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Pathos Ethos In Bowling For Columbine

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The 2002 film Bowling for Columbine is a documentary written, directed, and narrated by Michael Moore. Moore has won numerous awards including the Academy Award for best documentary feature. The film explores acts of violence with guns and the primary causes for the Columbine School Massacre, where two students shot and killed thirteen people and injured twenty-one others. Bowling for Columbine takes a deep and often disturbing probe into what the motives may have been for the shooters and investigates other gun-related issues along the way. Moore explores different aspects of gun-culture such as receiving free guns from a bank, taking a look at America’s violent history, and interviewing important people like Charlton Heston, former president of the National Rifle Association. The film ultimately comes to the conclusion that the American culture of fear along with the accessibility of guns is the reason why there are so many gun-related deaths. This thesis is supported by many examples Ethos, Logos, and Pathos evidence.

Ethos is when the author uses the reputation, credibility, experience, and values of the author or an expert as a means of persuasion. Moore himself is a renowned documentary maker and he ensures that his film is factually true. However, at times he manipulates facts and other people to suit his needs. For example, in the beginning of the film he is seen opening an account at a bank where customers that open an account receive a free gun. Moore himself

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