Pathos: How to Use and Write One

Introduction to Pathos

Pathos is a rhetorical and literary device employed to evoke intense emotions, particularly pity, sympathy, or empathy, in an audience. It is a persuasive technique that aims to stir an emotional response in readers or listeners by presenting relatable and emotionally charged situations or narratives. Through the strategic use of vivid descriptions, storytelling, and appeals to shared human experiences, pathos enhances the overall persuasiveness and impact of written or spoken discourse.

How to Create Pathos?

Step	Explanation	Example
Understand Your Audience	Before creating pathos, it is important to know your target audience. Consider the following points; Their backgrounds.Their interests.Their values.	If addressing parents, focus on themes related to family, children, or personal struggles.
Choose a Relevant Topic	Select a subject or theme, having an emotional connection with your audience.	If discussing challenges faced by refugees, choose a specific story of a refugee family to create empathy.
Use Descriptive Language	Use descriptive and evocative language to paint a clear picture in your audience’s minds.	Instead of saying “He was sad,” say “Tears streamed down his face as his heart shattered into a thousand pieces.”
Tell Personal Stories	Share personal experiences or anecdotes that create an emotional connection.	When discussing poverty, share a personal story of someone struggling to make ends meet.
Appeal to Shared Values	Identify the values that connect you with your audience and frame your message accordingly.	Emphasize the unfairness of a situation or the need for empathy towards marginalized communities if your audience values justice and equality.
Use Powerful Examples	Utilize real-life examples or case studies that elicit emotions.	Advocate for animal rights by sharing a story of an abused animal that has been rescued and nursed back to health.
Incorporate Rhetorical Devices	Employ rhetorical devices to enhance the emotional impact.	Engage the audience emotionally by asking rhetorical questions like, “How can we turn a blind eye to the suffering of innocent children? How can we sleep peacefully knowing their cries go unheard?”
Show Empathy and Vulnerability	Demonstrate empathy and vulnerability to connect on a deeper level.	Share personal emotions, struggles, or moments of reflection related to the topic to evoke a reciprocal emotional response from the audience.
Use Visual Aids	Include visuals such as photographs, videos, or graphs that evoke emotions.	Use a poignant image that conveys the emotional impact of an issue more effectively than words alone.
Practice Delivery and Timing	Practice delivering your message with the right tone, pacing, and emphasis.	Pay attention to timing and pause to allow emotional moments to sink in during the delivery. Effective delivery amplifies the emotional impact of your words.

Benefits of Pathos

Pathos is a powerful tool in literature. It helps writers to create emotional connections with their readers and to evoke a range of emotions, including empathy, sympathy, and sadness. Here are some of the benefits of using pathos in your writing:

1. Emotional Connection: Pathos helps to create an emotional connection between the reader and the characters in a story. They also help the speakers to connect with the readers and audiences through emotional means.
2. Increased Engagement: When readers are emotionally invested in a story, they are more likely to continue reading and become more deeply engaged with the plot and characters.
3. Greater Impact: Using pathos can help to make a story more memorable and impactful by creating an emotional response in the reader. This helps ensure that the story stays with readers long after they have finished reading.
4. Greater Understanding: When readers feel empathy and sympathy for a character, they are more likely to understand their motivations and relate to their experiences. This can help to create a deeper understanding of the story and its themes.
5. Universal Appeal: Pathos is a universal tool that can appeal to readers of all ages and backgrounds. By evoking emotions that are common in all humans, writers create stories that resonate with a wide audience.
6. Persuasion: Pathos helps speakers to emotionally connect with the readers and the audiences and persuade them effectively by manipulating emotions.

In fact, using pathos in literature is a highly powerful tool for writers to connect with their readers and create stories that are engaging, impactful, and memorable.

Pathos and Literary Theory

Pathos is a persuasive technique that appeals to the emotions of the readers or audiences. It is used in literature to create emotional connections with the readers, evoking sympathy or empathy for the characters, and adding depth to the themes and messages of a work. However, analyzing pathos in literary theory as a literary device is a highly tricky situation. Yet, it could be analyzed and studied using various literary theories, such as:

Literary Theory	Critique of Pathos	Example from Literature
Reader-Response Theory	This theory focuses on the readers’ response to a text and how their experiences and emotions influence interpretation. Pathos could be analyzed through the readers’ emotional responses and how their personal experiences affect understanding.	In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the portrayal of racial injustice elicits pathos by evoking strong emotional responses from readers who can relate their own experiences or empathize with the characters’ struggles. The readers’ emotional connection to the text influences their interpretation and response to the pathos conveyed.
Feminist Theory	Feminist theory examines literature from a gender perspective, focusing on how gender roles and stereotypes are reinforced or challenged. Pathos can be studied in how emotions associated with femininity are represented and how they shape female characters’ roles.	In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the protagonist’s emotional descent into madness is a pathos-laden portrayal of the oppression and confinement faced by women in patriarchal societies. The use of pathos highlights the emotional toll of societal expectations and restrictions, shedding light on the feminist critique of gender roles.
Marxist Theory	Marxist theory views literature as reflecting socio-economic conditions. Pathos can be studied in how emotions convey class struggle and social inequality, as well as how they can manipulate the working class.	In Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities, the pathos of poverty and suffering endured by the lower classes under the oppressive ruling class is used to emphasize the social and economic disparities of the time. The emotions depicted stir empathy and solidarity among readers, highlighting the Marxist critique of the exploitative capitalist system.
Psychoanalytic Theory	Psychoanalytic theory analyzes literature through psychology’s lens, exploring characters’ inner conflicts and desires. Pathos can be studied in how emotions reveal these aspects and manipulate the reader’s emotions and desires.	In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel, Crime and Punishment, the protagonist’s guilt-ridden conscience and emotional turmoil evoke pathos by delving into the depths of his psyche. The reader becomes emotionally engaged as they explore the protagonist’s psychological struggles, demonstrating the power of pathos to elicit a profound emotional response.

Suggested Readings

1. Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction. University of Chicago Press, 1983.
2. Brooks, Cleanth, and Robert Penn Warren. Understanding Fiction. Prentice-Hall, 1959.
3. Burke, Kenneth. A Rhetoric of Motives. University of California Press, 1969.
4. Fisher, Walter R. Human Communication as Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action. University of South Carolina Press, 1987.
5. Olbrechts-Tyteca, Lucie, and Chaïm Perelman. The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation. University of Notre Dame Press, 1969.
6. Weaver, Richard M. The Ethics of Rhetoric. University of Chicago Press, 1953.