What is Pathos? A Basic Definition

Pathos \Pa"thos\ (p[=a]"th[o^]s), n. [L., from Gr. pa`qos
         a
   suffering, passion, fr. paqei^n, pas`chein, to suffer;
         cf.
   po`nos toil, L. pati to suffer, E. patient.]
  
         That quality or property of anything which touches the
  
         feelings or excites emotions and passions, esp., that
         which
   awakens tender emotions, such as pity, sorrow, and
         the like;
   contagious warmth of feeling, action, or
         expression; pathetic
   quality; as, the pathos of a
         picture, of a poem, or of a cry.
   [1913 Webster]

         The combination of incident, and the pathos of
         catastrophe.                             --T. Warton.
  
         [1913 Webster]

   1. The quality or character of those
         emotions, traits, or
      experiences which are personal,
         and therefore restricted
      and evanescent; transitory
         and idiosyncratic dispositions
      or feelings as
         distinguished from those which are
      universal and
         deep-seated in character; -- opposed to
      ethos.
      [Webster 1913
         Suppl.]

   2. Suffering; the enduring of active stress or
         affliction.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

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Off-site Pathos Links, User Submitted

The following links have been collected through user bookmark submission in the Pathos category. Please note, because these resources are off-site we cannot guarantee the accuracy or quality of any information.

Sun Oct 12

• Modes of persuasion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• At The Hour When We Are Trembling (1/5), by frostfire_17: When John meets the armed, well-built civilian, in the middle of a pile of dead Wraith on the outer perimeter of the final Cheyenne Mountain defense, he doesn?t recognize Dr. Daniel Jackson, SG-1. They exchange a nod and an, ?Over there, on your three o?clock, a group of them. Cover me,? and that?s pretty much all the introduction they need.

Sat Oct 4

• Form, Not Meaning, by out_there: Breathing heavy, Mahone pulls away. "I need to know this is--" Michael kisses him before he can finish. "I'm not good," he says in the space between kisses, "I'm not good at letting people go." "You said this doesn't change anything," ; Mahone says, words muffled against Michael's mouth. "It can't. I can't let it," Michael says, lifting his hips as Mahone gets a hand under his waistband. "But I'm not good at walking away."

Thu Oct 2

• Why Sarah Palin Is A Better Debater Than You Think

Mon Sep 22

• starcrossedsin s: Charades [June 11th] [Doumeki/Watan uki/Himawari] [xxxHOLiC]: And he wanted her because they both knew what it was like to not allow yourself to want anything at all.

Sat Sep 20

• Hi, I'm a Mac... Beep, beep! - The Fishbowl: Apple's ?I'm a Mac. I'm a PC? ads as ?Wile E. Coyote vs. Roadrunner?. The Mac (Roadrunner) is not really so arrogant. Mostly he just provides a context for PC's self defeat.

Fri Sep 19

• Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

Mon Sep 15

• Halfway Home, by lemmealone: ?You should stay away from that guy,? Tom told him. ?He really is crazy.? Jared looked at him in disbelief. ?You do know where we are, right?? ?No, listen.? Tom leaned forward. ?That guy is insane, okay? He shouldn't be here.? Jared watched the guy warily. He didn't look any crazier than the rest of them. If anything, he looked more normal than most. He was dressed properly in jeans and a t-shirt, he was even wearing shoes. He wasn't drooling or talking to himself or rocking or staring into space or laughing at nothing... In fact, he was doing a crossword, squinting carefully at the page and nibbling on the end of his pencil in between filling in answers. ?Yeah,? Jared said, deadpan. ?He looks real dangerous, all right.?

Tue Sep 9

• Rhetoric and Composition/Rh etorical Analysis - Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks

Sat Sep 6

• Excelling Violet (The Miner's Lamp remix), by gekizetsu: ?Sam.? ?Hmm.? ?What are you doing?? Sam glanced up from the maps, finally realized he had one leg hooked around Dean?s under the table, one ankle crossed with his brother?s. Unconscious contact. ?It?s comfortable,? Sam said. ?For who?? Dean sounded genuinely perplexed. ?Me,? Sam said. ?For me. Just...deal.?

Wed Sep 3

• "The Art of Rhetoric: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos" by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute' ;s simple but effective look at the three main types of rhetorical appeals.

Sun Aug 31

• gac: PRODUCTION v. CONSUMPTION: Brevity is the soul of whatever it is. Photos, Tweets, poetic jetsam posted by a designer/photo grapher named Gregory Carfelli. I have no idea who he is, but this stuff makes me feel things.

Sat Aug 30

• The "Endless Accident Events" of Los Angeles: BLDGBLOG reports on a proposal for a fountain/water feature that changes to indicate the occurrences of traffic accidents on the LA freeways.

Tue Aug 26

• Die KIT-Hymne

Mon Aug 18

• Rocket Remains.: A NASA Jet Propulsion Lab abandoned in the California desert. Photographs by Richard Harrington. Via Rosecrans Baldwin | The Digital Ramble.

Off-site Pathos Research Links

If you still need additional information on Pathos then we suggest the following off-site resources. Please note, because these resources are off-site we cannot guarantee the accuracy or quality of any information.