Effectiveness of a Persuasive Message Discussion

Rhetoric is the term for “the art of persuasion.” It is one of the oldest fields of study (it can be traced all the way back to ancient Egypt), but its best-known scholars were the ancient Greeks, who saw the art of speaking as imperative for democracy and civilized society.

One of those Greek scholars, Aristotle, developed the three artistic proofs, ethos, pathos, and logos. You can read more about those here: Aristotle’s Artistic Proofs (Links to an external site.)

Our textbook uses the terms credibility (ethos), emotion (pathos), and logic (logos) instead of the Greek names, but the definitions are the same—each represents a way to persuade listeners of your message. The powerpoint examples also include mythos, or appeals to shared stories or culture.

Find a persuasive message online (not one of the examples in the powerpoint). This can be an advertisement, a press release, a speech, etc. Include the link in your response. Explain which proof(s) you think the persuasive message is using and why they are effective.