Final Writing Assignment

This year has had its ups and downs. Within the composition atmosphere I especially had to rediscover myself. Aristotle distinguished proofs by logos (logic), ethos (credibility), and pathos (emotion). According to Essentials of Argument, "proof that establish ethos appeals to the audience's impressions, opinions, and judgements about the individual stating the argument. Arguers who demonstrate competence, good character, fair-mindedness, and goodwill toward the audience are more convincing than people who lack these qualities". Having good credibility will help people to be more trusting of my work and therefore they will take me more seriously.

I showed my credibility, or ethos, in a few different ways. One way was showing fair-mindedness in my Healthier Eating paper; I took an interest into the reasons people ate unhealthily and did not attack them. "According to WebMD the top reasons for eating fast food meals goes as follows: they are quick, easy to get, taste good, and are inexpensive." This was part of what I wrote in this paper which shows how I acknowledged the other side. I played both sides of the argument so they would not be frightened.

Another way I showed ethos was with my good character. In our website assignment we were required to "relate an ethos that helps us understand your projects" according to the guidelines set by our instructor. My groups website called Better Decisions has an about us page that depicts our ethos very well. My status says "I am interested in improving people's lives from the inside out. For my most recent English paper I researched healthy eating and how to incorporate it into our daily lives. In order to be happy we must first be at a healthy state of mind and body to enjoy life to its fullest." This shows that I have good character because I want to help others and I have good intentions.

I think the instructor was successful in letting us put ourselves into the paper. He did not make it solid black and white, but left room for us to color in gray. Every paper I wrote I had the opportunity to choose my topic. This helped me in the writing process because I already had some background knowledge on what I was writing. I think this helped to step up my ethos as well. I was a more credible source because I knew what I was talking about.

As I am writing this blog I notice my eyes are glancing at the clock because I know I need to hurry up. I am on a race with the clock to see who can get done first. I also note that my fingers are flying across the keyboard trying to get this all typed out, but making mistakes and having to go back and correct them. The reason I point this out is because I know I am not perfect. There is always room for improvement, and I plan to keep improving throughout my accademic career. I am unstoppable!