Elements Of Rhetoric

“Rhetoric is the counterpart of Dialectic…the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion”, said Aristotle in his excerpt Rhetoric. Rhetoric is the form of communication presented by a person. The three elements of communication are: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. They each appeal to a different audience and come across variously. To communicate effectively, you must know when to use each of these elements and know who your audience is.
For instance, Logos is presented most effectively in the video “Drunk History: John Adams v. Thomas Jefferson. Logos is the appeal to the audience using logic. In the video, we see that these guys were essentially the best of “frenemies”. The presidential election pinned them against each other and they used the appeal of logic to attempt to win the election. Their audience was the people of the United States, and their claims were that they were a perfect fit for office because of the fact that their opposite had flaws. Using reasoning, John Adams said “If you’re thinking about voting for Jefferson, Don’t, because he is dead, so vote for me because I’m alive.” Logical persuasion sets up the argument using facts

and this video stretches the facts.
Another element of communication is Ethos. Its was best represented in the video, “Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening.” Out of the three videos, this one was the most obvious to single out the references. It was some serious “bullshit” happening. So ethos is the appeal to the audience using credentials. It’s all about trust. “You can trust me because I am [older]” said an eyewitness. Then there was the reference where the “Specialist” states, “he studied all his life about [things] like this. The audience in this video is the viewers. The purpose is to get enough “credible” people to bring awareness so that people take action towards change. Just like a rhetorical analysis, the words that matter are not your own, but the words of someone that has a credibility.

The last element of communication is Pathos, which is the appeal to an audience through emotion.

You grasp attention through their sympathy. Ethos was best represented in “Drunk history: Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks.” For instance, the N.A.A.C.P wants a revolution through boycott and they want to use the arrest of Claudette as the reason, because of the fact that they were bombarded with letters, saying how she was so brave. There you see how they have their sympathy and support. And as an advantage, they take the scenario and reenact it with Rosa Parks, the face of the boycott. And in another example, Rosa was being dragged off the bus says to a crowd of Caucasians, “I was just tired”, playing the sympathy card. Playing with peoples’ emotions is an effective way of persuasion and

communication.
By being logical, using cred, or playing with emotions, we can be effective communicators and deliver the message we want to give. These videos were great examples, but not limited to the elements: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. They knew the audience and used each element accordingly.