What are rhetorical appeals?
1 Answer
Rhetorical appeals is another way to refer to methods of persuasion in an argument.
Explanation:
Rhetorical appeals is another way to refer to methods of persuasion in an argument. There are 3 general ones:
- Ethos - which is the method used to assert expertise or experience by the speaker,
- Pathos - which is the method used to tug at the listener's emotions, and
- Logos - which is the method used to appeal to a listener's reason and logic.
More on these methods in this answer: https://socratic.org/questions/what-are-the-definitions-of-ethos-logos-and-pathos-what-is-an-easy-way-to-rememb?source=search
Aside from those three, there is a fourth, Kairos - which is Greek for "opportunity" or "right time". This is less about what is being said and more about framing the first three into the correct form.
For instance, if I'm looking to ask for a favour from someone (the argument being "I should be granted this favour"), we'd want to shape the request depending on who we're talking to (asking a favour from our mom is quite different from asking for a favour from a teacher and much different than asking a complete stranger). We'd probably even have to create the opportunity to ask for the favour in very different ways.
