Guide to Understanding and Using Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Last updated on 06/24/2026 by Ethan Sawyer

By Jessica B. PhD Professor of English

Ethos, pathos, and logos are things you already have an intuitive feel for. Because we all argue. (Even if you have friends who say they never argue. They definitely try to build arguments.)

Whether it’s simple things like what pizza to eat (pineapple?) or what to watch, all the way to things like what foreign policy should be, you’ve found yourself trying to convince someone that your opinion is the right one.

And to convince someone to see our side of things, we use all kinds of strategies, probably without even realizing that we are being strategic. Enter logos, pathos and ethos.

In the guide below, we want to help you build a clearer understanding of these argumentative strategies and tools, so you have a much clearer way of thinking about them and how to use them well.

So let’s dive in.

What are pathos, logos and ethos?

Ethos, pathos, and logos are Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion (sometimes called the “rhetorical triangle”), which are used to persuade an audience by appealing to

• credibility (ethos)
• emotion (pathos)
• and logic (logos).

Ethos builds trust, pathos evokes feelings, and logos uses facts to create a persuasive argument.

We guarantee that even if you’ve never heard the terms logos, pathos, and ethos, you’ve used them in an argument, especially when writing a persuasive essay, say about your English class.

Aristotle believed that any effective argument needed to strike a balance between the persuasive strategies of logos, pathos, and ethos. And we think of these as a triangle because no one element is more or less important than the other. So below, we’ll dive into the details.

What is Logos?

Logos is, quite simply, an appeal to the logic and reason of the audience. No matter how compelling an argument, your audience won’t be persuaded if you rely on faulty logic, (or worse, no logic at all). So with logos, think facts, statistics, data, research, charts and tables.

Logo is also about the construction and structure of your argument. Effective use of logos means that the writer makes clear connections between ideas and that the progression of ideas from one to the next makes logical sense.

Writers who use logos effectively also avoid things named “logical fallacies”, which are basically just flaws in reasoning that weaken the logic of an argument (sometimes this happens by accident, and sometimes writers use these to deliberately distract their audience, relying on emotional appeals rather than logical ones).

Some common logical fallacies are

• of the man (when someone attacks the opponent’s character instead of their argument)
• slippery slope (when someone knowingly exaggerates the end result of their opponent’s argument)
• and a false dichotomy (when the argument suggests that there are only two possible outcomes or perspectives, when more are possible).

(Note that we would strongly recommend studying logical fallacies and how to avoid them in your thinking and writing.)

What is Pathos?

Pathos is an appeal to the emotions of the audience. While logic is essential to building any effective argument, pathos is just as necessary in trying to persuade because many of our decisions and perspectives are driven by our emotional responses to a topic or question.

Pathos can appeal to an audience’s values, belief systems, and range of emotions, and as a writer, you can employ several strategies to evoke the emotions that will be most helpful in convincing your readers of your particular argument.

Instead of the “hard facts” that are part of the logo, pathos uses things like

• personal anecdotes
• living and symbolic language
• and reliance on the human connection between writer and reader.

What is Ethos?

Ethos refers to the writer himself and has to do with the credibility of the writer. If we do not trust someone’s qualifications for an argument, we are unlikely to be open to being persuaded by them, so ethos is as vital as logos and pathos.

Writers who are able to establish their credibility

• use reliable sources
• illustrate their awareness of the purpose of the argument and who their audience is
• use appropriate language and tone (if your audience is a group of teachers, for example, you should probably use a different choice of words than with your friends – so no slang, friends)
• consider all counterarguments to show that they have considered all sides of the issue
• and share their professional qualifications if they are relevant to the argument (who is going to listen to an argument about, say, the effectiveness of vaccines from someone who has zero background in vaccinology, immunology, or at least some aspect of biology?)

How to judge whether an author is using ethos, pathos, or logos

While logos, pathos, and ethos can be effective strategies for constructing your own arguments, they’re also useful tools for determining the effectiveness of someone else’s argument, especially if you’re on the receiving end of someone trying to convince you of their perspective.

