Denial is Not a Policy
Hello and welcome to the first AP (Action Project) for my class, Rhetoric! So far, we have studied how to make a rhetoric argument, understanding the rhetoric situation and how to use rhetoric devices. We've created storybooks for children about Christopher Columbus's colonization of America using rhetoric. We also went on quite a few FE's (Field Experience) this unit, we visited an advertizement firm called Leo Burnett, we visited the Chicago Music Exchange, and the Chicago History Museum. For this AP we were given a U.S presidential candidate to study rhetorically. After we researched enough about them we were to create a fictional rhetoric answer from our candidate to a question from an imagined audience.
I was given candidate Beto O'Rourke, and though he is mostly known for his stance on guns and gun violence, due to the recent strikes and outburst about climate change I thought it would be appropriate for a young person to ask O'Rourke about climate change. Here is the video of my rhetoric answer to the question, According to the UN we have less than 11 years before climate change causes irreversible damage to the planet. Your plan for climate change has us barely reaching half of the Net-Zero emissions goal in 11 years. How will your 31-year plan contain the damage done to our planet?
The Script:
MC: Next up we have climate change activist Saorsie Marisol asking presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke about his plan to fight climate change.
O’Rourke: Hello, so glad to be here, and to finally meet you Saoirse!
Saoirse: Yes hello, it is nice to meet you, Mr. O’Rourke. Excuse me for being blunt, but I would like to get right into the question.
O’Rourke: Oh, but of course!
Saoirse: According to the UN we have less than 11 years before climate change causes irreversible damage to the planet. Your plan for climate change has us barely reaching half of the Net-Zero emissions goal in 11 years. How will your 31-year plan contain the damage done to our planet?
O’Rourke: Well, we all, I hope, know that life will be a lot tougher for the generations that follow, no matter what we change at this moment. Now it is only a matter of how many degrees worse can it be. Like you said, scientists are unanimous, we don’t have any more time to take on this incredibly bold and terrifying crisis. I unveiled my climate change plan at Yosemite National Park because recently, 100,000 acres of the park were burnt in the Ferguson wildfire. To know that such a beautiful landscape was hurt because of climate change, it’s heartbreaking.
Now, I will admit, when I was running for senate seat I was given money by the oil industry, but later on students, much like you and many others, asked me to sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge. And I did, I also returned the money given to my campaign. That is why I personally hold a large amount of gratitude for the youth of today, such as yourself and Greta Thornberg, who step up and make the world know what a grave situation we are in. Ulysses, my child, will be around my age in 2050, thinking about this very moment where we could still do something about this impending doom. Thinking about us, about his kids' lives, whether they can even breathe, it depends on what we do now. What I want to do now is as soon as possible re-enter the Paris Agreement and take a lead on an even more ambitious global plan. We will raise limits for power plants and fuel economy standards that save consumers money and improve public health. At last, renewable and sustainable agriculture will be at our fingertips and reinforces communities on the frontlines of climate change. Of course, my overarching goal is to mobilize $5 Trillion dollars for climate change with investments in infrastructure, innovation, and communities. This is all just barely scratching the surface of what we can do right now.
I know my 31-year plan will not take back all of the damage done to the Earth and all of the damage that will be done to the Earth. But I really do believe we can minimize it if we act now. “Literally. Not to be dramatic, but literally, the future of the world depends on us right now here where we are. Let's find a way to do this,” together.
The Rhetoric Analysis I used:
Speaker: Beto O'Rourke
Occasion: A brief televised interview
Context: Recent qualms and strikes coming out against climate change.
Audience: Directly to our youth activist, Saoirse. Indirectly to people watching to know what he thinks about his plan for climate change, the youth of the world who have been fighting for political change.
Purpose: To briefly explain his plan for climate change and the context of his plan.
Subject: O'Rourke's plan for Climate Change.
The Appeals:
Logos:
Ethos:
Pathos:
Rhetoric Devices:
Allusion: "Yosemite National Park because recently, 100,000 acres of the park were burnt in the Ferguson wildfire." Bringing up a recent tragedy caused by climate change shows that Beto is invested and worried about conserving wildlife.
Alliterations: "...with investments in infrastructure, innovation..."
Epanalepsis: " “Literally. Not to be dramatic, but literally..." The repetition of literally emphasizes this last part of his answer.
The Citations:
Betoorourke.com. Taking On Our Greatest Threat Climate Change. betorourke.com. N.a. Accessed Sept. 25, 2019.
Hains, Tim. Beto O'Rourke on Green New Deal: "Literally, The Future Of The World Depends On Us". realclearpolitics.com. Mar. 14, 2019. Accessed Sept. 28, 2019.
Rott, Nathan. Going 'Zero Carbon' Is All The Rage. But Will It Slow Climate Change?. npr.org. June 18, 2019. Sept. 27, 2019.
The YEARS Project. Beto O'Rourke’s Plan for Climate Change. Youtube.com. May 30, 2019. Accessed Sept. 27, 2019.
UN General Assembly. Only 11 Years Left to Prevent Irreversible Damage from Climate Change, Speakers Warn during General Assembly High-Level Meeting. un.org. Mar. 28, 2019. Accessed Setp. 26, 2019.
