Yes. I know this is the most cliche romantic movie of all time. No. It is not my favorite movie. But, I do think that Noah's speech about fighting for love uses a significant amount of rhetoric.
Ethos: Noah's audience is specifically Allie. He is trying to persuade the only woman he ever loved to stay with him after being forcefully separated and reconnected after several years. He has to work against a lot of obstacles that he has no control over including her parents that separated them the first time and still do not approve of him, her wealthy fiancé, and the chance that Allie may still leave him again. He has to convince her that even though they fight that they are perfect for each other and that she should stay with him despite all the negative outside forces.
Pathos: He uses body language, eye contact, strong language, and different tones (first a powerful tone, and later a pleading tone) with her to let her know how passionate he is about her.
Logos: Although the best arguement that he uses was given before the speech (the 365 letters in her hand), he still has several points he makes. He contrasts money with happiness. He tells her that he may not have as much money as her current fiancé but they would be happy together. She counters with the fact that they argue all the time and he basically tells her that they fight because they love each other and they are adults and they can work things out.
I think that this speech was extremely successful because it forced Allie to think about what she wanted. Although the clip ended with her wanting to leave, she ended up reading all 365 letters, breaking up with her fiancé, and coming back to be with Noah. I think that Noah's speech to Allie is the reason she read all his letters and ended up coming back to be with him. Although in the moment Noah thought he lost her again, everything worked in his favor through his use of ethos, pathos, and logos.
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