Ethos #1: Ch 1-14 Frequently throughout the novel, Harriet Beecher Stowe addresses her audience directly, asking rhetorical questions and commenting about the scene she has just depicted. In chapter seven, Stowe asks us, the audience, "if it were your Harry...that were going to be torn from you by a brutal trader tomorrow morning, if you had seen the man, and heard the papers were signed...how fast could you walk?" (105) These blunt and candid excerpts create a dialogue between Stowe in the reader, consequently establishing trust between the two parties. These passages also show that Stowe has strong values and ethics that are not necessarily religious. She constantly stresses to her audience that slavery is illogical and inhumane by depicting everyday hardships that accompany it, such as the attempted separation of a mother and a son. By managing to create trust with the reader and showing she has steadfast morals, Stowe establishes a strong ethos, fortifying her antislavery argument.
Reply #8 Great analysis, Mo! Stowe makes herself seem opinionated because of the points you made. In addition, her belief about abolition only strengthens her point of view, and this influences the reader because we can trust her based on her knowledge. The rhetorical questions you mentioned also strengthen her viewpoint because she knows the answer to these questions, but does the reader? She wants the reader to think critically and answer these questions as the plot continues.
Throughout Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe uses her Christian point of view as her credibility. Children such as Evangeline, were young individuals who witnessed major problems of their day, but handled them better than their parents. Eva warned that individuals were “thinking on about this world” and need to consider the “beautiful world, where Jesus is” (418). She advises that if they want to be angels, they can with the help on the Lord, but that easiness will not take them there. On her deathbed, Eva gives a gift to Topsy, telling her that Jesus loved sinners and that she can go to heaven and be with her again one day. Although Eva died never seen the change she hoped to, individuals like her were the ones who elicited a new world. Stowe uses Evangeline to prove that one must die trying to improve the world, in order to make an impact on others to do the same.
Reply #4 Great post Sofia!! I completely agree that Stowe uses her Christianity to instill trust with her audience but I also think that she uses her Christian background as a sort of guilt trip that makes the audience feel bad that they are not as forward thinking as Stowe.
Ethos #3 Abolitionist in 1850 was a minority movement. Abolitionists were generally considered fanatics. Stowe knew that she needed to persuade her evangelical public that abolition was a Christian imperative, not a radical, skeptical agenda. Stowe used her religion to ignite antislavery sentiment. By referencing her Christianity to engage the Christian audience, Stowe made a plea to a Christian's duty toward the enslaved, which would spare the nation from the wrath of God's judgment on the sin of slavery. There are no clerical characters, no religious authority, instead, spirituality resides among slaves and Quakers, women and children, and is shown in Uncle Tom. By using Tom as a religious character she demonstrated the African's ability to be a fellow Christian. The novel is Tom’s spiritual biography. His faith sustains him in Kentucky, and makes him a religious leader among his fellow slaves, serves him when he’s separated from family and is tested in the living hell he endures under Legree's brutal regime.
Not all evidence needs to be tangible; words hold a lot of power with them. The Ku Klux Klan used threats to scare and manipulate the general public. Mr. Haley allows himself to be guided by two "area slaves" in his hunt for Eliza. The area slaves get Mr. Haley to trust them because they claim to know the land well. Hearing this was enough evidence for Mr. Haley to place his trust in Sam and Andy.
Comment #3 Good connections Emma. Trust is a big theme in the novel, and Stowe tries to prove that through this relationship between Haley and Sam/Andy. In addition to this instance, Tom trusts St Clare and the new family he is bought into. It takes a while, but soon him and Eva are the best of friends. Because of Eva's inspiration from the Bible, it helps Tom trust her even more because of her belief system, and that it is the same as his.
Ethos #5 In the concluding chapters of her novel, Harriet Beecher Stowe continues to establish ethos using the running theme of religion. Tom and his story are given more credibility when they are supported by George’s statement to, “follow in his steps, and be honest and faithful and Christian as he was,” (617). Tom is officially referred to as a role model and the type of person that a white man wants others to be. George finally gives Tom the recognition he deserves and the readers believe and trust in George’s judgment because he is white and must know what he is talking about and he was also very close with Tom and knew him very well. The very mention of the word, “Christian,” in this statement creates a bond that develops a trust in the speaker and the words being spoken because most of Stowe’s audience were Christian as well.
