In the wake of the Los Angeles riot in 1992 after the acquittal of officers accused of beating African-American motorist Rodney King, a number of commentators sought to understand the experience and views of members of various constituencies. This research analyzes ways that ethos and pathos operate in one such essay, "Jobs Illuminate What Riots Hid: Young Ideals," by Sara Rimer, first published in The New York Times.
While as a reporter for the Times Rimer might be said to be relying on readers to recognize the credibility and integrity of her story, Rimer's essay has a good deal of straight reportage. It is an exercise in persuasion inasmuch as it argues that Los Angeles inner-city youth are not all delinquent but have high moral standards and ideals. Rimer's own reputation, however, is not what she relies on. Rather, she is engaged in building the reputation of her story's subjects.
The role of ethos surfaces strongly in paragraph 2, which cites the 600-plus dress-for-success South-Central youth who attended a Disneyland job fair; paragraph 3 cites the familiar idea of South-Central youth as gangs and thugs, thus contrasting the middle-class image of the second paragraph with the stereotyped image of the third. The message of the contrast is that South-Central youth are just as entitled to and just as serious about mainstream-corporate jobs as youth in any other neighborhood or demographic. It is reinforced by the comment from the Disneyland spokesman: "They were wonderful kids, outstanding kids. . . . We didn't know they were there" (Rimer 80). That comment seems intended to reflect the ignorance of the public more generally, while the comment from the A.M.E. minister in paragraph 5 argues that the majority of inner-city youth are just as motivated as kids anywhere are.
The comments that close paragraph 5 cite the riot's effect on businesses, hence job prospects, in the inner city. That is an example of pathos, since the d...