Erik Chang Rhetorical Analysis: Earth Days Earth Days. Dir. Robert Stone. Prod. Robert Stone. Perf.

Denis Hayes. PBS Distribution, 2009. DVD. PBS Video. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (, 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://video.pbs.org/video/1463378089/>. The beginning of the documentary Earth Days lays out a very interesting premise for the rest of the movie. My video clip begins with a man with a quivery voice speaking about how following the great depression and the Second World War, everybody thought they ought to have a chance to be rich, and achieve what people considered the American dream. Before the clip, they show his face briefly, and it can be seen that he is an old, wrinkled man, who has lived through the eras in which he is talking about. While he is narrating the scene there is a man who takes off his hat and closes his eyes, just as the scene cuts to paneling through what appears to be expensive cars. During this time, ominous music plays, causing the audience to feel uneasy and uncertain of what is to come as a result of so many people chasing the American dream. Following the scene of the automobiles, the audience sees many different products being assembled by assembly lines in factories. As the ominous music still plays, the narrator comments that there was an enormous economic boom after the war. This statement causes the audience to assume, by the use of inductive reasoning, that the sudden economic boom caused the feeling of people wanting to achieve the American dream. Soon after the clips of the many different assembly lines in factories ends, the narrator comments that he was one of many relatively spoiled children because of that. During this time, the video is that of a stereotypical 1950s housewife opening up a refrigerator stocked full of food. After the scene of the refrigerator, a slightly younger looking old man is shown on screen. He begins narrating that he grew up in Rockford, IL and took the conservation pledge at a young age. He pledged to defend from waste, the natural resources of my countrywaters, and wildlife. From there, he comments that he, like many others, saw that being destroyed. While he is commentating the video is showing suburban houses being constructed, as sad music is playing. This is a very emotional clip and it really plays on the audiences pathos. After this scene, the narrator switches and he talks about growing up in a small town full of an abundance of everything and that the pollution, [or] mans impact on the planet, these things just didnt come up for me. During this short three minute clip, I think Robert Stones is setting up his argument. At this point it is difficult to see where he is going, but the premise that he has established in these first few minutes of the film is fundamental in understanding what he will try and argue later on. In this section, he uses a lot of inductive reasoning to lead the audience from claim to claim. We can see him demonstrate that because he states that people wanted to be rich, and then talks about an economic boom, and then nature being destroyed. Stone never specifically talks about how the boom leads to the overall American feeling of sorrow as nature is destroyed for housing projects. Stones argument is very complex because scene after scene, he brings up a new claim, which is somehow connected to the previous one or else it would not be inserted there.