There are many examples of all three rhetorical appeals in the film 12 Angry Men. In this blog post, I will be choosing a scene from the movie and identifying which rhetorical appeals are used and how. In the clip that I am using, juror number four uses logos when he discusses all of the facts that would prove the boy on trial, guilty. He explains how the boy was in the building in possession of a switch knife during the time that the murder took place. The man explaining his point of view provides a logical explanation that because the boy was in the building during the time of the murder in possession of a knife, he was the one who committed the murder.
After this, juror number eight talks about how it is not certain that the boy was there during the time of the murder. He states that it is possible that the knife fell through the boy’s pocket. By saying this, juror number uses the rhetorical appeal logos. Juror number four replies by explaining how unusual the knife is and that he has never seen another one like it. Juror number eight then pulls out the exact same knife out of his pocket and stabs it into the table. This action causes a big shock in the room and even changes some point of views towards the trial. By doing so, this uses ethos. This also includes logos because it helps juror number eight’s argument that someone could have bought the same knife and killed the boy’s father.
These two rhetorical appeals of ethos and logos demonstrate valid disproof to what juror number four said about the knife. Juror number four simply uses logos to connect the facts. Juror number eight not only uses logos, but also ethos to present the facts. This helps juror number eight prove that not all of the facts presented in the court are indeed fact. Here is the link for the clip that is titled, "The Knife Argument."
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