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Greta Thunberg’s Speech: Rhetorical Analysis
This persuasive and rather emotional speech was delivered by sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental and climate activist. She is famous worldwide for calling on leaders and governments to begin taking sufficient steps to fight against climate change. This speech was given on 23 September 2019 at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.
As it seems from her words, Greta’s purpose was to accuse the older generations of failing the younger ones and stealing their childhood with their empty phrases (“Greta Thunberg’s Full Speech”). What is more, she was there to make young people understand the whole horror of the situation and let them know that now it is only their task to solve the problem.
Greta’s speech is a good example of adding power to words by utilizing literary strategies, including the rhetorical triangle. First, she uses logos by providing specific facts, numbers, and statistics to support her claim. For example, Thunberg notes that “the popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in ten years only gives us a 50% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees,” which is concrete and reliable information (“Greta Thunberg’s Full Speech” 00:02:18-00:02:27).
Second, Greta uses pathos by making the speech quite emotional and blaming the older generations’ representatives for their kids’ and grandchildren’s current and future sufferings (“Greta Thunberg’s Full Speech”). What is more, by saying, “we are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth,” Greta also uses pathos to awaken guilt in listeners (“Greta Thunberg’s Full Speech” 00:01:11-00:01:21). As for ethos, it appears once in the speech. After providing statistics, the speaker refers to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“Greta Thunberg’s Full Speech”).
Another rhetorical tool efficiently used by Greta is repetition. Throughout her speech, there are four times when Thunberg repeats, “How dare you!” while appealing to the world leaders (“Greta Thunberg’s Full Speech”). Such an emotional phrase said by a girl to influential people may sound rude, but it actually draws listeners’ attention to the level of anger of the younger generations.
It is fair to admit that this speech is quite effective because of the emotions embedded in it, as well as the proper usage of several rhetorical tools. Greta’s words are filled with evidence, statistics, and proofs that cannot leave the speech inefficient and listeners indifferent, so the actions to solve the problem are likely to begin.
“ Greta Thunberg’s Full Speech to World Leaders at the UN Climate Action Summit. ” YouTube , uploaded by PBS NewsHour. 2019. Web.
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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Greta Thunberg — Greta Thunberg’s Powerful Speeches: A Comprehensive Analysis
Greta Thunberg's Powerful Speeches: a Comprehensive Analysis
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Summary of speech, contextual analysis, rhetorical analysis, language and tone analysis, critique and evaluation.
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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Speech By Greta Thunberg
At the U.N.’s Climate Action Summit in New York City in 2019, Greta Thunberg gave a speech following one of the most climate-damaging years in history. Despite her home country of Sweden placing fourth in the Climate Change Performance Index by Germanwatch, Thunberg was exasperated by the lack of effort to save the planet, and her speech reflects her intentions to pressure those in charge into action against climate change. Thunberg begins her speech by addressing world leaders, berating them asking “how dare” they strip her from a world where she can grow, and forcing her to be in New York when she “should be back in school on the other side of the ocean.” Reminding her audience of her age, a 16 year old child, Thunberg instills a sense of responsibility and guilt in those she is addressing and …show more content…
Her continuous use of “you” to address those in charge directly gives her speech emotional intensity and directness, challenging those in power to change or cause the next generation’s suffering. To solidify the force of her speech, Thunberg employs “we” and “us” 10 times. She creates an “us vs you” mentality in her audience, and villianizes world leaders. Through this, Thunberg creates a connection to everyday people, the “us,” placing her and them on the same level and increasing her relatability, making her easier to stand behind. Simultaneously, this allows her to make those in power, the “you,” an enemy of not only her, but the general audience as well. Her sentence structure also reflects her anger, as she utilizes simple sentences to create her speech. Thunberg avoids using complex sentences, making her address strong, direct, and easy to understand. Sentences like “you are failing us” and “we will never forgive you” are
How To Interpret Thunberg Speech
September 7, 2024 Analysis of Greta Thunberg's Speech Imagine a world where the loudest voices were those of the youngest, demanding change from those in power. In 2019, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg took the stage at the United Nations before global leaders, not to ask politely but rather to scold them for their lack of action in the face of climate change. Her speech made the climate crisis a global discussion, highlighting the inactivity of those who are supposed to protect the future. Thunberg delivers the
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May 13, 2022 · For example, Thunberg notes that “the popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in ten years only gives us a 50% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees,” which is concrete and reliable information (“Greta Thunberg’s Full Speech” 00:02:18-00:02:27).
Feb 7, 2024 · The speech we will analyze is titled "Our House Is on Fire," which was delivered by Greta Thunberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 25, 2019. In this speech , she highlights the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for immediate action to prevent catastrophic consequences.
In a time when young people are taking a stand to demand action against global problems like climate change, Greta Thunberg has been among the familiar names for many people. After all, she is the one who gave that famous passionate speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, held in New York on September 23, 2019. Here, Thunberg calls on the audience to take global warming more ...
Nov 12, 2020 · Altogether, these nine concepts will formulate a rhetorical analysis on the rhetorical artifact. Analysis . Climate activist, Greta Thunberg in her speech uses several rhetorical tools to emphasize a call to action towards climate change. In her speech she calls upon the social truth of the effects of climate change.
policymakers to take action. So, Thunberg's speech was powerful because it reached the right people those who can make decisions, create rules, and spread the word to fight climate change. Media Treatment The media's coverage of Greta Thunberg's speech at the UN Climate Action Summit really focused on the most dramatic and emotional parts.
September 7, 2024 Analysis of Greta Thunberg's Speech Imagine a world where the loudest voices were those of the youngest, demanding change from those in power. In 2019, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg took the stage at the United Nations before global leaders, not to ask politely but rather to scold them for their lack of action in the face of ...
Analysis. Greta Thunberg addresses the theme of humanity’s survival in a distinctively direct and forceful style that blends strong, clearly stated factual evidence with emotional appeals. This speech exemplifies some of her preferred rhetorical strategies.
Apr 9, 2024 · Dominik Schmidt’s article (2021) presents a focused analysis of Greta Thunberg’s climate activism rhetoric. Examining 30 of her speeches between November 2018 and March 2020 through a post-structural discourse lens, the study reveals how Thunberg crafts a ‘global people’ in opposition to ‘world leaders’.
Analysis: Unpopular / Prove Me Wrong. In her speech "Unpopular," Thunberg’s unusual choice to directly attack her listeners is a stark, impactful contrast with the formal tone of most political speeches. Speaking to the powerful delegates at the UN Climate Conference, she eschews polite diplomacy and instead makes her case using simple, blunt ...
due to the mass media attention, influence on public policy, and the so-called ‘Greta effect’, inspiring young people around the globe to protest in their local communities (Nevett 2019). This thesis will center around the analysis of the speech which Thunberg delivered at the 24 th