Pathos

Pathos

A literary technique that uses language and described situations, as well as the emotions of characters within a work, to incite tragic emotion within the reader. The idea is to move the reader to sadness, pity, or sympathy. Originally the Greek word simply meant deep emotion, such as passion or suffering.

There are innumerable examples of pathos, as it has become an expected experience in literature: It is taken for granted that a good work will emotionally affect one. For these purposes though, I will use a popular reference, Harry Potter. In the fifth book of J.K. Rowlings series, the protagonists recently aquired God-Father is killed in an epic battle with the forces of darkness. Harry’s emotions are described, and the emotions and reactions of others in such a way that a reaction, whatever it may be, is extracted from the reader.

Greek translation of pathos is "experience"

Marcus Fabius Quintilian used pathos to describe violent emotions, and ethos, to describe calmer emotions.

Pathos in rhetoric is the ability of a speaker or writer to convey emotion in their message (logos) effectively. Aristotle says “To this and only this we said contemporary technical writers give their attention.” Aristotle is saying that this is the most important thing in modern writings. The ability to convey feeling on to the reader is what makes good writers great.

Bibliography

Merriam-Webster, "Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". Merriam-Webster, Incorporated . 2-20-2006 <http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/quintilian>.

Aristotle, A Theory of Civic Discourse On Rhetoric. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991