Appealing to Your Reader:
Formulating Good Reasons


Appealing to Logic
        <logos>

1.  Do you provide examples?

  • Real Examples
  • Invented Examples

2.  Do you provide precedents?

3.  Do you cite testimony? (testimony can bring a change of voice to your paper, which can be refreshing; at the same time, testimony can be taken out of context)

  • Expert opinion
  • Eye-witnesses
  • Personal experience

4.  Do you explain concepts using narrative?

5.  Do you establish causes and effects?

4.  Do you cite statistics, if helpful? (statistics may come in handy when arguing social issues, but their significance is usually difficult to assess)

Appealing to Emotion
          <pathos>

1.  Do you use description effectively, as Gulliver does?

2.  Do you strengthen your argument using a nice mixture of concrete and figurative language, like analogies?

            Can you think of an example of concrete language from Gulliver’s Travels?

            Can you think of an example of figurative language from Swift’s GT?

3.  Do you make the argument personal, appealing to directly to your audience if you can?   

Establishing Credibility
            <ethos>

1.  Demonstrate Knowledge

  • Can you provide information about your topic from sources other than your own knowledge?
  • What are the sources of information?
  • How reliable are your sources?
  • Do any sources contradict one another? How can you resolve that?
  • Would personal experience strengthen or weaken your claim?

2.  Establish Common Ground

  • What are the different perspectives on the issue?
  • Are there any aspects on which all sides agree?
  • How can you express that common ground?
  • How can you use language – occupational, regional, ethnic, etc. – to establish common ground with those you address? (Who’s your audience!?)

3.  Demonstrate Fairness

  • Do you take into account all significant positions?
  • Can you demonstrate that you understand and sympathize with points of view other than your own?

What can you do to show that you have considered evidence carefully?
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