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Examples Of Ethos In Julius Caesar

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Leaders derive their power from a range of sources – military force, wealth, rank. However, leaders that we most admire win followers through the skill of persuasion. The ability of a speaker to persuade his listeners to agree with him signals that he is a powerful and astute figure. In the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the character of Cassius attempts to convince Brutus that Caesar should be assassinated. Brutus, however, cares deeply for Caesar and is hesitant to kill the beloved hero of Rome. Cassius applies advanced techniques when speaking to Brutus and ultimately gains Brutus as an ally in his conspiracy against the emperor. These techniques involve the classic rhetorical methods that Aristotle crafted many centuries ago: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. Aristotle understood that people are naturally skeptical. They are only fully convinced of an argument when they trust the source, understand the reasons, and truly care about the issue. When trying to win over an audience, it is crucial to …show more content…

Trust is achieved through ethos - the ability of a speaker to establish their credibility. Cassius employs this very effectively when speaking to Brutus, as he offers his own experiences with a feeble Caesar. One such example is on lines 111 - 115 when Cassius depicts Caesar drowning in the Tiber and Cassius has to save him. Cassius succeeds in establishing credibility by communicating that he is familiar with situations where Caesar has been weak and helpless, countering the the idea that Caesar is a noble and tough leader. Further, Cassius is able to develop his credibility by establishing that he will show why so many commoners adore Brutus. He explicitly states “So well as by reflection, I, your glass, / Will modestly discover to yourself / That of yourself which you yet know not of.”(I.ii.68) In these lines Cassius demonstrates why he is to be trusted: he will show Brutus the admirable traits others see in him. A final

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Shakespeare exposes the cutthroat politics of Rome through the speeches of Brutus and Antony in his play Julius Caesar. This play epitomizes the benefits of using rhetorical devices in a persuasive speech. Antony applies the modes ethos, logos, and pathos to establish credibility, provide evidence, and evoke emotion throughout his eulogy to Caesar. Preceding Antony’s speech was that of the senator, and friend of Caesar, Brutus. Conclusively, Antony’s use of rhetorical devices surpasses Brutus’s; Antony successfully persuades the crowd that Brutus’s speech posed as a clever ruse to justify his cold-blooded murder.

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In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Cassius uses ethos and pathos in order to persuade Brutus into overthrowing Caesar so that they will not have to live under a cruel dictator in the future. While Caesar is being offered the crown; Cassius is convincing Brutus to overthrow Caesar. Cassius uses ethos and his reliability to help persuade Brutus into getting rid of Caesar. Cassius states, “So well as by reflection, I, your glass, / Will modestly discover to yourself / That of yourself which you yet know not of.” (JK 1.2.73-76).

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Cassius uses pathos, by building up Brutus’s arrogance because he doesn’t think that Caesar is a good ruler for

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Cassius (Act 1, scene 2, page 5-6) I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, As well as I do know your outward favor. Well, honor is the subject of my story. I cannot tell what you and other men Think of this life, but, for my single self, I had as lief not be as live to be

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First, Cassius uses ethos, pathos and logos to manipulate Brutus into joining the conspirators. When Cassius first mentions joining the conspirators Brutus is sceptical and asks him “into what

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Brutus uses rhetorical questions, faulty reasoning and hyperboles to create the tone of persuasion while convincing the Roman people to be on his side. To start off his funeral speech, he wants the citizens to trust and believe what he has to say about Caesar, Brutus announces; “Believe me for mine honor, and have respect for my honor, that you may believe me”(Shakespeare 42). In this case, faulty reasoning is shown because Brutus has done nothing to prove him honorable to the citizens. Given that, he has no evidence that he is trustworthy, Brutus still try’s to persuade the crowd to believe what he has to say about Caesar is true, which is

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In the play Julius Caesar by William shakespeare, Caesar is murdered by the senators of rome, to prevent his power hungry ego from destroying their beloved city. During Caesar's funeral, both Marc Antony and brutus give speeches. Both speeches contain athos, which appeals to emotions, and rhetorical questions, these emphasize both of the speeches in different ways. Although Brutus is a convincing orator, Antony's uses a more effective form of rhetorical questions and pathos, which evokes feelings in the audience.. Pathos is a technique used in writing in order to appeal to the reader's emotions.

