The document discusses the components of persuasion defined by Aristotle: ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is establishing credibility or trust with the audience. Pathos involves appealing to the audience's emotions. Logos means making reasonable arguments backed by evidence. These elements, along with purpose, tone, and medium, form the rhetorical triangle which is a tool for analyzing persuasive texts. The rhetorical triangle connects these elements to the author, audience, and subject of the text.

1. ANALYZING
INFORMATIONAL TEXTS 2

2. WHAT EXACTLY
GIVES WRITING
ITS MEANING?
ETHOS, PATHOS,
LOGOS
EXPLAINED

3. I N
3 6 0
B C
Beginning in 360 BC, the Greek philosopher
Aristotle defined the components of persuasion as
ethos, pathos, and logos. Back then, all arguments
were oral, but today, most of the arguments that
we come across on the daily are written and
visual. It is important to define argument in this
context, not as a conflict coming to a head, but as
any message, call to action, or dissemination of
knowledge from one person to another (or to
many others).

4. All successful arguments, then, need the
three Aristotelian appeals: ethos, pathos,
logos. These appeals are in the author’s
control. The writer is always appealing to
their intended audience.

5. E T H O S
An appeal to ethos is rendered by gaining
trust in the audience. This is oftentimes
accomplished by the writer showing they have
personal, professional, or expert experience in
what they are speaking about--this makes the
writer seem more credible and therefore
worthy of disseminating the argument.

6. AN APPEAL TO PATHOS IS OFTEN MADE BY REACHING
THE AUDIENCE’S EMOTIONS: THINK PASSIONATE
DICTION, OR EMPHATIC PHRASES, OR SAPPY
ANECDOTES. THE APPEAL TO PATHOS CAN BE A VERY
SUCCESSFUL FORM OF PERSUASION, ESPECIALLY
WHEN THE AUTHOR IS A TRUSTED ONE.
PATHOS WARNING: this appeal can
easily be used to manipulate an
audience's emotions in order to make
them think or act in a way they
otherwise would not.

7. L O G O S
Lastly, many successful arguments appeal to
logos, they must be reasonable (that is, based
on truth and articulated in a way that make
them understandable and backed up by viable
support) in order to be believed (at least, by
savvy readers like yourself).

8. There is one more
phrase all rhetoricians
need to be familiar
with in order to
analyze text
effectively: the
rhetorical triangle.
This triangle aids in
connecting ethos,
pathos, and logos to
the writer, the
intended audience,
and the subject of the
text. It also adds three
essential elements
required for effective
writing: purpose,
medium, and tone.

9. THE RHETORICAL
TRIANGLE
All seasoned and beginning
rhetoricians will find it helpful to
be familiar with the rhetorical
triangle. This triangle aids in
connecting ethos, pathos, and
logos to the author, the intended
audience, and the subject of the
text, respectively. It also adds
three essential elements
required for effective writing:
purpose, medium, and tone.

10. AUTHOR/ethos
AUDIENCE/
pathos
SUBJECT/
logos
TONEPURPOSE
MEDIUM
RHETORICAL
TRIANGLE

11. Tone connects the author and the
subject by representing the author’s
attitude on the subject they are
writing about.
TONE, PURPOSE, MEDIUM

12. Purpose connects the author to the
audience through their reason for
communicating: whether it be to
persuade, entertain, assert, motivate,
etc., the audience.
TONE, PURPOSE, MEDIUM

13. The writer chooses what type of
medium is best to relay the subject to
the intended audience: a letter, an
article, an essay, a speech, a
narrative, or a song.
TONE, PURPOSE, MEDIUM