Aristotle's Rhetoric

"Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion."

                         

Aristotle's Rhetoric is a basic guide to argumentative/or persuasive writing. It is a guide on how to make your ideas and thoughts valid or to make them more valid than someone else's. Aristotle divided his categories of type of persuasion into three categories: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

Ethos is a tactic that is used to instill respect in the audience to make yourself credible in their eyes. If we are believed to be credible, we are more likely to listen them and to believe what they are saying to be true. This is very important to be able to get your point across. If you have lost the audience in them thinking you are not credible, there is no way you will be able to communicate your point.

Pathos is a tactic used to tack a stab a the audiences hearts and make them feel the pain of a situation or on the other hand, joy or even emotions such as saddness, hate, love, etc. This can be used to enhance your argument  by grasping the emotions felt about the subject and to instill through your writing the emotions that you want to audience to feel. Things such as the volume of your voice, the tone of your voice, the speed you speak, key adverbs, as well as many other things can also portray the emotion you want to audience to feel. 

Logos is a tactic of logic as the name suggests. this was Aristotle's favorite tactic to use. it uses the means of persuading, by the use of, reasoning with your audience. It is one of the most important  type of persuasion, because if you do not have a reasonable argument your point will be immediately dismissed. Giving reasons to support your argument is the key to win, this just cannot be emphasized enough. It is what the foundation and cornerstone of your argument is, without it, it will fall to nothing. You must use this tactic in order to substantiate your thesis and give it its support.