentimes credibility you know it

doesn't always matter if you're a rich

or wealthy or famous like that let me

give you an example so oftentimes when a

politician is on the campaign trail and

they are in a small town they'll often

say something like you know I grew up in

a town just like this my mother was a

schoolteacher my father worked in a

factory just like the one down the

street when the politician says

something like that they are appealing

to ethos right they're trying to say I'm

you should think of me as credible

because I grew up just like you I grew

up in a small town just like this

I'm not some big-name politician off you

know on Capitol Hill I'm you know one of

the little guys I'm one of you and so

credibility doesn't always have to be

associated with high status sometimes

it's actually more effective for your

argument if you are able to connect with

the everyday citizen

and so where do we often see appeals to

ethos so we like I mentioned we often

seed on the campaign trail in politics

we often see it in advertising really

you know whenever someone tries to lean

on their own credibility or someone

else's credibility that's an appeal to

ethos so let me show you an example of

an advertisement that's appealing to

ethos so here is a makeup ad that

features Beyonce so why would you why do

you think this is an appeal to eat those

and I'll give you a second to think

about that okay so an appeal to this is

an appeal to ethos because this makeup

company will Rio I believe they are

trying to lean on Beyonce's credibility

as a celebrity right and they're saying

look Beyonce is a celebrity she's

someone who's always in the limelight

she's someone who's always in front of

camera if she uses makeup if she uses

our makeup and she's always in front of

camera that must mean our makeup is

pretty trustworthy for Beyonce to rely

on us so much and that's why you should

buy our makeup too so here's an appeal

to ethos right there they're trying to

lean on Beyonce's status as a musician

as a celebrity to help sell their

product to you the consumer okay so that

was an appeal to ethos what are appeals

to pathos so an appeal to pathos is an

appeal to an audience's emotion if the

author attempts to evoke some type of

emotion than they are peeling to pathos

right so anytime someone is trying to

get you to feel an emotion trying to get

you feel something they are appealing to

papers so appeals to patos can be based

on positive emotions like happiness and

love as well as negative emotions like

fear sadness you might have heard a term

called fear tactics right when someone

is saying something and and then they're

criticized were you know spewing theater

or spewing fear tactics so an appeal to

pathos is trying to get your audience or

the listener to feel some sort of

emotion

so where do we often see appeals to

pathos again I'll give you a couple of

seconds to think about that well one

place that we often see appeals to

pathos or at least I often see it is

have you ever seen those adoption pet

adoption ads where in the background

they'll be playing a really sad song I

think it's a Sarah McLachlan's in the

arms of an angel and while they're

playing that song they're showing you

these like really sad looking pets and

animals

that's an appeal to pathos right there

the ASPCA I think that's the

organization that does those commercials

you know they're trendy to feel sad

they're trying to get you to feel guilty

so that you are more likely to adopt a

pet or donate money to their

organization yeah so here's an example

of an appeal to pathos right image of a

sad lonely dog it's trying to get you to

feel some sort of way to I guess adopt

this animal here you know the asking for

money to donate to the organization

here's another example in appeal to

pathos so I don't know if you can see

that clearly but this is an ad for

bubble gum

so it says friend requests accepted so

they're trying to show to people you

know coming close together you know sort

of basking in their friendship you would

say and I think the idea here or you

know if I was in the shoes of dentine I

would say you know look at the joy that

comes when two people are able to be

close together and they don't have to

worry about their bad breath or you know

when they're able to share a stick of

gum I don't know but they're trying to

