Understanding Rhetorical Appeals

Understanding Rhetorical Appeals

Read each question carefully and provide your best answer. This worksheet will assess your understanding of rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos.

1. Which rhetorical appeal primarily focuses on establishing the speaker's credibility or authority?

2. A commercial shows a doctor recommending a particular brand of toothpaste. This is an example of:

3. The appeal to emotion is known as  .

4. When a speaker uses facts, statistics, or logical reasoning, they are employing  .

5. A speaker who shares a personal anecdote to connect with the audience is primarily using logos.

6. Ethos is solely about the speaker's reputation, not their character or expertise.

7. Read the following excerpt: "As a veteran of three overseas combat tours, I can assure you that this policy will protect our troops." Identify the rhetorical appeal used and explain why.

8. Consider a political speech where the speaker uses vivid imagery to describe the suffering of a particular community. What rhetorical appeal is being emphasized, and what is its intended effect on the audience?

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest— For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men— Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.

9. Identify and explain one instance of ethos in Mark Antony's speech. How does it contribute to his argument?

10. Identify and explain one instance of pathos in Mark Antony's speech. How does it aim to influence the audience's emotions?