The Beach Boys' appeal to Ethos

In Greek, Ethos means character. In writing or any other form of rhetoric, ethos is used to establish the credibility of the author and also provide an appeal to ethos within the audience. The appeal to ethos can be seen commonly in music, especially music from the 1960's. As a time of change, social movements and reformation, the music from the 1960's was heavily filled with rhetoric. The artists on the 1960's used rhetoric in the forms of different appeals to convey their message to their audience and, in many cases, persuade the audience to join in protest. This is the case for the very popular 1960's band, the Beach Boys. In their song "Don't Go Near the Water," the Beach Boys use various appeals to ethos both extrinsically and intrinsically. Extrinsic ethos refers to the credibility that an author possess outside of the argument itself. The Beach Boys were a wildly known and popular band of the 1960's that originated in the early 1960's. In the song "Don't Go Near the Water" the Beach Boys explicitly state their fixed opinion on the pollution of water sources and, by extension, the environmental movement. The nature of the Beach Boys position to the public as a band, known for their love of water and recreational water sports, leads the target audience to conclude that the Beach Boys are credible.
The Beach Boys also use "Don't Go Near the Water" to appeal to their target audience's morals and ethics. In discussing the pollution to the earth's water, the Beach Boys appeal to an audience with similar views on the environmental movement. The Beach Boys express the correlation or relationship of man and the environment in their song to establish intrinsic ethos within the audience. By connecting man's actions with the resulting environmental change and pollution, the audience is inclined to think about or realize how their small changes and choices can greatly impact the environment. In establishing intrinsic ethos, however, the Beach Boys fall short on the aspect of addressing the opposing side. "Don't Go Near the Water" was made specifically with the idea of informing people of the repercussions of their actions, but does not discuss or entertain the rival viewpoints.