Life: It’s Only Eighty Cents A Day
...n Children's Fund programs” (Christian). You, yourself, can save a life. To begin judging this commercial, one must first understand the essential criteria of the rhetorical triangle. The rhetorical triangle consists of three parts, ethos, pathos, and logos. “Ethos refers to the credibility of the writer/speaker. Ethos is often conveyed through the tone and style of the message, through the care with which the writer considers alternative views, and through the writer’s investment in his or her claim” (Bean 75). Ethos is also commonly known as the “ethical appeal.” Logos is based on the logic of the argument, or the logical appeal. “Logos refers primarily to the internal consistency and clarity of the message and to the logic of its reason and support” (Bean 75). Finally, the last angle, is pathos. This deals with the emotion of the audience. “Pathos appeals more specifically to an audience’s imaginative sympathies-their capacity to feel and see what the writer feels and sees” (Bean 75-76). Pathos is often thought of as the most effective element. “The elements of ethos, pathos, and logos are present in every television commercial, but the ways these rhetorical elements are used depends upon the kind of delivery the advertiser elects to make” (Root 54). The Christian Children’s Fund commercial contains an equal amount of each of these elements. First, let’s examine the credibility of the network. Christian Children’s Fund states that it is one of the oldest and most trusted children’s organizations around. This network has been here for over sixty years. The commercials keep getting more airtime each year because each year they gain more supporters. They have a national website, and they provide an annual fund report on this website so those sponsoring individual children can see exactly where your money is going. Lastly, they provide contact to the child being sponsored. There is video and letter contact, along with constant updates from the Christian Children’s Fund Staff. Next, let’s look at logos. The Christian Children’s Fund comes across as a very logical organization. The fact is that these children and these countries need help. America, as a whole, is a very prospering and thriving country that can afford to give up at least eighty cents a day to save someone else’s life. How is it not logical for people to give up a morning cup of coffee or a bag of M&Ms in order to benefit some helpless child across the globe? “Everyday Christian Children's Fund sponsors and staff are there to make the difference for over 2.5 million children in 30 countries. We provide shelter, food, safe water and medical care when none is available” (Christian). It is only logical to give up so little to help so much. “Often the appeal to the viewer’s sense of family or love of children is a way to make the viewer identify the product in contention with some social good he believes in or, in the case of the commercials in which guilt and fear are created, as something that shares his or her opposition to an ill that is capable of preventing or relieving that ill” (Root 57). This form of pathos is used directly in this specific commercial. Pathos is no doubt the strongest element. The network takes the human compassion for children to help draw in their sponsors. Christian Children’s Fund shows how these children live in the worst possible conditions, and then asks the audience to help make these conditions better for a child. They make it virtually impossible to say no. In the commercial, the host emphasizes that maybe everyone intends to sponsor, but they are just taking their time. He follows with a statement referring to the fact that these children don’t have that time to take. It makes the viewers feel as if he or she has to act now, or a child might die because of the delay. However successful any commercial may be, there is an always an opposition. The first, dealing with ethos, resurfaces the aftermath of September eleventh. This event was not only tragic in itself, but was taken advantage of afterwards. Many funds that were supposed to be sent to specific families were actually kept in secrecy by dishonest individuals. Unfortunately, this creates a ...