Rhetorical Triangle? Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. Kinda sounds like the three musketeers cousin or a cereal brand reject, but instead it is the building blocks of every persuasive writing or report. I decided to write this in a way that helped me understand the three and maybe provide help for someone else who struggles with the concepts of English. The three of them logos, ethos, and pathos; together they create a triangle that strengthens any paper written by the author. However, by removing just one of those elements, you have a paper that could have been great but falls short. I of course needed to find a way to incorporate these musketeers into my everyday life. So this is what I came up with.
Being on my second underway unit in the military, we are taught fire is made up of the “Fire Triangle” or now called “Fire Tetrahedron,” chemical reaction was added. The original fire triangle however, has the same principles as ethos, logos and pathos. Oxygen, heat, and fuel together can create fire, but remove just one of them and you have nothing. This is the simplest way and most effective to extinguish a fire when out to sea, just remove an element. Funny this applies the same to writing just backwards. Remember keep it simple, be effective.
Logos- described in our reading as the “quality of the message…consistency and clarity of the argument.” I remember it as oxygen because; oxygen is clear and the purer the oxygen the bigger the bang when it comes to fire.
Ethos- described in our reading, as the “part of the writing that focuses the attention to the writer’s character as it is projected in the message.” I came to think about this as the fuel. Fuel is fluid and ever changing; it can be any color and have different smells. These are things you find in your writers, hopefully minus the smells. Every writer is different, from a different background and ideology. Lastly, the writer’s thought process is also fluid and ever changing. (at least mine is when I write)
Pathos- described in our reading as the emotional appeal. Basically how is the writer going to connect to their readers? This of course is heat. The basics of human attraction is “heat”. Yes it is very sexual but it makes the most sense. The difference between a couple and lovers is their heat. A couple, they are together but there is no sizzle no spark; but lovers there is more then an animal attraction, there is passion, lust, and heat. This is the connection the writer wants with the reader. The writer wants their undivided attention and the reader wants to have the feeling of being pulled into something greater.
Work Cited
Ramage, John D., Bean, John C., and Johnson, June. Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Reading. Pearson, 2010.
I really enjoyed the analogy you used to describe the rhetoric triangle, The Three Musketeers (Ethos, Logos and Pathos). I initially struggled to understand how these three sides of the triangle works together so that any paper or speech would be believable. I have to do a lot of interviews with news media in my current job. The way you described the triangle to fire helped me to understand. As with any fire you need fuel, oxygen and heat for the fire to burn. Just by removing one of the sides of the triangle, the fire goes out. When I conduct an interview with the media I have to keep in mind the rhetorical triangle. I did not know that was what it was called when I did the interviews, but it works. When speaking, I had to make sure of the message I was sending to the audience. When talking about a fatal accident in the city, I had to ensure that my message was one of sympathy and caring. Not just giving the facts about the accident. I had to also know what audience I was trying to get my message to. And Finally I had to have the credibility from previous interviews of being honest and sincere. I also had to keep my credibility by not giving false information to the public.
ReplyDeleteI benefited from your blog by being able to understand the rhetorical triangle by comparing it to a fire. And that eliminating or not even having one of the legs of the triangle, the story will not be effective. It’s just like snuffing out a candle.