How Does Mark Twain Use Ethos In The Damned Human Race

The darker side of humans

In the following evaluation the author, Mark Twain takes the reader on an emotional and persuasive ride looking at how he feels hopeless for mankind for their moral sense is lost. Twain makes the reader look deeper and methodically at their own moral compass. Even though “The Damned Human Race” by Mark Twain could have been more effective if he stayed away from false authority and hasty generalizations, overall it was a successful argument because, he used a balance of pathos, ethos, and logos to persuade the reader into looking at their own moral sense.

In this animated piece of literature Twain presents his argument comparing man to animal. He states that he has been conducting experiments using the scientific method which are “crucial test and actual experiments” (Twain 1). Furthermore, the writer goes on to explain his particularizing fact trail which he believes will help the reader through his essay. This explains and lays out to the

First, he tries to gain the credibility of the reader by stating he will be using scientific method. However, twain uses false authority and lost credibility for he is not a scientist. Furthermore, he used hasty generalization and by dubbing all humans beings greedy, revengeful, indecent, and curl. His example is when a young earl hunts buffalo for sport and pleasure taking more than he can use or consume while the animal, an anaconda will only take what they need to survive (Twain 2). On the other hand, Twain does a remarkable job of using pathos to gain the appeals of emotions of the reader. For instance, Twain paints a dark and cruel picture comparing moral sense to humans and animals. While he uses logic and organization to back up his original claim, which is to have humans objectively (open-mindedly) look at their own moral