Intervention in Persuasion

The canon of invention is equivalent to the part of brainstorming ideas when forming an argument. I believe that the three persuasive appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos really to serve as they key concept of this canon. This is because in order to truly be persuasive, one has to shape their argument using the three persuasive appeals to fit to their audience.

I never seemed to give much thought to how ethos, pathos, and logos are actually inter-connected. I now see that though one may use a pathos approach, for example, that is not enough to guarantee persuasion. Though you may be pulling at the heart strings, without facts and logistic you still do not portray a reliable source. For instance, I have seen multiple influencers on social media try to discuss controversial topics, like politics or climate change, and at first they would persuade me to favor their points of view on such topics. Most do not do enough research before posting their arguments and they get some facts wrong. Finding that out automatically diminishes their credibility in my eyes for any other future arguments they make. I think this is a great example because though they may make some very persuasive and strong arguments in the future, it would not be enough to persuade me because I no longer view them as credible. It shows definite co dependence between the three persuasive appeals.

It is amazing how often we use ethos, pathos, and logos in our everyday lives. In today’s world, being a rhetorician is everyone’s second nature. We are always trying to adapt our persuasive techniques to our audience in order to get the desired outcome.