Forms of appeal

Forms of appeal are rhetorical strategies through which speakers try to convince the audience to relate to their arguments and ideas. This can be achieved by appealing to people’s reason (logos), trust and authority (ethos) or emotions (pathos). All three forms of appeal are present in George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” speech, but the dominant one is ethos.

Logos

Bush occasionally draws on statistical evidence to support his message.

For example, to show that the terrorist attacks are not only the problem of the US and persuade the international community to join the war effort, Bush uses statistics to emphasize how many citizens of other nations have already sacrificed themselves to help the US: “…citizens of 80 other nations who died with our own. Dozens of Pakistanis, more than 130 Israelis, more than 250 citizens of India, men and women from El Salvador, Iran, Mexico and Japan, and hundreds of British citizens.” (ll. 49-53).

Furthermore, to convince the audience that the threat of terrorism is global and all states should be concerned by it, he mentions: “There are thousands of these terrorists in more than 60 countries.” (ll. 93-94)

Ethos

Ethos is the dominant form of appeal in the speech, as there are many examples of Bush trying to...