Ethos Appeals based on character What is Ethos

Ethos Appeals based on character

What is Ethos? One of three appeals: Ethos (ἔθοϛ)is an appeal through character or reputation ethics Pathos is an appeal through emotion sympathy Logos and empathy is an appeal through logic dialogue and logic

In Ancient Times… “The author of the Rhetoric to Alexander cautioned rhetors to be careful about their personal conduct, ‘because one’s manner of life contributes to one’s powers of persuasion as well as to the attainment of a good reputation’” Crowley, Sharon, & Hawhee, Debra. (2008). Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students (fourth ed. ). New York, NY: Pearson Longman.

The Rhetorical Triangle Composer Context Audience Purpose

The Rhetorical Triangle You are not writing in a vacuum Whether you’re writing a report, a memo, or a resume, there are considerations to be made about your character, purpose and audience How do these things interact?

Aristotle & Ethos Aristotle saw ethos as: 1. Good Sense 2. Good Character 3. Good Will How can you demonstrate that you have these things? Both on and off paper

Good Sense Are you intelligent? Are you authoritative? Do you have the necessary expertise? Do you seem to know what you’re talking about?

Good Character Do you seem to have a virtuous character? What Do is a virtuous character? you seem to be trustworthy? What else is “good character”?

Good Will Does the reader get the sense that you care? About them? Do you exhibit Empathy? Show the reader you can see things her way Understanding? Show you know and care about the reader’s concerns Responsiveness? Show you’re willing to respond to the reader’s needs

Community Ethos Aside from your application material, there are several ways to develop a verifiable ethos: Social networking presence Personality during the job interview The materials you use to search for jobs

Consistent Character

Ethos Aristotle recognized that ethos could be developed in a few ways: You could create a character or reputation to seem like someone you’re not for the sake of persuasion (bad) You could be consistent with your character and be both virtuous and good all the time (good)

Consistent Character Montana Fail

Community Ethos Your digital footprint is permanent The Way. Back. Machine, among others, captures snapshots of the internet with incredible frequency Anything Poor you post can be retrieved later on behavior online leads inevitably to an indissolubly haunting record

Community Ethos Fired Over Facebook: 10 Posts That Got People Fired