An Inconvenient Truth

Climate Change

Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth acknowledges the threats of climate change. His presentation is a good way of getting people to understand by using multiple videos, pictures and graphs. You would think having a movie based off of a slide show presentation would be boring, but Gore knows how to keep it interesting by speaking emotionally and factually. During the presentation Gore speaks his opinion, shows emotionally startling images, and gives factual information in order for people to understand the consequences of climate change.

Gore is one of a few who actually try to spread the word of threatening climate change. A good point he brings up is big shocking changes versus gradual ones. The process of climate change is very gradual but why should we wait until something shocking happens to do something about it? Relating to this an article by New York Times mentions, “In the meantime, recent fluctuations in temperature have intensified the public debate over how urgently to respond… the combination of flooding, heat waves and droughts in the summer were taken by most researchers trained in climate analysis as evidence to show that weather extremes are getting worse.” Not seeing the actual effects day to day might be a reason people don’t care as much. Gore brings these problems to life by showing many graphs and videos. When he shows a video clip of an ice cap breaking off and falling into the ocean it makes it real. Showing images to the viewers helps them pay attention because they can visually see what exactly Gore is concerned about. Clearly the most threatened area is the Arctic. Already, Polar Bears are becoming the biggest endangered species because they cannot survive without the ice and each day the ice is melting more and more. Gore puts the problems in perspective by showing a map and creating a virtual flood around the world. Many states and other countries would be flooded out when the caps melt and create a 20-foot sea rise. This relates to gradual versus shocking changes because people can now see although this is gradual that is what will eventually happen.

I don’t understand how people could deny global warming or push it to the side to worry about it later. Gore also shows the popular image “earthrise” and you can clearly see the difference of glaciers and lakes shrinking (Ebert). Robert Ebert who critiqued the movie agrees by saying the slide shows images and statistics kept him interested: “Gore stands in front of a graph showing the ups and downs of carbon dioxide over the centuries. Yes, there is a cyclical pattern. Then, in recent years, the graph turns up and keeps going up, higher and higher, off the chart”(Ebert). Carbon dioxide is a main factor in global warming, so the graph helps people see the danger the future has to offer.

Right from the beginning I knew I wasn’t about to watch a boring movie when he tells a joke, “I am Al Gore and I used to be the next president of the United States.” Although Al Gore had already captured my attention with his information he proceeded to share personal stories in his life. He begins to tell how he worked on a tobacco farm as a child and his sister started smoking at a young age. His sister became diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away. If this wasn’t sad enough he tells another story about how later his son was in a tragic car accident and was in the hospital for a long time. His son turned out to be okay but it gave him a new perspective on life. Seeing as he almost lost two people close to him he knew they would never see the world, and I believe this is what makes him care so much about saving it himself. He also brings up where he truly first got his interest when he was inspired by his teacher Roger Revelle talking about the Carbon Dioxide increase (Steig). When steig speaks of all the personal stories Gore shares in his review he says, “And it is interspersed with personal reflections from Gore that add a very nice human element.” Agreeing with Steig I think his speech gains credibility by putting himself out there. By putting himself out there you learn to trust him jut like you would one of your friends. He knows by trusting him you will listen to what he has to say and realize something has to be done.

The way this movie was put together overall attracted viewers. Producers took into account audience emotion when creating the movie. For example, the music placed in was sad when showing clips of ice breaking off or when Gore was telling the story of his son in the car accident and his sister dying. Also, producers knew that they wanted to get what Gore had to say out to the public but a movie being made of a slide show presentation probably didn’t sound to appealing. They then decided to add a little documentary footage of Gore with little clips of him in his hometown and such. This kept viewers interested because they then weren’t seeing graph after graph it was being mixed up. The level of technology that they had would also definitely boost credibility. If Gore walked up to the front of a room with a poster and started pointing to drawn out graphs I am sure nobody would take him seriously. But even I was amazed when they showed some of the graphs on the big screen and how the states would flood as soon as the ice caps melted.

Gores audience could be from 15 and up. The information he is giving is probably too much for anyone younger to understand. There are many purposes of this movie. One would be to inform the audience of what is going on in the world and how climate change is becoming more of a risk. Another is to educate. I am sure many people walked in to that presentation knowing nothing about climate change and walked out with such a better understanding. Gore definitely got his point out to the viewers.

I believe that Al Gores argument was overall successful. As I began watching the movie I didn’t know a lot about global warming or the effects it would eventually have, but at the end I feel I came out with new knowledge. He used very good tactics to keep the audience interested through graphs, personal stories, and jokes. Even if people went in having a disapproving view of Al Gore he gave enough information and facts that they could not be against him. Mixing a documentary and a slide show was a good way to present information and have viewers gain knowledge, but in an interesting way.

