Brent Staples Use Of Ethos In Just Walk On By

In Brent Staples “Just walk on by” he uses ethos to show the reader that he is kind. Staples have been perceived as dangerous because of his color. The first instance he remembers was one night in Chicago a women misjudges staples to be a mugger leaving him with embarrassed feeling. Others think of him as being dangerous. Staples later moved to New York were more populated streets minimize these stereotypical encounters. Staples uses words such as ‘victim’ and ‘mean’,, by doing so he sets a picture in the mind of the reader that when he came up behind this lady on the street, something was going to do happen to her. One strategy of ethos appeal that staples uses to his presentation of himself as exactly the opposite of the negative stereotypes. …show more content…
This background information, that Staples chose to share with his audience, shows how successful and motivated Staples was to make it out of such a harsh background. This again establish trust with the audience. The final appeal he uses is by backing up his experiences by sharing stories about other men that had similar experiences. This shows the audience that his experiences are credible because they are common occurrences are happening to other men as well. Staples uses ethos, give the reader an insight into the life of a black man in today’s society. By using this rhetoric techniques, Staples is able to produce reactions from the reader and accomplish his goal of bringing the reader to his level and allow them to empathize with him. By Staples being able to use this rhetorical techniques and pull the reader into his piece, he is able to accomplish his overall goal and make the audience see that even though society claims against it, there is still racism today and that it is not obvious to us because it has become a part of our everyday