The persuasive essay “Forger Shorter Showers” by Derrick Jensen has appeared in Orion magazine in 2009. It is highly persuasive essay, and Jensen’s thesis argues that “personal change does not equal social change” (Jensen 665). He persuades that the environmental problems are so serious today that the large scale action are required to actually change anything that include the global changes in society and economy. The author examines different aspects of the life in modern society and aims at proving that little everyday acts people do in order to positively influence the environment do not actually change anything, as they were not the acts that brought the society to face these problems in the first place. As the essay concerns personal change, it targets a very broad audience that includes people of all genders, sexual, religious and political beliefs. However, it is mostly oriented on people, who are probably older than 16, and who are conscious about the life on this planet. It also targets well-educated people, as it is published in the respectable magazine that is famous for its publications about environment, social issues and culture. As it is English magazine and the language of publication is English it is directed towards people living in the U.S. and is also available for other English speakers. It is important to note that the target audience also includes those, who are interested in environmental issues and want to make the world a better place. Jensen tries hard to establish the image of an average person in the essay to target the wide range of readers and persuade them that their common beliefs are wrong. The author’s argument is very strong and successfully achieves the persuasive aim of the essay, as Jensen masterly applies three Aristotelian rhetorical appeals to ethos, pathos and logos and balances them to make the argument clear, consistent and effective.
The ethos in the essay is well used, as the credibility of the author is established, as he appeals to common values and beliefs the audience holds to appear knowledgeable and persuasive. In the book, his authority is established even before the reader starts studying the essay. The introduction of the author mentions that Derrick Jensen is environmental activist and the author of multiple books and articles on environmental issues and climate change. It creates an impression that the author is a specialist in the sphere and definitely knows what he is writing. His authority is established in the essay, as he uses relevant vocabulary that creates the impression that he is a professional, while the language used is not very difficult, so it is understandable to his wide range of readers. He also uses personal anecdote to establish the contact with the audience, as he writes that “I live reasonably simple myself” (Jensen 666). These words help the audience understand that he is one of them, and he knows for sure how it feels to limit one’s acts to protect the environment, while these actions do not bring any rewards. The author addresses the common value the audience has about the future of the planet, which is gradually destroyed by human activity and their desire to change the current environmental situation. It also refers to common belief in personal responsibility for what has already been done to the planet, and shows that the situation is far more complicated, as the industry and the structure of the society are responsible for the destruction and not a person taking long showers. He addresses these beliefs cautiously to present his points in a well-developed manner and not frustrate the audience with the claims that oppose their views. However, there are a couple of claims the author uses that seem like “bogus” ones and contain some elements of prejudice. For example, he quotes Kirkpatrick Sale and adds a little comment that “he forgot military” (Jensen 665), when talking about the responsible for the quarter of overall consumption. He does not provide any further information on his remark and leaves it as “bogus”. What is more, throughout the essay, the prejudice towards the industrial complex is felt, and in some cases it is really fierce. For example, he refers to alternative energy solutions as “so-called green energy” (Jensen 666). For sure, a lot of things he says about the energy are true, but it is not substantiated to ridicule the green energy, which is still less destructive than the other sources of energy. Despite these couple of unsubstantiated claims, Jensen does a great job of establishing his authority and credibility in the essay by using professional language and style, telling personal anecdotes that establish him as an average person that understands other people and referring to common values and beliefs, which are shared by the society.
Jensen successfully appeals to pathos in order to establish the contact with the audience and affect them on the deep emotional level to evoke immediate response and achieve the persuasive purpose. From the first lines, the author is trying to affect the emotions of the reader. Jensen often resorts to evoking fear, as he talks about the possible consequences for the planet in case the society is not changed, when he mentions that the economy destroys the Earth, or that “industrial civilization is still killing the planet” (Jensen 666). This fear is aimed at persuading people that their beliefs that the Earth is suffering are true, and it evokes emotional response. He also uses this fear to evoke anger at those responsible for the climate change and current environmental issues. As he shifts the blame from personal to collective change with the emphasis on industry, Jensen identifies the culpable and turns the anger toward them, when he writes, “People are not dying because we are running out of water. They are dying because the water has been stolen” (Jensen 665). The point makes the audience angry at those who are “stealing the water” and those who are responsible for the damage done to the planet. At the same time, the author appeals to empathy and the feeling of self-worth that again may evoke anger at responsible. He mentions how average people sacrifice to make a difference for the planet, while their actions are actually not rewards, as “Let’s say you are die-hard simple-living activist, and you reduce this [waste] to zero. You recycle everything. You bring cloth bag shopping. You fix your toaster. Your toes poke out of your tennis shoes. You’re not done yet, though” (Jensen 665). These images evoke strong empathy, and help the author identify with the audience. People, who actually do all those things and a lot more, may feel empathetic, as well as frustrated and angry to learn that their efforts do not change anything, but that is the goal of the author, as their strong emotions help him to conquer the attention of the audience and persuade them easily. He also uses vivid language with emotionally loaded words, such as destructive, manifest, moral purity, empathy, dead planet, killing the planet and others. These words are aimed at creating a certain tone and mood that is beneficial for the delivery of the main point. The elevated words inspire the reader and produce very strong response; for example, in the final sentence of the essay, the language is redundant with such phrases, as “brave activists that lived through the difficult times”, “did far more than manifest a form of moral purity” and “confront and take down those systems” (Jensen 667). The author appeals to emotions masterly and by addressing fear, anger and empathy and using vivid language and emotionally loaded words.
The appeal to both internal and external logos is also used effectively in the essay, as Jensen provided substantial and concrete evidence and structures his claims to make his argument logical and consistent. First of all, the author uses the objective and current evidence from the variety of sources. For example, he uses factual data to prove his point, as he mentions that “in 2005, per-capita municipal waste production (basically everything that’s put out at the curb) in the U.S. was about 1,660 pounds” (Jensen 665). Even though the source is not acknowledged, it is reliable as it uses national statistics. Generally, Jensen mentions the sources of the information, and they are easily researched and checked for validity and credibility. The argument is consistent and is proved logically. All the points are separated by the paragraphs and each is followed by analysis and explanation. However, the author’s attitudes largely influence the objectivity of representation, and he often uses information to suit his persuasive aim. For example, in the first paragraph he purposely exaggerates, when he asks the rhetorical question, “Would any sane person think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday?” (Jensen 664). It is implied that personal change does not alter much, so it is not the “solution”, but later he contradicts himself by saying that actually it is good that people are trying to live simply. However, it also may be treated as his partial concession to the point of agreement with his opponents. In this realm he also acknowledges the awareness the movie An Inconvenient Truth has managed to raise, while he still criticizes the opponent’s views and provides evidence that personal change is not capable of saving the planet, because there is a need for global social transformations
All in all, Jensen in the essay “Forget Shorter Showers” successfully applies the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos and logos to make his argument effective. He manages to address his diverse audience in logical and consistent manner, establishing his authority and credibility and using logical structure and consistent argument and claims to achieve his aim. Jensen widely appeals to emotions of the audience and triggers immediate response with the help of fear, anger and empathy. He uses a great number of objective, current and reliable sources to back up his claims and also takes the opponent’s point into consideration. Despite several inconsistencies, the balanced use of rhetorical appeals makes the essay informative and strongly persuasive, so the author successfully achieves his goal.
Work Cited
Jensen, Derrick. “Forger Short Showers”. Title of Collection. Ed. Editor's Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year.664-667. Print.
