Skip to main content
Chemistry LibreTexts

Taking a Look at Word Choice

  • Page ID
    183993
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Now that we have checked out how important word choice is, let's see it in action. Examine the following papers:



    The second paper is better right? That's because those bold words are loaded words. The paper has much better word choice to engage the reader.

    Ethos, Pathos, and Logos with Word Choice

    Word choice also plays into ethos, pathos, and logos. Depending on which appeal you are trying to have on your audience, you might want to select different words.

    If you are using ethos, you will want to choose words that build trust. These might include words like: honest, trusting, and loyal.

    If you are using pathos, then you will want to choose words that really pack that emotional punch. Words to use in pathos will really depend on your topic because you want to choose words that relate to your topic. For example, if you are discussing 9/11 in an essay and you want to touch on pathos, you might pull in words like terrorist, martyr, and heroes. They put some strong feelings in people don't they?

    If you are using logos, then you want to choose words that are factual. You might pull in words like: expert, data, and statistics.

    Can you guess what the example paper above is using?

    LOGOS is right!


    Taking a Look at Word Choice is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

    • Was this article helpful?