Analysis of Ethos in "An Inconvenient Truth"

    An Inconvenient Truth is an unforgettable and awe- evoking documentary. It uses facts, quotes, statistics and graphical data along with a variety of anecdotes and juxtaposition of images in order to prove its thesis on the subject of Global Warming. An Inconvenient Truth is highly effective in combining the three elements of rhetoric. In doing so, it emerges as a haunting revelation of our planet’s future. The exposition of the film is cleverly crafted.

     The first scene appeals to Pathos through the visual and audio element of nature. It then jumps into Ethos, in doing so, it strives to answer the why a political figure such as Al Gore is the most indicated to present  information that does not ideally relate to politics . Through the use of footage of Al Gore speaking to large crowds and being the subject of camera lenses, his credibility is somewhat established. The fact that he is addressing the public and getting positive feedback from them (this is clearly shown through the fact that his audience is listening to what he has to say and stampede to take pictures with him). However, this is not enough to show Al Gore’s credibility. This is when Al Gore is shot speaking to the audience about the 1^st picture of Earth taken from outer space. He is juxtaposed next to the picture of Earth, to imply that he cares about the planet. If this is not enough, he states, “Isn’t that beautiful, this image is a magical image”.  Through this, he is fortifying his ethos by showing that there is a connection between him and the planet.

     As stated in the New York Times’ Warning of Calamities and Hoping for a Change in 'An Inconvenient Truth' movie review, “He is, rather, the surprisingly engaging vehicle for some very disturbing information. His explanations of complex environmental phenomena — the jet stream has always been a particularly tough one for me to grasp — are clear, and while some of the visual aids are a little corny, most of the images are stark, illuminating and powerful.” Indeed, Al Gore is the medium by which the logos is distributed. The information itself is hard news, and in order to get it across, Al Gore’s relation and motivation is embedded within the introduction of his college professor, Roger Revelle, into the film. Al Gore talks about his professor’s research and how he showed him and the rest of his class, the results on the increasing levels of CO2. This contributes to Gore’s background, for it implies that his knowledge is rooted back to 1^st hand experience, accomplished through his college professor’s research. This is highly effective in linking Gore to the issue of the environment.  “Gore's commitment to reversing global warming had its origins in his student days at Harvard and continues as he takes his multimedia show (a blend of scientific data, startling photographs, statistics, cartoons and humor) all over the USA and abroad.”, the USA today. This proves the fact that the ethos was successfully established. The three elements of rhetoric come together so perfectly, giving life to this film.

I Will Never Refuse in Spoken Words (Writing for English Class)

      Many refer to it as the day France fell; I refer to it as the day hell executed its will on my homeland. It is not a mere fall in which one can get back on its feet in a matter of seconds, it’s a fall in which one’s bones are shattered at contact with the concrete floor.  This was an invasion of our safe haven, and now we are within the reach of the savage inferno that has unleashed throughout Europe. The chains held within the hands of Hitler’s army have slashed the jugulars of the innocent, waiving a brutal flag threaded with blood. We live in fear, fear of the reaction of the Nazis at our refusal to bathe in the blood of the innocent, fear of being strangled slowly with these chains until we can no longer breathe in the putrid air. And so, I will never refuse in spoken words, and neither will my children. These perceptions only exist in my mind, for as long as they’re not spoken, they don’t exist in the real world.

  Yet this real world feels more like a purgatory to me. We are all trapped within the ductless, airtight walls of Hitler’s army.  And every time our brothers and sisters are taken away at gunpoint, it feels like the ceilings collapse over us, revealing the darkness in what is beyond these four walls.  We are all one, one for all and all for one. But these chains have classified us into two distinct groups and penetrated the necks of one.  They pay for their believes, yet when I see them, they are people whose hearts beat as fast as mine, and their children are as gullible to the world as my children are. There is not a day where one can live with serenity, for there is always the fear of being victims of bombings or getting caught up in a day like July 16, 1942 when many Jews were taken away to be exterminated like rodents. This hell my children and I live in is indescribable, for as a family we are broken ever since the day that Jean Pierre was forced to work for Germany on the basis of terror. No force was able to stop this, for it was never opposed in spoken language. As of today my children and I struggle along the days, tolerating the hunger we feel and the censorship placed upon us like heavy shackles.

       The day France fell was the day France slowly began to die. For this invasion was like cancer. It multiplied up to a point of mortality. They usurped our government, hanging those vile flags that represented glory to them over the walls of our city.  They say our government isn’t dead, that it is under the hands of Philippe Petain, but we all know that this is not true. All hope is dead, freedom is dead. This government of ours is just a puppet; it no longer lives nor breathes freedom. These repugnant monsters have destroyed not only our government, but our land and unity.  The day France fell was the day we fell onto the verge of death. That day feels like it was so long ago. Today we are no longer living on the verge of death, we’re way past that, we live within this inferno where only the flames can be heard and nothing else.