Flores 1

Allan Flores
Dr. Werner
College Comp 102
17 February 2016
How Often is Pathos Noticed
Pathos is evoking an audience's emotions in order to use them as a means of persuasion,
this was said by R. Green, S. Cushman & C. Cavanagh in, Pathos: The Princeton Encyclopedia
of Poetry and Poetics." Pathos is used modern almost everywhere in the world today when it
comes to the modern world. There are many examples of pathos on TV that one can see, the
Internet, even on the ride home from work on the radio, people will see/hear something that
grabs their attention about something, solely based off of their feelings about it. Pathos is
beginning to be used more and more as the years go on so that whatever they are trying to
promote as more and more attention towards it. The most conclusive thing about pathos is that
the human being cant control how they feel about something if the emotions are pressed upon
them.
They will say/do almost anything for them to get a reaction out of people. For example, a
video of a group of homeless children appear on the TV, and the one adult in the picture is asking
people to donate some money for these homeless children so they can eat everyday. The video is
going to use the emotions of the people in order for you to donate money to the children. The
people who make these commercials do this so they can get money from those who are willing
because they know that they are willing to help, or they are willing to make a change throughout
the world. They play with the emotions of the people so that they could donate money and make
people feel as if you are making a difference. It isnt like the average person wouldnt want to

Flores 2
help out homeless children but some people won't do it if they dont have a push of emotion
towards their decision of doing it. The main thing however, is that this isnt always bad, using
pathos can really get to someone and inform them on whats happening around him or her.
Pathos is used in so many different types of ways that most people dont even know that
it is being used. It has become such a popular thing for people and media to do that it's
something that has just made its way into society without the people even knowing it happened.
In the modern day, the importance of pathos as a means of persuasionor as it is commonly
referred to today, audience appeal" (Cushman 18). It is used in almost every single show and
movie that comes out, any type of clothing that needs the common peoples liking. Emotion is
used to keep people and things popular amongst people so that the things that are using pathos
have more of a positive attitude upon itself. Nobody will do anything unless they feel compelled
to do so. Media now presenting itself in a way that so broad that it can affect the emotions of all
types of people no matter what the subject it discusses.
Society nowadays makes decisions solely based on right and wrong and how they feel
towards something. Everything that is done has had some thought put into it, whether it was on
how others and themselves would react to their decisions or what outcomes could happen from
making that choice. Pathos already has an influence on people even without them knowing about
it. I would consider pathos to be more of a natural thing to come about because all humans have
emotion, which displays that it can be used against or for making decisions. That is something
people have been doing to others since people first learned how to communicate with one
another.
People have different ways of viewing how the world works now that technology plays a
big part in it, for one writer, Leo Marx, his view comes from a more serious matter in his literary

Flores 3
piece called Technology: The Emergence of a Hazard Concept." As for the hazardous
character of the concept of technology, I need only to say that I am not thinking about weaponry
or the physical damage brought by the use of any particular technologies. The hazards I have in
mind are conceptual, not physical" (Marx 5). When Marx begins to describe how he thinks of
technology. He uses words that stress his views on how he thinks on his readers. Describing it in
a way that would get readers thinking and he can maybe influence their way of thinking. He talks
about it as if technology was the unknown nemesis among the people and that it wont harm
people physically but mentally. Throughout the whole article he stresses about the negative
effects of technology on his readers in a way that's clear and direct. The way he talks to his
readers it is like he is trying to get them to think like him and for his readers to look at
technology the same way he does.
Pathos is no longer something that we, people in society, can turn a blind eye toward
because it is used on us all day. Whether you are speaking to a friend about a hard time with class
work and she need your help or when you are speaking to a teacher about the reason you did bad
on a test. People use pathos as if it was second nature to them, especially when they are in a
position they dont want to be in. So every time you speak to someone about something you have
a strong position on or something you are trying to convey to them. As a person, you are using
pathos so that you are able to make your point of view across.