Mr. Francoeur
American Studies
25 February 2013
An Inconvenient Truth Many people questioned Al Gore’s motives for making the documentary An Inconvenient Truth. They wondered whether he created it because he truly cared about the effects global warming would have on the earth or if he just wanted to make himself seem like a better presidential candidate than his opponents. Throughout the documentary Gore presented many facts and statistics that supported his concern, which created the logos for his argument. He also treated the documentary as more of a lecture or presentation for his audience which gave him the credibility that he needed to create the ethos throughout the film. Finally, he used his own personal experiences to appeal to the audience’s feelings and emotions, creating the pathos. In An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore wants to reach a large audience, particularly nonscientists, to stress the urgency in responding to global warming. Gore uses multiple examples of logos throughout his documentary when sharing statistics and facts that he came upon. One way he presented these facts was with graphs that showed the increase in temperature over the years due to the carbon dioxide levels in the air. The graphs showed a dramatic increase in the levels from previous years which were frightening to see. Knowing the actual levels and how fast they changed made the audience see how dangerous this problem could become if we keep ignoring the issue of global warming. Another way that Gore portrayed logos was through photos of the earth and how it has changed over the years due to global warming. The photos gave a visual example to the audience of how extreme the effects are. They showed erosion