When ethos and pathos are used correctly, they can make an argument clear and effective when capturing the audience. Pathos, appeals to the emotions of the audience. It improves the understanding of the writer because it allows the issues to come alive and the arguers can connect their claims to the reader's values which either triggers a positive or negative reaction. Ethos is used to show the writer’s credibility. This means the writer must demonstrate knowledge about the topic, understand and empathize with other points of view, and finally using shared values and assumptions.
As far as the media and the government today, they do use both ethos and pathos correctly, but usually it is the emotions of the writer which make it difficult for the listener to discern between fact and fiction. There are many different news channels all broadcasting the same news, but each one tells it from their own prospective. It is up to the audience to find the truth, and decide what they believe. The media and government do use ethos, but usually don’t always emphasize with the other points of view, which is why we, as the audience, have to decide for ourselves what to believe.
1 comment:
I really liked how you began your blog by defining what ethos and pathos were for the audience and then connected those ideas into how the government and media appeal to our senses of ethos and pathos. I also found it interesting how you talked about the bias different news channels have and how this affects their reporting and how they appeal to our senses.
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