Which sentence in this excerpt from Mohandas Gandhi’s “Banaras Hindu University Speech” is an example of the use of ethos as a p
ersuasive device? I was present at the sessions of the great Congress in the month of December. There was a much vaster audience, and will you believe me when I tell you that the only speeches that touched the huge audience in Bombay were the speeches that were delivered in Hindustani? In Bombay, mind you, not in Banaras where everybody speaks Hindi. But between the vernaculars of the Bombay Presidency on the one hand and Hindi on the other, no such great dividing line exists as there does between English and the sister language of India; and the Congress audience was better able to follow the speakers in Hindi. I am hoping that this University will see to it that the youths who come to it will receive their instruction through the medium of their vernaculars.Our languages the reflection of ourselves, and if you tell me that our languages are too poor to express the best thought, then say that the sooner we are wiped out of existence the better for us. Is there a man who dreams that English can ever become the national language of India? Why this handicap on the nation?Just consider for one moment what an equal race our lads have to run with every English lad.
It would be "<span>I was present at the sessions of the great Congress in the month of December." He is using that sentence to give credibility to what follows.</span>
I was present at the sessions of the great Congress in the month of December.
Explanation:
<em>Ethos</em> refers to a rhetorical device in which the author appeals to his credibility and experience in order to provide support for his position. In this example, the author tells us that he was present at the sessions of the great Congress in the month of December. This is explained in order to show that the author can be trusted to talk about this topic.
