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English Literature
Key terms
Ethos

GCSE English Literature · key term

Ethos

Definition

An appeal to an audience’s trust in the speaker’s character, reputation or credibility.

Used by AQA

How each exam board covers it

AQA GCSE English Literature · 8702

Paper 1

Persuasion through the speaker’s apparent character, authority or trustworthiness.
Three useful kinds of appeal, associated with Aristotle, are ethos, the speaker’s credibility; logos, reasoning or apparent proof; and pathos, emotion. They work together rather than belonging exclusively to different speakers.
Revise: Context
Revise: Act 3

Related key terms

Logos
Pathos
Rhetoric
Antithesis
Blank verse

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Ethos — AQA GCSE English Literature Definition

An appeal to a speaker’s character, reputation or credibility to gain an audience’s trust.

Revise: Rhetoric and persuasion

AQA English Literature past papers

Rhetorical question

Double superlative

Dramatic compression