P.S.A. BullyingAuthor: Amanda Ou

Wednesday, May 15, 13

Video Expectations

• Exceptional quality- good actors, HD video camera

• Appropriate length- not too short or too long, commercial length for Television and internet ads

• Relatable- for different age groups but focus on teenagers

• Easily understood & simple with a powerful underlying message

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Cyber-bullying-Bullying that takes place through electronic technology. It can happen online on social media sites like Facebook and chat sites or through a cell phone via texting and phone calls.

“Examples of cyber-bullying include mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles.”-http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/index.html

Wednesday, May 15, 13

Purpose

In the PSA video “Stop Bullying,” the author Andrea Ou was motivated to create an anti-bullying video based on her concern from the 2010 cyber-bullying statistics.

The numbers were very high and have increased dramatically. Andrea was severely bullied as a teen and doesn’t want future generations to go through what she went through.

The author created this video to:

Create bully awareness and prevention, help reduce the number of suicides, and stop bullying in general.

Wednesday, May 15, 13

Audience• This video was directed towards teenage students of the modern

generation (those with access to internet), because the girls in the video looked like they were in high school and used texting to bully the targeted girl.

• Those not included : toddlers, senior citizens, and those who do not use the internet because this is on youtube.

Wednesday, May 15, 13

Rhetorical appeal: Ethos

• The author is not present in the video, but from her website and credentials has made other videos, which seems like a credible source. The author also won an award for the video.

• A website is mentioned at the end, but it is not directly associated with the video.

• The website stopbullyingnow.com is an official source of information that has information that is from trustworthy research and statistics.

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Rhetorical Appeal:Pathos

- The fact that some people are bullied at school naturally makes anyone emotional or at least feel empathetic towards the person being bullied.

- Bullying is harmful to people, and those targeted sometimes attempt suicide due to being ridiculed for their looks or other things.

- The girls in the video had a face of regret after they saw the girl they bullied fall to the ground due to a self inflicted wound.

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Rhetorical Appeal:Logos

• “19,000 students attempt suicide due to bullying.”

• Stopbullyingnow.com

• Inspired by 2010 statistics

• News reports of children who fall prey to bullying

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Tone

• The tone was a vital part to the video since the subject of cyber-bullying and suicide is serious and gloomy the video must have the same characteristics. The video is morbid and harsh right from the beginning, there is this sense of uncertainty right when the main girl spots the girls who will bully her, but the music and the overall tone make it clear that the video is not going to get happy. The style is informal adding to the giddiness of the video, it is in your face and the word bitch and the blood shown are risky yet powerful aspects that add to the impact of the video. The impact of the video just help get the point across, this video is about a serious and terrible social problem we face and it doesn’t hide the more risky characteristics to highlight this fact. The video can be offensive to some of the intended viewers. It is aimed at high school/ middle school students who are the most likely to experience bullying in school. Its use of the word bitch that doesn’t seem that harsh in our present society carries a lot of weight in this video because of the way it is used to demoralize the girl being bullied. That along with the use of the blood could be harsh on some audience members.

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Theme

• All types of bullying are wrong and should be stopped because the consequences lead to physical and emotional abuse that can result in suicide.

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ConclusionThis video was perfect example of how rhetoric can be used to communicate a message across to an audience in a short period of time. The video is harsh and in your face, its main use of pathos and ethos captures the audience and brings to light the social problem of bullying in our society. It is due to this directness that the video is so effective; it does not sugar coat the problem by showing the unfortunate consequence that can come from bullying.

Wednesday, May 15, 13