He used that same joke in the actual presentation I saw a few years after the film. I will comment on what rhetorical choices I remember from that evening since I have not actually seen the movie.
1. logos - if we continue to damage the planet, then our children will be the ones to pay the price for our actions and try to live in an "unlivable" world.
--This makes me want to help the planet for the sake of my offspring.
2. ethos - a mature, respectable man delivers straight facts on the effects we are have on the environment and what steps we can take as a world to avoid them.
-- I found him extremely believable, and his facts seemed to back the claims.
3. pathos - why would we want our children to suffer for our actions?
-- I don't want them to, but it'll be hard to give up the "American" lifestyle just for their benefit.
4. humor - he keeps you interested in an extremely disturbing topic.
-- I payed attention.
5. affirmation - he provided expert opinions that agreed, backed-up, or even seemed to form many of his claims.
-- He was much more credible to me for having done this, although I am sure there are two sides to any issue.
6. visual juxtaposition - he shows the world as it was, is, and will become if we do not drastically change our actions.
-- I love the earth. I would hate to lose the glaciers. (just kidding, I do like them but realize the issue is much more serious than that)
7. beauty - he shows many beautiful images of the earth and even uses a computer display to show how it could be if there were no pollution.
-- I wish we lived in a world that really looked like that. The images from space make me want to be an astronaut.
8. decay - as the earth heats and pollution levels increase, erosion across the globe will increase, and we will lose many mountains and natural landmarks.
-- This is pretty bad as well when you think about the pyramids and other ancient wonders that have stood for eons.
9. appeals to our sensibility - we know the facts, now what will we do about it to ensure that our world becomes a better place?
-- I would like to help but really cannot until society or laws make it realistic for us all to.
10. audience questions - draws us into the experience.
-- I am sure this applies only to the experience of witnessing him in person, but I really enjoyed at the end when he opened the floor to us to ask any questions on our minds (I was just too far back to do so).
Review:
I'm worried my project will not be what you would like or expect. I am going for more of a tactile and visual experience than can be expressed through a verbal presentation. I will do my best to show it to the class but really think it will be more of an individual spending time looking through it. It will affect each viewer in a different manner and on a personal basis. I guess that from Al Gore I can learn how to visually structure my work so that it has the greatest emotional impact - whether I am going for awe or disgust. I can also focus more on pathos in some manner, still debating how to do that exactly...
Anyway, I wanted to comment on something we discussed a few weeks back in reference to Achilles in Vietnam. Most of the class seemed to agree that we cannot relate to veterans fully because we are not capable of understanding where they are coming from unless we have been there ourselves - experiencing the loss of comrades and brutality of war. I, however, feel that I have experienced much of that loss and brutality. That same evening, I stopped on a corner of Guadalupe to readjust my bag. A man with a mo hawk down the street, fortunately I guess, yelled, "You!" I looked up and he pointed at me, "You! When I get to you I'm going to f**king kill you!" I was scared, thought about standing firm for a second and then decided against it, ran about a block and darted into a woman's dressing shop. I thought I'd be safe in a public place and even hid behind some dresses a little bit. I quickly prayed he would not see me and as he walked past I heard him ask of those around, "Where is that f**king piece of S**t?!?" One stupid woman after he walked past, just behind him, even turned to her husband/boyfriend and said, "Is he talking about the soldier that just ran in there?" and pointed my way. Good thing the mo hawk man was dim-witted! I guess I do know though what it's like to be hated by your own countrymen and feel the dread terror of the fact that they could physically harm you.
I'm not as honorable as people might think, however. I am beginning to realize and be sickened by the fact that I am doing this more as a convenience and personal benefit than to serve my country (I will get to that in a second). I know the pain of loosing a beloved friend as well. The story I told you earlier, even though she did not physically die everything she stood for died to me that day and for me, that can be just as painful. In that sense, I can definitely relate to veterans loosing their fellow soldiers in battle. The only difference is that she is still living and I see her often. You see, she is at this university and I even applied to the major I am because we had this crazy idea that if we had majors within the same college, we would see each other more often. I want to believe that she really did used to care for me. She introduced me to the idea of the Air Force. Her dad is a marine captain and leads the ROTC program at my old school, which I never took part in. My point is, she is in AFROTC with me right now. I honestly didn't know for sure that she would be when I signed on. I don't know what my initial reasons for doing it were really, but I know that now that I see her again (even though we don't talk) the pain is lessened to a certain extent and I think about her less frequently. Please don't think less of me, I am just expounding upon a story "of the truths in my own life" that I told you earlier. My point with these few things is, (except for my digression) that I don't think that the trouble lies in that the general public is incapable of understanding. I think that most people honestly do not want to know the terrible truths available in life and some just don't care. It is also hard for the veterans to express something so terrible as the losses they've faced. It is for me at least. I feel like it's more something that has to be understood and quietly acknowledged than something that can really be expressed through open discourse.
That's all I've got Mr. P. I'm not a bad person, I just don't really know what I am doing. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, got to watch the movie if you had time, and enjoy it!!!
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