Ethos: A Framework to Assess Character and Stance

Abstract

From rhetorical theory, ethos provides a framework to assess a discursive character and the ways people make judgments about that character. In rhetoric and professional communication, that discursive character is often the voice of an organization or business. Although usability testing often looks to identify problems in the user interface, user testing can also be used to assess how people make character judgments. In this paper, I have summarized readings and given an example to show how we might use ethos in a graduate-level class to consider the ethical dimensions related to character as a discursive performance and to outline a framework for assessing that performance.