Since the advent of the Neolithic Revolution, human beings have been forced to compete for a finite amount of resources in an everchanging global atmosphere. In recent decades, the rise of the United States to global supremacy have caused many Americans to feel obligated to support humanitarian causes. How does this video play on this emotion through its imagery and sound devices? What other rhetorical strategies are used in this video?
In case the link doesn't show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQj0QNFAwv0
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The advantage of analyzing such a video is that it uses many devices that could not be used in a political cartoon. Its end purpose is simple - to increase awareness about global hunger and cause people to want to make a difference by charitable giving. It primarly does this though the use of pathos. Throughout the video there is somber music that plays on ones emotions. The music juxtaposed with the horrifying pictures of starvation arouse emotions in the viewer. The fact that the images are black and white only add to the depressing tone of the video. As music and visual photos mix, the viewer is forced to recognize that someone must do something. With all the pictures being that of children, the viewer is left in an even greater emotional struggle because children are usually associated with innocence. After capturing the viewer's emotion, the video moves to propose that a pragmatic solution can be reached by using logos. Statements such as "the world can feed one billion more people" show that world hunger can be stopped if everyone is less selfish with Earth's resources. It goes on to criticize the often ineptitude of the Western world in doing enough for poverty through stating that the number of people killed by famines in a period in Ethiopia was equal to the population of Denmark, one of the richest countries in the world. This juxtapostion of the priveleged versus the dispriveleged prove the video's point that if people cared as much about the sustainability of others as they do of their own sustainability, the world would reach a better sentiment. At the end of the video, the pathos continues by using a plethora of emotional, heart breaking images. At its final slide, the video empowers the viewer by placing power in their hands to make a change. This is a clear use of ethos because after seeing the devestation that many children are in, it would be morally sound to help those in need. If they do not, the viewer is left in a situation of self-questioning. Gutwrenching videos such as these have been a major tool used by humanitarian organizations and this video proves why.
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