Ethos #1: Ch 1-14
ReplyDeleteFrequently throughout the novel, Harriet Beecher Stowe addresses her audience directly, asking rhetorical questions and commenting about the scene she has just depicted. In chapter seven, Stowe asks us, the audience, "if it were your Harry...that were going to be torn from you by a brutal trader tomorrow morning, if you had seen the man, and heard the papers were signed...how fast could you walk?" (105) These blunt and candid excerpts create a dialogue between Stowe in the reader, consequently establishing trust between the two parties. These passages also show that Stowe has strong values and ethics that are not necessarily religious. She constantly stresses to her audience that slavery is illogical and inhumane by depicting everyday hardships that accompany it, such as the attempted separation of a mother and a son. By managing to create trust with the reader and showing she has steadfast morals, Stowe establishes a strong ethos, fortifying her antislavery argument.
Reply #8
DeleteGreat analysis, Mo! Stowe makes herself seem opinionated because of the points you made. In addition, her belief about abolition only strengthens her point of view, and this influences the reader because we can trust her based on her knowledge. The rhetorical questions you mentioned also strengthen her viewpoint because she knows the answer to these questions, but does the reader? She wants the reader to think critically and answer these questions as the plot continues.
Ethos #4 (pgs 405-457)
ReplyDeleteThroughout Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe uses her Christian point of view as her credibility. Children such as Evangeline, were young individuals who witnessed major problems of their day, but handled them better than their parents. Eva warned that individuals were “thinking on about this world” and need to consider the “beautiful world, where Jesus is” (418). She advises that if they want to be angels, they can with the help on the Lord, but that easiness will not take them there. On her deathbed, Eva gives a gift to Topsy, telling her that Jesus loved sinners and that she can go to heaven and be with her again one day. Although Eva died never seen the change she hoped to, individuals like her were the ones who elicited a new world. Stowe uses Evangeline to prove that one must die trying to improve the world, in order to make an impact on others to do the same.
Reply #4
DeleteGreat post Sofia!! I completely agree that Stowe uses her Christianity to instill trust with her audience but I also think that she uses her Christian background as a sort of guilt trip that makes the audience feel bad that they are not as forward thinking as Stowe.
Ethos #3
ReplyDeleteAbolitionist in 1850 was a minority movement. Abolitionists were generally considered fanatics. Stowe knew that she needed to persuade her evangelical public that abolition was a Christian imperative, not a radical, skeptical agenda. Stowe used her religion to ignite antislavery sentiment. By referencing her Christianity to engage the Christian audience, Stowe made a plea to a Christian's duty toward the enslaved, which would spare the nation from the wrath of God's judgment on the sin of slavery. There are no clerical characters, no religious authority, instead, spirituality resides among slaves and Quakers, women and children, and is shown in Uncle Tom. By using Tom as a religious character she demonstrated the African's ability to be a fellow Christian. The novel is Tom’s spiritual biography. His faith sustains him in Kentucky, and makes him a religious leader among his fellow slaves, serves him when he’s separated from family and is tested in the living hell he endures under Legree's brutal regime.
Ethos #2
ReplyDeleteNot all evidence needs to be tangible; words hold a lot of power with them. The Ku Klux Klan used threats to scare and manipulate the general public. Mr. Haley allows himself to be guided by two "area slaves" in his hunt for Eliza. The area slaves get Mr. Haley to trust them because they claim to know the land well. Hearing this was enough evidence for Mr. Haley to place his trust in Sam and Andy.
Comment #3
DeleteGood connections Emma. Trust is a big theme in the novel, and Stowe tries to prove that through this relationship between Haley and Sam/Andy. In addition to this instance, Tom trusts St Clare and the new family he is bought into. It takes a while, but soon him and Eva are the best of friends. Because of Eva's inspiration from the Bible, it helps Tom trust her even more because of her belief system, and that it is the same as his.
Ethos #5
ReplyDeleteIn the concluding chapters of her novel, Harriet Beecher Stowe continues to establish ethos using the running theme of religion. Tom and his story are given more credibility when they are supported by George’s statement to, “follow in his steps, and be honest and faithful and Christian as he was,” (617). Tom is officially referred to as a role model and the type of person that a white man wants others to be. George finally gives Tom the recognition he deserves and the readers believe and trust in George’s judgment because he is white and must know what he is talking about and he was also very close with Tom and knew him very well. The very mention of the word, “Christian,” in this statement creates a bond that develops a trust in the speaker and the words being spoken because most of Stowe’s audience were Christian as well.