Ethos and Logos

1. Arguments based on character & arguments based on facts and reason. Ethos and Logos

2. Credibility speaks to a writer’s honest, respect for an audience and its values, and plain old likeability. Sometimes a sense of humor can help: Al Gore in An Inconvient Truth One can also establish credibility by connecting your own beliefs and core principles that are well established and widely respected. Ethos

3. Another way to affirm your credibility as a writer is to use language that show your respect for readers, addressing them neither above nor below their capabilities. Citing trustworthy sources and acknowledging them properly proves you’ve done your homework and know your subject. Details matter: helpful graphs, tables, illustrations may carry weight with readers. Ethos

4. Making concessions in your argument, offering conditions of rebuttal (concessions to objections that readers might raise) sends a strong signal to the audience that you’ve scrutinized your own position and can therefore be trusted when you turn to arguing its merits. Come clean about motives and where your loyalties lie. Ethos

5. Arguments based on facts, evidence and reason. Aristotle divided proofs based on facts and reason into two kinds: 1. hard evidence Facts, clues, statistics, testimonies, witnesses 2. those based on reason and common sense Most people prefer arguments based on facts and testimony to those grounded in reasoning alone. Logos:

6. All arguments can be reduced to two components: Statement + Proof or claim + supporting evidence. Aristotle’s claims on arguments:

7. Facts make great arguments, especially when the reader believes they come from honest sources. This is why you want to correctly cite credible sources. Be careful, however, because bad information is sometimes dispersed and then repeated by the media. Facts

8. Figures lie and liars figure. Its possible to lie with numbers, even those that are accurate, because numbers rarely speak for themselves. They need to be interpreted by writers and writers almost always have agendas that shape the interpretations. Statistics

9. Some of the most influential forms of statistics are those produced by surveys and polls. Surveys and polls provide persuasive appeals because, in a democracy, majority opinion offers a compelling warrant: a government should do what most people want. Always ask: who commissioned the poll, who is publishing its outcome, who was surveyed, and what stakes these parties might have in its outcome. Surveys and polls

10. Testimonies and Narratives Reason and common sense (more on this later). Analogies-explain one idea or concept by comparing it to something else. Precedent-comparison of comparable institutions or comparison of a past event to a present event. Other logical supports