Question

Maria is writing a persuasive essay for her English class. She asks Marshall if it is important to use rhetorical appeals in her essay. Which reasons could Marshall give in favor of using rhetorical appeals?

They evoke an emotional response from readers.

They dazzle readers with the writer’s depth of knowledge.

They help the writer avoid seeming biased to readers.

They appeal to readers’ sense of logic.

They discredit a paper that presents a contrary opinion.

Answer 1

The answer is A. They evoke an emotional response from readers.

Answer 2

Answer:

• They evoke an emotional response from readers.
• They appeal to readers’ sense of logic.

Rhetorical appeals are literary devices that allow a text or speech to be more persuasive. The three commonly cited appeals are pathos, logos and ethos. Pathos refers to appeals that evoke an emotional response from readers. Logos, on the other hand, is a type of argument that uses logic in order to convince an audience. Finally, ethos is a moral appeal, and it tries to convince the listener of the speaker's credibility in order to make his position more convincing. All of these appeals contribute to making an essay or a speech more persuasive.