appeal to happiness here to try to get

you to buy their gum and then finally we

have appeal to logos so an appeal to

logos is persuade through appeals to

reason so that means using facts using

statistics using quantifiable

information numbers scientific studies

so here I have an example of an appeal

to logos right there on the Cheerios

cereal box it says lower your

cholesterol 4% in six weeks

so Cheerios here is giving you the

health benefits through numbers right to

try to show you exactly how much you

lower your cholesterol in six weeks and

you know by you've seen those benefits

you are probably more likely to buy

Cheerios and to the right of that I have

it's a strange shot from a Colgate

toothpaste commercial

whoo you know I'm assuming that's a

dentist saying you know this brand

reduces plaque up to 98% so you know if

you buy this product you can probably

you know reduce your own plaque by up to

98% so they're trying to convince you of

something by giving you numbers logos

and appeal to logos is also persuades

through logical arguments such as

cause-and-effect argument so if you hear

you know a newscaster or politician

saying something like if the government

gets involved in providing health

insurance to the American people then we

will see a sharp decline in the quality

of our medical care so there that's an

if-then statement so by dropping that

if-then statement that cause-and-effect

statement that is an example of an

appeal to logos another appeal to logos

would be something like an analogy so

you know the ozone layer of the

atmosphere is like the outer layer of

skin on the human body and if it goes

away planet Earth will be in a lot of

pain so this could you know may be

something that's set by someone who is

very eco friendly environmentally

friendly so they make this analogy in a

case like this this is an appeal to

logos because they're using an analogy

and then finally a syllogism so I'm

going to give you a very simplified

example of it nuclear power plants

generate dangerous nuclear waste the new

power plant they're building they're

playing to build an art community is a

nuclear power plant therefore the new

power plant will be dangerous right so

it's a it's a logical sequence from the

first statement to the third statement

I'll be honest typically when students

do rhetorical analysis they often Zone

in on appeals to logos by the way by way

of statistical information by way of

numbers quantifiable information I

always try to get students to also pay

attention to logical statements like

this because these are also appeals to

logos

but I think more likely students

gravitate towards and it's easier to see

appeals to logos by you know

quantifiable information but this is

just something to keep in mind all right

and then finally we have Kairos so

Kairos this one's a little bit more

interesting from our textbook Kairos is

described as the opportune moment so

does that mean and appeal to Kairos is

when the author takes advantage of the

timing or event or timing of an event or

situation sorry about my my mistake

right there in order to make their

argument more effective so when people

deliver a message or deliver argument at

a very specific time or at a very

specific moment that is an appeal to

powers so in other words it's not what

you say or how you say it but also when

you say sometimes an argument is

persuasive can be more persuasive or

less persuasive depending on when it is

made so let me give you an example

example an appeal de carros Disney's

annual Super Bowl commercials so if

you're unfamiliar with this commercial I

think ever since the eighties Disney as

a company have always put a commercial

out at the end of the Super Bowl that

involves the players that just played in

the Super Bowl

I don't know timewise how they pull it

off on me they must run onto the field

of the camera and then editors must edit

right away but they're able to record

edit and then broadcast a Disney

commercial with the current players

right after Super Bowl so I want to show

you a quick example of this commercial

nation' let me see if I can pull it up

here and you know my computer is a

little old so hopefully this won't you

know be too laggy so let's see how this

plays

[Music]

mahomes you and the Kansas City Chiefs

just won the Super Bowl what are you

going to do next

[Music]

