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Ryan David

Prof. Beadle

English 115

28 September 2020

Project Space Essay

The rhetorical strategies ethos, pathos, and logos are important tools to use when making

an argument. They are used to evoke a certain emotion, lend credence to a subject or appeal to a

line of reasoning. In the articles “Bridge the Gap from High School to College”, “Safe Space or

Wasted Space?”, and “Online Lessons: Literal and Figurative” the authors use these rhetorical

strategies to make their arguments, the best arguments use all three rhetorical strategies. Aristotle

believed that logos is the most important of the rhetorical devices, but logical reasoning and

statistics alone are not enough. Aristotle stated that logos is insufficient alone for an argument to

stand on. Facts and logic can only do so much if people do not agree with your authority and

people can be swayed emotionally without logical reasoning. A strong argument uses one of

these core pillars to persuade the reader. The best arguments use a combination of all three to

further strengthen and appeal an argument. Out of the three essays “Safe Space or Wasted

Space?” Ranzen Pangilinan presents the strongest argument because of Pangilinan’s strong use

of logos and pathos. They frame pathos as the core forefront by framing the reader into the

situation to convince the reader of the importance of safe spaces, but they also rely on the other

devices to back up their statement.

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Logos is an appeal to logic, using reason to convey an argument. All these essays use

logos in some way. In the article “Bridge the Gap from High School to College” by Hailey Jones

logos is primarily used. An example of logos in Jones’ essay is, “In order to understand why one

might have difficulty transitioning into college, we have to look at how high school and college

compare in terms of freedom. In high school… Upon endearing college…” (Jones, 25). In this

example, Jones compares the differences in freedom between high school and college. In the

essay “Online Lessons: Literal and Figurative” by Mercedes Guevara, Guevara uses logos to add

to her credibility by stating a counterclaim then a rebuttal using a cited source an example of this

is, “Although some might argue that technology lessens our ability to write because of the slang

that is commonly used, that is simply not true… ‘But rather than leading to a new illiteracy,

these activities seemed to help them develop a range of abilities… this does not lessen the ability

of someone to write, rather it increases the exposure to various styles of writing’” (Guevara, 89).

This use of logos by Guevara adds to her credibility because she is backing it up using a cited

source and acknowledging a counterclaim. Although both these essays make good use of logos

in my opinion Pangilinan uses logos most effectively in his essay “Safe Space or Wasted

Space?” In this essay, Pangilinan uses logos to add on to his argument about safe spaces and why

they should be enforced. For example, the quote, “A study of LGBTQ+ student life in colleges

stated that around ‘74% [of the participants] reported that anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes existed to

some extent’” (Pangilinan, 60). was preceded by asking if anyone would listen to a viewpoint

opposing your existence, in this specific example Pangilinan is adding to an emotional statement

by showing statistics that confirm there are people who “oppose your existence.” Although all of

these essays use logos “Safe Space or Wasted Space?” uses logos most effectively because
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Pangilinan uses it right after using pathos so the reader would already be emotionally invested in

the topic.

Ethos is a means of convincing the audience by establishing one’s credibility. All of these

essays use ethos in some way. In the essay “Bridge the Gap from High School to College” Jones

uses a quote from the article “Factors Affecting College Choice and Transfer: A study of the

Decision-Making Process of Student Veterans” by Regina Hill, “the college transition begins

with college choice, which can be impacted by factors including location, finances, degree

programs, environment, and institutional prestige” (Jones, 25). This is ethos because Jones is

using a quote from a credible source to add on to her statements about the transitions from high

school to college. Where Jones relies on annotations from other people Guevara uses ethos more

effectively because of her use of first-hand accounts. The essay “Online Lessons: Literal and

Figurative” is particularly effective in its use of ethos. In “Online Lessons: Literal and

Figurative” an example of this rhetorical device, "My head was pounding. My eyelids felt heavy

and like they were going to shut at any second, but I had to keep typing. Although I’d had a

whole month to get my assignments done before the deadline, I had left them to do for the week

before" (Guevara, 89). In this example, Guevara uses anecdotal accounts which add to her

credibility because she is explaining first-hand how online learning is. Although not much ethos

is used in “Safe Space or Wasted Space?” Pangilinan makes up for it with the strong use of

pathos and logos. All of these essays use ethos effectively specifically in “Online Lessons:

Literal and Figurative” Guevara is effective in her use of ethos, although in “Safe Space or

Wasted Space?” ethos is not used as much as in “Online Lessons: Literal and Figurative” it is

used effectively.
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Pathos is an appeal to emotion and is a very powerful rhetorical strategy. Humans are

only rational in a vacuum. Emotion dictates a majority of our actions and we try to justify it with

logic and reasoning. People will not act on just facts and statics alone; we need to have an

emotional attachment to it to act. If ethos is a fishing line and logos is the hook then pathos is the

bait. Once you have an emotional investment it becomes much easier to use and strengthen the

other strategies. Each one of these essays uses pathos. “Safe Space or Wasted Space?” in

particular heavily relies on pathos while the two other essays “Online Lessons: Literal and

Figurative” and “Bridge the Gap from High School to College” are lacking in this connection

making it hard for the reader to be swayed with emotion which is what makes their arguments

weaker. An emotional connection is just as important and sometimes even more so because you

can sway opinions without the use of the other. If a person is emotionally invested, they can be

moved to action. Humans act on emotion and justify their actions with logic. A good example of

how pathos is used in “Safe Space or Wasted Space?” is, “Would anyone listen to an opposing

viewpoint that disagreed with their very existence?” (Pangilinan, 60). This is a good use of

pathos because Pangilinan is tapping into the reader’s emotions and hooking them onto the topic.

Another good example of pathos used by Pangilinan is, “No matter who you are, you won’t be

shunned for being yourself. Here in the Pride Center, you can express yourself more so than at

home” (Pangilinan, 60). This is an example of pathos because it frames “you” in a situation that

appeals to your emotion, it puts the reader in a certain state of mind by hypothetically putting

you in this situation. This emotional investment makes the reader be able to sympathize and

emotionally connect with this topic. Pathos is one of the core pillars in writing a strong argument

that is why the essay “Safe Space or Wasted Space?” has the best argument because of its use of

pathos to make an emotional connection with the reader.

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Rhetorical devices are important in making a strong argument because they

strengthen the argument by appealing to logic, emotions, and the author’s credibility. The three

rhetorical devices logos, pathos, and ethos are key for making a strong argument, logos

strengthens an argument with reason using facts, pathos convinces the audience of an argument

by using ethos, and ethos convinces the audience with the credibility of the author. The essay

“Safe Space or Wasted Space?” by Ranzen Pangilinan makes the strongest argument because of

his use of all three of these rhetorical strategies.

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Work Cited

Jones, Hailey. “Bridge the Gap from High School to College” WAVES: A Collection of

Student Essays, edited by Amy Reynolds and Amber Norwood,2nded., Macmillan Learning,2020,

pp.25-27.

Pangilinan, Ranzen. “Safe Space or Wasted Space? “WAVES: A Collection of Student

Essays, edited by Amy Reynolds and Amber Norwood,2nded., Macmillan Learning,2020, pp.60-

62.

Guevara, Mercedes. “Online Lessons: Literal and Figurative “WAVES: A Collection of

Student Essays, edited by Amy Reynolds and Amber Norwood,2nded., Macmillan Learning,2020,

pp.89-91.