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Pathos is an appeal to your audience's emotions. Aristotle claimed that your audience's response to your emotional appeals depends on their beliefs, values, desires, assumptions, hopes, dreams, etc.
In the west we tend to value logical appeals, but humans aren't just thinking animals, we're feeling animals as well. And emotional appeals can often be more powerful than logical ones because they hit us in the gut, not the head.
Here's an example of a logical appeal and a pathetic appeal. See for yourself which one you think has more persuasive power.
Logical: In the year 2004, according to the American Cancer Society, the death rates from bone cancer were as follows: "1,300 deaths." Your donations can help pay for hospitalization, treatment, and research.
Pathetic: In many ways, Danquelle Jones is a typical six year old girl. She hates boys, loves her princess Barbies, and wants to go to Disney with her family this summer. But in many ways, Danquelle Jones is anything but a typical little girl because for three years, Danquelle has spent her summers in the hospital, undergoing painful surgeries and treatments, missing out on the warm summer sun, missing out on being there when her parents brought her new baby brother home from the hospital, missing out on ...Your generous donation will help us to help Danquelle, help us to treat the bone cancer that has stolen so much of her little life already, help support research to make sure that no other little girls...
Which one would make you more likely to give to this worthy cause?
Emotional appeals include vivid descriptions, emotional language, powerful examples, and stories about emotional events. & while my appeal above is meant to tug on your heart strings, to make you feel sad, pathetic appeals can inspire a full-range of emotions anger, fear, resentment, jealousy, lust, embarassment, distress, delight, joy, courage, comfort, loneliness, paranoia, remorse, yearning, etc.
The course materials above
are licensed by Lori Ostergaard under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
anacoenosis—asking the stance/opinion of readers or listeners
antirrhesis—rejecting an argument because that argument is (speaker asks us to assume) insignificant, erroneous, or evil
apodioxis—rejecting an argument indignantly as absurdly false
aporia—true or feigned doubt or deliberation about an issue
aposiopesis—a pause that leaves a statement unfinished, as if it cannot/should not be uttered
apostrophe—interrupting the apparent flow of a speech to address some one or some thing that is either present or absent
asphalia—offering oneself as surety for a bond
argumentum ad misericordiam: appeal to the mercy of the listeners
augendi causa—raising your voice for emphasis/effect
comprobatio—complimenting one's judges or listeners
consolatio—consoling those who grieve/mourn
emphasis—implying more than what is actually stated
encomium—praise of a person or thing by praising its/his/her inherent qualities
epiplexis—asking a question in order to reproach
eustathia—pledge of constancy
insultatio—derisive, ironical abuse of a person to his/her face
mempsis—complaining about injuries and pleading for help
ominatio—a prophecy of evil
optatio—a wish expressed
syngnome—forgiveness of injuries
thaumasmus—exclamation of wonder
threnos—lamentation