Throughout the article "Is American Nonviolence Possible?", Todd May makes his appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos effectively; however, the most powerful appeal he emphasizes is pathos. He addresses several sensitive events that have occurred over the past decade that exploit the violence undergoing in our country. Utilizing pathos through stories of empathy, and words or phrases full of emotion, May enhances his argument by emphasizing that, although we are a very violent country overwhelmed by our competitive individualism, we have moments where we connect with one another, and put aside our individual desires, in order to think about the good of others - which may be the only answer to American violence. 

The argument is created in a very persuasive manner, especially through using the appeal to pathos; however, May uses appeals to ethos and logos simultaneously, to enhance his main claim that the country is becoming more violent. Immediately beginning his article, he has the sentence, "we are steeped in violence" (May 353), following a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. that re-enforces the seriousness of this piece. The quote from MLK could be considered an appeal to ethos because it exemplifies the validity of his argument to come, but the way he chose to begin with it, and follow up with a one liner sentence, appeals to our emotion as well. May appeals to logos by stating a fact about society's growing murder rate: "clearly, we are a violent country. Our murder rate is three to five times that of most other industrialized countries" (354). This connects to pathos because it is a fact that discusses fear and injustice in our society, and it primes up his claims of how America is truly a dangerous place to live in right now. 

May's word-choice strengthens his appeal to pathos by creating a melancholy mood that portrays the seriousness of the article. May lists off violent events that had occurred in the past week since he wrote the article as a reminder to his audience that America is becoming dangerous, "a searing reminder: Monday's bombing at the Boston Marathon...Tuesday, a 577-page report by the Constitution Project concluded that the United states had engaged in torture after Sept. 11 attacks ... Wednesday a turning point in the heated national debate on gun control ... and looming above all this is the painful memory of the mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School" (353). Using words like "searing", "heated", and "painful" all over this paragraph makes the audience feel the reality of the events that have taken place, and they are an example of how May effectively uses pathos. Bringing up events like these really appeals to the audience's emotions, because many people, whether they knew someone affected by these terrorist attacks or not, can understand the pain and suffering that has been forced upon our country. This text is definitely intended to make us feel mindful of what is going on in American society, because violence is obviously unpreventable, but it can be controlled to a certain degree. 

Violence is increasing in our country and we must to come together as one and acknowledge the reasons for this, in order to create a safer environment for the future generations. The central argument of the text is that there are three specific reasons violence is cultivating in our country-- "competitive individualism, the decline in our ability to control events in the world, and the welfare states have been in decline for more than 30 years now" -- and the only possible way to slow violence down is by "pull[ing] together with those [we] do not know, in order to restore the web of our common existence" (May 356). Evidently it seems that we only come together as Americans whenever a natural disaster, or horrific attack occurs on our country that could be classified as terrorism, because it is America versus a foreign/natural foe. This implies that we only come together as one nation if we feel threatened some way personally, which is a bad thing because it means we do not care about the lives that are taken every day by murder. It's difficult to have sympathy for someone you do not know, but May focuses on this claim, because it truly is something that impacts all our lives. If this essay was not created primarily on the use of this rhetorical appeal, then we would not be as attentive and invested in what May is trying to get across. 

May has a very captivating and thought provoking closing paragraph that effectively appeals to our emotions by giving us familiar names that we can relate to: "learning this lesson will not bring back the life of Martin Richard, Krystie Campbell or the other murdered victims in Boston [or] Trayvon Martin [and] the children of Sandy Hook" (May 357). By doing so, he attempts to reach out to us through a deeper connection, and it is achieved because most people feel sadness when it comes to the children of Sandy Hook, or the other victims he mentioned. When he says, "Boston Bombings", you can visualize the explosions and how they must have caused suffering to all the people around them; however, he does not really emphasize the imagery in an effective manner because he just lists out these people and events. May does not use adjectives in this area that could have strengthened his article through the emotion that they can create. Although he may not have put too much emphasis on this specific portion of the piece, he did use pathos in an effective way to help the audience understand his argument.

Pathos is used throughout Todd May's "Is American Nonviolence Possible?" to convey his central argument in a persuasive manner, that simultaneously used some appeals to ethos and logos. His vivid descriptions, and diction intensify his argument, because they entertain the audience's emotions, which helps the audience focus throughout the piece. May's use of ethos expresses his appeal to authority that was usually followed up by an opinion, creating a strong connection with pathos. When using logos, he would start with a sentence that appealed to our emotion, and follow up with a fact that made his claim even more powerful. By reaching out to our emotions, May proves that there are three specific things that cause violence in our country, and the only way to attempt to stop them, is to consciously always consider how your actions are going to affect others. 

