RENEGADE RHETORIC

                           RENEGADE RHETORIC
                               On Pathos and Ethos

     As I sit poring over my textbook struggling to fashion a persuasive piece of rhetoric that demonstrates the power of either pathos or ethos, it suddenly dawns on me that these two concepts are by no means mutually exclusive!  Ah ha!!  What a revelation!  What a relief!  Finally, the war has ceased.  Pathos and Ethos have amicably merged and reconciled their differences within my aching psyche.  Indeed, any good argument necessarily contains elements of both.  It also occurred to me that all human dialogue and communication inherently involves the utility of both.  Since this has been a recurring thought in my mind throughout the preparation process, I’ve decided to have some fun with this assignment.  With all due respect given to the great pioneering minds of Aristotle and Quintilian and others of their ilk, I, a proud rhetorical renegade, propose to argue that rhetors should not attempt to draw split-hair distinctions between pathos and ethos.  Rather, they should realize that the concept of one depends upon the concept of the other.  In so doing I will begin by stating textbook definitions of each:  Pathos—arguments that appeal to emotions by painting vivid pictures and using honorific or pejorative language; Ethos—arguments from the rhetor’s intelligence, good moral character, and good will toward the audience and arguments that establish the appropriate voice and distance for the rhetorical situation at hand.  Now, let us all pause and reflect a moment on the strategies I have thus far employed to illustrate my point.  I have attempted to paint a picture in your minds of me struggling with the creative process of formulating a cohesive argument that is appropriate to this assignment.  Furthermore, I have used personification in order to enthrall you even more deeply!  By pointing this out, I am emphasizing my use of pathos.  However, I am simultaneously demonstrating my intelligence, moral character, and good will to you.  Indeed—I care about you!  I want you involved in what I am saying and in what I am experiencing!  Without you, my words are insignificant.  Also, note my use of vocabulary here.  In several places, I have chosen to use “lofty” speech.  Why?  Well, because I can.  After all, I am a college student who has attended classes and studied books, and I recognize that you are also college students who have attended classes and studied books.  But I have not stopped at that—I am relentless!  I have even gone to the utmost trouble of providing definitions of technical terms.  Is all this  not exemplary ethos?  Well, of course it is!  And so is my reference to Aristotle and Quintilian. (My reverence to these great men, however, is probably better suited to the concept of pathos than it is to ethos.)  In closing, let me reiterate that I am having fun, and it is important to me that you do the same.  I hereby rest my case.  (More ethos—wink, wink!!)