RWS 1301

Running Head: Rhetorical Analysis on NAMI Website

Rhetorical Analysis

David F. Gutierrez

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1301

Professor S. Hernandez
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Rhetorical Analysis On NAMI Website

Aristotle believed logos, pathos and ethos were three ways to persuade an audience by

using proof or evidence, by appealing to emotions, and through the credibility of the speaker.

Logos is related to the word logic and deals with the logic of the argument or presentation. Pathos

is related to the word empathy and deals with the emotional appeal used in an argument or

presentation. Ethos is related to the word ethics and deals with the credibility or trustworthiness of

the author or sponsor of the site, it establishes integrity, trustworthiness competency, and respect

for its audience. I will describe how a website of my choosing uses logos, pathos and ethos to

attract a certain audience. The website of my choosing is related to the topic I will be discussing

for the remainder of the semester which is Depression. The website NAMI: National Alliance on

Mental Illness is a website whose only focus is to give out as much information as possible about

all types of mental issues and what you can do to help yourself or others with certain illness they

may experience. Depression is my main topic but it is only a subtopic on this website. NAMIs

website is very well put together for anyone to be able to navigate it and find recourses on any

topic regarding mental illness.

Logos is the logic of the argument or presentation. NAMI does an excellent job on giving

out information that makes their presentation valid. As soon as the website is opened a tab titled

Learn More appears at the top in black bold letter making it easy for the user to find. This tab

will show a list that offers information on the communities that are affected, consequences of lack
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Rhetorical Analysis On NAMI Website

of treatment and social stats. They cite all of their information making all their information reliable

and true. NAMI does this to show that these issues are real and not something they just think of.

NAMI gives you concrete evidence of the people affected by mental illness with different articles

and they even offer different factsheets which include different types of graphs. This is another

way in which the website is well put together, it offers articles for those who like reading and

graphs for those who prefer visuals.

Ethos has to do with the credibility of the writer, in this case being a website. NAMIs

website also has a tab designed exclusively for who they are and why we should go to them for

information about this topic. At the right top corner there is a tab titled About NAMI, this tab

will take you to a page where they offer you information on who they are, what they do and it even

offers you to meet their entire staff. By doing this they are telling their audience that they care

about what they think. In this same page there is a link to the left titled Awards, which is also

really easy to find. This link gives you a list of their psychiatrist who have been recognized as top

in their field and also how their research and conventions have been given multiple awards for

their high relevance and being of great assistance to raise awareness and give out help to those

who need it. The layout in which they give this information is well put together and easy for the

user to understand, making the website more credible.

Pathos appeals to the emotions, values and beliefs of the audience. If you are someone

going through a mental illness or know anyone with it, the entire website is constructed on pathos.

In the home page, right off the bat they give you some testimonies of people who have gone
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Rhetorical Analysis On NAMI Website

through a tough time dealing with their illness, making you feel connected with others through

their story. In their fact sheets and articles they explain how different age groups and communities

are affected by all types of mental illness making you feel more aware that someone you know

may be going through this but will not speak up about it. Overall the website gets to your emotions

by giving you stories and telling you how many of these issues can quietly affect people around

you without you noticing.

As a whole NAMIs website makes use of logos, pathos and ethos making it very good to

attract an audience. They tell you where they get their information from, making them a credible

website. They offer you an insight of how they run their program, who does it and the recognitions

they have for their work and the individuals who have done that work. Also throughout the website

they get to your emotions with different stories of people around the nation and show you how it

can affect anyone. The website is also really easy to navigate with information well distributed not

just thrown out there as a bunch to the point where you feel a bit overwhelmed.
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Rhetorical Analysis On NAMI Website

Reference Page:

Aristotle.(n.d.).Rhetoric.(W.R.Roberts,Trans.).Retrievedfrom
http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.html.
NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d) Retrived October 16,2017, from
https://www.nami.org/