Getting your way is as simple as using your words! This playlist will introduce students to Aristotle’s three rhetorical devices so that they can identify them in an author’s work and eventually be able to apply them to their own writing and speaking tasks.
Ethos, Pathos, Logos
Persuasive Techniques in Advertising | ReadWriteThink
Using examples pulled from television, print and online advertisements, this video helps students better understand the concepts of pathos, logos, and ethos by explaining how advertisers employ the three rhetorical strategies to market a product.
The Rhetorical Triangle | Indiana University
By now your students know that the act of storytelling consists of 3 components: the story, the storyteller and the audience. He applied this idea to arguments and developed the rhetorical triangle. This handout provides an overview of logos, pathos and ethos and their defining qualities and shows students how to recognize and incorporate these appeals.
Storyboarding Rhetoric | StoryboardThat
This resource allows students to create digital storyboards using illustrations from their collections. They demonstrate how students can use a 3-panel storyboard to illustrate the concepts of logos, ethos, and pathos. Although clicking the buttons that say “Storyboard Ethos, Pathos and Logos” students can access the free, basic version by clicking on “Create a Storyboard” to be led to three panels that they can use to create a story that illustrates one of the three devices or create one panel for all three, to show the difference between them. Use this as a creative way to assess student comprehension.
Extension Activity: The 6 Things That Make Stories Go Viral Will Amaze and Maybe Infuriate You | The New Yorker
Logos, pathos, and ethos get put to good use, even on Facebook and Twitter. Two professors analyzed almost 7,000 New York Times articles to see which were shared most widely and determine what features determined its success and which of the three rhetorical devices was most predictably effective on a modern audience.
Extension Activity: What Aristotle & Joshua Bell Can Teach Us About Persuasion | TEDEd
Joshua Bell, one of the greatest violinists in the world, played to an audience of 1,000 at Symphony Hall one day and found himself being completely ignored as he played in a subway station the very next. How can Aristotle’s 3 means of persuasion be used to explain Bell’s sudden fall from grace? This video reframes logos, ethos, pathos in an interesting way, driving home how each operates, while also introducing ideas about human nature.
Eboni Hogan
Content Specialist
Eboni has extensive experience in curriculum development, with a focus on culturally-responsive and arts-based approaches. Having spent years creating academic content and providing professional development to teachers, she now curates themed playlists meant to provide educators with valuable, time-saving resources.
Common Core Standards
11-12.RI.6 Determine An Author’s Point Of View Or Purpose In A Text In Which The Rhetoric Is Particularly Effective, Analyzing How Style And Content Contribute To The Power, Persuasiveness Or Beauty Of The Text.
11-12.SL.1.c . Propel Conversations By Posing And Responding To Questions That Probe Reasoning And Evidence; Ensure A Hearing For A Full Range Of Positions On A Topic Or Issue; Clarify, Verify, Or Challenge Ideas And Conclusions; And Promote Divergent And Creative Perspectives.
11-12.SL.3 . Evaluate A Speaker’s Point Of View, Reasoning, And Use Of Evidence And Rhetoric, Assessing The Stance, Premises, Links Among Ideas, Word Choice, Points Of Emphasis, And Tone Used.
11-12.SL.4 . Present Information, Findings, And Supporting Evidence, Conveying A Clear And Distinct Perspective, Such That Listeners Can Follow The Line Of Reasoning, Alternative Or Opposing Perspectives Are Addressed, And The Organization, Development, Substance, And Style Are Appropriate To Purpose, Audience, And A Range Of Formal And Informal Tasks.
9-10.RI.6 . Determine An Author’s Point Of View Or Purpose In A Text And Analyze How An Author Uses Rhetoric To Advance That Point Of View Or Purpose.
9-10.SL.1 . Initiate And Participate Effectively In A Range Of Collaborative Discussions (One-On-One, In Groups, And Teacher-Led) With Diverse Partners On Grades 9-10 Topics, Texts, And Issues, Building On Others? Ideas And Expressing Their Own Clearly And Persuasively.
9-10.SL.3 . Evaluate A Speaker’s Point Of View, Reasoning, And Use Of Evidence And Rhetoric, Identifying Any Fallacious Reasoning Or Exaggerated Or Distorted Evidence.
