Adam Gutierrez

Period 3 AP English
10/12/14

Ethos, Pathos, Logos Essay

There have been many instances in our lives where we see many forms of persuasion
being used to convince us to buy a product, side with an opinion, join a program, etc. Davis
Guggenheim directs a film titled An Inconvenient Truth that illustrates former Vice President
Al Gores lesson on the effects of Global Warming and helping to raise awareness on the issue.
He uses events from his past to relate to those who are in his audience while at the same time
using this to his advantage in having people side with him in his argument. There are three
persuasive techniques that Guggenheim uses throughout the film. These persuasive techniques
that Guggenheim uses to dig deep into peoples emotions and values by using the persuasive
techniques such as Ethos which applies credibility to Al Gores argument to make him seem
more believable through the film, Pathos which uses emotion to convince people to side with his
opinion throughout the film, and logos which uses logic by showing solid and credible data that
persuades people to believe Al Gores argument on Global Warming.
Throughout the film Guggenheim constantly used a persuasive technique known as
Pathos to convince his audience to side with Al Gore on his argument about Global Warming.
Pathos is the type of persuasive technique that uses an emotional situation or symbol that sets off
a specific type of emotion in the person viewing the film. Al Gore mentions several events in his
life that emphasize his struggles in trying to become president during the election between him
and George Bush. Guggenheims focused on convincing those who did not believe in the idea of
Global Warming and saw it as just a minor issue, and uses Pathos through Al Gores experiences
to open the audiences mind to see that Global Warming is a big issue. For example, in

Guggenheims film An Inconvenient Truth Al Gore describes his early life growing up on a
farm and expresses his happiness towards that past, then shows how the effects of Global
Warming can take away that happiness of being on farmland and can prevent others from
experiencing that too. This is an example of Pathos because Guggenheim uses Al Gores past to
relate to those who have family and possibly enjoy the environment. By using Pathos to change
the audiences opinion on Global Warming, Guggenheim uses a combination of Pathos and the
other persuasive techniques to make Al Gore look approachable and credible while he delivers
his message throughout the film.
The second persuasive technique that Guggenheim uses is a technique called Ethos.
Ethos is a technique that makes the author/character feel credible because they are either
respected or commit acts that make them appear respected through their community.
Guggenheim emphasizes Ethos to convince the audience to see how much of a problem Global
Warming is by using a respectable and credible icon like Al Gore in his film. Al Gore in
Guggenheims film is seen to be a respected and well known man with a credible background.
These characteristics about Al Gore help Guggenheim deliver a more powerful message about
Global Warming because this issue is presented to the public by a figure like Al Gore. For
example, in the film Al Gore would arrive to a presentation with the whole crowd in the
auditorium applauding and cheering at his presence. This gives the audience member the feeling
that Al Gore is a figure that they should pay attention to, which allows Guggenheim to deliver
the message about Global Warming and this message is able to be taken seriously by the public.
Though these persuasive techniques may not work with people who are against the concept of
Global Warming, Guggenheim uses a third persuasive technique that convinces the conservative

group of people with negative beliefs about the concept of Global Warming to see the truth
behind how big the issue on Global Warming actually is.
When Al Gore starts giving a presentation on the progress of Global Warming, he uses a
third persuasive technique called Logos during his presentation. Logos is a persuasive technique
that uses logic and reasoning to convince the audience member to side with their opinion on a
subject. During Al Gores presentation on Global Warming he presents the audience with many
different types of data tables and graphs while he explains the theory on Global Warming. Al
Gore was using Logos because he was using this data to back up his argument on Global
Warming, which not only makes him look credible but also makes the issue seem more
approachable to everyone who is viewing the presentation. Guggenheims scenes in the film
during the presentation perform well in convincing the audience to see Global Warming as an
issue that should not be avoided because of both Al Gores credible background and how well he
performs in explaining the theory of Global Warming and using the data presented to relate to his
argument. For example Al Gore presents to the audience a graph of increased temperature
overtime, and eventually this graph goes off-screen or off the charts as Al Gore described. Al
Gore explains that this off-screen growth would show a large temperature increase in the world
as time progresses if nothing was done about it. Logos is used in this scene because the metaphor
Al Gore used with the graph flowing off the screen both shows the bigger issue with Global
Warming, while also showing his credibility in being able to explain the data and how it relates
to Global Warming. Guggenheim uses this persuasive technique as well as the other techniques
explained previously to project the bigger image of Global Warming and not only gain the
support of those who believe in the concept of Global Warming, but also is able to convince

those who are skeptical about the idea of Global Warming and may see it as bigger than they
may have thought.
In retrospect, Guggenheims message that he tries to illustrate in his film is to convince
his audience that Global Warming should not be a topic that should be taken lightly. He uses Al
Gores respectable background and likeability with those around him to help deliver that
message through his film and make the message seem all the more powerful. By using Pathos
and Logos together Guggenheim is able to appeal to the audience members emotions while also
making the facts stated in the film seem credible and believable through a well-known figure
such as Al Gore being able to narrate throughout the film. Guggenheim uses Logos to be able to
convince the harder members of the audience who may prove to be more difficult to convince to
side with the prevention of Global Warming because they may not see the data. Guggenheim
performs well as a director to show proof that Global Warming is a real issue and is able to
reference the sources through Al Gores expertise on the subject and with Al Gores experiences
as a person that led to his passion in teaching others the importance of being aware of Global
Warming. By using all three of these persuasive Techniques I believe that Guggenheim delivers
a powerful message that everyone should be aware of Global Warming and its effects, and to
make an attempt to reverse these negative effects of Global Warming in order to better our
world. Although Guggenheim performs well in persuading me to side with his opinion on Global
Warming, does that mean he will be able to persuade you too?