ELP: Rhetorical Devices Paper PDF

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Isabelle Abbott EN 274 - OL1 Ethos/Logos/Pathos/Rhetorical Devices Paper Speech Analysis

I chose to analyze Rachel Carson’s statement before Congress, which was prompted by Silent Spring, an environmental science book by Rachel Carson. The publishing of Silent Spring on June 30th, 1962 was massively important because it marked the first time anyone had documented and described all of the astonishingly poisonous, adverse environmental effects caused by the haphazard use of pesticides. As the book acquired a prodigious amount of exposure, it “unleashed an extraordinary national debate and was greeted by vigorous attacks from the chemical industry,” (Rachel Carson) and its allies in and outside of the government. “The US federal government responded quickly to Silent Spring. Disturbed by the experts of Silent Spring in the New Yorker, President John F. Kennedy asked the Life Sciences Panel of the President’s Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) to investigate her claims,” (Stoll et al. The US Federal Government Responds). Thus, a year later on June 4th, 1963, Carson gave her statement before the Subcommittee on Reorganization and International Organizations of the Committee on Government Operations. Through Carson’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos, she establishes a tone that informs and jolts people into action. Carson’s statement before Congress not only discussed “the problems of environmental hazards and the control of pesticides,” (Rachel Carson's Statement before Congress 1963) but ignited an environmental movement. Ethos, or ethical appeal, means to convince an audience of the author’s credibility or character (Ethos Definition and Examples). In Ethos: A Dominant Factor in Rhetorical

Communication, author McCroskey writes, “Ethos is the attitude toward a source of communication held at a given time by a receiver. Source credibility, prestige, and personal proof are terms that have been used to refer to constructs similar to what we have here defined as ethos,” (McCroskey 82). McCroskey gives three examples of ethos: initial, derived, and terminal. Initial Ethos is the ethos of a source prior to the beginning of a given communicative act, “it is the speaker’s ethos just before he or she begins to speak or the writer’s ethos just before the reader begins to read,” (McCroskey 82). Derived Ethos is the ethos of a source produced during the act of communicating, it includes the impact of the message, “the effect of the circumstances in which the communication takes place, and (if oral) the delivery of the message,” (McCroskey 82). Terminal Ethos is the ethos of a source at completion of a communicative act, “it is the product of the interaction of initial and derived ethos,” (McCroskey 82). In addition, ethos is an important concept for analyzing human communication because it gives scholars a way to identify strategies in persuasive speeches, the SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods states that, “Aristotle described ethos as persuasion through character, as to make a speaker worthy of credence,” (Allen, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods). An example of ethos is a scientist being qualified to write a scientifically correct book based on scientific evidence, just as Carson’s book Silent Hill could be referred to as scientific ethos. In Carson’s statement before the Senate Commerce Committee, Carson uses ethos when she says, “Contamination of various kinds has now invaded all of the physical environment that supports us – water, soil, air, and vegetation. It has even penetrated that internal environment within the bodies of animals and of men. It comes from many sources: radioactive towns; chemical wastes from factories, detergents from homes and industries,” by stating this scientifically proven information, she has solidified a valid argument that is not based

on her opinion, but by fact. In addition to her credibility, Carson did not fail to mention the sources of the contaminants. When Rachel Carson gave her statement before the Senate Commerce Committee, she not only had a target on her back from the chemical industry and their allies but the support from many Americans and environmentalists. Pathos, or emotional appeal, refers the persuasion of an audience through appealing to their emotions (Pathos Definition and Examples). In Rhetoric 101: The art of persuasive speech by Lisa LaBracio and Camille A. Langston, it is written that “pathos is neither inherently good nor bad, but it may be irrational and unpredictable… it can just as easily rally people for peace as incite for war,” (Rhetoric 101: The art of persuasive speech). In addition, pathos is used by authors to invoke sympathy from an audience; to make the audience feel what the author wants them to feel, the SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods states that, “Aristotle defined pathos in terms of a public speaker putting the audience in the right frame of mind by appealing to the audience’s emotions,” (Allen, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods). An example of pathos is, “If we don’t move soon, we’re all going to die! Can’t you see how dangerous it would be to stay?” (Examples of Pathos) or how beauty products promise to relieve our physical insecurities. In Carson’s statement before the Senate Commerce Committee, Carson uses pathos multiple times throughout her speech. For example, her consistent use of the words “men,” “we,” and “our,” lets the audience know that she is one of them, she cares about the general well-being of them all, and will fight to protect them. Carson also uses motivational statements such as, “The world of air and water and soil supports not only the hundreds of thousands of species of animals and plants, it supports man himself. In the past we have often chosen to ignore this fact. Now we are receiving sharp reminders that our heedless and destructive acts affect the vast cycles of the earth and in time return to bring hazard to

