Running Head: RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

Sustainability Innovations in Formula One Ivan Valdez University of Texas at El Paso

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS Sustainability has and will be in the plans and issues of corporate businesses, and big

supermodels of environmental waste like in this case, Formula One. Formula One, also known as F1, is an international form of fast, aerodynamic auto racing. For many people, this type of car racing is a perfect example of environmental waste. Therefore the Formula One Teams Association, (FOTA) is applying new technology innovations to F1 cars. This text is an online article, written by Mike Scott, and published by The Guardian, a British daily newspaper. The article is fairly current, published the fifth of August. The URL of the webpage The Guardian, is a commercial domain, which indicates it might be operating for commercial purposes. The visual along with the article appears to be an overhead photo shot, of the McLaren formula one car pit crew team in action. The argument put across by the text is the argument towards sustainability and the Formula One Teams Association that decided to monitor Formula Ones emissions, electricity, and other waste the Formula One teams and car produce during test, practices, and event races. The argument further explains how McLaren, a Formula One team is applying new technologies to not only change the approach of making new, more environmental friendly cars, but is also applying the technology to medicine. Upon reading the article, and analyzing the visual, the author uses ethos, pathos, and logos to present the argument of Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) and McLarens sustainability efforts and innovations. Could Innovation in Formula One Drive Sustainable Technology, is the title of the article. Throughout the article from beginning to end, ethos, the appeal to credibility is used by Mike Scott, the author. Primarily, Mike Scott works for The Guardian Newspaper, as a writer and just that makes him have credibility for his works since people trust the Newspaper. The article is published through The Guardian, and is under the category Sustainable Businesses. Scott always uses correct grammatical sentences in the article in which to some even refers to the

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS McLarens team spokesman directly, Sustainability is extremely important for us as a business, says Ben Heatley a spokesman for the team. (Scott, 2013, para. 5) Quoting the teams spokesman makes the reader more confident in the author and his credibleness. Mike Scott provides facts from FOTA, which are sources that if clicked, will open the Formula One Teams Association official site and press releases. From there the reader can read an about FOTA section that in details explains the association. This makes the author and the article seem more

credible. The author uses this form of ethos to persuade the reader of the credibility of the article. To make his argument credible, the author Scott gives information on how the McLaren Formula One team is using their applied technologies in areas ranging from sport to medicine. Scott states The telemetrics that assess a car's performance on the track have been used to monitor critically ill children with serious heart conditions at Birmingham Children's Hospital, for example. (Scott, 2013, para. 16) This approach or assessment makes the team McLarens credibility of effectiveness rise, since it uses its telemetrics to monitor critically ill children which survival can be crucial to them. Most of Scotts argument is found giving statistics and percentages in numbers, and quoting the McLaren teams spokesman Ben Heatly, which also states It was not just the development of carbon fiber bodies that the company pioneered. It also transformed the production process, (Scott, 2013, para. 17) which makes his argument more effective in ethos and credibility nonetheless. The sources the author is getting the information from are primary sources, like the spokespeople and CEOs themselves. This is how the author presents the article to our ethos. Of the argument the author provided related to ethos, some argument can be made for towards pathos. With the help that McLaren and its telemetrics does to critically ill children with serious heart conditions at Birmingham childrens hospital, this statement in the text affects the readers

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pathos, or its appeal to the emotions. The author evokes the feeling of sympathy that comes from the help of the McLaren team towards the critically ill children. Scott also uses pathos to create a scenario of positive results, As a result of the analysis, FOTA committed to cutting emissions by 12.4% from 2009 to 2012, (Scott, 2013, para. 10) which evokes the emotion of hope. The positive results following from appropriate action from the Formula One Teams Association, that cuts emissions, leads the audience to feel hope in Formula Ones environmental ambition. Positive results not only appeals to our pathos, but to our logos as well, which is all the statistics and proper quotes Scott includes in his argument. Mike Scott does well persuading to the readers reason, Formula One's environmental ambitions will become more visible to the world at large next year, when new regulations will see Formula One cars sport 1.6 litre engines rather than the current 2.4 litre machines and fuel consumption across the whole season will fall by 40%, (Scott, 2013, para. 11) just this information which is also up to date, stating that next year the formula one cars will feature smaller but capable of reaching the same speed as the larger engines, appeals to logos. Most of the information comes from the FOTA or McLaren spokespersons which is very credible and most people will not disagree with it because of the reputable source. Logical fallacies are minimal at this point. This makes logos one of the most important out of the three modes of persuasion in Scotts argument. The author also informs the reader about the new technology systems being used, by using a technology known as Ters (Thermal Energy Recovery System) Kers stores the energy produced from braking, Ters will harness the heat produced both through braking and from the engine exhaust systems, allowing cars to generate the same power using 30% less fuel, (Scott, 2013, para. 11) appealing to our reason primarily, reducing the quantity of

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS fuel used. In the text the author used ethos, pathos, and logos in different ways to convince the readers of his argument. The visual in the text also appeals to our credibility, emotions, and reason. First, it appeals to our ethos, because it is a shot of the McLaren pit crew in action, and the audience

from reading the text, knows McLaren is a well-known Formula One car team and is credible for their actions. It also appeals to our ethos since it includes the photographer credits, Paul Gilham and Getty Images which could be the company giving credit for his work. Getty Images is listed next to Paul Gilham, under the photographs description. The fact that it is a professional team photograph of the McLaren Formula One team appeals much to our ethos. Second, pathos, an emotion of adrenaline can be evoked after analyzing the visual. The pit crew is in action, pit crews like this one in formula one racing are known to sustain the car throughout the race and in a matter of seconds will pit crews change tires, refuel the car, and adjust anything necessary to win the race. Pit crews are often the strategy and could be decisive between winning and losing. The photograph is in action which evokes the adrenaline and precision in the actions of the formula one pit crew. Third and finally, the visual appeals to our logos by giving credible source information for the image, making us reason the visual is reputable. Since the pit crew shown in the visual is the McLaren team, as talked about in the text, the audience can reason and relate to the text. Getty Images is also a known source for photographs found on the web which appeals to our reason. Although the text does argue about the sustainability innovations and new technology applications that are helping Formula One racing, the photograph does not really project the idea of sustainability.

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS In comparison, the text is more focused on the argument towards sustainability and appealing the audience about the innovations FOTA is applying to Formula One racing. The visual appeals to our ethos, however it does not project the idea of sustainability efforts by Formula One. This is why the text is more effective in proving the argument, and appealing to

ethos, pathos, and logos overall. Out of the three appeals that the author uses, ethos and logos are primarily used the most. Credibleness is important since Formula One attracts people worldwide and the argument needs to be credible for the audience to be interested. The appeal to the audiences reason is also important in the text and is often used to give facts and statistics about emission ratings and fuel consumption. Together, ethos, pathos, and logos are used in such ways by the author, which persuade us towards his argument about sustainability innovations in Formula One racing. Many of these appeals that affect readers often happen in the unconscious, therefore explaining and analyzing how the argument is conveyed and in what ways, makes these appeals conscious to the audience.

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References Gilham, Paul. Getty Images. (August 5, 2013). Technology from Formula Ones McLaren team has been used beyond the race track, including at the London 2012 Olympics, and within the medical profession. [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/innovation-formula-one-sustainabletechnology Scott, Mike. (August 5, 2013). Could Innovation in Formula One Drive Sustainable Technology? The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/sustainablebusiness/innovation-formula-one-sustainable-technology