Abel Corral
Ms. Hasebroock
AP English Period D
18 September 2014
How Is Rhetoric Used, and Why?
“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” Those are the words of a classical Greek philosopher and mathematician by the name of Plato. Rhetoric is in our everyday lives, rhetoric is used in our conversations, rhetoric is used in our speeches, rhetoric is used in debates, and even visual signs. Rhetoric is everywhere we go, whatever we read, and whatever we see. Rhetoric is used to persuade its audience by giving information convincingly. It is the art of speaking and writing effectively.
Rhetoric has three major modes of persuasion. Those modes of persuasion are ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is ethical appeal or providing credibility
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Both Queen Elizabeth and Earl Spencer are very similar because of the use of pathos and ethos but not so much of logos. Because Queen Elizabeth is a figure of high power as well as Earl Spencer, many people would heed what they say, many people will listen, and many people would follow them as well. This message also goes around the world so it reaches every corner of the planet and because of their high standing in politics, people will pay more attention than they would to normal human being. Pathos is used perfectly in these speeches because they were close relatives to her. Queen Elizabeth used pathos by saying “I hope that tomorrow we can all, wherever we are, join in expressing our grief at Diana’s loss, and gratitude for her all-too-short life (Elizabeth 30).” What Queen Elizabeth expressed in that quote was that she was grieving and being grateful over the loss of princess Diana’s. Earl Spencer used pathos as well by saying “We are all chewed up with sadness at the loss of a woman who was not even our mother (Spencer 32). What Earl was displaying in those words was that overwhelmed with depression and dejection. What they said is of a high degree importance to people because they feel forlorn that the family has to go through this loss so they to as well grieve at the loss of the princess. On the contrary, the Wikipedia source used only …show more content…
Kennedy’s presidential inaugural address. Mr. Kennedy was very successful in using each of the modes of persuasion to his own favor. John was successful in using ethos, was successful in using pathos and was successful in using logos as well. Ethos was done with positive effect because Kennedy was a high standing political figure of an entire nation. Referring back to Queen Elizabeth as a high standing political figure as well- most people would respect Kennedy, most people would heed his advice, and most people would follow him as well. Kennedy uses logos in a way where there would only be no disagreement. He says “ those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside (Kennedy 53).” This quote is interpreted into the fact that everyone who tried to get power quickly ended up in a hole themselves. Kennedy used pathos by appealing to the patriots of America. This emotion was very important to win over because of the Cold War scared the nation and of course, people wanted to feel safe and he did that by being patriotic and capturing that emotion. Saying “The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world (Kennedy 54).” This quote just so happens to say that hope and pride that we bring to the problem will make the country great and