Aristotle claims that rhetoric is a strong vital part in a speech that is used to attract an audience. He defines it as “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.” Rhetoric has the power to be presented in almost any given subject; it has no given or definite idea. In different settings there are certain ways to use rhetoric through the three modes of persuasion: ethos, logos, and pathos. The appeals of using these modes occur differently given the type of situation. Ethos is used through reasoning; logos is used to understand human character and their morals; pathos is defined as a person or audience’s emotions. Aristotle depicts emotions as a temporary state of mind rather than part of a character’s attribute. …show more content…
To capture the audience’s attention, pathos is ideal when trying to sell your objective. In rhetoric, the arousal of feelings, is associated with style, since only a certain use of language can create emotional reactions in an audience. Emotions play a large part in perception in oneself and can affect judgement. Aristotle lists ten emotions that he investigates in the Rhetoric. The first emotion is anger, which is defined as a “desire led by physical and mental distress.”(1378b) Behind the pleasure of anger is an anticipation of getting retaliation. Anger can also lead to belittling which can influence those who give insults because they are more superior of ill-treating them. The second emotion, calmness, is the exact opposite of anger. Therefore calmness will have some contradictory …show more content…
The sixth emotion is kindliness, which is specified as “doing service to another in a time of need and not getting anything back in return.”(1385b) It shows a great morale of doing good deeds in oneself. The seventh emotion is pity, which is described as a “pain in which a destructive event has happened to one that doesn’t deserve it.”(1386a) Those who have no pity are the ones that have suffered the most. Pity mostly affects people who think it is impractical for evil to be bestowed upon them. The eighth emotion is indignation,opposed to pity, it is defined as ”feeling pain at undeserved misfortune and being pained at undeserved good fortune.”(1387a) Pity and indignation both share a quality of good character, since they are right to commiserate for those who deteriorate in an underserved manner and feel resentment toward those who triumph when they don’t deserve it. The ninth emotion is envy, which is defined as”a certain kind of distress at apparent success on the part of one’s peers in attaining the good things.”(1388a) The “small-souled” are seen as the envious as they only want greatness to happen to them. This can create tension and rivalry between people. The tenth and last emotion is emulation, it is described as”a kind of distress at the apparent presence among others like him by nature of things honored and possible for a person to acquire.”(1388b) Unlike Envy, a bad