Project 4

Project 4 Essay

Always hearing about global warming in school and on the news regarding how it affects our planet, I never fully understood it. All I knew was that it was bad for our planet and things need to be done to improve it. After watching Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth, I definitely felt like I understood the whole meaning of global warming and what it’s really doing to our planet. During Al Gore’s film, he gets his point across in a very clear-cut way through a variety for rhetorical strategies like appealing to the audiences’ emotions, his logic and creditability. After watching this, I would definitely argue for the value of his film in trying to help stop global warming.

Al Gore’s overall argument in this film is to stop the spread of climate change on our planet. Gore does this through a very detailed slide show, which helps us get a better understanding of his message. He shows his audience what climate change is going to do to our planet in many visual examples, which help catch the attention of many viewers. Throughout the film, he brings up many problems that have started to occur and will take place in our planet’s future if this problem does not get addressed. Two issues that stood out to me that seem really important in the film was the issue on how different parts of the planet’s temperatures have changed dramatically for a more negative effect. The other issue was the effect that climate change is going on our animals.

One of Gore’s main points in his presentation is how the planet’s temperatures keep increasing because of the amount of Co2 our air. The more carbon dioxide there is, the more temperatures will rise. Gore mentions about how our carbon dioxide is already way too high and it will be even higher in less than 50 years. Researching about the carbon dioxide in our air, I found many defenses on this temperature change. In the environmental article "World Breaks Temperature Records," in 2007, two years after Gore’s movie, there were finds that the globe’s average temperature “combined land and sea surface temperature for December to February was the highest since records began in 1880” (Guardian). Two years later after his film, Gore’s assertions were correct, making his argument more logical and true. Another source I found was an article from the New York Times talking about specific weather changes that have recently occurred. The article mentioned how in the winter of 2009-2010, “freezing weather in Florida were seized by climate change,” and in the summer “heat waves and droughts occurred” (Subhankar). With the cold weather in Florida, it affects the crop growing to be slower and more damaging. Gore mentions how droughts have recently occurred in Darfur because of the lack of rain. Just in this past year we have seen odd changes in the weather. I even witnessed a weather change, which was very unusual in my area. Last winter, a large series of snowstorms came through the Washington, D.C. area that was shown nation wide. That winter, there were record-breaking snowfalls, and cold temperatures. These severe storms led to a lot of school closings, damage to buildings, homes, and roads. Seeing this research supports Gore’s point in being successful with his findings. Because of the temperature changes, Gore points out how oceans have been getting warmer, which causes more storms, hurricanes, and tornados. He brings up many examples that have been happening in the past couple of years to make his points in the film valuable. He mentions how recently the floods of Mumbai India were causing a lot of damage. Lots of people lost their homes and many had to walk long distances to get to places. Another example Gore used which really appealed to the audience was the event of hurricane Katrina. Using this example as a result of global warming would really catch the attention of Gore’s audience. It was a devastating destructive incident that caught the eyes of our whole country, and affected so many people in different ways. Him connecting Katrina to global warming catches the emotions of viewers. That example likely connects to the audience in some way, making his argument valid.

The other issue Gore brought up in his film was the effect that global warming is having on our animals. Gore discusses about how glaciers keep melting away everyday because of the sudden rise of the temperatures. Glaciers do normally melt a little each day, but it’s becoming faster. Because of this melting, it affects the polar bears. The bears rely on the ice and they need it to be able to survive. If these polar bears start dying, they will soon become endangered. It has already been seen that the polar bears are thinner and less healthy than in years past. Al Gore talking about how animals will suffer, it gets his audience’s attention. There are bound to be people in his audience who have an interest in animals, or cares about them. Since who would ever really want animals to suffer? I know it got my attention. Exploring Gore’s statement about the animals I found that he was correct with his facts. In an article titled "How Global Warming is Changing the Wild Kingdom," it mentions many other animals that are going suffer from the climate change. According to the article, “Many fish species are moving northward in search of cooler waters” (Than). This can affect a species’ ecosystem in that “the timing of natural events like flowering, migration, and egg-laying can shift” (Than). The disruption of the ecosystem can change behaviors, which can be a threat to the species’ survival. In another article, The New York Times states that because of the higher temperatures “coral reefs are under severe stress that scientists fear widespread die-offs, endangering not only the richest ecosystems in the ocean but also fisheries that feed millions of people” (Gillis). Not only does the coral reefs effect the ecosystems, but it can effect us too.

Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth definitely fulfills the intended message about stopping global warming. He gives the right logic, while appealing to the audience’s emotions at the same time. Researching his issues and then comparing them to what he says gives him even more creditability. His arguments were accurate with adequate evidence and viewpoints. Gore touches to the audience in some way or another during his film with his use of appealing to the emotions of his viewers. Overall Al Gore’s film definitely serves as a logical and valuable piece of information that people need to act on in this world of climate change.

Works Cited

Baneriee, Subhankar. “Global Warming.” www.nytimes.com. Associated Press, 6

Oct. 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2010.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html

Than, Ker. “How Global Warming is Changing the Wild Kingdom.” Life Science. 21

June 2005. Web. 24 Oct. 2010.

http://www.livescience.com/environment/050621_warming_changes.html

Guardian.co.uk. World Breaks Temperature Records. 16 March 2007. Web. 24 Oct.

