College Composition / Unit 28 CMP 0685 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Identifying the Appeal
The idea
Identifying which appeal a passage uses means asking what it asks the audience to trust: the speaker, their feelings, or the evidence and reasoning.
In practice
Ask in order. First, does the passage emphasize who the writer is or how fair and knowledgeable they are? That points to ethos. Second, does it describe experiences, use vivid or charged language, or invoke values such as loyalty or fear? That points to pathos. Third, does it present statistics, facts, examples or a chain of reasoning? That points to logos. Fourth, does it stress why the issue matters now? That points to kairos. Fifth, if more than one answer is yes, decide which appeal does the main work in that passage, and note how the others support it.
Where people slip
Statistics can serve pathos, as when a large number is presented to shock, and stories can serve logos, as when a case illustrates a pattern. Identify the appeal by what the passage asks readers to do with it, not only by its form.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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