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This is powerful in manipulating Brutus, because Brutus is an honorable man, and he is always concerned with what the most honorable decision is. Moreover, Cassius distorts Brutus' view of Caesar by telling Brutus that, "[Caesar has] become a god," and that Cassius "is a wretched creature," that if, "Caesar... [nods at] him," he, "must bend his

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In their introductory scene a discussion is taking place about Caesar's claim to the throne. Through this discussion the audience learns a lot about Cassius and Brutus’s values . It is revealed that Brutus is an honorable man who believes in the general good of mankind. He states,  (1.2 84-89)“ What is it that you would impart to me?/ If it be aught toward the general good, / Set honour in one eye and death

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In the art of persuasion, there are many tactics that people use to convey or persuade people into getting what they want. There are several tactics used to achieve this, but the main ones that we see being used today are classical appeals like pathos (emotional), ethos (authority), and logos (logical). These appeals have shown up in many types of literature for a character to get their point across, but one of the best examples is in William Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar”. These appeals are used in two great speeches that are told by Brutus and Antony. Brutus’s speech uses ethos and pathos to get the crowd to agree to his killing of Caesar, while Antony uses the power of pathos and logos to refute what Brutus said to convince the crowd to follow him in his

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Marcus Brutus and Cassius are both strong characters in William Shakespeare 's Julius Caesar; but Brutus is the only character who experiences a crucial change towards the end of the drama, which makes him the dynamic character. Brutus can be considered the dynamic character in William Shakespeare 's Julius Caesar. Brutus ' role changes from the beginning of the play to the end while Cassius remains fairly constant. At first he is known as Caesar 's dear friend. He then joins a conspiracy to kill Caesar.

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From his version of the funeral orations given by Brutus and Antony, and the response of the crowd to each, valuable lessons can be learned about persuading people. The first funeral oration for Caesar was given by Brutus. As one of Caesar’s murderers, he needed to accomplish a lot in his speech if he wanted to persuade the crowd. Brutus needed to re-establish his credibility, which had been tarnished by his actions, prove that Caesar was guilty of a crime worthy of death, and show that the actions of the murderers were just. To accomplish this, Brutus relied on appeals to ethos.

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Cassius wants Brutus to believe that their futures need to be changed because Caesar is leading them into tyranny. Cassius then uses flattery to show Brutus that he is equal in power to Caesar. “Brutus and Caesar… Write them together, yours is a fair a name”. Cassius explains this to Brutus that he is just as capable of reaching the height of power Caesar possesses. Following this conversation Cassius develops a plan to further manipulate Brutus.

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381 Words | 2 Pages

In Cassius’s eloquent speech against Caesar, he primarily utilizes persuasion through tools such as pathos, rhetorical questions, and compare and contrast. Cassius uses pathos to begin his monologue when he claims, “I know that virtue be in you, Brutus, / As well as I do know your outward favor” (Shakespeare 1.2.95-96). By expressing that Brutus has “virtue” and “outward favor”, Cassius appeals to Brutus’s emotions, but not to an exaggerated extent. This emotional appeal is a persuasion technique because it is used in moderation and in pertinent locations. The context is appropriate since rather than using it as a tool to feed on Brutus’s emotions, Cassius only uses it to get Brutus’s attention as an appropriate hook.

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Proving a Tragic Hero A character who makes a judgement or error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction, defines a tragic hero, according to Aristotle. In William Shakespeare’s writings, one character generally identifies as a tragic hero. Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, comes from the true events that took place in Rome during the time that Caesar rose and gained power as dictator. After Pompey’s death in Egypt; caused by each of their power-hungry desires, Caesar declared himself dictator of Rome.

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