Rhetoric of interaction: Analysis of pathos

Abstract

The study of rhetoric evolved from focusing solely on discourse, in Ancient Greece, to the inclusion of audiovisual elements in the 20th century. Today, a ubiquitously digital world opens a new field of research, which might be called “rhetoric of interaction”. The purpose of this work is to explore rhetorical possibilities of interactive features, that is, how different interactive design solutions may influence the apprehension of messages and help the building of arguments. Based on Aristotelian concepts of classical rhetoric, this study concentrates on the presence of the appeal of pathos, that is, an appeal to the emotions of visitors, with analyses of three websites: “Pablo the Flamingo”, “World Under Water”, and “Sortie en Mer”.