Ethos, Pathos and Logos Essay
In Saying Nothin: Pachucas and the Languages of Resistance, Catherine S. Ramirez discusses how Mexican American youth used language and silence to resist American society during the 1940s, emphasizing on Pachucos. She explained how pachucos style, slang and behavior was viewed as criminal and disrespectful. Throughout the text Ramirez uses rhetorical strategies like ethos, pathos and logos to help readers understand Pachuco’s and Pachucas identity and the meaning behind resistance. In the text Ramirez uses ethos, pathos and logos.q
Ramirez uses ethos to build her credibility and trustworthiness with the reader. She informs readers of her knowledge and accomplishments. In the introduction she begins with her academic background also adding her expertise in race, migration, and Mexican American history, which helps readers to view her as a reliable author. She continues in the introduction informing readers of real events that occurred like the Zoot Suit riots and citing newspaper reports that occurred during that time period. By using real life events these sources give the readers a credible author along with making her a reputable one.
Pathos are used in the text to appeal to the emotions of the readers. In the text, Ramirez uses pathos, it is felt when she explains the discrimination and misunderstanding that the Pachucos faced, she explained how social scientists and newspapers in the 1940s described pachuco slang as a criminality. For example, newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times described Pachucos as part of a sinister underworld, associating them with violence, drugs, and crime. This showed readers how
Ramirez also describes an arrest that happened during the Zoot Suit Riots, where a twenty two year old female was arrested. The female was accused of inciting violence and she was described as a lady zoot suiter; Ramirez points out that the photographs taken of her didnt show her wearing the typical pachuco clothing. These examples appeal to the reader’s emotions by describing the injustice these people faced due to being criminalized over a stereotype. The arrest gives a sense of sympathy for Pachocas being criminalized over assumptions Overall this encourages readers to have a sense of sympathy for Pachucos. Pachucos faced criticism from both cultures they were Mexican enough or American.
In addition to pathos, Ramirez uses logos when she uses historical examples. Ramirez uses logos to explain why pachuco language was viewed as criminal instead of being seen as a cultural expression. During the 1940s, during World War II, speaking English was connected to being seen as American. Because pachuco slang combined English, Spanish, and calo it was viewed as a form of refusing to assimilate. This caused Pachucos speech to be treated as a sign of rebellion and disloyalty. Ramirez explains this relationship to show that pachuco language was criminalized not because it led to crime, but because it challenged social norms. This helps readers understand how language itself became a form of resistance.
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