Use of Pathos in Writings on Torture Essay example -- Who Walk Away fr

Torture is a loaded word. It conjures images in a readers mentality of any number of horrors, physical and mental. Many writers rely on this reaction and use pathos in their articles to illicit a strong response in their audience. Pathos is an emotional appeal used to gain sympathy and trust from the audience and works for people of all intellectual levels. It often casts the author or characters in a story as an Everyman, easy to identify, and therefore see eye to eye, with. In my opinion, the more an author is able to create a person-to-person connection to torture, the stronger their production line becomes. Strong emotions create a more appealing argument for an everyday audience.Michael Levins The Case for Torture uses a few moments of pathos to convince the audience of the potential benefit of torture. He poses several scenarios of terrorists planning attacks on large numbers of innocent people and then asks, If the only way to remedy those lives is to subject the terroris t to the most excruciating possible pain, what grounds can there be for not doing so? Even if you dont agree with him, he urges the reader to hardiness the question with an open mind. By doing this, Levin uses pathos as well as ethos to present himself as a nice guy whos not unreasonable. Though his argument is different from Levins, Andrew Sullivan tries a similar approach in his article, Bushs torturers follow where the Nazis led. The article demonstrates a clear use of pathos from the beginning. Sullivan begins with some personal culture about himself, showing that is is one of the regular people. His imagery is subtle but powerful. By implying that the governments behavior is in some way akin to the Nazis, he conjures up a powerful imagine in the readers min... ...Oct. 2008 .Ortiz, Sister Dianna. Mr. President, stop the torture US Catholic Magazine Online. July 2004. 26 Sept 2008news_iv_ctrl=1341&abbr=usc_&JServSessionIdr001=anotsvvjc1.app45a Ortiz, Sister Dianna. Speak just ness to Power Defender Interview with Dianna Ortiz. Speak Truth to Power. 26 Sept 2008.. 26 Sept 2008.Sullivan, Andrew. Bushs torturers follow where the Nazis led. Times Online. 7 October 2007. 23 Sept 2008 andrew_sullivan/article2602564.ece Porter, Henry. Americas miry Torture Secret. The Guardian. 10 Sept 2003. 1 Oct 2008 .