Rhetorical Analysis Of Leonardo Dicaprio's Speech

In the upcoming 2016 election, there are many political topics that voters may see as more important than another. Voters are normally inclined to elect someone with the same look on immigration or economic problems, so that they can influence the world the way they would like. The author of “One political issue matters more than the rest, and it’s climate change,” Courtney Butterworth, argues that the topic that should be a priority and influence our decision making the most is that of climate change. In her article Courtney argues that by focusing on the issue of climate change we can help the economy. She gives the fact that “coral reefs alone generate about $375 billion per year.” This statistic may be true be true but is this the most important matter of the campaigns? Courtney also states that in 2000 “more than 150,000 people died due to the effects of climate change” but is this the only way people are dying in our country? This essay will not only show how climate change has affected our world, but also how other debates are more beneficial to the campaigns.

In order to deliver a successful speech, there are countless qualities that must be present to reach both the emotional and logical sense within a crowd. Through the use of rhetorical strategies and by remaining credible, a speaker or an author can connect with their audience; getting them involved with their writing. In May of 2011, a man by the name of Denzel Washington used multiple rhetorical strategies to deliver a graduation speech at the University of Pennsylvania. While revealing all of the difficult times that he had gone through while in college and discovering what career he wanted to pursue, he inspired millions of people, leaving a profound effect upon the world. Now, with millions of fans, Washington is a famous actor that has starred in numerous movies such as Courage Under Fire, Crimson Tide, and Malcolm X. Washington, along with the authors: Aristotle, Peter Elbow, and Donald Murray, and many others, have made a big difference in the world, simply by using rhetorical strategies.

In his essay titled “Climate of Denial”, Al Gore, a well known environmental advocate and former vice president, verifies the reality of climate change and global warming. The piece is an attack on corrupt companies and news outlets that attempt to persuade the public that global warming is not a critical issue. Gore also earnestly conveys our environment’s current state and offers possible solutions that would increase awareness about global warming and begin to revert the planet back to a healthier, more sustainable state. The overarching purpose of Gore’s work is to call attention to the widespread climate change that is occurring. However, he also focuses on the corruption and bias within the media, and their attempts to conceal the truth about global warming. Writing to those who are conflicted about who to believe, he makes a valid argument that defends the beliefs of he and his fellow activists and encourages others to become more active in the climate change issue.

His tone in this part of the speech conveys his standpoint on the climate emergency and shows he deeply believes that we must do something to change our current way of thinking in order for us to believe that we are in an emergency state. Gore explains that our relationship with the Earth has had a drastic turn since the creation of technology and that through technology our way of thinking has changed. As the technology grows our life span increases. While this may seem to be good thing, it has also had a negative affect. With the increase in population, new technology has evolved to the point where we are making a greater carbon footprint, than we have in the past. The newer the technology the greater the demand and the greater the demand the higher the co2 levels rise. We are so busy creating things we have forgotten that some of these creations have negative consequences on our environment.

Failure is an obstacle, everyone during their life must face and come to accept. But, what really is failure? I see failure as when you try to achieve at something, but do not succeed in doing so. A person who has faced many letdowns in his life is Denzel Washington; as he talks about failures in his 2011 University of Pennsylvania Commencement Address. During his speech, uses of rhetoric can be heard all throughout his words. Making the message he is trying to say to the graduating students that still have their lives in front of them, just so much more robust. Washington’s use of all three kinds of rhetoric throughout his speech about defeat and how to change your thoughts to overcome them.

The election of 2000 took place during a time that was mostly peaceful, unemployment rates were historically low, but however, there were a record number of terrorist threats (Muhlhausen). Despite all of these headlining topics presidential candidate Al Gore and Vice President Joe Lieberman were far more concerned about global climate change (“Al”). Gore was, and still, is very passionate about this topic (“Al”, 9). He has challenged the two biggest polluters in the world, China and The United States to, “Make the boldest move in climate change.” Figure 5

Jim Valvano, a college basketball player at Rutgers University, broadcaster for the NCAA, father, and prolific college basketball coach for North Carolina State University, was presented with the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the ESPY Awards on March 3, 1993. Valvano was fighting metastatic adenocarcinoma, a cancer of the bones, at the time and was not expected to live much longer. Because Valvano’s time was fading, sports fans from around the world were anticipating a powerful speech that they would remember and cherish for the rest of their lives. In his speech, Valvano is able to emotionally connect to his audience with the use of humor, enthusiasm, and urgency to encourage the audience to donate to The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

American political activist Jody Williams once said “There’s a mythology that if you want to change the world, you have to be sainted like Mother Teresa or Archbishop Desmond Tutu. But ordinary people with lives that go up and down and around in circles can still contribute to change.” In an excerpt from his essay “Why Bother?” published in the New York Times Magazine, American public intellectual Michael Pollan reveals his goal to convince ordinary American citizens that they are capable of changing their behavior in order to reduce America’s carbon footprint. Through the use of the four rhetorical elements situation, purpose, claim, and audience, Pollan aspires to have his readers gain a greater understanding that the environmental crisis is “at heart a crisis of character” (Pollan 766). However, although Pollan targets the correct audience to carry out his purpose, he fails to provide proper evidence to support his claim that individual contribution matters.

