Banning Plastic Bags Rhetorical Analysis

Melati and Isabel Wijsen’s TED talk topic “Banning plastic bags in Bali” was very interesting because of how involved they were at such a young age. Melati and Isabel are sisters, and they are both interested in making a change in their hometown, which makes them teenage activist protesting for change. Melati and Isabel introduced their campaign, which is called “Bye Bye Plastic Bags”, in their hometown Bali to ban plastic bags. Melati and Isabel have been gathering petitions to support their campaign. They also have participated in beach cleanups, education awareness, and offered alternatives for plastic bags, like using reusable bags instead. The sisters stated, “We’re not telling you it is going to be easy. We’re telling you it is going to be worth it.” Melati and Isabel have a strong argument on banning plastic bags in Bali. By being residents in Bali, they are credible for being a primary source in their situation. Their first- hand experiences also enabled them to bring emotion to their presentation. They delivered statistics to

Melati’s and Isabel’s target audience is adults because adults can make a change much more easily than children can, so having their aid and support brings a stronger impact. The sisters are teenagers, which brings emotion from the speakers to the audience. Being that Melati and Isabel are this young, the audience will try to make an effort to help them out because the teenagers are elaborating on an issue that they feel strongly about and are trying to fix. Adults will take action when they see children suffering, and adults are more sentimental when children are trying to make a change. The sisters share stories about living with contaminated water and air pollution to inflict emotion in the audience. This is a successful tactic because it made the audience feel bad for them which made them give more support for their