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Dramatic Irony
Definition of Ethos
Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Ethos is an argument that appeals to... read full definition
Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Ethos is... read full definition
Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... read full definition
Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Alfonsa's Credibility :
In Alfonsa’s first speech to John Grady in Part 2, the old woman uses ethos to establish herself as a respected source of wisdom:
I had no one to advise me, you see. Perhaps I would not have listened anyway. I grew up in a world of men. I thought this would have prepared me to live in a world of men but it did not. I was also rebellious and so I recognize it in others. Yet I think that I had no wish to break things. Or perhaps only those things that wished to break me. The names of the entities that have power to constrain us change with time. Convention and authority are replaced by infirmity.
Alfonsa highlights her age, experience, and her former similar position as evidence that she is fit to advise John Grady. Having lived many years, she asserts that her age has given her the wisdom and answers that John Grady craves. She explains her former idealism—similar to that of John Grady—and even her own rebellion was not enough to bring her romantic vision of the world to pass. At the time, she believed she was already an expert on the world, but now that she is older, she realizes she was not. From this vantage of superior wisdom, Alfonsa hopes to pass the lesson to John Grady.
The attention with which John Grady listens to Alfonsa, never interrupting her, indicates the great respect he has for the woman. Whether he will heed her advice or not, it appears that he at least views her as credible and worthy of his attention.
Related Themes:
