Introduction
Persuasion is an art; and mastering this art requires the manipulation of the rhetorical triangles: ethos, pathos, and logos. “Ethos” deals with the credibility of the author; “pathos” refers to the emotional appeal of the text; and “logos” is the logics behind the argument; and these three fundamental appeals are the basis of persuasion. The rhetorical methods used in the two visuals, "How to Gain or Lose 30 minutes of Life Everyday" and "People Kill with Guns More Than Any Other Weapon," both by Mark Fischetti will be analyzed, compared and contrasted in reference to the broader contexts of each source.
How to Gain or Lose 30 Minutes of Life Every Day
The purpose of this visual is to show the effects of certain activities or habits can on life expectancy. Instead of a cumulative number, David Spiegelhalter,
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Logos is the primary rhetoric in this visual with a tremendous of data and graphs presented to the audience. The bar graphs can be easily interpreted without looking at the specific numbers, but there is a scale available at the bottom for readers who seek the specific numbers. Pathos is conveyed through color schemes, font, and the design of the visual. The color scheme used is dark red, with a grey background and black texts appeals to the pathos of the viewers. The font use is not conventional, and gives a grotesque and unsettling feeling for the viewer. Additionally, the arrows used to connect the subtitle to the data are comparable to that of a police investigation board showing different connections, which is a subtle yet intentional design. Ethos is not expressed through the identity of the author, but through the source of the data, which is stated to be from “FBI data on more than 13,000 killing incidents in the U.S. in 2010.” The credibility of the visual is based on the readers’ trusting and believing the legitimacy of government