Campus Changes: Practicing Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

After our initial discussion of ethos, logos, and pathos, this activity accomplishes a number of goals. 
Each small group of students randomly chooses an issue (pictured in blue), an audience (pictured in green), and a rhetorical approach (pictures in pink). Within these parameters, each group proposes and describes the rhetorical product they think would be most effective. The other groups of students try to guess, based on the description of the product, which audience and approach the group is working with. 
On the surface, this activity provides students the chance to practice the main work of the Issues Matter project as well as additional understanding of audience awareness and ethos, logos, and pathos. However, the random distribution of the audience and approach, and the less effective products they are then forced to propose, highlights for students the importance of making considered, authentic decisions about their own projects.