Forms of appeal

Here, we present you the forms of appeal used in “The United States of BOO!” by Michael Moore—ethos (appeal to authority and shared values), logos (appeal to reason), and pathos (appeal to emotions).

Ethos

The writer appeals to ethos by building his own credibility and authority as a sender, through references to the authority of fact-based evidence and statistics, and to shared American values. First, Moore establishes himself as a credible source, as someone who is a public figure: “It was a gift from Rudy Giuliani when we filmed TV Nation in New York.” (p. 169, ll. 2-3)

Furthermore, the writer has personal experience both with fear of terrorism and with the 9/11 attacks as he knew people who died in the attacks:

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Pathos

Finally, because most of the essay focuses on feelings like fear, anxiety, and paranoia, this implies that the writer often appeals to pathos. The sender appeals to emotions when he talks about the tragedy...

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