Pathos
Biden appeals to pathos when he offers the audience personal stories. When he talks about the loss of his first wife and son, Biden calls for the audience’s empathy:
I know how it feels to lose someone you love. I know that deep black hole that opens up in your chest. That you feel your whole being is sucked into it. I know how mean and cruel and unfair life can be sometimes.
This example makes the audience feel empathy with Biden, who has first-hand experience in losing a loved one. However, it also helps him build his ethos as it shows he has personal experience with suffering and death, meaning he would understand the threat represented by the pandemic on a deep level.
When it comes to the contrast between him and Trump, Biden plays upon the feelings of fear and hope. One the one hand, he invites the audience to imagine a future in which Trump continues to remain president: “Is that the America you want for you, your family, your children?”. Biden’s words are meant to inspire fear for the future. On the other hand, Biden inspires the feeling of hope when he talks about overcoming a period of darkness: “United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in America. We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege”.