Alice Goffman Ethos Pathos Logos

Pathos is emotional appeal that influences what we think. According to everything’s an argument there are four main ways that Pathos is used. They are using emotions to build bridges, using emotions to sustain an argument, using humor, and using argument based on emotion. To build a bridge, the speaker makes the audience feel empathy for the situation. The speaker appeals to her or his own experience to gain sympathy early that way the audience will be more inclined to listen later. When utilizing emotion to strengthen an argument, it makes the claim stronger, because it can energize the situation. Humor can be a great tactic to lighten the mood, but a jokester must be careful because the joke may be thought of as ridicule. Arguments based on emotion are to strike a particular emotion, so that the audience will feel more

inclined to join the cause. Using these techniques can be dangerous because they could hit a wrong emotion. In a persuasive argument one might unintentionally use too much emotion and end up offending the audience.
` Alice Goffman gave a TED talk on wrongful incarceration.

She demonstrates pathos by getting choked up at parts, showing her passion, and explaining her sincerity. She believed in making the issue right. On the TED talk Goffman explained “In the past forty years incarnations have grown by 40 percent.” Young people should not be put in prison, and punished for committing crimes. They should be taught why crime is not the right path, and be given education. Alice Goffman also stated that “716 people are incarcerated per 100,000 that are primarily drawn from Latino and African American families.” These minorities have grown up with poorer life styles, and have not been taught the importance of education. Her emotion is effective and powerful. Goffman enlightened us that “this is one issue that Congress, on both the left and right side have come together to fight the injustice.” She was persuasive towards the end of her speech, she appeared to be empowered. Her attitude was not arrogant or forceful. She spoke in a subtle tone that was not aggressive or too much in the audience’s face. The end result was an emotion filled well thought out

lecture.