Orr 1

Griffin Orr

Mrs. Cox

RC 1000-169

10 October 2022

Rhetorical Analysis

“Coronavirus: America’s Reckoning” is a compelling documentary addressing and

presenting the trials and tribulations wrought on the American people by the coronavirus.

Continuous lapses in leadership as well as extreme and unexpected demands presented by high

numbers of cases and deaths piled on to make the epidemic as big a disaster as it was. The virus

led to an economic depression, an overload on the American healthcare system, hundreds of

thousands of deaths, and consequently widespread panic and sorrow, all of which are made clear

in the documentary. “Coronavirus: America’s Reckoning” utilizes strong elements of ethos,

pathos, and logos to convince the audience of the true suffering inflicted by the coronavirus and

the unity of purpose that the American people must have to conquer it.

The documentary is headed and narrated by Sky News US correspondent, Cordelia

Lynch. She is our catalyst between the information and the interviewees the audience is

introduced to. With Cordelia being the lead narrator of this film, her delivery is a make or break

for the effectiveness of the film in delivering its message. Her demeanor and delivery are

professional and succinct and have a significant impact on the film's effectiveness. Cordelia

delivers all information with confidence, building trust with the audience. All interviews are

performed efficiently and professionally. All interviewees and sources of information are

credible like professionals, such as healthcare workers, or real families that have experienced the

terrible effects of Coronavirus. Trust in the speaker and film is further built on the grounds of the
 Orr 2

film’s ethics and empathy surrounding the Coronavirus. By attacking those that downplayed

Covid-19 and essentially helped create the epidemic as we know it, the speaker builds further

trust and credibility with their audience. Presentation and filmmaking quality also benefit how

the viewers see Cordelia and the interviewees. Powerful framing, with speakers taking up the

entire screen, along with powerful and emotional music gives the speakers more punch to their

words. These audio and visual elements convey a sense of purpose and power. This presentation,

with high quality and emotional charge, brings out a greater sense of credibility for all interview

sequences.

This film makes use of emotions throughout the runtime and it plays greatly to its

persuasive capabilities. This constant presence of emotion is inherent considering the subject

matter. This emotional tension is well leveraged in making an impression on the audience.

Covid-19 brought a constant onslaught of depression upon the American people, at least to those

who acknowledge it. As such, melancholy music, dreary greyed-out colors, and interviews with

the affected are always, one or the other, present in the film. While this does provide a

depressing tone, it evokes empathy and pity for those that have dealt with the virus,

professionally or personally. These emotions greatly benefit the persuasive power of the film.

Along with empathy the film also evokes anger when discussing the negligence displayed by

government officials, particularly Trump. His initial denial and facade of confidence, led to a

mass of the American people also denying the threat of Covid-19 and further spreading it. The

Film bears down on this fact, implicitly laying blame upon the aforementioned, and invokes

disgust and anger in viewers. The film's attention to these dark topics also brings out a sense of

compassion from the directors and speaker and further builds trust with the audience.
 Orr 3

“Coronavirus: America’s Reckoning” is very well structured as well as providing

constant evidence to appeal to the audience with logic and consistency. Audio of Donald Trump

denying the growing issue of Covid-19 as well as footage of the ugliest parts of the epidemic like

temporary mass graves are shown to viewers. Interviews with professionals (morgue workers,

healthcare workers) and families of those who have died are blended with the speaker providing

terrifying statistics about the death rates and death counts throughout the nation. All of these

elements work together to provide undeniable evidence for the film's basis and argument - that

which itself weighs on a logical approach to the virus. It’s understandably assumable that the

documentary is logical when it makes its point by critiquing the illogical decisions that lead to

the epidemic building into such a long-lasting issue. As such, the documentary has heavy use of

logos to appeal to and persuade the audience. When looking at the coronavirus, providing

statistics and visual evidence of the decrepit circumstances found nationwide is essential

considering the skepticism surrounding Covid-19 in general.

“Coronavirus: America’s Reckoning” persuades viewers to believe in the threat COVID

poses with logic, emotion, and credibility. Logic is used when showing the directly illogical

actions which led to the outbreak being as bad as it was. Actions and comments made by, more

specifically, Donald Trump are cited in reference to this. Emotion is seen throughout the

documentary due to the subject matter. Intense music along with a dark color palette evokes

empathy and dismay within viewers. Credibility is demonstrated through heavy citation,

statistics and death rates, and several interviews with professionals and victims. All of these

elements create a persuasive and moving film that efficiently expresses its beliefs.

Works Cited
 Orr 4

Coronavirus: Americas Reckoning. Directed by Emily Purser-Brown, Sky News, 2020.