Ethos to Repel the Reader

Rhetoric is known as the art to discourse and is used by an author to facilitate their speaking and writing in order to persuade, inform, or motivate a reader. Silvana Paternostro has definitely not been very successful at doing so. My Colombian War mainly employs logos as it describes Colombia's past situations and shares data of that time. However, Silvana Paternostro does use ethos in many cases. 

Ethos can be seen as Paternostro explains that the Guerilla and Paramilitary will definitely want to talk to her because she is an American journalist. Ethos is used to convince by the character of the author, but she instead ends up expressing a completely foolish, ignorant, and snob-like statement. First of all, there is no way that these armed groups would receive Silvana Paternostro without hostility and especially if she is an American journalist. Many foreigners have been held captive by the armed groups for many years because of their curiosity and even Colombians that have tried to negotiate with the Guerilla and Paramilitary have been kidnapped for years. How would Silvana Paternostro be any different? 

The comment basically shows that Paternostro needs to grasp a sense of how things are in Colombia. The way to write a story about the armed groups is definitely not by "interviewing or chatting" with them. 

Another one of Paternostro's ethos comments that has no relevance to the book and frankly seems completely classist is one found on page 50: "I explain who I am, and she lets me in. I could have been anyone, but I know how to compel a servant to act using that commanding tone of authority and entitlement that I developed as a child." Is this the same "commanding tone of authority and entitlement" that she was going to use with the guerilla? 

With this remark Silvana Paternostro just shows once again that she has no idea of how to treat people fairly. Sirvienta is an extremely offensive word to use in Colombia when you are referring to a housekeeper. Paternostro should know this having grown up in Barranquilla and probably does. Who does she think she is?