The Use of Persuasion in Editorials: Logos, Ethos and Pathos Appeals in the Daily Graphic

Albert Agbesi Wornyo^1,

¹School of Communication and Media Studies, University of Education, Winneba

Cite this paper:
Albert Agbesi Wornyo. The Use of Persuasion in Editorials: Logos, Ethos and Pathos Appeals in the Daily Graphic. Journal of Linguistics and Literature. 2023; 6(1):1-9. doi: 10.12691/jll-6-1-1

Abstract

Newspaper editorials are persuasive pieces of writing that express the opinion of the paper on specific issues. This study examines the use of Aristotle’s persuasive appeals in the editorials of the Daily Graphic newspaper published in Ghana. The three persuasive appeals: pathos, ethos and logos were constituted into a framework for the analysis of the editorials. A total of 36 editorials were selected for the study using constructed week sampling; a type of stratified random sampling which involves the collection of news text one day per week in order to get a representative sample to account for variations in news content. The data collected covered six constructed weeks. The findings of the study revealed that the editorial writers of the paper use the three rhetorical appeals to persuade readers. The appeal to rationality (logos) is used to express the position of the paper on issues of national concern, appeal to government agencies to take important actions to resolve national issues and persuade readers to support the opinion of the paper. The credibility (logos) appeal is used to portray shared values between the writers and the readers to foster national unity. The emotional (pathos) appeal is evoked when the writers use words that depict how they feel about the issues under discussion. The paper concludes that the editorial writers of the Daily Graphic use the persuasive appeals to present the stance of the paper on issues of national concern and call on the citizenry for collective action towards unity and national development.

Keywords:
constructed week opinion piece persuasion readers rhetorical appeals

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