Rhetorical Proofs

Prior to this class, I didn't even know what rhetorical proofs were.  The three proofs that we learned about in Writing 150 are Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.  Ethos is persuasion through a writer's credibility.  Ethos can be established by letting the reader know the authors position or role in the community, their prior behavior, knowledge, and experience.  Pathos is persuasion through a reader's emotions.  Pathos can be established by using photos, using concrete examples, and word choice.  Certain words carry more emotional weight than others, which is good to keep in mind when writing.  Logos is persuasion through reasoning.  It can be established by using four criteria given in our Writing and Rhetoric books.  They include relevance, acceptability, sufficiency, and accountability.  This class was the first time that I have ever done a rhetorical analysis.  I never did it in high school and because of that I had a harder time writing my rhetorical analysis paper.  After writing it however, I know how to evaluate a paper and write a paper with Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.