Activity 3: Analysis of Letter by Chong Guang Jun (11)

The writer has made use of all three persuasion methods, ethos, pathos and logos.

For ethos, the writer stated 'As a concerned parent' which defined his position is this matter, as his has the rights to claim that guns should not be allowed, since his child was killed by a gun. He also saw what happened exactly, so he knows what is needed to be done and why. He ended his letter with 'especially the right to LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness', a strong phrase which also made his stand to the matter.

As for pathos, the writer started with 'I am hoping that you will continue to make excellent decisions on behalf of your state', which was aimed at appealing to the Congressman's emotions, so that there would be a better chance of persuading him. The writer also mentioned that the murderer was a child, whose gun belonged to his or her father, shot the gun. This is trying to tell the Congressman that if he does not support the gun control legislation, he would be responsible for the deaths by gun.

For logos, the writer gave statistics to support his claim, 'according to the F.B.I, approximately 60 percent of all murder victims in the United States in 1994 (about 16,000 people) were killed with firearms? According to estimates, firearm attacks injured another 70,000 victims, some of whom were left permanently disabled'. This helped to convince the Congressman that there are already many cases of people killed by guns, thus they should be controlled, even if they are children, who might misuse the gun by accident.

Activity 3: Analysis of Letter by Tan Jian Hui (21)

Firstly in her first paragraph, she was already starting to use the three motivational appeals. Not only did she wrote that she was impressed with the Congressman’s past voting record, she stated “continue to make excellent decisions”. This will appeal to the politician, this is the Pathos part. She used a lot of statistics, showing that she has done her research well; in fact most of her speech was backed up by statistics. It can be seen from the article that these data are taken from reliable sources too, such as the F.B.I. This greatly increased the ethos of her persuasion letter. In addition, she also discussed about the credibility of the commonly cited reason of having a gun, “for self-defense”. She went on to give data and reasons why these guns “for self-defense” have in fact killed more family members or friends than intruders. She also explained that although opponents of gun control believe that most criminals buy their guns at black markets, these guns are stolen from citizens who purchased them legally, and suggests that this would not have happened if gun control laws were stricter. This is the logo used in her letter. We must also note that she only talked about her own problems, why she has such a great interest in this topic in the last two paragraphs. She did not state her personal emotions of her son being killed; she did not whine, or complain. She just stated the facts and used emotional appeals like “Do you want to be responsible for supporting legislation that would make more such incidents to occur?” In the final paragraph she gave an excellent conclusion, giving more emotional appeals and stating the rights and morality as well. 

To sum it up, she used all these three motivational appeals well and to her advantage. 

Activity 3: Analysis of Letter by Luke Tay (13)

The writer is using Ethos as in the first paragraph, she bonds with the congressman who she is writing to.
She is also obviously an expert on what she is talking about. She is constantly talking about all the figures the FBI or some scientists found during surveys and experiments. This is also using Ethos, making the congressman she is writing to respect her because she knows what she is talking about.
The writer can also be see using Pathos. Pathos is persuading the audience by using emotional appeal, values and beliefs. This is clearly shown when the writer writes about his sons death. It is also shown when throughout the entire letter, the writer obviously has very strong beliefs of what is good and bad.
Lastly, the writer uses Logos.
Logos is somewhat the same as the part of Ethos shown above, but it is basically being very clear and having evidence to back up your claims.
The writer does just that throughout the letter, giving clear reason why the congressman should limit the use of guns and giving lots of evidence to support here reasoning.
All in all, the writer did an excellent job of using Rhetoric.

Activity 3: Analysis of Letter - Loh Cheng Ngee

Logos, and Ethos

The author understands that politicians would want, and require statistics in his “report” and thus included a lot of numbers and facts on gun safety. Also, he maintains a professional feel while writing the letter, and thus increases his credibility as he shows that he is not joking about the matter at hand. 

Pathos

He has personal experience as a victim of the loopholes in the law, and therefore the author uses the fact to his advantage, by placing at the start and end of the letter that particular fact that his son was caught in crossfire and thus killed. This would make the politicians more sympathetic to his plight, and in the process get convinced of the idea that the law should be changed.

Example: Activity 3: Analysis of Letter by Shamus Seng (17)

The writer stated that the congressman makes excellent decisions, which pleases the congressman, hence increasing the chances that the congressman will listen to the writer. He also gave his perspective of gun accidents, followed by the details and figures from the FBI about how many people are involved and died from gun accidents, which uses LOGOS. The writer used LOGOS once again in the third and fourth paragraph. PATHOS is used in the fifth paragraph, where there were only details given to convince the congressman that guns should be banned. The writer also gave his account of how his son died, followed by questions for the congressman to ponder. He also related this topic to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which is appealing to emotions, hence using PATHOS again. Overall, the writer did use ETHOS, as he was focused on his topic, and became an expert on it.

Activity 3: Analysis of Letter by Loh Ching Wei, Joshua (12)

He used logos by using a lot of statistics and reasoning to explain his standpoint. Statistics such as “only 2 of the 743 gunshot deaths occurring in the home involved an intruder killed during an attempted entry” and “approximately 60 percent of all murder victims in the United States in 1994 (about 16,000 people) were killed with firearms”. He used ethos by getting all his statistics from reliable resources, such as the F.B.I. and the study done by Dr. Arthur Kellermann and Dr. Donald Reay which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. This would show that the writer is serious about the topic and that his letter is worth to be considered as few people would have the empowerment to go retrieve such statistics for such situations unless they really want to make something happen. He used pathos by using his son’s death as an example. The reader would be able to sympathise with him on how he would have felt if he lost someone very close.

Activity 3: Analysis of Letter by Jonathan Soh Wei Ping (20)

This writer has used ethos, pathos and logos in his writing. Let me start of with ethos first. He managed to convince his target audience as he uses credible information and data from respected institutions like “A study of 743 gunshot deaths by Dr. Arthur Kellermann and Dr. Donald Reay published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that 84% of these homicides occurred during fights in the home. “

Next, he utilised pathos in his writing. He used emotional appeal when he mentioned that his child was killed during a gun accident. His ideals also appealed to my ideals as he is against guns as a “self-defence” device. He also gave many examples, details and many choice words.

Lastly, he applied logos to his writing. He had logic in his writing and he used documents from respectable institutions. It is so as he questions the right of citizens being able to buy firearms after so many deaths due to firearms.

Activity 3: Analysis of Letter by Oh Sher Li (06)

The writer has used ethos, as he describes himself as someone who has had firsthand experience in losing a child to an accidental gunshot, and knows what it feels like to have kin killed by gunshots, so he has the right and authority to approach the matter. He has used pathos, by describing how he lost his son and the reason for his appeal to the congressman was in order to decrease the number of such accidents in households so it would not happen to other families and their children. He described how his child was killed by gunfire, which made for emotional appeal. He has used logos, as he gave information on the statistics and numbers related to gun and handgun ownership and the accidents caused by gunshots. This information is given throughout the whole letter and this makes the letter a more logos-driven letter.