The speaker is J.K. Rowling, a world renounced author recognized for her venerated work, the Harry Potter series. Rowling has “become the UKs best-selling living author and [is] one of the wealthiest women in the world… her series of seven books has since sold more than 450 million copies, won innumerable awards, [and] has been made into movies…” (Gillett). Prior to notoriety, she had endured a myriad of hardships and heartbreaks that influenced and shaped her world as well as her writing: the loss of a parent, a rocky marriage, an abundance of rejection from publishers during her time spent in poverty, as well as all the consequences that come alongside those living conditions (Gillett). It is through adversity that Rowling learned the lessons …show more content…
As she described her experience working at Amnesty, the audience felt as if they were there with her in her memories, imagining the horrors she had seen and read about (Rowling). The emotional appeal of Pathos was chosen not simply to evoke sympathy; this technique was implemented to inspire the Harvard graduates to take action by using their impact for the benefit of others, just as Amnesty had. Rowling intended to make the audience comprehend their position of power and how if used to its full potential could doubtlessly create necessary change; she sought to make the graduates to understand that their actions, however minuscule they might be, could affect the lives of numerous people that are less fortunate. The use of Pathos manipulates the audience to feel morally obligated to act, allowing this technique to be the most effective tool to convey the purpose; however, as persuasive as Pathos was, the use of Ethos to establish credibility was an enormous benefit, for without merit the message falls on deaf ears. The trust built by Ethos allows the audience to be more susceptible to accepting the message. Not only is Rowling a prominent author, she demonstrations Ethos through her experience in overcoming failure and her involvement at Amnesty highlights that she expects no less of herself to contribute to society, for an overbearing tone with slight merit may cause her audience to shy away from her proposal. The addition of Ethos gives weight to her words, permitting the message more