Ethos definitely plays an important role in the way you perceive someone’s speech or protest. They have to have a certain credibility or maybe a likeable persona. The ethos of the freedom marchers in the segment from the packet was very good because no matter what they never gave up. It just makes them more likeable, to be so perseverant; also they stood united for one cause they all believed in, which also gives a good ethos. Cindy Sheehan’s protest has a certain kind of ethos; she is trustworthy in her protest against the war, because her son died. It definitely persuades you to believe her more. I actually find her protest most persuasive because of the fact that she has a right to be against the war because her son died. Well, she has that right either way. Although, Malachi Ritscher’s protest was quite surprising, and disturbing. The ethos of his protest confuses me, I am not sure to say whether it is good or bad. But I know that belief was important enough for him to die for, so it must be important. The kind of ethos I find appealing is good knowledge and credibility of the issue, but also a trustworthiness or a good reason of importance to that issue. I support the anti-war groups for their message, and because I agree that there should be no more deaths because of the Iraq War. It is a tragedy that it is still going on. The ethos the anti-war groups provide is one of peace and non-violence. That’s why I support them.
3 comments:
I agree that Cindy Sheehan is trustworthy for protesting against the Iraq War because her son died in the war. However, I think that her attacking others who don't support her ideals kind of reduces her ethos. Supporting a protest group should be the individual's choice, and no one should be criticized for choosing to not support a protest group. Therefore, I think she should not have been so aggressive in her speech when criticizing the Iraq War and US government.
I agree that Cindy Sheehan has an immense dedication to her anti-war protest, due to the fact that her son died. Is her ethos strong enough to outweigh the fact that she didn't have much clear (or had plenty of confusing) logic behind her case? I think it's important to note that you value trustworthiness as a factor in establishing one's ethos, although "trustworthy" wasn't the first adjective that jumps to my mind when thinking of Cindy Sheehan. What exactly are we trusting Cindy Sheehan for? For being truthful about her feelings against Washington? Or are we trusting her for her capacity to evoke change?
I agree with your thoughts about how confusing Malachai's ethos was. I think it was extremely unfortunate that he committed the act of self-immolation and even more unfortunate that to me, it seemed like his death went unnoticed by a majority of the nation. His mental background and lack of serious connections with people made his character and purpose confusing.
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