Power Of Ethos Pathos Logos

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The Power of Pathos and Ethos over Logos When it comes to argumentation, there are three elements of persuasion: pathos, ethos, and logos. Pathos is a short term for the use emotional appeal, when language is interpreted in a way that arouses strong feelings towards a certain stance. Ethos stands for ethical appeals; the idea of what is right and wrong. Logos stands for logical appeals, in which evidence and reasons are applied to the argument in order to prove that there must be change. These three elements of rhetoric were derived from “Aristotle’s Rhetoric” by Aristotle himself. Within the book, Aristotle broke down speaking and writing into the three key components, which are of course pathos, ethos, and logos. The components were then…show more content…
utilizes ethos and pathos to build up a strong argument. In his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail”, King generally argues that an unjust law does not have to be maintained. In other words, inequitable laws should not be supported. First, King appeals to his own wisdom and knowledge about what the difference is between a just and unjust law. For instance, he defines that “[a]n unjust law is a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting […] because they did not have […] right to vote.” (281). Although this is an example of logos, it is also an example of ethos because he is implying that unjust laws are not laws but a restriction to specific minorities among the whites and it stains their society with discrimination. This also shows his desires to justify the significance of his participation of the events in Alabama to present his ethos as respectable to his audience. King uses pathos as well, when he says that he “[…] was arrested Friday on a charge of parading without a permit. […] to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust.” (282). This quote is seen as an instance of pathos considering that he tells his audience why he was confined not to receive sympathy, but to engage his audience to understand that he was denied any rights to voice out his opinions. He also appeals to their emotions because he knows that things were at a need for change; the letter was just the beginning. Furthermore, he wants them to comprehend how he felt in hopes of winning over their criticism. The way King structures his letter becomes similar to Gandhi’s organization as well, according to the order of their persuasion. Applying the use of ethos first, the letter begins with “[…] we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools […]” (281). to tell his audience to understand that outlawing segregation would
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