What type of appeal is demonstrated when someone requests help based on the need for sympathy?

The type of appeal that emphasizes the need for sympathy is known as an Appeal to Pity. This rhetorical strategy aims to elicit feelings of compassion or sorrow from an audience in order to persuade them to support a cause or individual. When someone requests help by underscoring their difficult circumstances or emotional suffering, they are leveraging this appeal to invoke sympathy.

By focusing on the emotional aspect, the speaker seeks to create a connection with their audience, encouraging them to act out of kindness rather than logical reasoning. This can be effective in situations where the audience might be inclined to help based on their empathy rather than evaluating the merits of the argument itself.