Newspaper Ethos

Ethos is another rhetorical device used to get people to read this news article. The title alone appeals to ethos. The title states that the President signed the bill which makes the signing of the bill more official. The article references other leads in America as well to establish more credibility. Mentioning the House having a long debate makes the bill passing worth the wait. The people in the House are elected to make legislative decisions, so it can be argued that since they are granted the right to vote on the passing of laws then their decisions have value. The article to the right by Laurence Stern begins with addressing congressional, religious, and civil rights leaders. These were people who helped fought for civil rights and they were gathered at the white house to see the signing as well. Having the image of those people there at the signing makes the signing more personable for those who wanted the bill to past. All of the experienced people that were previously mentioned make the passing of the bill more official and remarkable.

Logos is an appeal to an audience's sense of reason by the use of logic, which is why President Johnson made use of it in relation to the newly signed Civil Rights Bill. The headline of the newspaper contains two claims: the President signed the bill, and he made a TV appeal related to it. In both of these actions by the President he uses logos to support his pleas. The first component of him signing the bill into law is very straightforward with its logos; the items contained within the bill are now law, and it is logical to follow the law. To not follow just laws are an unreasonable act, so by signing the bill into law, he is making an appeal to American citizens to simply be reasonable. The second claim the paper makes, that the President went on TV to appeal against hatred, also contains logos even though it might outwardly seem to be entirely pathos. The logos of this comes from the fact that it is illogical and unreasonable to hate, so by the President reminding the American people of this, he is employing logos. Although there is more to the story than just headlines, one can clearly see how the President was trying his best to ask Americans to use their better judgement and not act with hatred and malice, but instead with reason.

Photo Ethos


In order to understand this photograph, one must understand some basic elements underlying the protest. Congress did not pass a single Civil Rights Amendment from Reconstruction until the 1960's. After the 14th Amendment was passed, some unfortunately assumed that the law was equal and that there was little work left to do. The Civil Rights Act was first proposed in 1963 under Kennedy, and was undertaken by Lyndon B. Johnson as a major focal point of his administration. Of course the act was met with a lot of opposition especially in the South where racism and segregation was a way of life. Some of the inequalities seen in the protest signs are housing and an end to general "bias". There are also signs for the Baptist Ministers, as religion played a huge role in Civil Rights as an effective motivator. This photo in particular comes from the March on Washington which focused on economic inequality and was attended by roughly 250,000 people. Finally, this march is also where MLK delivered his "I have a dream speech", making this protest entrenched in history forever. Overall, in order to understand the photo, one must understand the background of the Equal Rights Amendment and why people fought so fervently for their rights. 

Picture - Logos

The picture displays a large protest in which African Americans are protesting and demanding different changes and rights. The picture itself displays logos because there is plenty of evidence to support why the people in picture would have reason to be protesting. The picture was taken during the 60's which was a time period in which segregation and discrimination were extremely prevalent because certain laws that aimed to outlaw those behaviors were not yet created. This fact alone, therefore, justifies and supports the woman holding up the "We demand equal rights now!" sign. The signs held up in the picture are all very direct as well. The diction used  such as "demand" and "now," and the way it is written in capital letters with an exclamation point, convey a very frustrated and stern tone. By making the signs so direct and to the point, the protesters ensure that nothing gets lost in translation, and their needs are stated as clearly as possible.

Newspaper Article - Audience

The audience for the newspaper is the general public of the 1960's. By nature, a newspaper is an article that is written to inform the public in a general, unbiased manner. Because of this newspaper editors and writers often write their columns in a manner that appeals to everyone and not just one specific audience. The title in it of itself lacks a lot of emotion, it is made to be strictly informative as it reads "President Signs Rights Bill Into Law." The headline is brief and straight to the point as not a single word is meant to add excitement to the title. Many modern day articles do have very descriptive and interesting headlines as to grab the reader's attention off of a quick glance, but for this article you must take the time period into consideration. In the 1960's television was just starting to catch its stride and it was not nearly as big as it is now, so many people did not even own televisions so they had to get their news from newspapers. Now, many households have a television so newspaper have become less valuable and their purpose has therefore shifted from informative to entertaining, and their headlines have changed accordingly.

The photograph of the protest is a snapshot of the Civil Rights Movement and effectively displays the pathos that was needed to bring about change. On almost every one of the hundreds of signs the protestors made use of, their message begins with either "We March For..." or "We Demand..." and is followed with a plea for basic human rights. The pathos of this comes from the sadness these signs make us onlookers feel, as these African-Americans have to fight tirelessly just for what they deserve as people on this Earth. None of the messages on the signs or outlandish, demanding things only like equal rights, an end for bias, and decent housing. All they want is their fair shake of things, which has been stripped from them by centuries of oppression. What they don't want, which sets the pathos used in this photograph apart from most traditional examples, is pity. They demand action and are not merely asking for it. This refusal to show weakness and backdown is arguably what ended up making the Civil Rights Movement so successful.

Pathos in Newspaper article

The article uses pathos in a way that evokes a sense of pride in the people who fought for the passing of the civil rights bill. The newspaper heading uses the word "hatred" which refers to the hate among races in America during the 1960's. The article comments on how it was a hard fight fought to get leaders to accept the bill into law. It was said to be the "nation's strongest civil right's act" and this was despite having the bill being watered down to please many people opposing the bill. The nation was urged to be restraint because despite having leaders vote on the bill, many people were still against it and did not want to conform to what the law stated. President Johnson was quoted in the article"'...lay aside irrelevant differences and make our nation whole'", this quote adds to a sense of sincerity and hope. By those words President Johnson seemed like he was for the bill and signed the bill because he change for the better. The bill was suppose to be a victory for America, used to unite all races. The article made the passing of the bill seem like a long fought battle that was finally over.