Running head: Deforestation: Palm Oil

Deforestation: Palm Oil

Paulina A. Aguirre
The University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1301
Professor Hernandez
Running head: Deforestation: Palm Oil 2

Deforestation: Palm Oil

Introduction

Deforestation in carbon rich areas are now known to be in one of the most endangered

forests due to the excessive use of palm oil. Palm oil nowadays is found in all sorts of products,

such as shampoos, doughnuts, Nutella, vegetable oil, food products, and etc., which is causing it

to be the one of the main reasons for deforestation in the world. Deforestation is happening in

several forests that are rich in carbon such as; the Indonesian forests, Brazilian Amazon, in

Malaysia, and other forests. Thus, palm oil has become of the major sources for global warming.

A resourceful website, that will explain what deforestation is causing to the community and what

can be done would be the Union of Concerned Scientists. Science for a healthy planet and a

safer world, website. This website will also demonstrate the ethos, pathos, and logos throughout

the article and will help the reader have a better understanding om what is happening to our

world.

Navigating the Website

First off when getting to the website you will need this link,

http://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/drivers-of-deforestation-2016-palm-

oil#.WePa_BNSw0o. Once at the website you will notice that it is the same as very other

website, which makes it pretty easy to navigate. On the very top right side it gives you a search

bar, following right under gives you a short cut to Our Work, About, Take Action, Subscribe,

and lastly Donate. On the right-hand side of the website, you will see a variety of things such as

content relating to the topic, blogs, posts from twitter, infographics, taking action, which all are

pertaining to the deforestation. When going through the article, you will notice that there are

some words/phrases that are in blue, which are the important information that needs to be
Running head: Deforestation: Palm Oil 3

known. Also, the subtopics are put in bold to catch your eye and so that you will know what will

be reading. After reading the article it will take you to a subtopic Learn More and gives you a

link. When going to that link, it will show you the Palm Oil Scorecard, which basically shows

the progressive that people have made to stop deforestation. After the Learn More section,

follows how much you will like to donate to make change happen.

Pathos

When getting to the website, the first thing that will catch your eye, will be an image

displayed of a forest that had been burned down, at the very top, showing pathos. Pathos is a way

to attract the audiences attention by gaining their sympathy and connecting to their emotions,

causing them, to attend and accept it propositions, or call for action (Covino & Jolliffe, 1995, p.

338).

In the article, it talks about how several species of animals, 15 percent of native

animals are losing their habitat such as; orangutans, tigers, rhinoceros, and elephants whom

are also becoming endangered (Union of Concerned Scientists). In order to get the audience to

feel sympathy, the author(s) put a picture of an orangutan staring out in the forest. Not all of the

animals that live in the peatlands can survive the deforestation, these animals are helpless in this

situation.

Ethos

While working on the supply chain, by companies substituting palm oil with another

product, it is said in the article the peatlands growth is expected to continue (Union of the

Concerned Scientists). Ethos is a type of persuasion achieved by the speaker when the speech

is so spoken as to make us think him credible (Aristotle). Having such a high demand on palm

oil, is causing to drain and empty out the carbon-rich swamps which are also known as the
Running head: Deforestation: Palm Oil 4

Peatlands. When deforestation happens in the peatlands, the carbon and methane rise up to the

atmosphere, and if there is not water table restored, the peatlands will keep on deteriorating

(Union of Concerned Scientists). The authors belief in the article is that if companies and people

dont stop consuming palm oil, palm oil will then become the reason to why deforestation has

become one of the major global warming. Although if we stop consuming and use other

substances besides palm oil it can help deforestation stop and help grow back the peatlands.

Logos

Logos is used throughout the whole entire article and the link given to view the Palm Oil

Scorecard. Logos is persuading the audience by the use of facts, reasoning, and evidence,

proved a truth or an apparent truth (Aristotle). The Union of Concerned Scientists used many

logos, which were in blue font trying to make it stand out and catch attentions. It was most used

when informing the reader how much deforestation is happening, how much palm oil is being

used, and how many were affected by it. An example of logos being used would be; more than

100,000 deaths in Southeast Asia, which refers to how many deaths have been caused by the

dangerous haze that is released into the air when burning the peatlands (Union of Concerned

Scientists). It also stated that companies have adopted commitments to purchase exclusively

deforestation-free and peat-free palm oil, these adoptions made from the companies is a way to

stop deforestation and improve the supply chain (Union of Concerned Scientists).

Conclusion

As we can see the website contains all three forms of persuasions from rhetoric. Rhetoric

is the communication with the purpose if persuading or creating meaning (Downs. & Wardle.

2014). The use of this it has gotten the attention from both of the governments and the private

sector. Theres has been remarkable movements from the Southeast Asian Governments.
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Indonesia has called for restoration on the all the peatlands that have been drained. Malaysia has

started to protect its forests (Union Concerned of Scientists). Deforestation caused by palm oil

will continue to be one of the global warming if companies and governments dont take action on

stopping the usage of palm oil.

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Reference By

Aristotle. (n.d.). Rhetoric. (W.R. Roberts, Trans.). Retrieved from

http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.html.

Covino, W. & Jolliffee, D. (1995). What is rhetoric? In D. Downs & E. Wardle (Eds.)

Writing about Writing (p. 325-346). Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.

Downs, D. & Wardle, E. (2014). Writing about writing: Instructors manual. Boston:

Bedford/St. Martins.

Union of Concerned Scientists. (n.d). Palm Oil. Retrieved from

http://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/drivers-of-deforestation-2016-

palm-oil#.WeQAtRNSw0o