Forms of appeal

Forms of appeal are rhetorical strategies through which Binyavanga Wainaina appeals to emotions (pathos), authority and credibility (ethos), and reason (logos) in the essay “How to Write about Africa”.

Logos

Wainaina appeals to his readers’ reason by using logical arguments, facts, and statistical evidence to support his view.

Logos is used to construct the writer’s satirical arguments, which have the opposite meaning. One example is: “Don’t get bogged down with precise descriptions. Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book.” (ll. 12-14). Wainaina uses the diversity of Africa, it’s poverty, and emigration rates as logical arguments to support simplistic descriptions. 

Also, when the writer mentions that “Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people” (l. 13), he comes across as knowledgeable (ethos) but also appeals to people’s reason. Wainaina is trying to make them realise that talking in general and vague terms cannot possibly reflect the diversity of the African continent and its people.

At another point in the essay, the writer gives an example of how much property international celebrities and conservationists own in Africa: “You need them...