As you read through Heinrich's sections on pathos and logos, consider whether you've seen some of his tactics being used either in your personal experience or in things you've seen on TV, in the media, etc. Explain your example and use Heinrich's terminology to explain how the rhetorical strategy worked.
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The passive voice is used often in the work world as a tool to neutralize a loaded situation. Any scandal or faux pas is described in the passive voice so that people calm down and return to work. It's a maneuver to smooth things over when drama occurs. If people are fired or let go, they describe that the department was restructured. When budget cuts get rolled out to the store-level partners, they say that the company is experiencing financial limitations or budget cut-backs. This takes the responsibility off of the human decision-makers and makes it appear as if it were something that just occurred due to a vague external force.
Another tool that Heinrichs describes is definition, or redifining an issue to suit your argument. This is a strategy commonly used by my boss. He will take a term brought up by the opponent and redefine it as if it were evidence of his argument.
Heinrich's point regarding pathos about the importance of whose emotion you betray can be seen played out in everyday life. When someone is overcome with their emotion when arguing, it becomes less effective than if they were to take on the emotion of the audience. Commonplaces are also important to recognize and use in order to be able to reason with one's audience. These are used in political debates all the tme inorder to connect and persuade the audience better. In advertisements, the form of deductive logic is used with great result; it provides both evidence and proof for the audience and leaves them to their choice, although it's the advertiser makes clear what is the right one.
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