The term pathos is best defined as an appeal to emotions. the use of changes in tone. an appeal to character. the use of exaggeration.

The correct option is “an appeal of emotions”. The word “pathos” is used to describe somebody or something that evokes feelings of sadness or compassion.  It is commonly used in a literary work as a communication technique that arouses the audience’s emotions, especially pity.  

Even though the rest of the options also describe communication techniques in narrative art, the term “pathos” specifically refers to emotions.

an appeal to emotions

the sentence does not violate the phrase structure second rule (introduced by noam chomsky) because noun phrases consist of a determiner such as a, the or every, and a noun. in the sentence, the noun phrase the cake includes a determiner (the) and a noun (cake).

on the other hand, the first rule indicates that a sentence encloses a noun phrase, followed by a verb phrase. the example sentence can be analysed as follows:

john (n) + ate (v) + the (det) + cake (n).