Using the rhetorical triangle as an audience member can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses in the argument being presented to you, which means you’ll be even more ready to spot arguments that are worth listening to and those that aren’t worth your time.

For each corner of the triangle, there are questions you can ask to help you identify AND use these persuasive strategies:

Spotting logos

• Is there a thesis?
• Can you clearly identify what the main argument is?
• Can you really follow the argument?
• Does the structure and organization make sense?
• Did the writer avoid logical fallacies? (Politics is a good example of this—does a candidate in a debate zero in on the time his opponent cheated on a high school test instead of focusing on his policy platform?)
• Do you see claims that simply aren’t true based on accepted knowledge about the issue or topic?

Sharing pathos

• Can the writer connect with his audience?
• If so, how do they do it?
• Can you identify the specific emotions the writer is trying to appeal to?
• What language in an argument really grabs your attention and makes you FEEL something?
• Do you see things besides data, research, and facts like personal narratives, questions asked directly to the audience, and the use of the words “we” or “we” that put the writer and the audience on the same team?

Noting ethos

• How reliable are the sources (ie, an academic journal article versus the writer’s little brother’s blog)?
• Did the writer consider viewpoints other than their own?
• Does the writer use language and tone that is appropriate for the audience?
• Is the writer really qualified to make the argument?
• How do they illustrate these qualifications?

Why and how these are important to understand, especially for AP Lang

You may be wondering why it even matters if you know and understand logos, pathos and ethos. After all, we started this blog by telling you that you probably already use them without even thinking about them.

But if you think about your daily life, isn’t it useful to know if and when someone is trying to convince you of their perspective on something?

And once you notice these strategies, doesn’t it help to know WHAT someone is trying to do so you can decide if you’re open to their argument?

And if we think about the academic situations in which you have to argue, a clear understanding of what these concepts are and how you can use them will help you create persuasive writing that is effective and persuasive.

For example:

Let’s say you’re writing a History essay in which you have to made an argument for the most significant impact of World War II on family structures.

Your mind might immediately go to the emotional impact of families torn apart by war (pathos), and you could certainly make a strong argument based on this appeal to emotion.

But wouldn’t your argument be even stronger if you could include statistics on the number of children who spent the first years of their lives separated from one or both parents (logos)?

And wouldn’t your argument be further strengthened if you found these statistics in an academic journal that focuses on child psychology (ethos)?

But let’s get even more specific!

Let’s say you’re a brave soul who takes up AP Language and Composition (AP Lang for short). The entire course is based on analyzing other people’s arguments and constructing your own effective arguments.

On AP Lang Exam contains multiple-choice questions that ask you to read and then analyze non-fiction texts AND three free-response essays (see these links for full guides to the synthesis essay, the rhetorical analysis essayand the argument essay) that are 100% about your ability to recognize effective argumentative writing and then write your own solid, balanced, well-supported arguments based on the sources provided to you.

So how do you analyze someone else’s argument?

By asking and answering the questions in the sections above about logos, pathos and ethos and the ways in which the writer uses (or does not) use all three in their attempts to persuade their readers.

And how to write an effective argument?

No surprise here… by asking and answering the questions above about logo, pathos, and ethos, and by making sure you’ve paid close attention to how you incorporate each of these strategies in a clear and balanced way.

AP Lang exam readers will look closely at your ability to rely not only on emotion, but also on logic and reason. They’ll look at whether or not you’re relying on logical fallacies (again, it’s really helpful to study these), if you’ve opened your readers’ minds to your perspective by writing an argument that makes organizational sense, and if you’ve connected with your readers by appealing to their emotions.

These are all reasons why it is important to know and understand logos, pathos, and ethos. Special thanks to Aristotle for giving us the rhetorical triangle.

Jessica B. Jessica holds a PhD in English from the University of Southern California and teaches English at an independent school in the Los Angeles area, where she has also served as English Department Chair and Dean. Sandra Cisneros is her hero and she loves books, her incredibly sarcastic family, the beach, cozy sweaters and more books. Oh, and her sweet pit bull/lab mix named Ruby.

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