An Inconvenient Truth Rhetorical Analysis
As one looks around the world, they may see different laws being passed by different governments about this thing called global warming. Global warming is when the atmosphere lets in light but keeps heat from escaping. We all know that when heat is trapped then things start to get hot. That “thing” is good ole planet earth. This is a big concern because the change in climate is becoming so fast that some living things may not be able to adapt (National Geographic). Also, climate change brings more intense storms and then followed by a long drought where no rain will fall. In Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore discusses the issue of global warming. Some people believe that global warming doesn’t even exist while other people are die heart supporters of Al Gore’s view. The way Gore uses scientific evidence throughout his movie to persuade the people that global warming is an issue in society, has lead me to take the side of Al Gore on this issue.
The main point in Gore’s video is that the people of the world are the cause of the “greenhouse effect.”This warming happens when certain gases in the earth’s atmosphere trap heat. As Gore explains in his movie, this causes the ice caps to melt which means the sea level will rise causing the shorelines to go deeper into land. Consequently, this would cause a lot of damage to cities and countries around the world. Parts of Italy would be overrun by water along with probably the most disturbing fact of the new World Trade Center Memorial in New York would be completely covered by water (Gore). To those families who lost loved ones this would be a major decision to try a stop the effects. In Gore’s presentation, he explains three factors that he brought to the World Meeting. The factors were population, technological revolution, and the world needs a jolt. With more people now, all the hard work for industries and farmers have doubled and more gases are being put into the atmosphere. Then with technology, the world is coming out with different inventions like hybrid cars and solar panels to try and lessen the harmful chemicals put into the air. The last one, which I think is the most important, is that the world needs a jolt to finally do something. I compare this to 9/11 when intelligence knew something could happen, but they waited until something bad happened like plane crashes to finally do something. In this case I hope we don’t have to wait until something very bad happens to finally get a response from the people on how the world is changing for the worst.
Al Gore is successful in getting his point across that global warming is a huge issue in society. He is starting to get the point across to younger generations so they can try to stop it in their life. Nick Gourley of Eagle, Idaho said, “Oh, they showed his movie here and we all liked it and realized how big the problem really was. We’re recycling in our room now in a grocery cart” (Huffington Post). Without Gore actually being there and talking about it himself, the movie basically speaks for itself. Gore is also getting across to some Republicans. Nick, who’s whole family is Republican, said, “Once you see the movie, it’s a no-brainer.” The movie has to be pretty good to get a Republican family to believe in what he is saying. In his movie, Gore explains how the World pulled together to stop O-Zone depletion. He then challenges the people to rise up and try to stop this also. This is relevant to Gore’s point because this shows him that the world is capable of pulling together to stop these big problems like global warming.
Since Gore was “almost” the President of The United States, he obviously is a really good public speaker. In this movie Gore is no different. He is very good at trying to persuade people to think the way he does with evidence. Where Gore got me was when he started stating all these facts that he has researched and facts that top scientists in the world have told him. 10 of the hottest years on record have occurred in the last 14 years (Gore). The hottest year on record happened only 5 years ago!Some skeptics may think that is just a coincidence, but in fact the world is getting hotter. Some people believe that the earth is cooling and not heating. According to Ker Than, “ Now, according to three new studies published in the journal Science, it turns out those conclusions based on satellite and weather balloon data were based on faulty analyses. The atmosphere indeed warming, not cooling as the data previously showed.” The world is getting hotter because of the greenhouse effect. Gases are blocking the heat from getting out of our atmosphere thus redirecting it back down to our planet. Another part of the movie was when Gore had a chart on his power point. It showed gas emissions throughout the years and how they keep increasing. He then went onto a cherry picker to rise up to the point where emissions will be in the future (Gore). The evidence there was mindboggling.
Throughout the movie, Gore uses ethos in his movie a lot to play with the audience’s emotions. When Gore is introduced, he walks on stage and announces himself as the “should have been” President of The United States (Gore). It was a good tactic because it gets a laugh out of the audience. It also makes the audience feel like this is a normal person talking to them and not this huge political figure. Gore fluctuates between humor, sad, and serious tones. He illustrates a sad tone when he talks about his sister dying from lung cancer. He tells a story about how when he was younger, his family owned a tobacco farm where he lived. His family would always be working at the farm. His sister went to the hospital and was diagnosed with lung cancer. After a couple of years his sister died and his family closed down the farm (Gore). He used this to make the audience feel bad for him and therefore pay more attention when he goes back to talking about global warming. In between Gore talking to the audience using his graphs, the movie would cut into Gore thinking or talking about global warming at a meeting or visit. This gives the audience kind of an insight on his life and all of the meetings that he goes to. In the final scene is where Gore gives his “call to action” speech. The video shows the world from a photo from space and the tone of the music changes to a very serious one. He then shows earth as a little speck on the screen. He explains how everything we do happens on that speck and says, “It’s our time to step up to the plate” (Gore).
Although many people dislike Gore as a person, you have to be with him on the global warming issue. He has basically devoted his whole life trying to tell the people of the effects of global warming. He is very knowledgeable and he has the top scientist working for him on this issue. Gore knows how to use persuasive techniques to have people join his side and he knows how to play with the audiences’ emotions as well.
Works Cited
"Global Warming Interactive, Global Warming Simulation, Climate Change Simulation - National Geographic." Environment Facts, Environment Science, Global Warming, Natural Disasters, Ecosystems, Green Living - National Geographic. Web. 26 Oct. 2010.
Henneberger, Melinda. "Melinda Henneberger: HuffPo's Melinda Henneberger: Gore Sells Out Idaho's 10,000 Seat Taco Bell Arena "Faster Than Elton John"..." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. 23 Jan. 2007. Web. 26 Oct. 2010.
An Inconvenient Truth. Perf. Al Gore. 2006. DVD.
Than, Ker. "Key Argument for Global Warming Critics Evaporates | LiveScience." LiveScience | Science, Technology, Health & Environmental News. 11 Aug. 2005. Web. 26 Oct. 2010.
