Think of a time when you tried to persuade someone to agree with you, change their mind, or do something you wanted. What were you trying to persuade them to do or believe? How did you use ethos, pathos, or logos to persuade them? Which appeal was most effective and why?

Back when I had a heated argument with a stranger out in the open while I was walking around Ponce City Market, I overheard him talking to his friend about why Tibet should not be free. Within the last century, Tibet has been ruled by China, and with me being Tibetan, I came over to him and started asking why he thought that or why he thought this way. He told me Tibet was originally serfdom controlled. Still, I told him this was mostly factually incorrect, as most Tibetans were indebted to others, and the reason they were slaves in the first place was that they had to pay their debts off. He asked why my opinion mattered and said I was Tibetan and that my father and grandfather lived in Tibet. So I believe that ethos was the reason it was the most appealing to him and the most convincing, as after he heard I was Tibetan, a person from Tibet, he backed off and told me that he was right.

Today in class, we learned which ads used different appeals to the public or a specific audience to argue their point.

Learning how ads use ethos, pathos, and logos opened my eyes to how companies secretly push our buttons to get us to buy stuff. Now that I know their tricks, I can spot sneaky marketing from a mile away and use those same ideas to make my own writing way more convincing.