okay so that was I think a little laggy

so I apologize for that

here we go

so we see there right that was from I

think the most recent Super Bowl passion

with Holmes is a quarterback that I

played in it and they Disney put out

that commercial right after Super Bowl

I'm talking about like right when the

fourth quarter I mean you can see like

he's my Holmes is still on the field

he's like you know with the confetti

still raining down on him so how is this

how is this an appeal to Kairos well

Disney here really took advantage of the

timing of the Super Bowl to put this

commercial out right Dave you know they

want you to they want you to have the

Super Bowl fresh in your mind

have passional Holmes winning fresh in

your mind so when you see that

commercial you're thinking oh yeah he

just wanted Super Bowl he's going to

Disney World

man you know maybe we should check it

out - maybe we should take the family

just imagine what that commercial would

be like if you saw this same commercial

you know two weeks after Super Bowl

three weeks after Super Bowl four weeks

observable he would be like oh yeah the

Super Bowl did happen it uh who played

oh yeah patch from homes play night well

I guess he's gonna because he's gonna

Disney World you know it the argument

becomes much less persuasive right you

might be much less inclined to go dissin

world but when you see my homes when you

see the commercial right after Super

Bowl you know and you're with your

friends and family you know that's

probably a really good time to think hey

you know we should check out Disney

World so that's an example of an appeal

to Kairos in action alright some

important things to remember about

rhetorical analysis as a whole so I'm

talking about not just rhetorical peels

but rhetorical analysis okay remember

that when you are engaged in rhetorical

analysis it's not your job to decide if

the author is credible or correct

in other words rhetorical analysis does

not mean you are evaluating the quality

of the argument so this is very

important when you are doing retort on

rhetorical analysis it's not up to you

to decide how effective the argument is

you know you might come across let's say

a

speech very a political speech and the

person making a speech there try to

appeal to logos maybe they're dropping a

lot of statistical information they're

giving you a lot numbers percentages but

you realize you know he's me he or she

is making up these numbers these numbers

are completely fabricated when you do

rhetorical analysis you don't have to

say oh this isn't appeal to logos

because the numbers don't make sense or

numbers are made up by the simple fact

that the author there is trying to

persuade the audience by using

quantifiable information regardless of

the fact of whether it's accurate or not

that is an appeal to logos and so when

you are doing rhetorical analysis you

don't have to evaluate the quality of it

you don't have to say and you don't have

to judge how well-made or how well

delivered the argument is you just have

to identify you know the rhetorical

situation identify which rhetorical

appeals are being utilized so rather you

are a neutral observer only identifying

which of Torico appeals are work and why

the author is appealing to them given

what you know about the verticle

situation okay so don't worry about

having to evaluate or judge how well

someone's argument is when you're doing

rhetorical analysis and then the final

point I want to make is that authors can

utilize multiple Appeals at the same

time so this image is a little small on

your screen let me see if I can make it

just a little bigger so I'm gonna block

out some of the heading here but this is

just so you can see the image a little

more okay so here is a public service

announcement so it says last year

handguns killed 48 people in Japan eight

in Great Britain 34 in Switzerland 52 in

Canada 58 in Israel 21 and Sweden 42 in

West Germany and 10,000 720 meeting you

in the United States god bless america

okay so and at the end there at the

bottom there's a message that says stop

handguns before they stop you so take a

moment you may want to pause this video

but what rhetorical appeals do you see

being utilized in this advertisement or

in this PSA

a few moments later

okay now that we're back the correct

answer is there are multiple appeals

that work okay so the first thing that

we see you know the numbers that are

being discussed at the top are being

shown at the top that's an appeal to

logos you know the author of this ad

they're trying to show you the

statistical information of gun deaths to

get you to you know support their

decision to ban guns or more gun control

so we've seen appeal to logos there we

also see this very sort of this this

image of a gun it's it's embedded with

the picture of American flag you know

the image of a gun it's very symbolic I

would say there's also an appeal to

pathos here I appeal to emotion in some

sort of guilt especially with that

phrase god Bless America that statement

is being made in a satirical ways me

made a sarcastic way you know the

author's trying to say you know look at

the discrepancy between how many people

are killed in the US versus how many

people are killed elsewhere yeah god

Bless America right so it's it's meant

to it's not done in a serious way it's

so they're trying to evoke certain

emotions in you they're trying to give

you to make me feel guilty by looking at

how many debts are on the US so you're

trying to say to yourself okay maybe

it's a good idea for us to limit guns

and so we see we see a lot of appeals at

work here

so authors can can utilize the

rhetorical appeals simultaneously or all

at the same time in a single document

and a single ad in a single commercial

it's just up for you to identify where

they appear okay so this is the end of

our lesson I'm gonna record a second

video for you in which we go back and we

look at that Chrysler commercial that

feature in mmm and you'll get to see me

look at and uncover some of the

rhetorical appeals at play in that ad so

much like how we looked at that

rhetorical situation of that ad we're

gonna now look at the rhetorical peels

of the hat so I will be posting the

video down below so be sure to check

that out all right thanks everyone I

will see you later

you