pathos- the use of emotion to appeal to an audience.
My understanding of pathos grew throughout my time in English 111, but in ways that I had not necessarily expected.
I began my view of rhetoric as seeing each piece, ethos, logos, and pathos as a necessity. It wasn't until I began to analyze my article in Inquiry 2 that I realized a writer must, in certain setings, push pathos to the side. In some ways, pathos can compromise an argument. In the example of the article that I analyzed, Maia
Szalavitz could not add emotion to her writing because it was necessary that it appear scientific and professional (neither of which allow emotion to play a large role). I realized this, but I did not realize the difficulty in leaving out emotion until I had to write the rhetorical analysis for the article. This was especially difficult because I had personal experience with eating disorders, so I was personally connected to the topic of the article. When there is a personal connection, it is extremely difficult to leave out emotion, especially your own. So, while I did not agree with Szalavitz's writing, I left out my emotion the best I could by presenting ways in which she presented her argument well and ways in which she did not. I believe that I was fair towards her argument in my writing. For example, I said: "While the appeals to logos that the author uses are not necessarily effective, the appeals to pathos and ethos seem to have greater effect and allow for a balance between the three appeals." Looking solely at Szalavitz's technique in writing, rather than her actual argument, assisted me significantly in leaving our the pathos side of my rhetorical analysis. Although, at the end, I did find a way to add a form of pathos to my writing in Inquiry 2, by leaving the reader with the question as to whether or not Szalavitz's argument was moral (because it involved a life-or-death situation for anorexics). I used this question to subtlely clue the reader's in to the emotional side of the argument and analysis without making it the sole focus of my writing.
I believe that I grew in my understanding of pathos later in the semester. I knew prior to this class that the use of pathos in an argument was to stir up the feelings of the audience in order for them to gain a deeper understanding of your writing. I believe that in this aspect, my growth occured in Inquiry 4. While I was creating the video, I began to see how audio and visual elements can truly add great yet subtle pathos to an argument. Since my video was about eating disorders, many of the pictures were of emaciated girls, which I used to capture both the emotions of shock and sympathy. Even more subtle, were the emotional messages in the background music of my video. The first song was called "The Struggle" and it quickly transferred into a song called "Annihilate". Beyond that were the two ironic songs in the background while the music was switching up. One was called "Promises" and the other was called "Beautiful". While one sang lyrics such as, "promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself", the other sang the lyrics, "you're beautiful, you are made for so much more than all of this." I put the songs this way to model the aspect of a warring mindset that so many eating disorder sufferers experience. I wanted the audience to feel the war.
I began my view of rhetoric as seeing each piece, ethos, logos, and pathos as a necessity. It wasn't until I began to analyze my article in Inquiry 2 that I realized a writer must, in certain setings, push pathos to the side. In some ways, pathos can compromise an argument. In the example of the article that I analyzed, Maia
Szalavitz could not add emotion to her writing because it was necessary that it appear scientific and professional (neither of which allow emotion to play a large role). I realized this, but I did not realize the difficulty in leaving out emotion until I had to write the rhetorical analysis for the article. This was especially difficult because I had personal experience with eating disorders, so I was personally connected to the topic of the article. When there is a personal connection, it is extremely difficult to leave out emotion, especially your own. So, while I did not agree with Szalavitz's writing, I left out my emotion the best I could by presenting ways in which she presented her argument well and ways in which she did not. I believe that I was fair towards her argument in my writing. For example, I said: "While the appeals to logos that the author uses are not necessarily effective, the appeals to pathos and ethos seem to have greater effect and allow for a balance between the three appeals." Looking solely at Szalavitz's technique in writing, rather than her actual argument, assisted me significantly in leaving our the pathos side of my rhetorical analysis. Although, at the end, I did find a way to add a form of pathos to my writing in Inquiry 2, by leaving the reader with the question as to whether or not Szalavitz's argument was moral (because it involved a life-or-death situation for anorexics). I used this question to subtlely clue the reader's in to the emotional side of the argument and analysis without making it the sole focus of my writing.
I believe that I grew in my understanding of pathos later in the semester. I knew prior to this class that the use of pathos in an argument was to stir up the feelings of the audience in order for them to gain a deeper understanding of your writing. I believe that in this aspect, my growth occured in Inquiry 4. While I was creating the video, I began to see how audio and visual elements can truly add great yet subtle pathos to an argument. Since my video was about eating disorders, many of the pictures were of emaciated girls, which I used to capture both the emotions of shock and sympathy. Even more subtle, were the emotional messages in the background music of my video. The first song was called "The Struggle" and it quickly transferred into a song called "Annihilate". Beyond that were the two ironic songs in the background while the music was switching up. One was called "Promises" and the other was called "Beautiful". While one sang lyrics such as, "promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself", the other sang the lyrics, "you're beautiful, you are made for so much more than all of this." I put the songs this way to model the aspect of a warring mindset that so many eating disorder sufferers experience. I wanted the audience to feel the war.