Pathos in "Lynch Law in America"

   Pathos is defined by Killingsworth as "an appeal to emotions" Perhaps one of the most obvious devices Wells-Barnett uses in her article is pathos. She uses words with negative connotation to make the American public feel shame.
    Within her first paragraph she uses the phrase "unspeakable brutality of an insane mob" and the words "savagery" and "terror" Wells-Barnett uses words that appeal to emotions. Patriotism isn't an emotional necessarily, so perhaps she uses shame and guilt to make people feel bad about not being patriotic. She says that lynching is the shame of our country and that it must end. The use of the words America and American are used frequently, this helps to create a social consciousness and create a sense of unity, in an emotional sense. She uses shock value in to appeal to emotion as well. Her gruesome descriptions of burnt bodies and staggering statistics to shock Americans.
     Pathos is perhaps the most effective device in this piece to prove the authors point and convince them to be persuaded to her side of the argument.