Ethos In Everything's An Argument By Terry Williams

Ethos is one of the most complicated appeals for most people, but it’s simpler than you think. Ethos is based on the credibility of the person. For example, in Everything’s an Argument Terry Williams was poisoned with nuclear radiation and was one of the few that survived she had “...two biopsies for breast cancer and a small tumor between my ribs diagnosed as a ‘borderline malignancy’” (58). She has the right to speak on this because she lived through the nuclear peril and is authoritative on the subject in a bold way which causes us to willingly listen to her. “Credibility speaks to a writer’s honesty, respect for an audience and its values, and plain old likeability” (59), so if a writer is credible than it has good ethos which will persuade people willingly read or listen to what they have to say. There are a few good ways to establish credibility such as humor, choosing a correct medium, connecting your own beliefs to principles that are widely respected, and showing respect for

Pathos is an emotional appeal that influences what people think and believe. “If you strike the right emotional note, you’ll establish an important connection” (44), you want people to use their emotions to connect them into what your saying which persuades them. For example when you see those sad animal shelter videos on TV with the depressing music you automatically want to save and nurture the animals on the TV because they connected to you and tugged at your emotions. Pathos is used in many things such as literature, ads, music and arguments most importantly. “Make people be aware of how much they owe to others, and they’ll acknowledge that debt; persuade people to hate an enemy, and they’ll rally against it; make people feel secure of happy (or insecure or unhappy) , and they’ll buy products the promise such good feelings” (41), and that's why pathos is so important in