Question

read the excerpt from president woodrow wilson’s speech, \war message to congress.\

on the 3rd of february last i officially laid before you the extraordinary announcement of the imperial german government that on and after the 1st day of february it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of great britain and ireland or the western coasts of europe or any of the ports controlled by the enemies of germany within the mediterranean.

to appeal to the audience, this part of the speech mostly relies on

• ethos, an appeal based on the speaker’s character.
• logos, an appeal based on logic or reason.
• pathos, an appeal based on emotion.
• force, an appeal based on the audience’s fear of harm.

Explanation:

The excerpt describes Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare as violating "law or humanity"—language that evokes moral outrage and emotional concern about harm to vessels/people. This targets the audience’s emotions, which is pathos. Ethos (speaker’s character) and logos (logic/reason) are not the focus here; "force" is not a rhetorical appeal category.

Answer:

C. pathos, an appeal based on emotion.