Ericsson's Use Of Ethos Pathos Logos

Persuasion: “The act of causing people to do or believe something: the act or activity of persuading people: a particular type of belief or way of thinking” (Merriam-Webster). This concept was used by Orman, Ericsson and Gladwell in each of their writings. Ericsson’s usage of the rhetorical triangle to achieve persuasion evolved through her use of pathos and logos. These two aspects allowed Ericsson to capture her point that everyone lies, and that those lies can take on different forms.

When an author appeals to the audiences’ emotions and their imaginative sympathies, they are alluring to the appeal of pathos. Pathos plays a very crucial part in an argumentative writing. It enhances the connection between the author and their audience.

As Ericsson used more of the pathos and logos from the rhetorical triangle, Orman used pathos as well but instead of logos she used ethos. Ethos is the ethical appeal or the appeal from credibility. In other words ethos “refers to the credibility of the writer/speaker” (Ramage 67). Throughout Orman’s writing she refers to her credibility quite often. She refers to the past books she has written and her publisher. She repeatedly refers to these things to reinforce to her audience that she is credible and has a reputation. To her this is important for the audience to know because with them knowing that she is credible her argument must also be credible. The argument must come from a solid background and have good support, otherwise she wouldn’t be jeopardizing her reputation. She also appeals to pathos quite often. Orman relates her theories about money problems and women to relatable stories. She makes it so that the audience can relate and make a personal connection to the problem, just as Ericsson did with her stories about lying. This tactic is a very crucial one for an argumentative style of writing. Gaining that personal connection allows for more of the audience to side with the author. Some may view Orman’s writing as the better one because she does have that credibility. She has that backbone to her writing that makes it more reliable and trustworthy. On the other hand, some may say that Gladwell’s was truly the overall most persuasive writing. They may say this because of his use of facts and statics. The use of statistics in his paper shows his credibility and the audience can relate what he is saying back to the data he gave in the writing. This use of ethos was a very good tactic to gain the audience trust and prove his credibility. Another part of Gladwell’s writing that could have made his more persuasive was