Write a rhetorical analysis essay on the Declaration of Independence. Be sure that one of your paragraphs analyzes the logic and reasoning used in the text (logos, pathos, and ethos). Your essay should be at least five paragraphs with a clear introduction and meaningful conclusion, strong supporting evidence from the text, and no less than 750 words in length.

Aristotle's "modes for persuasion" - otherwise known as rhetorical appeals - are known by the names of ethos, pathos, and logos. They are means of persuading others to believe a particular point of view. They are often used in speech writing and advertising to sway the audience.

Meaning of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

Aristotle used these three terms to explain how rhetoric works:

"Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker [ethos]; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind [pathos]; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself [logos]. Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible."

Ethos (sometimes called an appeal to ethics), then, is used as a means of convincing an audience via the authority or credibility of the persuader, be it a notable or experienced figure in the field or even a popular celebrity.

Pathos (appeal to emotion) is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response to an impassioned plea or a convincing story.

Logos (appeal to logic) is a way of persuading an audience with reason, using facts and figures.

The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in the history of our nation. The declaration is responsible for the fact that we are able to determine our own laws and government in a sovereign way. Moreover, the declaration also outlined many of the values and principles by which our nation and our citizenship operates. One of the reasons why the Declaration of Independence is so significant is because of how persuasive it is. The Founding Fathers achieved this by using logos (a claim to logic), pathos (a claim to emotion) and ethos (a claim to credibility). These are some examples of the authors' use of rhetorical devices:

Logos

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

Pathos

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Ethos

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

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