Chapter 15 describes four types of
appeals that are used by speakers to support claims and they are logos, ethos,
pathos, and mythos appeals. Each of these appeals relies on a different method
of proving points to support a claim. The logos appeal relates to logical
proof, this means that a speaker must present facts and statistics to logically
prove their point. The Ethos appeal is an appeal that relates to how credible
the speaker is. If throughout the speech the speaker presents enough solid
facts then this appeal could be used. An appeal to the emotions of the audience
would correspond with the pathos appeal in which the speaker must stimulate the
audience’s feelings to uphold a claim. This appeal may not just work on its own
and may need a combination of another appeal to win the favor of most
audiences. An appeal to certain cultural beliefs, Mythos, may be a difficult appeal
to present to an audience unless the speaker can directly relate it to a
commonly known cultural tale, song, rhyme or etc.
Understanding and using the 4 types of appeals you wrote about makes sense when trying to persuade someone about a given topic. I think the best one with the most obvious advantage is the "Pathos: Appeals to Emotion". All you have to do is look at the past election season. That's all any of the candidates tried to convince you to vote for them. They wanted to appeal to your feelings to sway you to votinga certain way. This seems to be the quickest and simplest way. We are an emotional society and do more in the name of emotion than anything else. We can't help it when our emotions are taped. I think when I give my speech, I'll try to tape into this category.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great that there is more than just one type of appeal? For the most effective speeches, it is best to use either a combination of two or use one really well. The most common types of appeals I see are logos, pathos and mythos. For example, on television we are shown what appears to be facts and logic--logos, but there is also a heavy implication of pathos and mythos, usually put together. Of course for different types of speeches speakers will decide which one will appeal the most to the audience. We all know, or so I think, that attorneys normally are seen as presenting cases with strong logic and facts; they are professionals at logos, and perhaps ethos because they are typically well-versed with the information they present. Anyway, good post!
ReplyDeleteI think that the most effective way to persuade someone is to use a combination of different types of appeal. An appeal to logos and an appeal to pathos will be much more effective than just an appeal to logos alone. The types chosen would depend on the topic of the speech. One speech topic might be better with an appeal to logos and mythos, or another could be best suited for an appeal to pathos and ethos. I tend to use pathos and logos the most when I want to convince someone of something. I think that they have the strongest appeal; a person’s emotions and their logic.
ReplyDeleteGreat examples for each appeal. Your right using a mix of appeals would be best to support your claim that way you might connect with some audience members in the way it suits them and others who might appeal some other way. i think logos is the most universal appeal because most people use logic when they're trying to judge something. But credibility is also something that is great to build up for listeners to believe you more so Ethos would be ideal to use with some facts and examples. although appealing to someones logic makes a lot of sense also. So I guess it's just a persons preference at what they think their best at.
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