Use of Appeal to Pathos and Logos
Name
Institution
Use of Appeal to Pathos and Logos
The advert targets people who may want to join the National Rifle Association. It makes several logical and emotional appeals. The appeal is meant to persuade them to join the association.
The first rhetoric is the use of pathos. The advert starts by stating that a person has to be somewhat romantic, being a gun collector. This is an appeal to the emotions of the audience. In a way, it equates the two things and can make people feel like being a gun collector is similar to being romantic. However, there is inconsistency ad hominem as these are two contradictory things. This contradiction is seen in the way the guns were used. Someone shot them. Saying collecting guns is romantic and at the same time asking about the people who shot the guns is inconsistent. It is flawed in that it promotes two distinct ideas that are contradictory. Being romantic and collecting guns are two things that, in most cases, may not go together. The statement appeals to emotions. Ideally, a collection of firearms may be a feared thing. However, by alluding to romance, stating that these people are romantic, the advert works to persuade people to join the association because doing so may probably make them romantic.
The mention of charitable activities that the association participates in creates an emotional appeal. The appeal gives the idea that the association is generous. This invokes emotions of patriotism, and one may be persuaded to join the organization as an expression of patriotism.
The advert appeals to logos. There is a genetic fallacy that links the advert with the association’s pioneers. The rhetoric about the people who owned the guns and those who shot them aims to increase the credibility of the statement. The people who pioneered the movement may have been good and well known in history, but this does not factually make the association a good one. The comparison of the days of Lincoln, George Washington and other pioneers with the pages of history books and portraying the former as for truthful is a logical appeal to render the association credible.
The advert also appeals to logos by stating the governor’s concerned when it comes to crime protection. He advocates the Oregon Penal systems in punishing those who misuse guns. This is a perfectionist fallacy. It indicates that strict punishment is the only way to reduce the misuse of firearms. Punishment to gun misusers does not guarantee the safe use of guns. However, this creates a logical appeal to the audience who may assume that crime protection and strict penal systems are the only measures needed to minimize the misuse of guns. There are more options to do this. Not owning a gun is, for example, a possible option.
To conclude, the ad is persuasive. It makes various appeals to pathos and logos. The fallacies will make people want to join the association even when no evidence is offered that renders joining National Rifle Association worthwhile.