Oceans of Pollution was written by Dahr Jamail and published by Al Jazeera, an English language version of an Arabic network based out of Qatar. The article focuses on the increasing amount of pollution found in the worlds oceans, the effects it has had and will continue to have on ecological systems, and also stresses the need for federal agencies to take action. Throughout the article, Jamail effectively utilizes logos, pathos, and ethos to support his thesis.
In Oceans of Pollution, Jamail raises some basic but key concepts. For example, he speaks about how pollution, especially improper plastic disposal has increased 100-fold in the past four decades and that it is one of the leading causes of changing ecological systems. Jamail then moves …show more content…
The use of photographs within the text of the article is one example of pathos. Photos are effective to solidify emotional responses from the reader. This is especially true considering the photo at the beginning of the article which shows a young child looking distressed in a sea of garbage. Sympathy is evoked and the emotional tone is set. Furthermore, connotative meanings are invoked in a selection of spots throughout the article. One such use is when Jamail refers to a quote which speaks of garbage lining the shores of Antarctica. This is effective because the reader should know that except for a small number of researchers, Antarctica is uninhabited by humans meaning there should be no reason for such a large amount of garbage to be present. Another use of pathos evident in the article is the use of vivid descriptions which help enhance the visualization and emotion of certain arguments. For example, instead saying that water ends up back in the ocean, Jamail integrates a quote: “Every tear you cry … ends up back in the ocean system,” which increases the emotion and reality of the situation. Jamail also appeals to the reader’s humanity when he mentions that “Probably every sea turtle on the planet interacts with plastic at some point in his life.” While extensive use of pathos takes away from the legitimacy of some articles, the types and amount used in Oceans of Pollution actually increases it’s worth in relation to the authors
In Oceans of Pollution, Jamail raises some basic but key concepts. For example, he speaks about how pollution, especially improper plastic disposal has increased 100-fold in the past four decades and that it is one of the leading causes of changing ecological systems. Jamail then moves …show more content…
The use of photographs within the text of the article is one example of pathos. Photos are effective to solidify emotional responses from the reader. This is especially true considering the photo at the beginning of the article which shows a young child looking distressed in a sea of garbage. Sympathy is evoked and the emotional tone is set. Furthermore, connotative meanings are invoked in a selection of spots throughout the article. One such use is when Jamail refers to a quote which speaks of garbage lining the shores of Antarctica. This is effective because the reader should know that except for a small number of researchers, Antarctica is uninhabited by humans meaning there should be no reason for such a large amount of garbage to be present. Another use of pathos evident in the article is the use of vivid descriptions which help enhance the visualization and emotion of certain arguments. For example, instead saying that water ends up back in the ocean, Jamail integrates a quote: “Every tear you cry … ends up back in the ocean system,” which increases the emotion and reality of the situation. Jamail also appeals to the reader’s humanity when he mentions that “Probably every sea turtle on the planet interacts with plastic at some point in his life.” While extensive use of pathos takes away from the legitimacy of some articles, the types and amount used in Oceans of Pollution actually increases it’s worth in relation to the authors