Mastering the Rhetorical Triangle

Ethos is the Greek word for 'character.' In advanced composition, it is not just about who you are, but the persona you project through your writing. To establish ethos, an author must demonstrate phronesis (practical wisdom), arete (virtue), and eunoia (goodwill toward the audience). This is often achieved through an academic tone: using precise vocabulary, avoiding logical fallacies, and acknowledging counter-arguments. When you cite peer-reviewed sources or use field-specific terminology, you are building a 'credible mask' that signals to the reader that you are an authority worth listening to.

Pathos represents the 'suffering' or 'experience' of the audience. While often dismissed as 'manipulation,' effective pathos serves as the bridge between abstract logic and human action. In advanced rhetoric, pathos should never replace Logos; instead, it should amplify it. We use vivid imagery, metaphors, and narratives to make the audience 'feel' the weight of the data. However, be wary of the argumentum ad passiones—an appeal to emotion that lacks a logical core. A master rhetorician uses pathos to create urgency, ensuring the audience cares enough to engage with the complex evidence presented later.

Logos is the internal consistency of your argument. It is the 'message' itself. In advanced logic, this involves two primary types of reasoning: Inductive (using specific observations to reach a general conclusion) and Deductive (starting with a general premise to reach a specific conclusion).

In a formal proof or a scientific genre, logos is often expressed through the syllogism: If $A \rightarrow B$ and $B \rightarrow C$, then $A \rightarrow C$.

Across different genres, logos manifests differently. In a legal brief, it is the application of precedent; in a scientific paper, it is the statistical significance of data ($p < 0.05$). Regardless of the genre, logos provides the 'bones' that hold the ethos and pathos together.