Ethos, Logos and Pathos

Ethos is the characteristic spirit of a culture,era,community,institution etc.,as manifested in its attitudes,aspirations,customs etc.;the character of an individual as represented by his or her values and beliefs;the prevalent tone of a literary work in this respect.
Pathos is a pathetic expression or utterance;a quality of speech,writing,events,persons etc.,which excites pity or sadness;the power of stirring tender or melancholy emotion;physical or mental suffering
logos is The Word of God,the second person of the Trinity;A pervading cosmic idea or spirit of creativity or rationality.




Ethos (Credibility), or ethical appeal, means convincing by the character of the author. We tend to believe people whom we respect. One of the central problems of argumentation is to project an impression to the reader that you are someone worth listening to, in other words making yourself as author into an authority on the subject of the paper, as well as someone who is likable and worthy of respect.

Pathos (Emotional) means persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions. We can look at texts ranging from classic essays to contemporary advertisements to see how pathos, emotional appeals, are used to persuade. Language choice affects the audience's emotional response, and emotional appeal can effectively be used to enhance an argument.

Logos (Logical) means persuading by the use of reasoning. We'll look at deductive and inductive reasoning, and discuss what makes an effective, persuasive reason to back up your claims. Giving reasons is the heart of argumentation, and cannot be emphasized enough.