Summary Of A Drop In A Plastic Ocean

The speech that will be critiqued is called, “A Drop in a Plastic Ocean: How One Person Can Make a Difference.” The speaker is Emily De Sousa, an environmental activist. It was obvious from the beginning as to why she decided to speak in front of the audience, to persuade them. More specifically, it was a speech to actuate. De Sousa wanted people to agree with her that plastic pollution is a problem in the world’s oceans and get them to take action to better protect marine life’s environment. She wants people to find alternatives to plastic to stop harming sea life. De Sousa knew who her audience was, adults her age or older, who could take action against this. This is why she uses stories to get them to feel the same way she does. She used
She tells the audience that she is a licensed scuba diver and has done lots of research on the ocean, marine life, and its pollution. This alerts the audience that she knows what she is talking about and the information is coming from a reliable source. She goes to pathos right after. This is the appeal she uses the most. De Sousa tells the audience how when she visited the ocean, there was barley and sea life. She also uses pathos to show people where plastic ends up, on the ocean where marine animals live, and that it is responsible for millions of sea turtle’s deaths. She even shows a picture of a straw in a sea turtles’ nose, which is heartbreaking to look at. Another example was when De Sousa talks about how heartbreaking it is to see firsthand plastic pollution in the ocean because it threatens animal survival (De Sousa 2018). Then she uses logos to communicate with people. For example, oceans produce how we get most of our oxygen, and most of the earth is water. She also mentioned that by 2050 it is estimated that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Using rhetorical appeals can help with convincing different types of people in the
There are two ways to convince people to a cause, according to persuasive principles. The first route is the central route. It targets analytical people who need evidence and may take more time to persuade. She has lots of evidence and statistics from reliable sources to convince these types of people. Having evidence is a good way to prove a point, because it shows the numbers behind one’s content. The second is the peripheral route, they aren’t convinced by numbers and can get persuaded easily. This is where her anecdote was a good choice. She talked about how she wanted to see the brightly colored coral but saw plastic was a powerful way to get the audience to feel her emotions (De Sousa 2018). It was a personal story, which shows a deeper connection to a topic. In the speech, she used storytelling as a means of persuasion, which was a good idea. The information stated was undoubtably convincing, but De Sousa lacked in her delivery. One area she could improve on is her vocal variety. Throughout her entire speech she kept the same voice tone, pitch, volume, and pace. At parts it even seemed monotone. In the middle, she did say she was