Rhetorical Analysis Of The Film 13th, By Ava Duvernay

CRIMINAL At the 106th national NAACP convention, Barack Obama presented an astonishing fact, “The United States is home to 5% of the population, but 25% of the world's prisoners, think about that.” Directed by Ava DuVernay the Netflix Documentary “13th” presents the issues of the incarceration system throughout the United State’s history. By exploring the 13th amendment to the US Constitution, race behind prisoners, and the overall increasing amount of prisoners, the author effectively presents the argument. Logos, one of the most powerful rhetorical appeals used in the documentary, with statistics from start to finish about the prison system since the beginning of the country. Following the statistics, there is ethos containing credible sources.

There are clips from professors, former presidents, and even social justice leaders. A black background is the first thing to appear then the word is scratched out every time. There is never any color presented, which represents a dreary setting. This gives a very negative connotation to the word. The contrast is very high between the foreground and background, which makes sure it is the only thing the audience is focused on. The rhetorical appeal pathos is used in making the word seem more powerful. Audiences will ponder the word, and what considers as “criminal” and what does

Former presidents: George H.W, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and more are in the spotlight. This provides strong evidence through ethos, as all the presidents are well known and trusted to an extent. The presidents are seen in older videos during conferences explaining different ideas about incarceration. Visually their names are not presented as the author presumes the audience will recognize the head of state. Other than the former presidents to add credibility, professors from harvard and even social justice leaders like Angela Davis are seen to further the authors point. Angela Davis in black and white videos, is seen fighting in court and winning as an African-American female, showing the audience the magnitude of her victory. The Birth of a Nation was an American silent drama film produced in 1915. It was originally called the klansman and features the KKK as a heroic group. The film was shown in snipits in “13th” to employ emotion on the audience, the usage of pathos is effective, as the film is old, black and white, and racist. The audience will feel negative on the topic, as this is how some humans in America used to be portrayed. The author is getting to the point that change needs to happen to the prison process in