Rhetorical Appeals

Movie: Pineapple Express

Visual Elements: Feelings of euphoria, drug related violence among suppliers, drug dealing

Argument: By keeping marijuana illegal, people are forced to buy from black market, Drug wars competing for territory

Audience: College students and adults, smokers

Ethos: At the beginning of the movie, Dale is driving around smoking a joint. For work, he must deliver subpoenas to people which can be very boring and time consuming. To keep his spirits up during work, he smokes on the job just as employees smoke cigarettes during work.


Song: Legalize It - Peter Tosh

The message that Tosh is conveying is that eventhough marijuana is illegal, everyone still smokes it even the arresting officer. "Singers smoke it, And players of instruments too. Legalize it, yeah, yeah, That's the best thing you can do. Doctors smoke it, Nurses smoke it, Judges smoke it, Even the lawyers too." If policy makers, law enforcement officers, judges, doctors, etc. are going to sit here and tell us that we cannot consume smoke then they should be held to the same standard (Pathos/Ethos).

Visual Piece: Depicts officers after a drug bust with the costs associated with the bust such as the salaries of the troopers, police commissioner, and the value of the marijuana they confiscated and are not going to burn. (Logos)