What Is Ethos
How do you apply for jobs in a company? You send your resume, and at the same time, you Google the company’s website, check out their social media pages, and look for their clients’ or employees’ feedback, right?
Our question is: why do you do so? To display your skills and assess their credibility, correct? This is called ethos. It’s a way of building trust and credibility.
But how does it play a crucial role in literature?
To know that you will have to scroll down, let’s dive deeper into the term and understand how we can leverage it in our writing.
A Look Into Ethos
Ethos originated from a Greek word, êthos, meaning character, nature, or disposition. It plays a crucial role in literature, as whenever writers or authors pen a character in a story, they begin by building credibility and trustworthiness.
Writers create ethos through a character’s actions, beliefs, values, tone, and knowledge, making characters more relatable and helping readers understand their traits.
For instance, in Pride and Prejudice, readers know from the very start that Elizabeth Bennet believes that marriage should be based on respect and admiration rather than societal and economic necessity, as her values were high. There are more such examples in the book.
It’s just one example of ethos; numerous writers have used ethos in their literary work—let’s look into their types, instances, and learn how to leverage it to our benefit.
Origin of Ethos
Ethos is beyond persuasion; it’s the culmination of reliability, moral choices, and a character’s experiences. The concept of ethos came down from Aristotle’s ‘Rhetoric,’ alluding to three modes of persuasion: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Let’s understand each of them.
Ethos: The purpose of ethos is to build credibility and trustworthiness through actions, values, tone, and knowledge. It helps readers relate to the characters and connect with the story more efficiently.
Pathos: A literary device, leveraged to evoke emotions, like sympathy, sadness, anger, or joy. Basically, when a paragraph, a line, or a story moves the reader to the core and forces them to question life, that’s called pathos. With the correct use of pathos, readers don’t just read, but feel every word of the story, as if they are living that life.
Logos: Life and stories are worthless without the acknowledgement of facts. Logos does exactly that; it uses facts, evidence, examples, and arguments to help readers understand the depth of the story, resonate, and make the message more precise and credible.
Types of Ethos
There are three classical types of ethos, known as Aristotelian Ethos: Phronesia–practocal wisdom, Arete–moral excellence, Eunoia–goodwill towards the audience. Other types of ethos allude to extrinsic ethos, intrinsic ethos, and four characteristics of credibility. However, to make things easier, we have summarised these for you.
Authoritative Ethos: When the narrator or character establishes their credibility through knowledge, expertise, and position, they build authoritative ethos. So, if you wish to create an authoritative ethos in your story, then ensure that your character stands out from the rest, meaning, choose their age, profession, social standing, and sense of wisdom wisely. Readers often accept the arguments or perspectives of such characters seamlessly.
Narrative Ethos: You don’t always trust people based on their work profile or status, right? The most beautiful apples could be rotten inside. The same is with stories. When the narrator or a character shares their personal experience, past life, anecdotes, or gives a glimpse of their lives— without any sugar coating with their readers— they create narrative ethos. This helps readers connect more deeply with the story’s characters.
Situational Ethos: You may not believe the rumours or stories from a third person, but you will always trust the words coming out of the victim’s mouth or from people who were present during the situation, won’t you? Similarly, in literature, credibility is built when the narrator or character is directly involved in an event.
Moral Ethos: Have you guys watched Gilmore Girls? If yes, then what does Rory’s character tell about herself? That she’s a good child with high morals, a book nerd, and somebody who can be trusted, right? That’s what moral ethos does in a storyline. Readers don’t connect with such characters because of their status but because they are principled. If you ever write moral ethos, ensure to maintain consistency between the morals and actions of the characters.
Steps to Use Ethos Seamlessly
Using ethos seamlessly is not daunting if you focus on being honest, instead of exaggerating about one’s best qualities. Instead, you can display your character’s expertise by citing credible sources.
Moreover, ensure consistency while adhering to limitations. Remember, consistency is the key!
Some Examples of Ethos
Some basic yet simple examples of ethos are: an advocate giving legal advice, a poet sharing their grief, or a publisher offering publishing advice.
Things to Avoid with Ethos
Ethos is all about building trust. Therefore, if your characters overstate authority, use bogus credentials, sound arrogant, manipulate trust, and ignore opposing views, then there’s a high chance you’ll fail to build trust and leverage ethos.
Also, Check – Best Contemporary Poetry Books
On a Parting Note
Reading about the meaning of ethos and how to leverage it effectively may sound like easy-peasy lemon squeezy. However, writing one demands time, patience, skills, and knowledge about their characters, plot, and story. Therefore, if you ever write ethos, remember the do’s and don’ts, and curate a breathtaking story!
Happy Writing!
