How Does John Roberts Use Ethos In Letters To Scorrs

TITLE Something something something. In his letter, John Roberts, a blacksmith, attempts to be rehired as he believes he was fired for unjust reasons. He makes a strong claim to pathos in an attempt to persuade Storrs, a man in a position of power, to override Roberts’ boss’s decision to fire him. In another letter, Lendrum writes a letter of recommendation for Williams, a mining engineer, to Storrs. While both letters to Storrs are for the same purpose, Robert’s letter is far more effective. In his letter, Roberts uses his personal experience to appeal to ethos. He states he is the oldest blacksmith at the company, and should not be fired because such. Roberts subtlety claims his seniority over the man hired to replace him who has far less experience. This method makes a strong point and is effective. …show more content…
While it may appear to be effective at first glance, While it may appear to be effective at first glance, Storrs, or the reader for that matter, is not aware if Lendrum has known Williams as a friend or a superior. Storrs may take it that Lendrum is close with Williams and is writing the letter out of obligation so his friend may be hired. This makes his point less effective. In Lendrum’s letter to Storrs, he claims Williams is the “master of the valley for mining engineering.” However further examination of the letter shows that Lendrum exaggerated this point. In the closing Lendrum writes that Storrs has people just as good as Williams, and, realizing his mistake, quickly negates the statement so it reads that Storrs does not have men as good as Williams. While this mistake would go unnoticed in a typed letter, Lendrum hand wrote it and the mistake stayed, causing his appeal to logos to be less