TOW#28: Bully

The documentary, Bully, was directed by Lee Hirsch to capture the reality behind bullying, the horrific actions and effects involved in it as a way to educate children, parents and school administrators on how to prevent the life threatening truths of bullying. Most schools educate children on the harmful nature of bullying, yet it continues not only in schools but online as well. With suicide in the top three causes to adolescent deaths, the need to stop bullying once and for all is required. This documentary captures all victims of bullying, not only the individuals but their family and friends as well. It presents stories of a variety of severities; whether leading to suicide, illegal actions or depression, Bully portrayed it all. The victims of these terrible words or violent acts range from age eleven to seventeen, yet no one story outweighs the others. All stories of bullying are equal. This documentary carefully kept from alienating schools and blaming any individual for bullying by presenting the view point of an assistant principle and numerous parents to show efforts of all to stop bullying as well as demonstrate the complexity of the issue at hand.

            Bully is a well directed and edited film that captures the complexity and horrific truths of bullying through its organization and widespread prevalence.  The organization assisted in the effectiveness of this piece in two ways, the organization of the entire film as well as the organization of each individual story. The whole documentary began with the story of one boy, portrayed originally as the normal but shy child who went on to commit suicide at the age of seventeen after excessive verbal abuse by his classmates. A horrific but honest story that immediately grabbed the viewers’ attention and transitioned into the lives of other victims of bullying. From there multiple other stories were presented featuring a boy suffering from physical and verbal bullying but maintained shut off and viewed his bullies as friends, a girl who brought as gun onto the bus to defend herself against bullies but lead her to a juvenile detention center and an eleven year old boy that took his own life after repetitive bullying instances. The end of the film featured the families of the bullying victims, raising awareness to all on how to educate children on bullying and prevent the life threatening effects.

            As for the organization of each individual story, they each began with the introduction to the adolescent as a typical kid that did chores, went to school, and participated in what interested them. By introducing the children as normal kids, it allowed the audience to be even more sympathetic towards them. It is much easier to connect to a typical kid rather then a bullying victim, once connected to this seemingly normal child, seeing the terrible abuse they face on a daily basis is even more impactful. By slowly adjusting to the effects that bullying had on each child it allows for an increased appeal to pathos, the most prevalent tool in this documentary.

            It is not only through the organization that Hirsch is able to present that severity of bullying but he also harnesses the widespread nature of the issue. This documentary provided not only a variety of “causes” for bullying but also examples throughout the US. All across the country adolescents are being bullied for a variety of reasons whether it be their looks, disabilities, or sexual orientation. By presenting the audience with a variety of locations and “causes” for bullying the large scale of this issue is clear. Bully was an extremely well developed piece on the horrors of bullying that use the intense emotions involved in such terrible actions to educate and emphasize the prevention of bullying for the good of the youth and generations to come.

URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1682181/

TOW#27: TOW Reflection

After reviewing a variety of my past TOW posts my growth as an analyzer and writer has become evident. In my posts from the first two marking periods I did not include a clear, or effective structure, rather answered the questions of the assignment a limited amount of detail in one large paragraph. My more recent posts contain much more analysis and are far more organized as I use various paragraphs to separate my ideas. The blog post from the first marking period did not even contain any clear rhetorical strategies from the piece that I had analyzed that week. The second marking period improved as I actually identified the devices used by the author. In my most recent post I not only identified rhetorical strategies used by the author, but I used a few of my own and structured my post to be comprehendible.

            My ability to adequately analyze pieces has become a skill that I am extremely confident in. I have managed to recognize rhetorical strategies with ease as well as not only see their effect but also use them to improve my own writing. While my organization and thus comprehensiveness of my writing has improved I still struggle with awkward wording from time to time. My confidence in my own thoughts has left me with difficulty communicating my ideas clearly, something that I have grown toward but still need improvement.

            This assignment has been particularly beneficial in making me a more confident and well-rounded writer. Prior to this class my strengths in writing lay mainly in research papers for I never wrote and analytical piece to the extent of these TOWs or the essays we wrote in class. It is through this constant exposure to new genres, topics and ideas that I have become a more well-rounded individual. I would consider a new strength in my writing to be with analysis.

            Asides from the growth in my writing abilities, the TOW assignments have also cause me to have more confidence in as a writer, which is something that is very important in an AP class as well as in general. I feel that by practicing my analyzing skills throughout the year I entered the AP exam in full preparation for the analysis based writing prompt, all that is left is to hope that  my AP score reflects the growth that I see in myself. 

URL:http://www.clker.com/clipart-24923.html

TOW#26: Change

Homeless men and women, located near a busy walkway holding a cardboard sign or a cup, seeking change, but who is too say what form of change they seek? This image demonstrates that idea; that perhaps these men and women are not trying to get a few coins or dollar bills, perhaps they want something even more meaningful, true change. In order to illustrate this point, the image was created with a simplistic approach to effectively relay the message that perhaps change is more important that money.

            The frail people lining the streets that most encounter at some point in their life seem to be struggling to obtain what they need to survive, assuming money will solve all of their problems people will drop spare change into the homeless man or woman’s cup. This spare change realistically does not solve anything. Perhaps they are now able to purchase something off of a dollar menu and can eat that night, but the next day they will be right back to their spot on the busy walkway. Money is not what they seek for it only provides temporary life improvement. They want change. Something that will keep them from reclaiming their position on a busy street everyday, something that will provide for their needs, something that will do more then small change ever could. This is the purpose of this image, to demonstrate just how complex poverty is.

            This image is able to capture this purpose with one small piece of text, written on a ripped piece are cardboard reading, “keep your coins, I want change.” This quote is the only aspect of the message meanwhile everything else is simple, indistinct, and colorless. The setting consists of a brick wall, brick road, and window with nothing inside and a small strip of concrete where the wall and street mix. This simplicity allows the audience, more privileged adults, to see and focus only on the message portrayed on the cardboard sign that the man in the image is holding. This mad is wearing a black hooded sweatshirt so his face is hidden, by making him a faceless figure, the image again emphasis only the message.

            It is through the use of a simple setting and clear message that this piece of visual text is able to effectively demonstrate the complexity of poverty. Perhaps the next homeless man or woman you encounter will prompt you to think about what more you can do, rather than simply reaching into your pocket. 

URL:http://community.boredofstudies.org/475/old-focus-change/72803/texts-changing-self.html