Sandy Townsend takes the stand in her own defense. The defense team works hard to prove her innocence. How will they accomplish this task? How does this line of questioning use Ethos? Take a look.
Unfortunately, we are unable to show the video of the Prosecution's questioning of Sandy Townsend due to technical difficulties. Below is a summary of her testimony at the trial.
My business would be greatly decreased if people believed my burger's contained horse meat. My fingerprints were on the stone, the murder weapon, because I did throw the stone in the dumpster. At first, I did not tell the detective because I was so shocked and upset by the events of the day. When he asked my originally I said no, but then I was thinking late, "Oh yeah, I think I did when I was picking up early in the morning and I did pick up the stone to throw it in the dumpster."
When Sandy Townsend took the stand in her own defense, the defense team attempted to prove her innocent. They first utilized ethos in order to provide a better picture to the jury as to her character. It was through questioning her opinion of people of lower socio-economic status, like that of the victim, that they tried showing Sandy’s caring and compassion. The defense team noted her consideration and understanding by asking her about her criteria for terminating an employee and allowing her to note that she often gives second chances.
The defense also allowed Sandy the ability to provide the specific reasons she had to terminate Terese and her feelings pertaining to it. The defense even went as far as making note of a nomination Sandy had received to further enlighten the jury as to her character. Ethos was the most heavily used form of persuasion in the video. One could argue that by using ethos, that one can then use logos to form a conclusion; however very little to no direct usage of logos occurred in this video clip.
When Sandy took the stand she used a lot of Ethos and Pathos to get the jurors to empathize with her and see her side of the story. She claims to be a caring person who is always willing to give her employees by giving second chances. She tried to focus the attention on the former employee by saying that she had to let her go based on her track record. She was late all the time, not fulfilling her responsibilities and just not up to Sandy’s standards. She makes you feel compassion for her. Sandy made it appear as though it was not her fault that she had to fire the employee and that employee made her do it by what she did to the employer.
Comments
The defense also allowed Sandy the ability to provide the specific reasons she had to terminate Terese and her feelings pertaining to it. The defense even went as far as making note of a nomination Sandy had received to further enlighten the jury as to her character. Ethos was the most heavily used form of persuasion in the video. One could argue that by using ethos, that one can then use logos to form a conclusion; however very little to no direct usage of logos occurred in this video clip.
Article submitted by MSTC Student, Alex Copp
Article submitted by MSTC Student Jessie Aho