Rhetorical Analysis WS: Persuasive Techniques Lesson

When you’re breaking down the ways an author persuades an audience, look for these strategies:

Ethos: choices that make the author seem trustworthy or likable
Logos: evidence and logical reasoning that support the author’s ideas
Pathos: language that makes the audience feel certain emotions

Take a look at the following topic sentences, each of which analyzes one of these strategies.

Ethos

In his 2005 Stanford commencement speech, Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs tells his story in a way that makes him seem trustworthy:

I was lucky—I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents’ garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees. . . . And then I got fired.

Topic Sentence

Despite his extraordinary success, Jobs describes his work with relatable details so that his audience knows he is not so different from them.

Logos

In her 2010 TED talk “The Power of Vulnerability,” researcher Brené Brown lays out her evidence for the audience:

Thousands of stories, hundreds of long interviews, focus groups. At one point, people were sending me journal pages and sending me their stories—thousands of pieces of data in six years.

Topic Sentence

To persuade her audience, Brown makes it clear that her argument is backed by strong evidence.

Pathos

In his 2014 TED talk, Japanese American actor George Takei uses emotionally charged language to describe his family’s experience of being imprisoned by the American government during World War II:

We saw two soldiers marching up our driveway. They carried bayonets on their rifles. They stomped up the front porch and banged on the door. My father answered it, and the soldiers ordered us out of our home. . . . When my mother finally came out, she had our baby sister in one arm, a huge duffel bag in the other, and tears were streaming down both her cheeks.

Topic Sentence

Takei vividly describes his family’s fear and sadness so that his audience can understand the feeling of betrayal Japanese Americans suffered.

Brown, Brené. “The Power of Vulnerability.” TED, TED, Jun. 2010, www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?language=en.
Jobs, Steve. Stanford commencement address. “‘You’ve Got to Find What You Love,’ Jobs Says,” Stanford News, Stanford University, 14 June 2005, news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505.
Takei, George. “Why I Love a Country That Once Betrayed Me.” TED, TED, June 2014, www.ted.com/talks/george_takei_why_i_love_a_country_that_once_betrayed_me.