Alina Hadzovic
Professor Wood
Freshman Composition
25 October 2022
Rhetorical Analysis of Schools Strike for Climate: Rewrite
After the industrial age, the use of fossil fuels increased as a source of energy to power machines and other processes. After some time, the greenhouse gasses emitted from the burning created a blanket of gas around the atmosphere that forced the global climate to warm and change. Despite the ever-present need for social change, decades have passed without any popular action. Laws have been put in place, but when it comes to the “now,” people are lost. It has been said many times in media that people past millennials do not care about climate change; the social movement “Schools Strike for Climate” exists because older generations leave the planet in coherent shambles for the younger generation to deal with. Typical goals for the students involved in this movement are to educate the public about the severity of global warming and underline the unwillingness of society to make a systematic change in the way we make our lives more efficient. To convey these messages, people in this movement use rhetorical strategies like group/physical rhetoric and Cicero’s canons of rhetoric on visual aids that drill their ideas into the minds of their audience. The messages of activism and togetherness of this movement highlight the need for change around the world.
As society changed, rhetorical strategies and their effectiveness have changed, as well. Interestingly enough, these changes are (objectively) categorized by either old rhetoric or new rhetoric. Old rhetoric was described “as the art of persuasion” by the ancient philosopher Aristotle, one of the main backbones of old rhetoric (Wollacott). This idea of persuasion was mainly through speeches given in a courtroom about policies “good” men would like to pass in their society. Aristotle also developed the rhetorical triangle, which bound rhetorical devices with the speaker, audience, and objective of the speech (Lutzke and Henggeler). This connection can be seen today, just in different forms. As issues, policies, and norms were trying to be legislated in more contemporary contexts, creative means of persuasion were necessary. Rather than a single person standing in front of a group of men in a chancery, people of all ages and all gender identities are bound together by their cause and persuade their audience with their presence. This assembly of people that find solitude in each other’s company in this situation is called group, or gregarious, rhetoric. In these group protests, demonstrators adopt old rhetoric and creatively use them in modern contexts. We see posters in the “Schools Strike for Climate” protests with memorable phrases delivered in a unique and individual style. The idea of memorability for persuasion originated through Cicero’s canons of rhetoric, formulated around 50 BC. His cannons shared the importance of invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery in a persuasive setting (Pudewa). These principles are still found today, just in a more extant application. The effectiveness of new rhetoric would not be nearly as such without such a strong rhetorical foundation. Instead of incorporating these five components into protests, posters would have long and wordy slogans that didn’t hit the audience in a way that urged them for change.
The “Schools Strike for Climate” movement truly began after 15-year-old Greta Thunberg protested in front of the Swedish parliament in 2018 with a poster saying “schools strike for climate.” The importance of location in this movement is also vital in its persuasiveness. By protesting in front of the parliament instead of just an insignificant street, people with the power to make the requested change are being alerted and are being directly signaled about the movement. Just the next year, Thunberg inspired over a million students around the world to stand up for what they believe in. The idea of political leaders needing to enact principles to prevent further global warming was extremely common in the visual aids within the protests. Posters in hand, students in countries like the Philippeans, United States, and Germany walked in front of their own government buildings to announce their negative opinions on the federal regulations concerning climate (Crouch). Corporations and monopolized governments have so much more power to change the direction of the planet’s climate than individual citizens. Thus, protests are being held in calculated locations for the best effectiveness. Even today, four years after the initial objection, groups of young people still gather today as a way to convey the core values of the movement with safety and strength in numbers.
Nowadays, persuasion in protests is seen in large numbers, chanting and holding signs. Group rhetoric is effective because it shows the commitment of such a large group of people with unified goals. This is a successful decision as a rhetorical device in the conditions of “Schools Strike for Climate” because it is a joint avenue towards policy change and influence, one professionalized to make politics more reflective of societies’ wants, needs, and demands. The audience in this situation includes representatives in the federal position, who are able to apply the progressive wants of the public to civil situations. Rather than a single student stepping out of an academic setting to advocate, the large scale of participants comprises the majority of concerns and connects activists around the world. It allocates accessibility for people whose concerns deserve to be heard but cannot physically participate.
While I have never had the opportunity to participate in the protests physically, I spent time creating posters for my friends that they have used in their moments of dissent. Choosing to include short phrases like “our future is in our hands” was a powerful decision since it uses purposeful diction and is also memorable. The repetition of the word “our” in this phrase drills the idea of integrating each individual with their surroundings and the effects of corporations on climate change; we are all only one population, and this is “our” planet, so it makes sense to work together and solve issues regarding it. Having such a short and fixed phrase also highlights Cicero’s canon of delivery, since it is short and sweet and commonly yelled in a call-and-response form. In that scenario, it is resolute because there is a synthesis of all these different people standing alongside each other finishing each other’s sentences.
There is no way to imagine what the world would be like if we didn’t unify and take climate change as seriously as it deserves. Frankly, I cannot help but feel drawn toward the dynamic values of this movement. I find myself just as, if not more, passionate about climate justice than those around me, and I feel proud of my generation for taking the mental and physical time to speak up for us and our future. While school is certainly important, the dedication students have for the world is admirable. Although not many influential men support the “Schools Strike for Climate” cause, I know Aristotle and Cicero would be fascinated and in full encouragement at the applications of their ancient rhetorical devices in conditions like these.
Works Cited
Wollacott, Mark. “What Is Ancient Rhetoric?” Language Humanities, 9 Oct. 2022,
Crouch, David. “The Swedish 15-Year-Old Who’s Cutting Class to Fight the Climate
Crisis.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 Sept. 2018, www.theguardian.com/science/2018/sep/01/swedish-15-year-old-cutting-class-to-fight-the-climate-crisis.
Lutzke, Jaclyn, and Mary Henggeler. “The Rhetorical Triangle: Understanding and Using
Logos, Ethos, and Pathos .” Indiana University School of Liberal Arts, Nov. 2009, www.lsu.edu/hss/english/files/university_writing_files/item35402.pdf.
Pudewa, Andrew. “The 5 Canons of Rhetoric.” Memoria Press – Classical Christian Education,
28 Sept. 2022, www.memoriapress.com/articles/5-canons-of-rhetoric/.