ourselves.” As Carson had spoken before the Senate Government Operations subcommittee, she wasn’t just speaking for herself, she aimed to speak for those without a voice. She was speaking for those not in power; man himself, the hundreds of thousands of species of animals and plants, alas the world of air, water and soil. Carson was eager and determined in her statement: “We can do dramatic things and we can do them quickly; by the time damaging side effects are apparent it is often too late, or impossible, to reverse our actions,” her words were truly motivating. It is important to note that Rachel Carson is one of the reasons why the environmental movement gained widespread bipartisan support which resulted in an important legislation during the Nixon era: The Clean Air (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), and Endangered Species Act (ESA). Carson “aimed at igniting a democratic activist movement that would not only question the direction of science and technology but would also demand answers and accountability,” (Silent Spring). Logos, or the appeal to logic, means to convince an audience by the use of logic or reason (Logos Definition and Examples). To use logos would be to cite facts and statistics sourced from authorities on a subject. In What is Logos? By Master Class, it is written that “logical appeals help bring an audience around to your point of view, and help you avoid lapses in logic known as logical fallacies,” noting that it is much easier to persuade an audience when they are able to see every step it took to come to your conclusion (MasterClass What Is Logos? Definition and Examples of Logos in Literature - 2021). Aristotle defined logos as the “proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself,” in other words, logos rest in the actual written content of an argument (Examples of Pathos). An example of logos in politics is, “A city council meeting that provides evidence of past collisions in order to argue for the installation of an improved traffic signal,” (MasterClass Examples of Logos). In Carson’s statement before the

Senate Commerce Committee, Carson uses logos on the topic of pesticides: “…the problem of pesticides can be properly understood only in context, as part of the general introduction of harmful substances into the environment… … these chemicals are mingled with others, or with radioactive substances. There are little understood interaction and summations of effect. No one fully understands, for example, what happens when pesticide residue stored in our bodies interact with drugs repeatedly taken. And there are some indications that detergents, which are often present in our drinking water, may affect the lining of the digestive tract so that it more readily absorbs cancer-consuming chemicals” By bringing these studies into her speech, Carson is indicating the rationality behind the argument that environmental hazards control of pesticides and other chemical problems are a true environmental threat and change needs to happen sooner rather than later. In Rachel Carson’s statement before the Senate Commerce Committee, Carson can be seen to mostly rely on Pathos to persuade her audience by appealing to their emotions (Pathos Definition and Examples) and logos to convince her audience through the use of logic or reason (Logos Definition and Examples). In addition, Carson uses the rhetorical device anaphora. Anaphora is a rhetorical device that features the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive sentences, phrases, or clauses. Anaphora works as a literary device to allow writers to convey, emphasize, and reinforce meaning (Anaphora - Definition and Examples of Anaphora). For example, we see the use of anaphora when Carson states, “We have acquired technical skills on a scale undreamed of even a generation ago. We can do dramatic things and we can do the quickly; by the time damaging side effects are apparent it is often too late, or impossible, to reverse our action.” The repetition of the word “we” emphasizes to whom she is

speaking to that she is one of them and together they can make a change that not only benefits her, but the planet and mankind itself. Rachel Carson was and still is a very important figure in history today. The publishing of her environmental science book Silent Hill and her statement before congress in 1963 is what ignited an environmental movement and caused the many changes in how operations are run. Rachel Carson not only exposed the misuse of chemicals and the damaging effects they have on the environment we live in but opened the eyes of many Americans across the country. She knew there would be a target on her back from the chemical industry and their allies but had the support from many Americans and environmentalists. “She aimed at igniting a democratic activist movement that would not only question the direction of science and technology but would also demand answers and accountability,” (Silent Spring) and she succeeded. Without Rachel Carson, the environmental movement would not have had gained such a huge bipartisan support which ended up resulting in an important legislation during the Nixon era: The Clean Air (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), and Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Works Cited “Rachel Carson.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rachel-carson/. About the author Stoll, et al. “The US Federal Government Responds.” The US Federal Government Responds | Environment & Society Portal, www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/rachel-carsons-silent-spring/us-federalgovernment-responds. “Rachel Carson's Statement before Congress 1963.” Rachel Carson Council, rachelcarsoncouncil.org/about-rcc/about-rachel-carson/rachel-carsons-statement-beforecongress-1963/. User, Super. “Ethos, Pathos, and Logos Definition and Examples.” Home - Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, the Modes of Persuasion ‒ Explanation and Examples, pathosethoslogos.com/ McCroskey, J.C. (2005). An Introduction to Rhetorical Communication (9th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315663791 Allen, Mike. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods. 4 vols. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2017. SAGE Research Methods. Web. 22 Mar. 2021, doi: 10.4135/9781483381411. “Silent Spring.” Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, www.rachelcarson.org/SilentSpring.aspx. “Examples of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.” Example Articles & Resources, examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-ethos-logos-and-pathos.html. “Rhetoric 101: The Art of Persuasive Speech.” TED, 23 Jan. 2017, blog.ed.ted.com/2017/01/17/rhetoric-101-the-art-of-persuasive-speech/. MasterClass. “What Is Logos? Definition and Examples of Logos in Literature - 2021.” MasterClass, MasterClass, 8 Nov. 2020, www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-logosdefinition-and-examples-of-logos-in-literature#what-is-the-difference-between-logospathos-and-ethos. “Logos.” LitCharts, www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-andterms/logos#:~:text=Logos%20is%20an%20argument%20that,or%20she%20is%20using% 20logos. Link to Rachel Carson’s speech: https://rachelcarsoncouncil.org/about-rcc/about-rachelcarson/rachel-carsons-statement-before-congress-1963/...