AJ Gilpin Blog #8

Suheir Hammad does a great job of using ethos, pathos and logos in her poetry. Ethos is used throughout the whole poem. She states things that have been said to her that are very unethical. Like when someone asks her “what navy is your brother in?” (Hammad 2:16). It is very unethical to blame someone for the sole fact of the color of their skin. She says that she cried when the towers fall. She was born in America and so were her brothers so she does not want to hear that her brothers could be blamed. She was also asked if she knew the attackers. This is another very unethical thing to ask again because the asker was saying that based on the color of her skin and did not know who she really was. Hammad uses logical appeal when she asks the audience why we never have persecuted white people for their terrorist actions. She gives many examples. One being the KKK. This really resonated with me because I have never really thought about that either. Her logos even influenced me through this.  I believe that Hammad uses pathos the most. Almost everything she says in her poem has to do with some type of emotion. One element of pathos is when she is talking about the big white woman that gives her a hug when she sees Hammad crying. All she can say is that she is arab and her brother is in the navy. The woman can only say that she’s in double trouble. The emotion used in her poem is so overwhelming. As the camera shows the audience you see people of all colors either crying or cheering about what Hammad has to say.