Becoming Catalysts for Change Outside of CLQ 3360 and 3361 Why Positive Emphasis Disparities exist between classroom discussion and reallife experiences Garrard Interpersonal communication affects climate images and attitudes Cole 265 ID: 274089
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Slide1
Balancing Apocalyptic and Positive Emphases in Climate Change Rhetoric
Becoming Catalysts for Change Outside of CLQ 3360 and 3361Slide2
Why Positive Emphasis?
Disparities exist
between classroom discussion and real-life experiences (Garrard)
.
Interpersonal communication affects climate images and attitudes (Cole 265).
Style is important in politically-charged discussion (Grant 79).Slide3
“No good has ever come from feeling guilty, neither intelligence, policy, nor compassion. The guilty do not pay attention to the object but only to themselves, and not even to their own interests, which might make sense, but to their anxieties.”
Paul Goodman (
qtd
. In Hardin 9)Slide4
What Will We Discuss?
Can positive messages inspire change?
Why use negative
l
anguage?
Why use positive language?
What is Kitty Locker’s positive emphasis?
How do Locker’s suggestions relate to films about climate?
What are the consequences of negative approaches in films?
How can we apply positive emphasis to climate discussions?Slide5
Can Positive Messages Inspire Change?
Though negative language has a function in communicating the urgency of climate change, rhetoric using positive emphasis is generally more effective in inspiring public agency on climate issues than negative, apocalyptic messages. The concept of positive emphasis can help us—students of CLQ 3360—relate our new knowledge of ecological concerns to the world beyond the classroom.Slide6
Why Use Negative Language?
Builds Ethos
Honesty
Example: Layoffs
Avoids “
Panglossian
Disorder”
“The neurotic tendency toward extreme optimism in the face of likely cultural and planetary collapse”
Views vulnerability as weakness
Communicates UrgencySlide7
What Is Kitty Locker’s Positive Emphasis?
Translating Tools for Business Communication to Environmental RhetoricSlide8
1. “Avoid negative words with negative connotations” (Locker 40).
Negative: Congress has failed to pass Kevin’s law.
Better: Congress hasn’t passed Kevin’s law.
Still Better:
If enough constituents write to their legislators in support of Kevin’s law, the bill could pass in 2013. Slide9
2. “State information positively.
Focus on what the reader can do rather than on what you won’t or can’t let the reader
do” (Locker 41).
Negative:
T
he
EV1 will not allow you to drive more than 70 miles without visiting a charging station.
Better: You can drive 70 miles without recharging in the EV1.
Still Better: You can conserve energy by driving an EV1, which
can operate for
70 miles
before recharging. Slide10
3. “Justify
negative information by giving a reason or linking it to a reader
benefit” (Locker 42).
Negative: We cannot allow the tar sands project to grow without causing significant pain to the Fort Chipewyan people.
Better: To
honorably uphold
the treaty with the people of Fort Chipewyan and allow them to live safely in the environment they have sustained for hundreds of years while preserving its natural beauty, talk to your representatives about downsizing the Alberta tar sand project.Slide11
4. “If
the negative is truly unimportant, omit
it” (Locker 42)
.
Negative: Being environmentally conscious means choosing to walk and bike instead of drive when possible. At least you don’t have to walk
three
miles
to reach clean
water, the way people do in parts of Uganda
.
Better: Being environmentally conscious means choosing to walk and bike instead of drive when possible.
Still Better: Being environmentally conscious means choosing to walk and bike instead of drive when possible. By doing this, you can stay healthy while promoting environmental sustainability. Slide12
5. “Bury
the negative information and present it
compactly” (Locker 42-3).
Positive Messages
Beginning and end
Bottom of the first page
Ample
space and time
Negative Messages
Middle
Short, without repetition
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Slide13
How Do Locker’s Suggestions Relate to Films about Climate?
An Analysis of
An Inconvenient Truth
,
Chasing Ice
, and
Six Degrees Could Change the WorldSlide14
Is An Inconvenient Truth
a positive film?
Happy Chapter
Depicts solutions
as “afterthoughts”
Referred to as “a
nature hike through the Book of Revelations” (
Nordhaus
and
Shellenberger
)
Gives most time to expressing the
depressing state of
climate
“Tempered
Apocalypticism
” (Johnson)
Takes a big-picture approach
Appeals to the everyday citizen
“Mixes” rhetorical strategies (Johnson 32-4)
Uses a strategic title
“In America, political will is a renewable resource”
-Al GoreSlide15
How does Positive Emphasis work in Chasing Ice?
Negative Language
Refers to an “irreversible tipping point”
Includes an incongruent happy chapter
Says a minimum of 1 million people will be displaced already.
Attempts at Positive Rhetoric
Uses beautiful imagery/art
Takes a big-picture approach
Engages scientific rhetoric for ethos
“The happy
c
hapter
was vague,
general, and offered
impractical
solutions.”
-Student, Panel Discussion Slide16
Does Six Degrees Could Change the World
use Locker’s positive
e
mphasis?
Apocalyptic Approach
Negative Language—”Appetite for energy”
Includes trivial, negative information
Asks audiences to identify with human victims
Happy Chapter
In spite of happy chapter, ends film with, “14,000 new cars hit the road every day.”
Focused on small, personal home changes.
“We need to hear something that empowers us”
--Student, Panel DiscussionSlide17
What are the consequences of negative approaches in films?
Implies lack of consensus .
Alienates the audience (Garrard).
Falls behind rhetoric of climate deniers.
Can result in negative latent functions no matter the audience (Duvall).
Denial
FatalismSlide18
How can we apply positive emphasis to c
limate discussions?
Pick Your Battles
Emphasize Benefits
Praise Achievements
Be Specific
Watch out for Hidden NegativesSlide19
“[The environment]
is a highly v
alue
-laden content, and one person’s solution may be another’s catastrophe. It is a content that incorporates aesthetic, spiritual, social, political, and economic dimensions alongside (not separate from) the purely scientific. Furthermore, it is a content that does not and should not focus solely on environmental disasters and negative issues. Environmental education is not simply about ‘saving the whale’ or indeed ‘saving the world.’ It is equally about the development of an appreciation of the wonders and beauty of the world, and a sense of
wanting
to save it—in short, the development of ecological thinking or of an en environmental
ethic” (Garrard 378).Slide20
Discussion Question 1
Identify a film that used negative language effectively. What functions did the negative tone serve and what did the filmmakers do to mitigate the consequences of negative language?Slide21
Discussion Question 2
Some believe that apocalyptic language is a sign of weak environmentalism while others think that it is a response to political tension surrounding environmental issues. Do you believe filmmakers and politicians use negative language consciously or, like the examples above, as a result of a political ‘climate?’ Slide22
Discussion Question 3
How might positive emphasis translate into your life and environmental awareness beyond CLQ 3360?