2010. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/mar/16/weather.climatechange

Gillis, Justin. “Extreme Heat Bleaches Coral, and Threat is Seen.” www.nytimes.com. 20

September 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2010.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/science/earth/21coral.html?ref=globalwarming

An Inconvenient Truth Formal Response

After watching Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth for the second time, I felt like I understood it better this time around. In this documentary, Al Gore gives a lecture about our climate in jeopardy through a very detailed slide show. Gore starts out by describing what global warming is. As Gore goes through this slide show he gives many examples of how global warming is affecting our us and our planet. He also shows what is going to be happening to the planet in years to come if this issue does not come to an end. By the end of Gore’s film he closes with talking about how people need to start acting instead of watching our planet be destroyed. That people need to take action immediately to bring the carbon emission down.

The film’s overall argument is to stop the pollution on our planet. He explains this in two ways. One being a very complicated way scientists would see it and the other way was a cartoon picture explaining it, which was more understandable. Throughout the film, Gore gives examples of what global warming will do to our planet. He uses specific examples on Earth that have already been affected. He talks about how the ocean temperatures have been getting warmer which creates more storms and hurricanes.

Gore also tells the audience personal experiences that some how fit in with what he is trying to put across to his viewers. One of the first examples he used was his son getting hit by a car. His son was hospitalized for a very long period of time, not knowing if he would survive. Finally, his son started breathing on his own and made it through. This is what made Gore want to be involved in the whole global warming act. His son he loved so much almost died, and he couldn’t let other people feel the same way if their loved ones started getting sick and dying just because of what the Earth is doing. I thought this was very effective in appealing to the emotions of the readers. Listening to this story, it makes the audience feel really remorseful about what happened which eventually flows into wanting to fix our planet so no one has to go through something like that.

Overall, I thought Al Gore as himself being the speaker gave him a lot of creditability throughout his lecture. Most people know who he is because of his background as a politician and him almost being the President of the United States. This makes the audience aware that he is definitely well educated and knows what he is talking about. He even had clips about his run for presidency during his lecture. Which he then turned into how he would take his work into a new direction to the environment. Throughout his slide show he had citations of where all of his information had come from. I also responded to him well because of his good voice and tone throughout the whole presentation. He had a very informational tone as well as a tone for a level of concern about our planet, and that this situation is really important to address. As a whole, Al Gore really gets his point across using the different rhetorical strategies of logos, pathos and ethos.

Project 2

Project 2

Throughout the advertising world there are millions of commercials, posters, and billboards that try and use rhetorical strategy to persuade. Walking around somewhere like a college campus, there are always flyers and posters everywhere for students to read. When going on our class walking tour of the Ohio University campus, the Baker Center stood out as a place where I could make a great promotional piece for students on campus.

When college students read something like a brochure or flyer it usually has a message of telling the reader to go to an event or place. The makers of the brochure or flyer try to have something that would appeal to college students. I chose to make an informational brochure about the Baker Center. My audience target for this brochure is college students. I chose college students as my audience for a Baker Center brochure because the Center is mainly for the students with tons of resources available, and they should be able to take advantage of that. The Baker Center is a building that is central on campus where students use the escalators to get from the lower and upper parts of campus. I stuck to this genre as the brochure being informational by just giving the hard facts. Throughout my brochure I try to use rhetorical strategies to try and keep the reader interested.

The brochure that I created for the Baker Center has one column of history about the “old” Baker Center that used to be located on the North Green of campus. It says in the brochure what was consisted in the building like a game room, dining room, and administrative offices. The rest of the brochure focuses on the “new” Baker Center and it’s amenities. This includes student services that Baker offers, entertainment and leisure, and the different dining services that are located in the building. I also put pictures next to these amenities because this type of information in the brochure would appeal to students more that this is a “cool” place to hang out. I did not put any information about things that might sound too educational because this would disinterest the audience. Most students in college don’t want to hear about more educational opportunities because they already know what they want to do. They likely wouldn’t pay attention to any brochures or flyers talking about those opportunities. Other strategies I used to try and appeal my readers is by comparing the two different Baker Centers and appealing to their logic, credibility and their emotions.

Comparing the information about the old Baker Center versus the new one was important to appeal my audience. I put the history about the old Baker Center so students could see how different and similar they are. Both Centers have some sort of fun game room. There’s billiards in the new one, and an 8 lane-bowling room in the old one. They both have a place to eat; however the new Baker Center has more options. By comparing and contrasting these two in the brochure, students can see differences visually in the pictures too. There’s more of an updated, high-tech version to the new Baker than the old one. Students are drawn to more new places than the old ones. The Baker building seems more modern and clean. For example, if you put two iPods in front of a student, where one is the newest version and the other made a couple years ago, the student would more likely pick the latest version. Looking at the brochure there’s color on the side where the new Baker is, and black and white on the side were the old one is. The color in the brochure is of the font and pictures, so it stands out to the audience. They would be drawn looking more at the new side. When making the brochure I definitely appealed to students’ logic by giving the correct facts about the Baker Center. The facts are bulleted under each category so it’s not confusing. I also tried to address the audience’s creditability. When first making the brochure I had originally made the font really fun to have it stand out, but when finished making it, I decided it didn’t need to have that font. I realized I should put a more simple, sophisticated font. This is because the fun font would have appealed to more of a younger crowd. Finally, I really appealed to the readers’ emotions in that I’m a college student myself, so I can relate to the brochure too. Since I’m a student, when making this I put things in there that I would want to see that other students would most likely want to see too. Like leaving out information about educational opportunities. I wouldn’t want to read a brochure about that. So I tried to use the majority opinions of what other students think.

The rhetorical strategies used in my brochure capture the reader really well. I used many different ways to try and get catch the attention of a college student. In making this brochure you really have to aim towards one group of audience. It’s really hard persuading a variety of different types of readers. Those people in the advertising promoting their product or commercial really have to aim towards a specific group of people to get good results.