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The creators of Into Eternity and Bowline for Columbine have a common purpose to warn people about possible dangerous outcomes of certain contemporary tendencies. To be more precise, the issues, which brought about the concern, are connected with the storage of nuclear waste in Into Eternity film and legally permitted use of firearms in the movie, named Bowling for Columbine. In spite of the common goal to persuade the mankind to be more careful with killing matters, the directors of these movies deploy quite different approaches for building their rhetoric. For instance, whereas, in the first movie the major rhetoric approach is the implementation of pathos appeal, the Bowling for Columbine not refers to logos appeal more often. In other words, the authors of Into Eternity rely on humans unconscious and irrational perception; meanwhile, the directors of Bowling for Columbine apply to the rational and conscious reception, utilizing concrete data to convince their audience. The purpose of the given paper is to argue and evaluate which approach is more efficient and persuasive.
Into Eternity reveals the utilization of pathos appeal, which is defined as the rhetor’s attempt to appeal to “an audience’s sense of identity, their self-interest, and their emotions” (Williams, n.p). To be more accurate, the given movie arouses the important issue of leaving the effective markets to notify the future generations about the danger, hidden in the repository of the nuclear waste. The directors claim:
In terms of emotional information, there was an interest in a picture by Edward Munch The Scream to portray something that was negative. It shows the feeling of despair and it is very clear so the observer that it is not something good (Madsen et al., 44th-45th min).
The authors of the movie presume that the given picture, as the approach to caution and/or convince, is universal for humans and, therefore, will always be popular and effective mean to persuade. It is a well-known fact that unconscious is irrational because it exists beyond minds activity. Thus, it is relevant to presume that pathos appeal correlates with famous Jungs concept of the collective unconscious. It does not require the process of thinking, but for successful implementation of pathos appeal it is important to pick the information that induces similar feelings and reactions (Jung n. p).
Taking into consideration the particularities of the given method, it is crucial to evaluate the mechanism of its action. For instance, if the effectiveness of the given process depends on the emotions, is the level of individuals emotional capacity critical for this approach to succeed? It is obvious that first and foremost, the evoked dread applies to humans feeling of self-preservation. Therefore, even if people have different ratio of emotional capacity, they will react generally in the same way when it comes to their own safety. Thus, the given conclusion supports the idea of Into Eternitys directors regarding efficient application of collective unconscious.
Meanwhile, Bowling for Columbine implements logos appeal that presumes the use of logic to persuade your audience (Williams n.p.). Furthermore, to argue and evaluate the facts, the chosen approach uses the dialectic method, which implies that one examines one’s assumptions, one’s basic concepts, and one arrives at better assumptions and concepts (Gendlin n. p). The sample of successful data utilization is displayed in the following statistic:
1963-1975: Americans kill four million people in Southeast Asia. 1980s: U.S. trains Obama Bin Laden and fellow terrorists to kill Soviets. 1982s: U.S. provides billions in aid to Saddam Hussein for weapons to kill Iranians (Moore et al. 26th-27th min.)
Obviously, the given statement is meant to convince the audience in dangerous outcomes of being armed. Moreover, a vivid example of presenting assumptions and estimation is another claim:
Annually in Germany 381 citizens are killed by guns, in France-255, in Canada- 165, in United Kingdom- 68, in Australia- 65, in Japan -39, in the United States- 11 127 people(Moore et al. 51st-27th min.).
The given data is revealed to deny the presumptions, which were stated at the beginning of the movie. To be more specific, the authors use this statistic to refute the idea of American cruel nation; the negative impact of thrillers, or military-contented video games; and the ratio of Black people in a certain community. The only assumption left and, thus, it is relevant to state that it is correct, is that the high level of firearms homicides is the facility to access the guns.
To check the efficiency of logos appeal, it is relevant to consider that it applies to individuals cognitive capabilities. For example, if it is a valid statement, is the level of mental capacity crucial for this approach to excel? More likely the answer is positive, it is critical because the success of persuasion in the given case depends on individuals capability to evaluate and comprehend the information. For instance, the kids and adults tend to make different conclusions in the similar situations because the result largely depends on the amount of previous experience and mental development of particular individuals. That is why it is relevant to state that the successful implementation of logos appeal directly depends on peoples mentality and wit.
Nonetheless, in todays community neither pathos nor logos appeals are universal; for example, if the persuasion depends on humans senses how to convince disabled people, for instance, blind or deaf. Unfortunately, none of the given movies is well thought in terms of involving the disabled people (for example, they do not utilize a sigh language). In the modern society there is a significant necessity to enhance the accessibility of information for disabled people. Office for Disability Issues reveals the importance to reach disabled people and induce them to participate meaningfully in a social life (Office for Disability Issues 9).
What is more, in Bowling for Columbine the precautions, connected with potential extension of violence, are omitted. For instance, the beginning of the movie does not warm that its content has the scenes of violence and killing. At first sight, the given omission does not seem to be connected with the initial purpose of films directors; however, it is not true. It would have been reasonable to think about the plausible audience and that fact that it might have included people with mental disorders or small kids. It goes without saying that for certain categories of people the given video may cause more harm than use. In other words, instead of convincing people to stop violence, it may provoke it.
Preceding to explore the audience, for whom the movies were intended, it is relevant to assume that the communication with audience is more efficient in the Into Eternity movie. Consider the case the audience of this movie is clearly defined. What is more, the author of the film directly communicates with these individuals, asks questions and in this way, involves people, sharpening their perception. For instance, the director states we want you to know that this is not a place for you to live it (Madsen et al. 2nd min). In other words, humans, who watch the given movie, clearly understand that it is made for their sake and, thus, this fact increases the chances of the main idea to be apprehended. On the contrary, in Bowling for Columbine, its creators refer to the entire American society, which seems to be too general for particular individuals to attribute it to their own account.
Taking into consideration the given difference between the mechanisms of pathos and logos appeals, it is relevant to state that applying to persons unconscious is a universal mean to persuade. What is more the message to the irrational part of humans mentality may be understood in spite of the plausible language barrier, age differences, and various levels of cognitive processes and, as a result, differences in mental capacity. Meanwhile, rationalization demands well-developed cognitive processes, the warning that is, for example, based on universal markers, can be intuitively comprehended even by mentally disabled people. Nonetheless, the value of dialectic and reasoning is significant because this approach is known to provide unbiased evidence to support certain claims. That is why, as a rule, in order to persuade people both approaches are combined (either in equal parts or not), which creates more compound perception and, thus, assures advanced apprehension of a particular issue.