From Ethos to Logos- Appealing to Your Readers

       Before I even read this section, I believed that ethos appeals were the most important ones. Greene & Lidinsky, Inquiry's authors, seem to have the same idea. Ethos essentially establishes all credibility of the author(s). When that happens, readers will be able to trust that the author(s) KNOW what he/she/they are talking about. Extensive research does not HAVE to be taken to be taken seriously, as Loewen had. You do, however, need enough to generally base your topic and research along with extra information and data to further prove your theory. No doubt had Loewen better gathered & prepared his information after researching a dozen textbooks, distinguishing his main points and the information (good, bad, or missing) contained within each textbook. 
   
       Pathos is almost as important as ethos because you are not just listing facts and stating that you are credible; you are metaphorically crying out your emotions towards a certain topic, such as Loewen's topic about ignorance in young people in regards to societal structure, differences, & privleges. All exerpts that contain pathos will all be manipulative to some extent. It just depends on the intentions of the author(s), such as gaining followers, whether in a negative or positive way. Loewen definitely has good intentions, but he expressed them in a passionate yet angry way. He is so fed up with youthful ignorance of the truth of America's actual social structures he cannot help but rage about it. Emotion & drama draws in people like a moth to a flame, but the author(s) need(s) to make sure that the flame is not too hot & eventually repel the readers. Along with that, he mentions the depressing & bleak lives that children on the negative end of the social spectrum from birth, to school & college life, to the working world, to the grave. It can be somewhat annoying, but you know that the author has a greater purpose than depressing everyone; they just want to show the true reality of the world to the readers. He wants to be taken seriously, so he does not incoporate any humor or sarcasm. In his eyes (along with most people), the less fortunate people DO NOT find it funny when they are offended or their misery is joked about & not taken seriously.

       I would normally state that logos is the most important of the three because I am a very logical person, but it really just an argument's backbone. Premises with deductive arguments would not really work because these arguments are kind of common knowledge that do not really help for in-depth arguments. Inductive arguments are actually more important for writing because they do not exist in a perfect argument/world that deductive arguments exist in. Loewen had to use inductive arguments; it was inevitable for his chosen topic. You are not going to know everything through your research, other sources would not be too bad. Sites that end in ".gov" are usually very credible. Loewen did provide creible evidence form his own by analyzing a dozen history textbooks, conducting surveys with high school & young college students (Americans in general), etc. While he should be proud of his research and it suffices well, he cannot make a general statement of ALL history textbooks and ALL young adults that lack the knowledge of American societal structure. Despite that, he did fully stick to his topic and made sure his premises and conclusion corresponded to each other. His transitions in paragraphs nine & ten did that job for him.