2.2 Evaluating logos
The Appeal to Logos
Literally translated, logos means “word.” In this case, it refers to information, or more specifically, the writer’s appeal to logic and reason. A successful logical appeal provides clearly organized information as well as evidence to support the overall argument. If one fails to establish a logical appeal, then the argument will lack both sense and substance.
For example, refer to the previous example of the politician’s speech writer to understand the importance of having a solid logical appeal. What if the writer had only included the story about 80-year-old Mary without providing any statistics, data, or concrete plans for how the politician proposed to protect Social Security benefits? Without any factual evidence for the proposed plan, the audience would not have been as likely to accept his proposal, and rightly so.
When evaluating a writer’s logical appeal, ask the following questions:
Does the writer organize their information clearly?
- Ideas are connected by transition words and phrases
- Choose the link for examples of common transitions (https://tinyurl.com/oftaj5g).
- Ideas have a clear and purposeful order
Does the writer provide evidence to back their claims?
- Specific examples
- Relevant source material
Does the writer use sources and data to back their claims rather than base the argument purely on emotion or opinion?
- Does the writer use concrete facts and figures, statistics, dates/times, specific names/titles, graphs/charts/tables?
- Are the sources that the writer uses credible?
- Where do the sources come from? (Who wrote/published them?)
- When were the sources published?
- Are the sources well-known, respected, and/or peer-reviewed (if applicable) publications?
Recognizing a Manipulative Appeal to Logos
Pay particular attention to numbers, statistics, findings, and quotes (expert testimony) used to support an argument. Be critical of the source and do your own investigation of the facts. Remember: What initially looks like a fact may not actually be one. Maybe you have heard or read that half of all marriages in America will end in divorce. It is so often discussed that we assume it must be true. Careful research will show that the original marriage study was flawed, and divorce rates in America have steadily declined since 1985 (Peck, 1993). If there is no scientific evidence, why do we continue to believe it? Part of the reason might be that it supports the common societal concern about the dissolution of the American family. Or, it could be because one divorce can affect a large number of people, leaving them with the idea that divorce is more prevalent than it is (the availability heuristic at work).
Exercise 2.2: Analyzing Logos
The debate about whether college athletes, namely male football and basketball players, should be paid salaries instead of awarded scholarships is one that regularly comes up when these players are in the throes of their respective athletic seasons, whether that’s football bowl games or March Madness. Proponents on each side of this issue have solid reasons, so we will examine four editorials that take opposing positions and critique the authors’ use of logos in their arguments. Because women’s sports are often left out of this discussion completely, yet are rising in popularity, we should become aware of perspectives regarding payments or compensation for college women’s sports athletes as well.
This exercise is designed to be completed in pairs, in person, in live online breakout groups, or through another method allowing for discussion.
Each pair will select one of the two sets to analyze.
Each partner within the pair will identify and analyze the use of logos within one of the two articles in their set.
Then each pair will discuss the perspective presented in their editorials and whether the authors used logos effectively or not.
Each partner in the pair should prepare a simple one-sentence claim about their author’s use of logos
Each pair will report out on their individual claims and provide a reflection on the activity, noting what they learned and any insights they gained from the activity.
Take note: Your aim in this rhetorical exercise is not to figure out where you stand on this issue. Rather, your aim is to evaluate how effectively the writers establish a logical appeal to support their positions, whether you agree with them or not. The goal of rhetorical analysis is to break down the effectiveness of a communicator’s or communication’s argument or point-of-view through the filter of logical appeals and use of rhetorical language.
Editorial Set 1 – Men’s College Sports
Editorial arguing against paying college athletes: Author is historian Taylor Branch. According to his bio on the Time site, Branch is “… a Pulitzer Prize winner [and] is the author most recently of The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement.”
- “Why Telling the NCAA to Pay Players Is the Wrong Way to Help College Athletes.” Time [Online], 27 March 2019, time.com/5558498/ncaa-march-madness-pay-athletes/.
Editorial advocating for the payment of college (football) athletes: Author is journalist and opinion columnist Joe Nocera, according to his bio on Bloomberg.
- “Joe Nocera: College athletes should be paid.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 28 Sept, 2020, www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2020/09/28/Joe-Nocera-College-athletes-should-be-paid/stories/202009280009#. (This editorial is based on the editorial Nocera wrote for Bloomberg on Sept. 22, 2020.)
Editorial Set 2 – Women’s College Sports
Editorial from a women’s sports perspective arguing against paying college athletes: Author is Morgan Chall, former Cornell University gymnast and NCAA level competitor.
- “Female college sports already get short shrift. Paying NCAA athletes will make it worse.” USA Today, 25 March 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/03/25/do-not-pay-college-ncaa-athletes-women-inequaity-column/6967702002/
Editorial advocating for the compensation of female athletes: Author is Patrick Hruby. According to his bio on Linked In, Hruby is “… a Washington, DC-based writer, editor, and journalist who specializes in the intersection of sports and social issues.”
- “Women’s Worth: How Female NCAA Athletes Will Profit in the New Era of NIL Rights.” Global Sports Matters, 12 March 2021, globalsportmatters.com/business/2021/03/12/womens-worth-how-female-ncaa-athletes-will-profit-in-the-new-era-of-nil-rights/. (Note to our fellow Arizonans: The About page at Global Sport Matters states that: “Global Sport Matters is the media enterprise brought to you by the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University.”)
Step 1: Before reading the article, take a minute to preview the text, using the critical reading skill.
Step 2: Once you have a general idea of the article, read through it and pay attention to how the author organizes information and uses evidence, annotating or marking these instances when you see them.
Step 3: After reviewing your annotations, evaluate the organization of the article as well as the amount and types of evidence that you have identified by answering the following questions:
- Does the information progress logically throughout the article?
- Does the writer use transitions to link ideas?
- Do ideas in the article have a clear sense of order, or do they appear scattered and unfocused?
- Was the amount of evidence in the article proportionate to the size of the article?
- Was there too little of it, was there just enough, or was there an overload of evidence?
- Were the examples of evidence relevant to the writer’s argument?
- Were the examples clearly explained?
- Were sources cited or clearly referenced?
- Were the sources credible? How could you tell?
(Note: This practice exercise and the sources analyzed have been changed and/or modified from the original source.)
