Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

In summer 2010 Quebec’s government undertook the exploration phase of shale gas exploitation in the St-Lawrence valley, leading to a wave of protests coming from the non-consenting and ill-informed population. Thus, this paper presents a rhetorical analysis of a video produced by famous Quebec artists advocating for a moratorium regarding shale gas exploitation in Quebec. It aims to understand the influence of source credibility on the video’s reception as well as the power of ethos in the persuasion process that led to the signature of an online petition in favour of the shale gas project’s suspension. Therefore, with the help of rhetoric, attitude change and source credibility theories, this analysis focuses on the source, the message and its style, the audience and the delivery to identify the means of persuasion of this video. The result of this research indicates that the video director has indeed succeeded in building a strong case and managing the source credibility to its advantage through the art of rhetoric.