Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Teenage Alcohol Abuse, LOL



           The argument that the video was trying to make was about teenage alcohol abuse. It primarily focused on the effect of drinking and academics with the scenario of three people who decided to party the night before an exam. For pathos, the seriousness of the topic did not match the humorous dramatization in the video. I realize that the topic applies to teenagers/students so it would not make sense to have a morbid or simply informative video on the consequences of drinking. However, it did not bring out any emotions to support what I think was their intended argument (not to abuse alcohol). The actors seemed so superficial with their roles and by the end my favorite character may have been the binge drinker who was funnier to watch. I would say the non-drinker was portrayed as the least interesting character by the dull lines and her lack of screen time. Basically she went to a party, drank water, and crawled into bed (interestingly enough she wasn’t even shown cramming for their test).

Probably the least effective use of rhetoric was through ethos. Just the fact that the “teacher” was wearing his hat backwards prevented me from taking this video seriously. If the photos at the end of the video were really of the people in the video partying, the authors’ credibility was immediately shot down. If anything, it may be that because they have partied they have the experience to know that it isn’t a good idea to drink the night before exam. In addition it may make them more relatable as it’s told from a teenagers point of view. However, the title of the video is “teenage alcohol abuse” and the pictures of several of them having a good time partying makes it seem as if they support excessive drinking.

In terms of logos the argument makes sense. If you spend time drinking and partying the night before an exam instead of getting a good rest you may be too tired to take the exam. However, considering that the non-drinker wasn’t shown studying, the logic that because she didn’t drink and went to sleep early doesn’t mean she would get a good grade.  I think it depends on the amount of studying you do and not necessarily the amount of sleep or alcohol you have the night before. As for the structure of the video, it made sense showing the progression of the non-drinker, the social drinker, and the binge drinker throughout the night and after the test. The music also made sense with each scene but the transitions were too abrupt and so the video was a little chaotic and rough to follow.



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