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/05/al-gores-movie/

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060601/REVIEWS/60517002

An Inconvenient Truth

In class we watched Al Gores “An Inconvenient Truth” talking about global warming. Al Gores movie is of him giving a slide show presentation that he has done about a thousand times. He talks about how the government doesn’t really try and understand the threats of global warming and that they would rather ignore it until they must handle it. Gore speaks about how he used to be running for president but now he has a passion about getting his word out and speaking up for climate change. Throughout the presentation he gives many examples and life stories. Gore shows graphs, pictures, and videos to gain attention of viewers.

From the very beginning Gore emotionally pulls you in and you can tell that he has a passion for the presentation. Not only does he give us a new knowledge of climate change, but he lets us in on who he is a person. He gives two life stories within his presentation one being about his sister and the other about his son. When he was little he worked on a tobacco field. His sister started smoking at a very young age and continued throughout her life. Eventually, she died of lung cancer and this devastated Al Gore. Later, his son got in a car accident and was in the hospital for a long time. When his son was finally okay, this stepped up Gores motivation on the topic because he knew that his son might not of seen the world and he wanted to save it that much more. Giving these stories made me listen to everything he had to say and understand it more because it became not as much of a text book reading, but more of an actual passion and worrying topic. Sometimes, when speakers just simply lay out facts you start to lose focus. Gore gives many stories, examples, pictures, and videos grabbing your attention. Once the video of ice burgs breaking off and falling into the ocean and melting, it became real. As he kept going and showing what the future would be like as the ocean sea level would rise, it became scary. Seeing the representations of land such as Florida and California and other countries being flooded you start thinking about all the people that would lose their homes.

After watching this video I would say I gained a lot of respect for Al Gore. You can really tell he has done his research on the topic and that he cares a lot about it. It was very interesting to me personally because I actually wrote about climate change in the recent paper. Therefore, everything he talked about I remembered reading, but he cleared it up a little more for me. I thought he did a good job keeping the crowd entertained and telling jokes such as the opener, “Hi I’m Al Gore and I was the old next president.” I could tell right away that it was something I would want to watch.

Baker Center Brochure

As we walked around campus I thought about what would be the best place I could do a project on that people would be interested in. Learning rhetoric there is a lot to take into account such as your audience or whom you are trying to get attention from. Trying to attract my audience I made sure to include pathos, ethos, and logos.

I chose to make a brochure about Baker Center. The genre of the brochure would be informational. It is not something of a fun story to read; it is just to let students know what the history was like, and what they can visit inside the building. Thinking about my audience, I figured a brochure would be a good way for college students to learn about the building because it is a quick and easy read. I am sure students would rather read a brochure then a passage out of a textbook. I knew writing about Baker Center would be something that students would want to hear because basically, every student passes through it each day. Walking through it every day you have to wonder at some point what the history is, or what you could possibly be missing. Specifically, the audience would be students of Ohio University, or students looking into enrolling at Ohio University. Gender, ethnicity, and social class could be of any kind.

When writing, pathos has to do with emotions, and how you make your audience feel. I portrayed this in my brochure by giving quotes from old students and the former dean of students. This would appeal to audience emotion because the quotes showed that they cared very much about the old Baker Center not just educationally but emotionally. The brochure mentions the former dean of students, Terry Hogan, talking to others about how he can’t imagine people not remembering the old Baker Center and how it was hard to say goodbye. It makes you realize that we really will never know about the old Baker Center or what it meant to others. Students can also clearly relate to the building because they can physically see the new Baker Center and know that it is a helpful resource to have on campus. Logos is included in the brochure by using the source I researched: Ohio University outlook archives. By describing Baker Center floor by floor, students can learn features of the building.

Ethos is included in the brochure by giving students quotes and citing who they are. My credibility is reputable because this website is legitimate. By using glitter and colors I knew that would appeal to my audience because they are young. Such features attract the audience and want them to read more about the building.

The topic being meaningful to you in any project you do is really important because then it will turn out ten times better. The purpose of the brochure I made was the fact that I knew Baker Center was new and I wanted to know everything that was inside of it in case I needed something one day. I made sure to include information about what exactly was inside of Baker Center so that students could know if they didn’t before. Also, I thought the history would be interesting because you can compare how it used to be to what it is now. This brochure can help a lot to the audience of students on campus, or enrolling students of Ohio University. This could appeal to enrolling students because this is one of the best buildings on campus and this could attract new students. It gives a look at what it is now and what it used to be. Brochures can keep audiences interested because it is like a brief explanation but enough to get the point.