Use of ethos, logos and pathos Speech 2022

Running head: ENGLISH LITERATURE
English Literature
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENGLISH LITERATURE
The use of ethos, logos and pathos had been implied by Aristotle in his writings
thousands of years ago. This approach is still valid in a number of ways within the society. In
this paper the State of Union address by the US President Donald Trump will be put under the
lens and the linking will be done on the three factors mentioned above.
In this paper, the declarations made by Mr. Trump and his claims will be justified from
the viewpoint of ethos, logos and pathos. All these three factors are regarded as very crucial
indicators on how the claims made by one person can be justified.
Ethos is basically the ethical appeal made towards the readers. This is made to show that
author is credible enough and he is saying the truth. People should believe in his credibility
because he is a truthful person and bringing out the necessary facts in front of the readers
(Edlund: 19). Here the author will always choose the proper language that would be very helpful
to persuade all the readers.
‘Pathos’ is used to help the speaker to approach readers from an emotional point of view.
Through this method, the speaker will approach the readers by being emotional. In this scenario,
author always uses the language through which he can appeal to the readers in a very cordial
manner. He does this so he can attract the sympathy of the readers.
Thus, the speaker will attain the pity from the audience and establish his thoughts. This
emotional tone will always help the author to make readers convince he is there to help them
(Wróbel: 426).
The third form or element in this context is ‘logos’. Here the author will always apply the
logical forms so he can convince the readers about his beliefs. Through the use of ‘logos’ all the

2ENGLISH LITERATURE
insights of human beings can be explored. The Union State speech by President Trump will be
analyzed in the following sections.
The persuasiveness of the Trump’s speech can be identified from several aspects. He has
used the most commonly regarded elements of persuasion propagated by Aristotle. All these
elements are very clear in the rhetoric of Trump because his aim was persuade the people in his
favor.
The communication between the President of a country and its people must contain the
elements of emotion, logic and ethical considerations.
Otherwise, it would not have been possible to convince the listeners about his credibility.
Trump addressed the emotional connections between him and his people. He also made
statements about the prejudices and desires of the common people.
The truthfulness of the statements of Trump would be considered later but the immediate
effects of audience were the most important things in this discourse.
In his speech, Trump said that climate change is a ‘hoax’ and he also described the media
to be the enemy of American people. The linguistic style and its use is also very effective for
Trump in various ways. The use of emotions is also seen in the speech made by Trump when
regularly used the name of his enemy, Hilary Clinton.
He is aware of the fact most people have a very negative feeling towards Hilary Clinton
and he utilized that public emotion for his benefits. He tends to use such language that would be
very useful to grasp the attention of various groups within the American community. His use of
strong vocabulary invokes his passion for what he is saying.