Instructions
Timed Midterm Essay
Purpose
The purpose of writing this essay is to help you understand what kind of appeals
to ethos, pathos, and logos are legitimate and fair as opposed to appeals that
aim to manipulate the audience. This is important because you will be able to
evaluate authors and also learn how your choices impact your readers in your
own writing.
Background
You have learned how writers appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade an
audience. You have also learned about common logical fallacies that people use
to manipulate their readers. Before you take the quiz, do the following:
• Review the quiz on Ethos, Pathos, and Logos and The Art of Rhetoric.
• Review your annotations of chapters 2-4 of The Sum of Us paying particular
attention to appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos as well as fallacies, for
example, how some appeal to fear with racial dog whistles.
• Review discussions of chapters 2-4 to get ideas to find good quotations to
support your essay.