I was given candidate Beto O'Rourke, and though he is mostly known for his stance on guns and gun violence, due to the recent strikes and outburst about climate change I thought it would be appropriate for a young person to ask O'Rourke about climate change. Here is the video of my rhetoric answer to the question, According to the UN we have less than 11 years before climate change causes irreversible damage to the planet. Your plan for climate change has us barely reaching half of the Net-Zero emissions goal in 11 years. How will your 31-year plan contain the damage done to our planet?
The Script:
MC: Next up we have climate change activist Saorsie Marisol asking presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke about his plan to fight climate change.
O’Rourke: Hello, so glad to be here, and to finally meet you Saoirse!
Saoirse: Yes hello, it is nice to meet you, Mr. O’Rourke. Excuse me for being blunt, but I would like to get right into the question.
O’Rourke: Oh, but of course!
Saoirse: According to the UN we have less than 11 years before climate change causes irreversible damage to the planet. Your plan for climate change has us barely reaching half of the Net-Zero emissions goal in 11 years. How will your 31-year plan contain the damage done to our planet?
O’Rourke: Well, we all, I hope, know that life will be a lot tougher for the generations that follow, no matter what we change at this moment. Now it is only a matter of how many degrees worse can it be. Like you said, scientists are unanimous, we don’t have any more time to take on this incredibly bold and terrifying crisis. I unveiled my climate change plan at Yosemite National Park because recently, 100,000 acres of the park were burnt in the Ferguson wildfire. To know that such a beautiful landscape was hurt because of climate change, it’s heartbreaking.
Now, I will admit, when I was running for senate seat I was given money by the oil industry, but later on students, much like you and many others, asked me to sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge. And I did, I also returned the money given to my campaign. That is why I personally hold a large amount of gratitude for the youth of today, such as yourself and Greta Thornberg, who step up and make the world know what a grave situation we are in. Ulysses, my child, will be around my age in 2050, thinking about this very moment where we could still do something about this impending doom. Thinking about us, about his kids' lives, whether they can even breathe, it depends on what we do now. What I want to do now is as soon as possible re-enter the Paris Agreement and take a lead on an even more ambitious global plan. We will raise limits for power plants and fuel economy standards that save consumers money and improve public health. At last, renewable and sustainable agriculture will be at our fingertips and reinforces communities on the frontlines of climate change. Of course, my overarching goal is to mobilize $5 Trillion dollars for climate change with investments in infrastructure, innovation, and communities. This is all just barely scratching the surface of what we can do right now.
I know my 31-year plan will not take back all of the damage done to the Earth and all of the damage that will be done to the Earth. But I really do believe we can minimize it if we act now. “Literally. Not to be dramatic, but literally, the future of the world depends on us right now here where we are. Let's find a way to do this,” together.
The Rhetoric Analysis I used:
Speaker: Beto O'Rourke
Occasion: A brief televised interview
Context: Recent qualms and strikes coming out against climate change.
Audience: Directly to our youth activist, Saoirse. Indirectly to people watching to know what he thinks about his plan for climate change, the youth of the world who have been fighting for political change.
Purpose: To briefly explain his plan for climate change and the context of his plan.
Subject: O'Rourke's plan for Climate Change.
The Appeals:
Logos:
- "What I want to do now is..."
Everything after this sentence is taken from interviews Beto has already done and information from different sources (see citations) to show that besides recent events he also knows facts and has logical solutions.
- "Like you said, scientists are unanimous..."
I intentionally wanted O'Rourke to have a dialogue with Saoirse, for him to talk to her as an equal and to show that he too knew about the time strain we have to fix climate change.
- "Now, I will admit, when I was running for senate seat I was given money by the oil industry..."
I specifically included this bit show character development within Beto and to show how devoted he is to stopping climate change.
- "I unveiled my climate change plan at Yosemite National Park because recently, 100,000 acres of the park were burnt in the Ferguson wildfire. To know that such a beautiful landscape was hurt because of climate change, it’s heartbreaking."
- "Ulysses, my child..."
Bringing up his own children is the perfect way to get to the hearts of parents and to show his audience that he is thinking of future generations with much more care because of his son.
Rhetoric Devices:
Allusion: "Yosemite National Park because recently, 100,000 acres of the park were burnt in the Ferguson wildfire." Bringing up a recent tragedy caused by climate change shows that Beto is invested and worried about conserving wildlife.
Alliterations: "...with investments in infrastructure, innovation..."
Epanalepsis: " “Literally. Not to be dramatic, but literally..." The repetition of literally emphasizes this last part of his answer.
The Citations:
Betoorourke.com. Taking On Our Greatest Threat Climate Change. betorourke.com. N.a. Accessed Sept. 25, 2019.
Hains, Tim. Beto O'Rourke on Green New Deal: "Literally, The Future Of The World Depends On Us". realclearpolitics.com. Mar. 14, 2019. Accessed Sept. 28, 2019.
Rott, Nathan. Going 'Zero Carbon' Is All The Rage. But Will It Slow Climate Change?. npr.org. June 18, 2019. Sept. 27, 2019.
The YEARS Project. Beto O'Rourke’s Plan for Climate Change. Youtube.com. May 30, 2019. Accessed Sept. 27, 2019.
UN General Assembly. Only 11 Years Left to Prevent Irreversible Damage from Climate Change, Speakers Warn during General Assembly High-Level Meeting. un.org. Mar. 28, 2019. Accessed Setp. 26, 2019.
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