How Does Mark Twain Use Ethos In Advice To Youth

Logos, ethos, and pathos are commonly used by authors of literary non-fiction to support their various arguments. Each one appeals to the reader in a different manner, but all share the same intention. In Mark Twain’s Advice to Youth, he gives his best suggestions for youth to be successful. All three appeals are used in his work, as each argument alternates between a combination of logos, ethos, and pathos. By using these three tools to support his advice, the arguments to the reader are strengthened. Although satirical, Twain is able to confidently put forth piece after piece of advice that appeals to logic and emotion along with sharing his own perspective to the audience.

In the fourth and fifth paragraphs, Twain uses an appeal to logic to strengthen his argument. He proposes, going to bed early and waking up early because “it gives you a splendid reputation with everybody to know that you get up with the lark” (Twain 1415) which appeals to logic. He is stating that by getting up early, others will respect you and see you as wise. Society tends to view people who rise early with adequate sleep as successful. Comparable to the common saying, “the early bird gets the worm,” Twain is making a similar argument. However, Twain then recommends waking up with the lark which would imply rising later in the day. This is justified by arguing you will

By utilizing all three types of arguments, his advice appeals to a larger audience. For example, in the paragraph talking about his advice for lying, he gives his own perspective yet still manages to use logic to back up his argument. Essentially, the whole piece is an example of ethos. Every argument is coming from the perspective of Twain and is used to convince the reader that his advice is worth considering. To make his arguments more credible, he utilizes the other two tools of emotion and logic along with