In Atticus’s closing argument, the used ethos, pathos, and logos in his speech to to persuade the jury of Tom's innocence. His effective use of these rhetorical devices reflects his person. When no one represent Tom due to his race, Atticus did not back off from the challenge. At the beginning of the speech, Atticus proves that Tom could not have commited the crime using logos. He then establishes evidence presenting the fact that Mayella was beaten by “someone who is left handed”, and but Tom’s left hand is no longer be used because of the injuries he sustained in the past. After the used emotion to build pity for Mayella Ewell, Atticus used pathos to get the jurors to feel a connection with Tom by mentioning that "a quite, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to 'feel sorry' for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people's" (204). this statement lead the jurors to take pity on Tom, and relate the jurors to Tom by revealing that they all share pity for Mayella. Atticus used ethos to provide the jurors with a sense of duty to take the high road and acknowledge Tom Robinson as an equal in the courts: "It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honorable court which you serve. Atticus used ethos by acknowledging the credibility of this court by saying “in this court, all men are created equal.”(205) referring to the fact that Tom deserves equality and his skin color does not matter in the court. Words like “honorable” was used to emphasize the importance of the long lived code of equality in that court. Throughout his speech, the usage of ethos, logos and pathos makes his argument appeals to readers. These tools uses credibility, emotions and logic to convince his audiences. Atticus attempted to convince the juries to not judge Ton based only on his colors.

English Freshman Composition

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