Brief Overview: In this in-class activity, students are introduced to the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos asked to identify them in several advertisements. Moreover, students will consider the ways in which the ads are making these appeals and who would find these appeals effective. In this way, this activity offers an introduction to both rhetorical appeals and rhetorical analysis.

 

Learning Objectives: This assignment takes place in a unit over rhetorical analysis, which is capped by the students writing a rhetorical analysis of a text. The goal of this assignment then is to both introduce students to the rhetorical appeals they will be examining in their papers and practice identifying ethos, pathos, and logos in different texts. Moreover, students will begin to consider how texts present these appeals and evaluate their effectiveness.

 

By completing this activity, students will:

• Understand the basic rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos

• Gain an introduction to analyzing these appeals

• Consider how different audiences will find different rhetorical appeals more or less effective.

• See how rhetorical appeals are not confined to academic contexts but are constant presences in their lives.

 

Assignment Length: This assignment requires the length of a one-hour class.

 

Required Materials: Online access to the videos for the instructor and the ability to project these for the entire classroom.

 

Skills Necessary: Teachers should already have discussed the basic definition of rhetoric with the students, discussing what it is, how students use it in their daily lives, and what makes it effective.

 

Access and Adaptability: This assignment requires no technologies for the students, though instructors should adjust if they feel like a student may have different needs when it comes to analyzing these materials.

 

Teacher Preparation: Teachers should be familiar with the ads ahead of time and be prepared to discuss them within the context of ethos, pathos, and logos.

 

Student Preparation: No prior preparation is required.

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Class Assignment: After reiterating the definition of rhetoric and the importance of analyzing rhetoric from the previous class, the teacher will begin by dividing the class into groups of 3-4 students.

 

The teacher will subsequently introduce the idea of ethos. I use the following definition but the teacher may substitute their own:

 

Ethos is used to convey the writer’s credibility and authority. When evaluating a piece of writing, the reader must know if the writer is qualified to comment on this issue. The writer can communicate their authority by using credible sources; choosing appropriate language; demonstrating that they have fairly examined the issue (by considering the counterargument); introducing their own professional, academic or authorial credentials; introducing their own personal experience with the issue; and using correct grammar and syntax.

 

After making sure the students understand Ethos and possibly providing a few examples of how the students used ethos when writing their literacy narratives by framing their expertise on a topic, the teacher will then play the following video advertisement (or one of the teacher’s choosing) for the students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqoFMwXjcsY

 

Following this, the teacher will then ask the students to consider the following questions in their group

1. What effect is this ad trying to create? What does it want its viewers to do after watching it?

2. Who is the audience for this ad?

3. What is the Ethos appeal of the advertisement?

4. How effective do you think this is?

 

After letting the groups discuss their answers for several minutes, the teacher will then reconvene the class and have the groups share their responses. Each group may be asked to answer all of the questions or only a specific question depending on the size of the class. Teachers should be prepared to ask follow-up questions to the students’ responses, such as why they selected the audience they did or who might find this ad less effective.

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Following this, the teacher will repeat the process with Pathos and Logos, beginning by defining each concept, sharing some examples, watching the advertisement, and having students consider the above questions in small groups before sharing their responses with the class. I use the following definitions for Pathos and Logos:

 

Pathos, or the appeal to emotion, means to persuade an audience by purposely evoking certain emotions to make them feel the way the author wants them to feel. Authors make deliberate word choices, use meaningful language, and use examples and stories that evoke emotion. Authors can desire a range of emotional responses, including sympathy, anger, frustration, or even amusement.

 

Logos, or the appeal to logic, means to appeal to the audiences’ sense of reason or logic. To use logos, the author makes clear, logical connections between ideas, and includes the use of facts and statistics. Using historical and literal analogies to make a logical argument is another strategy. There should be no holes in the argument, also known as logical fallacies, which are unclear or wrong assumptions or connections between ideas.

 

I use the following ads to demonstrate each appeal:

Pathos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_wtgIOTQfY

Logos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsYBArQECBg

 

Finally, if there is time remaining, the teacher can have students watch some additional advertisements or, to move this into more political grounds, some campaign ads, to determine which appeals they are using and why they are using them. In either case, the teacher will play the video for the students and ask them to discuss the following questions in their groups:

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1. What is/are the rhetorical appeal(s) here? (Ethos/Pathos/Logos)

2. How does the ad convey these appeals?

3. Who is the audience?

4. What are the possible weaknesses of the ad?

 

Afterwards, the class will again be reconvened and responses shared as a group.

 

I have used some of the following campaign ads in class before. Teachers may find that when using some of the older ads, it is helpful to provide historical context for the students:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HBON-ZIyUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFOFPXAm-AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8-TIfycLZM

 

Follow-Up: After completing the activity, the teacher should reiterate the importance of analyzing how rhetorical appeals operate in different mediums, while emphasizing to students that this will set the stage for the work they do in their rhetorical analyses.