1. I chose pathos. Pathos is the rhetorical appeal of emotion. It draws people in and holds them there by appealing to their emotions. It can often appeal to sympathy (the commercials with the abused animals for ASPCA), fear (the commercials showing us the horrors we’re doing to the environment so that we will change), or desires (sex sells).
2. I found a rather interesting commercial on YouTube. It’s from the 80’s and it is the commercial that introduced the world to the Apple Macintosh computer. The link can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8. The commercial begins with a row of people marching in a line towards a large room. At the front of the room stands a screen. The people are dressed exactly the same, except for one woman who is running with a hammer. The images of the identical people and the screen with the face talking to the crowd mirrors George Orwell’s 1984, the groundbreaking novel in which Orwell warned people of what his vision of 1984 was. In this vision, it was exactly like the commercial, save the girl with the hammer: everyone is exactly the same and everyone answers to the call of Big Brother, the face and voice on the screen. The people sit down and listen obediently until the woman runs in and throws her hammer at the screen. The screen explodes and words flash across the bottom: On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like “1984.” What was so interesting was how the commercial appealed to two different human emotions. The first emotion was fear; undoubtedly, it has always been a concern of people (especially, it seems, American people) that the government will completely take over and its people will be left automatons in a world completely free of independent thought. The second emotion it appeals to is sympathy. America, a country prided on its independence, always sympathizes with the underdog or the person going against the grain. Thus, the viewers sympathize with the woman dressed and acting so radically different from everyone else. The commercial also brings relief and a possibility of hope: when Apple releases Macintosh, people will once again have their own lives under control and will do so with the aid of a streamlined computer.
3. Margaret Atwood’s piece “Somebody’s Daughter” also utilizes the rhetorical appeal of pathos. In the beginning of the narrative, she describes the life of the “people up North” and their hardships inspire sympathy in the reader. This point is truly driven home, however, in the final passages. Atwood writes: “The big round tent became a place of safety and comfort and healing for the women in it, and their writing also became–for most, I think–a place of safety and comfort and healing” (14). The pathos used in this narrative is effective. While the situations described for the women in the program were remote and unfamiliar to other readers, everyone has experienced the desire to have a place of safety and comfort. This feeling is especially driven home when the reader recalls what the women’s lives are truly like and the harsh environment they often live in. Atwood uses their situations, both geographical and personal, to appeal to our emotion. We sympathize with the women. We understand their plight. And we are also touched by the effect this program was able to have on them. Because of this, the use of pathos in this narrative was extremely effective.