One of Aristotle's greatest and most effective appeals is ethos, which is described as appealing to authority. "Written in the 4th century B.C.E., the Greek philosopher Aristotle compiled his thoughts on the art of rhetoric into On Rhetoric, including his theory on the three persuasive appeals" (Dlugan). Ethos is usable in almost any aspect of life and can be very effective when evaluated properly. Authors use this rhetorical appeal in their writing to create trust with their audience and to build their credibility as a writer. Walter C. Parker makes significant use of this appeal while also including pathos and logos, the other two of Aristotle's appeals, in his academic journal article "Teaching Against Idiocy". 

In this article, Parker takes a close look at how every day citizens can change society today and prevent things like "selfishness" (Parker 403) and "segregation" (Parker 407). He describes idiocy as stemming from "the root idios, which means private, separate, self-centered" and those that have idiotic behaviors are "like rudderless ships" (Parker 403) in that they do not add anything positive to the situation, but instead only cause danger to those around them (Parker 403). Parker then goes on to describe how schools in society can "improve their efforts and achieve greater success" in being democratic (Parker 403). He includes seven subheadings in the article which are specific to the different areas that schools can advance in such as, "Dodging Puberty" (Parker 403), "Schools and Idiocy" (Parker 405), "Schools are Public Places" (Parker 407), "Three Keys" (Parker 408), "The Social Curriculum" (Parker 409), "The Academic Curriculum" (Parker 410), and "The Three R's?" (Parker 412).

Parker relies heavily on ethos throughout this article by bringing in the names of many well known people from the past and present, as well as others who are not as popular but have a reliable background in his topic. He relies on persons such as Aristotle, Jane Addams, Karl Marx, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Framers of the U.S. Constitution to build his credibility and help himself seem more trustworthy to the audience. This kind of ethos is invented over time as the audience reads more and more of the article. Parker also includes examples and quotes from others like the former mayor of Missoula, Montana Daniel Kemmis, Alexis de Tocqueville, Edward Banfield, Robert Bellah, John Kenneth Galbraith, Judith Shklar, Vivian Gussin Paley, John Dewey, a 9-year-old, and Lawrence Kohlberg. He mentions the more famous of those referenced previously to build his credibility in a quick and effective manner. After laying the groundwork of assurance with the reader, he then brings in an example from his own writing in Teaching Democracy from "Teachers College Press, 2003" (Parker 408). Parker waits until the end of the article to acknowledge his background in writing about the "deliberation in teaching" (Parker 408) to ensure maximum success in the audience believing him and actually thinking that his article Teaching Democracy would be something worth reading. 

Although Parker makes the most use out of ethos, he does include examples of pathos and logos to draw the reader in even more and make his argument seem more relatable and effective for all. An illustration of this would be when he brings up Daniel Kemmis, the former mayor of Missoula, Montana and quotes his words on "people who customarily refer to themselves as taxpayers" (Parker 403) from The Good City and the Good Life. This quote is something that a majority of citizens in the United States who read the article and is an appeal to pathos and ethos because of the emotion that develops inside the audience as they read it and because Parker takes advantage of Kemmis's authority. This same strategy is used again when Parker brings in Jane Addams and a quote from her on "women who tend only to their 'own' households" (Parker 404). Women who read this will feel strongly about the "necessity" (Parker 404) of "extending their responsibility to many things outside of their own home" (Parker 404) if "they want to continue to preserve the home in its entirety" (Parker 404). Parker goes on to include another relatable example regarding SUV's and the behavior of people that drive them. This sample is very engaging for readers and helps them become emotionally involved or attached to Parker's point. The main usage of logos was applied in the section "Three Keys" as Parker describes the "three actions that are key" (Parker 408) in developing diversity. He says that schools must "increase the variety and frequency of interaction among students who are culturally, linguistically, and racially different from one another" (Parker 408) and "capitalize on whatever diversity is present among students" (Parker 408), "orchestrate these contacts so as to foster competent public talk" (Parker 408), and "clarify the distinction between deliberation and blather and between open and closed deliberation" (Parker 408). These steps are very logical and are easy for the audience to follow and believe when reading.

As Parker advances through the article, he continuously inserts quotes from various people and creates examples from what those people have said. His ethos is invented as the audience reads and therefore creates a more believable argument for Parker. Had he not given so many sources and quotes from well-trusted people, readers would not be so undoubting of him and his claim. Parker's use of ethos helped him but he could have relied less on it and still presented a valid argument. He uses too many names of people in his article, and this causes confusion for readers and makes it difficult to keep up with who he is referring to at any specific time. Overall, his use of ethos was effective but drained after awhile. 

Walter C. Parker largely uses and benefits from ethos while also playing on the appeals to pathos and logos in his 2005 work, "Teaching Against Idiocy". Parker apparently hoped to change the way people in society function and how school systems act about diversity. Because of this goal he had in mind, he relies heavily on other well-known authors and people to build his argument and in the end, readers do have more of a reason to believe Parker and what he is arguing. 