Actor, Patrick Stewart in his speech, “The Legacy of Domestic Violence”, recounts his personal experiences of domestic violence as a young child. Correspondingly, Stewart describing his violent, and brutal childhood advocates more awareness to the sensitive matter as well as it’s victims which is Stewart’s purpose of delivering the speech. Domestic violence is an emotional subject to many which is why Stewart targets his audience’s emotions with the help from the literary techniques he uses. Stewart’s main usage of pathos emotionally appeals to his audience; furthermore, contributes to the passionate, and empathetic tone emphasized throughout his speech.

Donald Trump recently gave a speech discussing rising Radical Islamic Terrorism, immigration from the Middle East, and a need for a rise in national security while Manchester, New Hampshire on June 13th 2016. He centers his whole speech around discussing how bad a President his opponent, Hillary Clinton, would be in difficult times. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of Finance in 1968 with a bachelor 's degree in economics, and has become a very successful businessman. He’s the Republican nominee for this upcoming presidential election, and is a very controversial candidate and person. He has come under fire for many of his views that he discusses in his June 13th speech. While Trump does make some agreeably points, he renders his speech ineffective because of his heavy reliance on Clinton’s opinion to form his own. If Trump were to become President, his stance on important issues would need to be reached with careful consideration, and not just based on doing the opposite of his opponents.

First, he develops ethos by building credibility and trustworthiness. Not only is he an environmental activist, but an award winning actor as well. The notable man’s success helps appeal to audiences, because if people admire his work in the film industry, then they’ll potentially become more fascinated in his work dedicated to preserving biodiversity and supporting renewable energy. DiCaprio’s ethos is established by demonstrating that he hopes to make a difference. Additionally, he uses logical reasoning in order to appeal to logos. Quoting Abraham Lincoln in the beginning and end of his speech signifies how critical climate change is, because he makes an allusion to the Civil War. DiCaprio incorporates personal experiences into his speech as well, including impressions from some of the countries he visited. While comparing today’s struggle to those of the 19th century, the environmental activist brings to light the importance of protecting this planet. Moreover, an appeal to pathos is created by the use of vivid, emotional evidence. The audience feels sympathy and fear due to the detailed descriptions of the industrial pollution in China, the deforestation of Canada, the glaciers melting in Greenland, the flooding throughout India, and the droughts raging across the United

Substituting fossil fuels with renewable resources would help in preserving the environment. The Pope goes on to explain how our current model of consumption and production has led to a decline in the quality of human life, and water. Many people in power offer weak solutions to the problems at hand and do not do much to remedy them. Since economic interests often supersede the interests of the rest of the population, significant progress is not being made in many areas. The Pope talks about how inactivity toward the issue of climate change is the result of self-destructive habits that humans have. Sometimes humans believe that ignoring a problem will make it go away, but that is not the case.

On March 21, 1994, Tom Hanks received the award for best actor at the 66th Academy Awards for his performance as Andrew Beckett in Jonathan Demme’s 1993 film Philadelphia. The acceptance speech that Hanks’s delivered was an emotionally charged classic that touched upon various aspects of his life, such as the importance of the role that he played in the film, the impact of two individuals from his past, and his overall faith in god. At this moment of time, Hanks used his acceptance speech at The Oscars as a social platform in an effort to increase awareness and compassion towards the victims of the AIDS/HIV epidemic in the United States. Overall, Tom Hanks’s Academy Award acceptance speech for his role in Philadelphia is a powerful and effective speech because of how he uses imagery and firsthand experience from his past to effectively create an emotional appeal to his audience about the then AIDS/HIV epidemic that was taking the country by storm.

Donald Trump’s speech addressed to the United Nations General Assembly on September 19, 2017 was not effective. Despite the speech having a universal message that is hard to disagree with, you can tell exactly which parts of the speech were written by a speech writer, and which parts of the speech were written by Trump himself. This wouldn’t be an issue if Donald Trump’s inflections weren’t full of fallacies and unnecessary statistics. For example, in the third paragraph, President Trump tries to establish his Ethos by listing improvements in the United States since he took office. But many of these cherry-picked improvements have absolutely nothing to do with him being elected. They also have nothing to do with the general theme of the speech. This speech did have examples of effective rhetorical strategies. However, the bad far outweighs the good in this speech and takes away from the good message it originally had.

Many believe there’s a controversy among scientists over the cause of the climate crisis we’ve been undergoing for the last 50 years, but that’s not actually the case. In the film An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore sets out to inform individuals that the increase in greenhouse gas emission, in which causes global warming, is a direct result of the habits we possess as individuals, nations, and planet as a whole. Throughout the film, viewers are introduced to a variety of characters who possess motivations relative to the issue, along with many tropes, images, and schemes impacting the way in which the information is presented. We’re also going to analyze mode of audience and the theme relative to characters, events, and setting.