Post by: Haley Qaissaunee Ancient Rhetorics pgs. 170-188 This Ancient Rhetorics chapter focuses on defining and explaining pathos. Similar to logos and ethos, pathos is a third intrinsic proof that appeals to human emotion. The authors demonstrate that emotions are not strictly an individual concept, but can be shared among individuals thus making them a social and cultural concept. The authors state, “emotional appeals are based on the assumption that human beings share similar kinds of emotional responses to events”, this knowledge asserts that pathos can be successfully directed towards a group. A rhetor can, “arouse or dispel emotional responses” if he is aware that communities have the same general response to a set of issues or topics. A large part of successfully appealing to human emotion is understanding what emotion is and what evokes it in human beings. The rhetor must comprehend what emotional state their audience is in as well as “the intensity with which they adhere to those states”. Emotional intensity varies depending on specific issues, an objects temporal location, and proximity. For example, intense fear is felt when your life is in imminent danger, but the issue of climate change is distant and does not evoke such an immediate response. This chapter also demonstrates that the rhetor must decide whether an audience is “hostile, indifferent, or accepting” and this will set a base for his or her rhetorical approach. It is important for a rhetor’s emotions to match the emotions of their audience, as to appear empathetic and not ingenuous. The authors quote Quintillian who states, “Will he weep when the speaker’s eyes are dry? Impossible!”, which affirms the rhetors need to mirror their audience’s passions.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 04:21:01 +0000
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