Chelsea dressed in torn jeans and hoodie when she gave a speech to the Rotary Club asking for donations to the Humane Society. The audience did not find her to be credibleand did not donate much. What speech element was at work here? Select one:

a. ethos

b. logos

c. pathos

d. mythos

A). Ethos.

Explanation:

The authors employ a variety of appeals or speech elements to persuade the audience constructively in order to evoke the desired response. These persuasive appeals include ethos (ethical appeal), logos (logical appeal), and pathos (emotional appeal) as stated by Aristotle.

In the given description, the speech element that was in action in this excerpt would be 'ethos' as the audience ethically decides to 'not donate much' as the Chelsea as a speaker could not establish her authority through her behavior or conduct (reflected by her aesthetic sense of dressing in torn jeans and hoodie while interacting with the audience) and therefore, the audience found her to be unreliable. Therefore, option A is the correct answer.