PERSUADE: A text tries to convince the audience of something—to change their opinion.
INFORM: A text tries to give the audience new information—to teach them something.
ENTERTAIN: A text tries to make the audience happy—to show them a good time.
…and the hidden fourth purpose!…
EXPRESS: A text tries to achieve an artistic purpose—to depict or evoke something without explicitly attempting the above three purposes.
Texts may attempt more than one of these purposes at once—maybe even all of them.
These are ways for a rhetor to appeal to an audience—typically, but not always, in a text that seeks to persuade.
-APPEAL TO ETHOS: This type of appeal persuades the audience by appealing to their trust in (or appreciation for) the rhetor.
You like me a lot, so you should go to the dance with me.
You need to vote for me. Look at my track record. Would I lie?
-APPEAL TO PATHOS: This type of appeal persuades the audience by appealing to their emotion.
If you don’t go to the dance, you’ll regret the missed opportunity and you will be sad forever.
If you don’t vote for me, your children will be in danger. Don’t you care about them?
-APPEAL TO LOGOS: This type of appeal persuades the audience by appealing to their logic.
I’m popular, so if you go to the dance with me, your social standing will improve.
If you vote for me, I will enact laws to prevent crime and war, and lower taxes. This will save money and lives.
Now that you’re familiar with these rhetorical appeals, let’s test them out!