The Ethos, Pathos, and Logos involved in Dr. King’s Letter…

I was excited to read Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” as I, surprising and unfortunately, had never read it. I had heard of it, of course, and knew what it was about, but others’ descriptions of it could never be as poignant and meaningful as King’s own words.

What are ethos, pathos, and logos? -

Aristotle first introduced the elements of “ethos,” “pathos,” and “logos” in his treatise, “Rhetoric,” written in Greece around the fourth century B.C. Rhetoric, as Aristotle explained it, basically defines the “art of persuasion” using three appeals. Ethos refers to a speaker or author’s character and credibility, as determined by his or her audience. Pathos has to do with emotion, the elements in a speech or written work that appeal to audience members’ emotions and help to “draw them in” to the piece. Logos involves logic and reasoning. This is probably the most important appeal, because it is the “backbone” of an argument. The information presented must be factual and supported by empirical evidence; otherwise the argument is merely an opinion and will likely be ignored or discredited.

In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” I found examples of each element in the following passages:

(Coming soon!)