Rhetoric Analysis for Sicko
Joyce Kim
Mr. Beckway
AP Language and Composition
“Sicko” Rhetorical Analysis
“Sicko” is a documentary produced by Michael Moore that focuses on health care in America.The documentary provides an in depth understanding and analysis of the unceasing health care problems in America. Most of these problems result from the corruption present in the American health insurance industry. The message that Michael Moore is trying to get across to his audience is that of the immortality within the American health care system. Michael Moore is able to get his message across to the public by incorporating the three rhetoric techniques of logos, pathos, and ethos. He uses logos by comparing America’s health insurance to those of other countries, pathos by evoking both feelings of sadness and laughter, and ethos by personally visiting different countries and seeing for himself the profusion of apparent differences. In Part one of the documentary, Michael Moore mainly focuses on establishing the corruption and deception present in America’s health care industry. He built upon this corruption by conducting multiple interviews with previous and current employees of the industry. This established a strong sense of ethos as all the people being interviewed were people who have personally experienced work in the health care industry. One particularly significant interview was with a woman who currently worked in the health care industry. Her job required her to help people who were applying for health insurance. Although this may seem like a simple job, the interviewee talked about having to help applicants of health insurance, whom she knew would eventually be rejected. Even though the health insurance companies are supposed to try to help people, the process of even attempting to get health care is a challenge in itself. The interviewee stated that the list of certain illnesses that prevents one from getting health insurance is long enough to “wrap around [her] entire house”.
Mr. Beckway
AP Language and Composition
“Sicko” Rhetorical Analysis
“Sicko” is a documentary produced by Michael Moore that focuses on health care in America.The documentary provides an in depth understanding and analysis of the unceasing health care problems in America. Most of these problems result from the corruption present in the American health insurance industry. The message that Michael Moore is trying to get across to his audience is that of the immortality within the American health care system. Michael Moore is able to get his message across to the public by incorporating the three rhetoric techniques of logos, pathos, and ethos. He uses logos by comparing America’s health insurance to those of other countries, pathos by evoking both feelings of sadness and laughter, and ethos by personally visiting different countries and seeing for himself the profusion of apparent differences. In Part one of the documentary, Michael Moore mainly focuses on establishing the corruption and deception present in America’s health care industry. He built upon this corruption by conducting multiple interviews with previous and current employees of the industry. This established a strong sense of ethos as all the people being interviewed were people who have personally experienced work in the health care industry. One particularly significant interview was with a woman who currently worked in the health care industry. Her job required her to help people who were applying for health insurance. Although this may seem like a simple job, the interviewee talked about having to help applicants of health insurance, whom she knew would eventually be rejected. Even though the health insurance companies are supposed to try to help people, the process of even attempting to get health care is a challenge in itself. The interviewee stated that the list of certain illnesses that prevents one from getting health insurance is long enough to “wrap around [her] entire house”.