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Gas Land Documentary: In the documentary “Gas Land” Josh Fox collects and analyzes a lot of data from field sites and personal experience of the locals to prove his point on the topic of hydro fracking. Josh Fox is an environmental activist he has directed several documentaries and written many articles about environmental hazards. I believe in this documentary Josh Fox does a very good job at putting the right mix of pathos, ethos and logos into this film. What is hydraulic fracturing? Hydraulic fracturing is when you drill into the earth along natural gas pockets. Once you drill the well you pump a mixture of chemicals and water into the hole and burst the surround shale. Like in the beginning he tries to teach everyone what hydraulic fracturing is, he says “In order to frack you need fracking fluid. A mix of 596+ chemicals from the unpronounceable, to the unknown, to the too well known. The brew is full of corrosion inhibitors gel and thrilling additive bioscience shit” This is a great example of how well Josh Fox knows what he is talking about. In this documentary Josh Fox gives detailed examples of historical facts and hard to miss details that prove that Hydraulic fracturing is very bad for the environment. All of these facts add a lot of logos to the documentary. It makes you feel like you are learning a lot about the world but also convinces you to be on his side. For example Josh says “Dick Cheney passed the 2005 energy bill which exempts the oil and natural gas industries from the safe drinking act and roughly a dozen other acts” He then continues to show clips of congress and Dick Cheney discussing this bill. These clips try to convince you that what you hear is the truth. They show clips of people signing bills and smiling at the camera. I believe that this is hard core facts that you cannot say are false. This shows how corrupt the government is. They have passed laws and acts that allow major companies that they have worked for, are working for, or are paid by, to continue hydraulic fracturing without environmental testing. Josh Fox said “Each time they drill a well they need between 1 to 7 million gallons of water. Each time they go back and frack an existing well they need between 1 and 7 million gallons of water. They can frack a well of to 18 times in its life.” “They started west… then went south… 450,000 wells times 18 times 100,000,000- 700,000,000 million gallons is something like 40 trillion gallons of water (40,000,000,000,000) all infused with the 596 + chemicals in the fracking solution.” As you can see he gives great facts that show you how much water we consume and how much toxic water we pollute into our environment because of hydraulic fracturing. Josh Fox appears direct and calm when he is trying to prove to the viewer what these large companies are doing are wrong. I believe he acts this way so his audience will not feel like he is yelling at them or trying to force them to his side. These facts bring a good amount of logos to this documentary. The amount of logos can overwhelm you at some times during this film though but I do believe it brings urgency to the topic. In the film Josh travels around visiting the locals and learns how they have to live there life due to the water problems that come with hydraulic fracturing creates perfect Pathos for this documentary. Josh also uses personal testimonies from people that are living right next to and near the mining area. Some of those people have gotten very ill and have long term problems. In this documentary Josh Fox visits many family homes and farms where they have and haven’t allowed the natural gas companies to drill. When he visits these people they show great concern for their own well-being and for the future of the environment. This adds a lot of pathos for the film. For example when Josh Fox goes to these homes most have polluted well water that is consumed with natural gas. They cannot drink it or even use it to wash themselves. With the water being so contaminated with natural gas if you would hold a lighter under the water faucet and turn on the water fire would shoot out like a flame thrower. (Here is a link to one of those clips by Fox, Josh ). Fox visits these families to try and bring out your emotions toward them. You are supposed to have safe drinkable water coming out of your faucet not poisonous unknown gas. Even after the companies started drilling many residents did not know that there water was contaminated so badly. They have been drinking the water for a while. Many people have gotten sick and the only explanation was there water. Josh shows this in his documentary through personal testimonies of many people. They get Headaches, there disoriented, dizzy, light headed, and some have received brain damage. Who knows what else this water can do to you. In this documentary there were families that have sent samples to labs to get the water tested. These labs have said that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the water during this time Josh Fox was looking at the jar of water and it was filthy yellow with brown in it and looked undrinkable. It was undrinkable because the community’s water is getting contaminated is by the waste pits. These waste pits are where they put the fracking fluid after they use it. They dig a big hole in the ground and sometimes line it with a tarp or a “special barrier” It then waits here till they can pump it into trucks and ship it out. This is where it seeps into the water shed and contaminates all water nearby. (Here is a link to a waste pit song by Kitko, Kris ) During this part of the film Josh makes it seem very gruesome and bad so he can get the audiences emotions going against these companies. This creates a lot of pathos for the viewer. It shows how much worse your life can be and how little people can change their own fate. After you watch this documentary you get the feeling that Josh Fox does have some ethos towards him but not much. He is just an average middle class man who grew up in the woods of Pennsylvania. He is just trying to help others because he doesn’t want them to get manipulated. In the film they show him several times at hearing and campaigns for and against hydro fracking. He has created a name for himself by what he has done and what he is still trying to do. Even though he doesn’t have that much credibility he has enough for this documentary. Jeff Fox created this documentary to convince and show the public what natural gas companies are doing to our environment and our people. Jeff started this documentary when he was offered a large sum of money to allow companies to drill on his property in Pennsylvania. He created it to show what has happened to the people that say yes to the gas companies’ agreement. He was trying to show the audience of America the real truth about hydro fracking and the gas companies. Fox has many great points with a lot of logos, pathos and ethos for this film. These facts created a lot of emotions for this documentary. With the emotions towards American families and the hardcore evidence, Josh Fox has created a lot of credibility towards himself as a person. He has spoken in front of Capital Hill and fought many battles against Natural gas companies. Even though I do believe that this film can be very biased, this documentary is very convincing the way it is presented.Dear Reader, My rhetorical analysis on “Gasland” was intended on showing the reasons why Jeff Fox presented the case as he did. In this essay I show how in the film you can see how Jeff uses pathos ethos and logos to get his point to the audience. I believe the readers of my essay would be anyone interested in the film “Gasland” and people that are looking to allow the gas companies to drill near their property. To start this essay I used different example of what Jeff did in his film to grab the audience’s attention. He used Pathos, Ethos and Logos. I wrote this essay with as much detail and examples I could from the documentary. Once I got all the facts I tried explaining why Fox used them. I wish I had a better outline to start with so I wouldn’t have to edited and change so much of it later on. On my second edit I changed a lot of the paragraphs format and added little detail. With the tips and edits from my peers I will be able to write a better analysis.Thanks,Forest Johanneson Works CitedFox, Josh. “Do not drink this water”. YouTube. YouTube, December 10, 2010, September 21, 2012Fox, Josh. “Gas Land.” YouTube. YouTube, July 5, 2012, September 21, 2012Kitko, Kris. “Frack Pit Love Song.” YouTube. YouTube, May 9, 2011, September 21, 2012 ................
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