Ethos, Pathos and Logos

Ethos: Ethos deals with credibility, that what the author is saying is worth listening to. Ethos is commonly interchanged with ethics. For example, we are more likely to trust something that comes from a database versus Wikipedia. This is because the database is established while Wikipedia can be altered with incorrect information.  

-       I will use data from databases and reliable resources to make my argument.

-       I will talk about how other schools have switched to a minimalistic homework approach and have seen positive results. Seeing a minimalistic approach work in other schools will make the reader be more inclined to believe what I am stating is accurate, building their credibility with me.

-       I will not take data from a website and use it out of context to make my argument.

-       I will talk about how I grew up in a school that overloaded homework and how now I work at a school that does the minimalistic approach and the differences that I observe.

Pathos: Pathos deals with emotion. Images and words can help to establish an emotional connection between the author’s writing and the reader. An example of this is the Sarah Mclachlan commercial about supporting abused animals. The commercial uses sad pictures of puppies to appeal to the audience’s emotions.

-       I will discuss how homework can cause a child to be learning incorrectly, then falling behind in school.  

-       I will write about how homework can cause children to have physical complications that could otherwise be avoided.

-       I will talk about how students have missed out on family events because of homework.  

Logos: Logos appeals to reason and logic through facts and evidence. Logos can be especially helpful when sequencing paragraphs in an essay. An example of logos would be saying that doing your homework and studying results in better test grades. This is something that is logically sound, making the audience more likely to believe what you are saying. If you were to say that not doing your homework and going into the test without studying results in better grades would be illogical and most likely not believed by the audience.  

-       I will structure my essay’s paragraphs in a way that is logical and effective to making my point.

-       I will argue that what society has deemed to be logical (that the more homework a child has, the better off that they will be) is actually illogical.

-       I will use statistics to to argue that more negatives come from homework than positives.  

Photo from: http://msbecksnewsletter.blogspot.com/2014/03/ehthos-pathos-logos.html