Use of Pathos, Logos and Ethos - Essay Example

Monsters Introduction Cohen defines monster s in seven different aspects according to how they appear their character or their representation. Monsters do not only challenge and question but trouble worry and haunt the people (Cohen 2). Monsters are also associated with breaking, tearing and rending cultures all the while constructing them and propping them up. Monsters swallow up cultural morals and expectations becoming what they eat reflecting back to us our very own faces having been made disgusting or revealed to always have been so. However, all monsters from bestial dragons to vampires are people’s own constructions. There is no scientific evidence to show that such creatures such as the ghosts or multiple headed dragons really exist (Ingebretsen 12). Use of Pathos, Logos and Ethos Ethos means an appeal to ethics and a way of convincing someone of the credibility or character of the persuader. Pathos on the other hand is an appeal to emotion and a way of convincing the audience of an argument through creation of an emotional response. Logos is an appeal to logic and a means of persuading the audience through reason. Cohen draws on elaborate ideas in his article of monster culture from academic discourse and applies the ideas to media and pop culture. By merging these two parallels, Cohen creates an intellectually complex environment for those who are receptive to deep intellectual thought and the not so serious cultural motifs. He draws a parallel between the history of monsters and how people see themselves. Cohen’s appeals to his audience indicate his purpose and the target he has intended for in his article. The merging of intellectualism and blithe monster lore shows a strong connection between use of logos and pathos. He also establishes authority by examining theorists such as Foucault and Derrida as well as presenting an appeal to ethos and as such effectively provides his legitimacy among academicians. Cohen forms credibility to examine monster culture on a logical level and as such ingratiates himself with other intellectuals through a shared sense of how work should appear and what it should represent. He identifies and describes several monsters such as giants in the land of Canaan and zombies to appeal to his audiences’ emotions, even describing monsters as “Our children”. Thesis statement This paper will focus on three of the theses about monsters identified by Cohen. The monsters to be described are the vampires, zombies and giants. Cohen’s thesis defines the monster as dwelling at the gates of difference. This means that the monster is an incorporation of the outside. They are different from the humans and especially in the aspects of culture, political, racial, economical and sexually. Their features are outside the norm of general thought and understanding. It is hard to define them as they can be half human or half animals such as what is seen on some popular television series where the villain terrorizing people is half a wolf and then transforms in to a human being (Cohen 14). When an idea is believed by most people or is viewed to be true, monsters believe the opposite. Giants and ogres are a good example which shows how different monsters are from the normal way humans expects things to appear. They have been described as having super strength which stem from their large features such as extra tall and extra large bodies with multiple eyes or some form of deformity preventing them from being defined as some specific species. Cohen cites the example of giants from the bible where they are seen to be the inhabitants of Canaan to justify the Hebrew colonisation of the Promised Land. His argument is valid as people define giants as out of the normal creatures with abnormal features. This therefore causes fear as it is out of the ordinary and people do not know what to expect (Asma 13). These could represent the fear of unknown that people may have of certain outcomes associated with life practices. Exaggeration of such mythical creatures could be a sign of the hope people have of overcoming situations no matter how difficult the problem is. Cohen in his theses also describes fear of the monster as kind of a desire. He posits that a monster is associated with forbidden practices in an effort to normalise and enforce. He further says that people detest monsters but at the same time envy the freedom associated with it as well as its sublime despair. Using a monster, fantasies of domination, exaggeration and inversion are brought to life. The monster brings about pleasure of the body and the thrill of being frightened to the experience of mortality and corporality (Mittman 21). A vampire, as described in several literatures today is such a monster that might elicit or evoke desire in humans. They are associated with total freedom of movement, domination as they are able to control the human mind as alleged. They compel humans to do what they desire and have total control over them and as such dominate them (Gerald 34). As seen in the movies, they are immortal and will re-appear even after being killed. This may seem as an attractive feature especially to young adults who are aware of some of the features vampires or such mythical creatures’ posses. People create monsters to explore what seems taboo since monsters can destruct and harm and not feel the guilt or repercussions from authority (Picart et al 15). This may be an attractive feature that the humans possess of breaking the order without being culpable or having to face