Is that my grandpa?

While losing the battle between my willpower and the heaviness of my eye lids, I found myself almost dozing in my Chemistry Class. I had been up till what could be hazily considered either late night or early morning, and my exhaustion was beginning to really set it. My brain had stopped comprehending what I was writing about 15 minutes prior and I was just about to enter the danger zone of dozing with my eyes open. That is until something sparked my attention.
My professor had been droning on (in explicit detail) about the many many experiments which had gone into the formation of our present day model of the atom. As he was explaining the very cumbersome "oil drop" experiment credited to Millikan, he began to smirk and added very proudly, "But I will let you all in on a little secret. The real brain behind the experiment was BYU's own Harvey Fletcher."
I was instantly knocked out of my comma of drowsiness. Wait; was that my grandpa that he just mentioned? I knew he had contributed to the discovery of what I thought was the electron but I had never really known exactly what he had done. For the remainder of the class I absorbed every word with great detail. I took copies notes and hung onto every syllable that my professor uttered.
And then what Professor Pierotti had been talking about in class suddenly made sense. it was the week that we had been discussing ethos pathos and logos, but it was the idea of ethos that had struck me. Ethos is the idea of playing up to someone's emotions in order to persuade them or convince them of your point of view. Hearing my grandfather's name had connected me personally to the classroom discussion. I felt tied to the lecture from then on and completely captivated. So without even know it, my professor had drawn me into the class by getting me emotionally invested in what he was saying.
Note to self: Ethos can be extremely effective.