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Rhetoric in "We Are Marshall": Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

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Abstract

This paper examines the rhetorical structure of the "We Are Marshall" speech, identifying and analyzing the three classical persuasive appeals: pathos (emotional appeal), ethos (credibility and character), and logos (logical reasoning). The analysis demonstrates how the coach's choice of setting—the graves of the unknown players—creates a powerful emotional foundation, while his calm demeanor and concise delivery establish credibility. The logical appeal centers on honest acknowledgment of the opposing team's strength and the transcendent meaning of victory for the community. The paper concludes that the speech's effectiveness derives primarily from its emotional resonance, reinforced by consistent applications of ethos and logos that prevent the appeal from seeming manipulative or dishonest.

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What makes this paper effective

Clear organizational structure aligned with classical rhetoric: the paper dedicates one major section to each of Aristotle's three appeals, making the argument easy to follow and verify.
Concrete textual evidence: rather than speak abstractly about emotion, the writer identifies specific rhetorical choices (setting at graves, the phrase "this is our past," the coach's calm voice) and explains their persuasive mechanism.
Hierarchical treatment of appeals: the paper correctly recognizes that pathos dominates the speech while ethos and logos serve a supporting role, rather than treating all three as equal.
Integration of context: the analysis acknowledges both the players as the immediate audience and moviegoers as a secondary audience, showing awareness that rhetoric can operate on multiple levels.

Key academic technique demonstrated

This paper models close rhetorical analysis: the identification and examination of persuasive devices within a specific text, coupled with explanation of why each device works. Rather than asserting that the speech "is emotional," the writer traces the pathway from rhetorical choice (setting, word choice, vocal tone) to intended effect (audience identification, credibility, logical coherence). This technique is foundational to literary and rhetorical criticism across humanities disciplines.

Structure breakdown

The paper opens with a thesis that names all three rhetorical appeals and their motivational purpose. Each of the next three body sections is dedicated to one appeal, proceeding from pathos (longest treatment, subdivided into setting and language) through ethos (briefer, focused on character markers like tone and brevity) to logos (balanced explanation of logical soundness). The conclusion synthesizes the three appeals, emphasizing their interdependence and their collective effect on both diegetic and actual audiences. This structure mirrors the classical partition of rhetoric and is exceptionally clear.

Pathos: The Emotional Appeal

The "We Are Marshall" speech contains the classic rhetoric elements of ethos, pathos, and logos in order to motivate the Marshall football team in its upcoming game. The first element of the speech is pathos, which is an appeal to emotion. The setting of the speech is specifically chosen in order to elicit this emotion when the coach takes the team to the graves of the unknown players. Death is a powerful emotional trigger, and when the death is that of the former Marshall football team, that is an even more powerful emotional trigger.

Choosing the "unknown player" graves has an even stronger emotional significance for the players because they, as Marshall football players, can relate directly to the unknown players as equals instead of as figures with specific identities. This spurs emotions more by allowing the players to emotionally equate themselves with the deceased players. Thus, the setting alone is a strong appeal to pathos.

The appeal to pathos does not end with the setting. The words of the speech themselves consist of emotional appeals. The coach directly appeals to the players' hearts—the emotional component of their athletic selves—something that is not physical but invokes courage, bravery, and other positive emotional attributes. The appeal to pathos is also found in the opening of the speech, where the coach mentions "this is our past" right after telling of the tragedy. This appeals to the players in terms of putting themselves in that emotional state of tragedy before the coach later asks the players to draw emotional inspiration from those tragic circumstances, literally invoking the phoenix.

Ethos: The Appeal to Credibility

There is also ethos in this speech. Ethos is the ethical appeal based on the speaker's credibility and character. The speaker is the coach and the audience is the team, so there is an inherent element of ethos in this appeal. His voice is calm for an inspirational speech, which appeals to his credibility as a leader. He keeps the speech short and sweet, which also increases his credibility as a motivational speaker because his words are relatively sparse but highly effective. He simply comes across as a very competent coach and leader and therefore maintains a high level of credibility.

Logos: The Logical Foundation

The speech also contains elements of logos, the appeal to logic. The coach not only aids his credibility by noting that the other team is superior, but he maintains the logical flow of his argument. The crux of his message is that the team can win if it plays with heart, but also that winning on the scoreboard is not as important as what the return of the program means for the school and the community.

The logic here is sound: the players know that the other team is better, so the argument the coach is making will be less effective if he is dishonest about that. Further, the coach's point about the meaning of victory is logically sound as well. The players understand the value of this event to the school and the community, and this understanding is therefore a critical element in the argument. The coach is simply reminding them that on this day, they must give it their all because that is far more important than anything else that happens on the field. By tying performance to a purpose beyond the score, he makes a logical case for why they should play their hardest.

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The Integrated Rhetorical Effect · 195 words

"How all three appeals work together for persuasive impact"

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Key Concepts in This Paper

We Are Marshall Pathos Ethos Logos Rhetorical Appeals Persuasion Motivational Speaking Classical Rhetoric