the law. As such, monsters allow humans to play the role of things people would normally not claim as their identity such as young children dressing up as vampires, demons or witches on Halloween (Williams 16). On the other hand, having a wooden stick being driven in their hearts to assassinate them may bring may evoke fear among such people also. There is also the fear of never seeing sunlight which is associated with vampires as they are said to never come out during the day since the sun will burn their skin as well as sleeping inside coffins. These are some of the fears linked to monsters. Cohen’s other thesis describes monsters as invoking people to examine their culture and the assumptions made about other people and encourage humans to ponder why they create them. Monsters encourage people to explore their minds and as such find their true beliefs. For example monsters such as zombies which are brainless wanderers that consume things. They are always a mass of zombies and never one as seen in the movies. They are dead people who have resurrected and this may lead to digging deeper into understanding what humans believe in. This could mean that humans do really believe in life after death as described in holy books such as the Bible and other religious teachings (Scott 26). Zombies in the movies are slain mercilessly and yet they are people who once lived normal lives. This could show the ruthlessness or the fear associated with death, that somebody once gone should not come back. Such monsters are just an embodiment of human culture which truly shows how people feel about incidents associated with death (Warner 18). Monsters such as zombies are a representation of how human beings handle death. Death is an indescribable phenomenon which elicits fear and that is why zombies are seen as brainless wanderers that are supposed to remain buried rather than walking amongst the living. Zombies represent the confusion and fear associated with death. In human culture, death is handled with fear and confusion. As such; he uses Zombies to show how people handle death. The zombies are creatures that are half dead and half living, this shows the confusion and lack of clarity death brings upon the human mind. Not all people understand what death is and therefore are left with confusion and fear as represented by the Zombies. It is for this reason that Zombies are killed mercilessly in the films as people harbour the fear of the unknown for they would like the dead to remain dead and not walking among the living. Under this thesis, Cohen asserts that monsters stand at the threshold of becoming, describing monsters as our children which means that to understand themselves and their social interactions, humans should look at their self-reflection, best seen in their children. He further asserts that monsters can be used for many kinds of evil such as demonizing certain groups. As such, acknowledging the monster in themselves, they are being responsible for their fears and desires. Conclusion Cohen through his theses seems to suggest that monsters simply provide the key to understanding the culture that spawned them. Scholars consider beasts, demons and such like monsters as symbolic expressions of cultural unease that are present in a society and shape their collective behaviour. Monsters as per the Latin definition mean a meaning or a kind of warning. Monsters come from very specific cultural moments as every historical event has a monster appropriated to it. The monster is meant to embody the feeling of that time (Baumgartner 36). However, monsters seem to come from a place of outside history as evidenced by the monsters shared across cultures. Such monsters are for example the ghosts that are almost present in all cultures despite the geographical location. Such monsters keep re-appearing in most cultures like they are a part of human imagination. Monsters appears to be a subject that will still be available and debatable for a long time to come since they have significance in different cultures and this enduring importance holds the nascent, embryonic kernels for generations to come (Baumgartner 39). Monsters can also be identified as tribunes of social collapse showing the breakdown of social, civic boundary and in specific race class and gender. People seize on monsters to exorcize their own cultural demons. Works cited Cohen, Jeffrey J. Monster Theory: Reading Culture. Minneapolis, Minn. [u.a.: Univ. of Minn. Press, 1996. Print. Top of Form Ingebretsen, Edward J. At Stake: Monsters and the Rhetoric of Fear in Public Culture. Chicago [u.a.: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2001. Print. Asma, Stephen T. On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. Mittman, Asa S, and Peter Dendle. The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous. , 2013. Print. Gerald, Kevin. Mind Monsters. , 2012. Print. Picart, Caroline J, and John E. Browning. Speaking of Monsters: A Teratological Anthology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Internet resource. Williams, Wes. Monsters and Their Meanings in Early Modern Culture: Mighty Magic. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Scott, Niall. Monsters and the Monstrous: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007. Print. Warner, Marina. Monsters of Our Own Making: The Peculiar Pleasures of Fear. Lexington: University press of Kentucky, 2007. Print. Baumgartner, Holly L, and Roger Davis. Hosting the Monster. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2008. Print. Bottom of Form Read More