Today, students are trained for a plethora of events and activities that weren’t prevalent twenty years ago. One of the most disheartening events being school shootings. The Class of 2021 is one of the first classes to plot out exit points from the classroom, who have had to think of which school supplies would be the best weapons. The video that will be focused on today is a campaign titled “Lost Class of 2021.” The graduation ceremony shown was for all the students who would be moving onto the next stages of life but were killed from school shootings. There would have been 3,044 students graduating, represented by 3,044 empty chairs. The man giving the speech is David Kenne, the president of the National Rifle Association from 2011 to 2013. In between clips of David Keene speaking, and black and white text on the board are recordings of phone calls from victims’ calls to emergency services during school shootings. This campaign utilizes a few major lenses to convey its point, like kairos, ethos, pathos, and visual rhetoric, to implore the United States public and its government to relook at the lack of restriction on gun laws.
One of the most notable rhetorical devices employed is kairos. The timing and setting of the campaign can be analyzed as particularly karotic. The video was filmed on June 4th, 2021 in Las Vegas. All across the United States in late May and early June, high schoolers walk across the graduation stage and flip their tassels from one side to the other as new graduates. By using this event, it shows the world what these children lost, and how the actions of the future can prevent another shooting. The ceremony took place on June 4th, a few days before the majority of high schools had their own graduation. The video was published shortly after that in order to stay with the current news of other graduations occurring. This timing of events furthers the campaign’s validity because they are using this opportune moment to highlight their argument of the lack of gun restrictions and in turn gun violence or school shootings in the United States.
In addition, the Lost Class campaign uses ethos in an ironic way. The speaker, David Kenne, was the president of the National Rifle Association from 2011 to 2013 and is now an active board member. Kenne giving a speech at a civic engagement-like event only adds to the credibility of the original argument. Having a huge proponent of the opposing side give a speech in this context, makes the speaker and their respective policies and standings seem heartless. Ethos is all about trusting the person for their identity, and this is a great example of ethos in a less typical way. David Keene uses a hoist of commonplaces throughout his speech that, in the given circumstance, add to his ironic ethos. Keene’s ending to his speech depicted how the graduates are destined for greatness. He exclaimed, “My advice to you is simple enough. Follow your dreams and make them your reality. And never for a minute, think that you cannot achieve those dreams.” These phrases are embedded in society with a positive connotation. However, in this given circumstance, they present as morbid. In reality, these phrases add to his warped ethos because he undermines himself. By stating how these students are destined for greatness when they are deceased due to his role, every word he speaks is discredited.
Furthermore, the Lost Class Campaign focuses on the visual aspect of the video. The campaign uses visual rhetoric, specifically object placement and color theory, to show the impact of gun violence in America, mainly school-aged children. The object placement of the empty chairs evokes negative emotions, as the viewers know students are supposed to be sitting there. These emotions are meant to urge the audience to want change, so there would never be another “Lost Class”. As a result, the audience is more likely to empathize with those who passed away due to school shootings and reexamine gun restrictions. The colors in the campaign are another aspect of visual rhetoric. Blue represents bravery, dedication, and freedom, whereas green establishes safety. The white folding chairs symbolize innocence, purity, or death in some cases. The black cape and gown Keene wears represent evil, darkness, and death. These subtle cues highlight the main argument, that gun violence in schools needs to halt. All of the colors represent a different aspect of these students’ lives, the emotions intertwined with their tragic deaths, or the man who in this case protected the very objects that killed them.
However, the use of pathos is shown in particular, with snippets of audio of calls from students and parents to emergency services. One clip of the audio depicts a student replying to being asked if anyone is hurt replying, “Yes. Yes! A lot of blood. Please, help. Please!” (Vimeo). This pulls at the heartstring of the audience, as we are hearing these children’s last moments. We are captivated and terrified by these clips. This image of fear is solidified towards the end of the campaign. The audience hears banging on a door, students gasping, crying, and pleading for their safety. The banging is the last audio we hear. This is a very effective use of pathos. The audience is now entranced and feels for these students. The use of pathos in the political cartoon is similar to that in the Lost Class Campaign. The audience sees a jarring scene of a morgue in a high school. This image contradicts the idea of school being a safe place and pulls at the heartstrings of the collective population for change. By using pathos, the audience trusts the campaign as an emotional connection is present.
The Lost Class artifact beseeches the general public to relook their views on school shootings due to the lack of gun reform. However, this campaign is not the only organization or group to put out a campaign to argue their point. Political cartoonist Ben Jennings created an illustration based on the Parkland School Shooting. The cartoon implores similar analytic devices like visual rhetoric and pathos that complement the Lost Class Campaign. The cartoon consists of a school hallway with red lockers. A few of the lockers are open, revealing a morgue of “students” with tags on their toes to depict that they have passed away. At the end of the hallway, a silhouette holding a gun stares back at the audience. The cartoon uses color theory to convey the same message. There are only a few colors present in the cartoon; red, white, blue, and black. The illustrator made an active choice to use the colors of the American flag. This reflects how the United States is not patriotic when it comes to school shootings. Meaning, we do not revolt to invoke change like our Founding Fathers once did. We sit back and watch the statistics rise of school shootings in the United States. The remaining color black symbolizes death or darkness. By having the colors of the flag accompanied by the color of death, Jennings shows how America and death go hand-in-hand. Both articles force the image of laying out bodies in a school setting. This imagery forces the audience to empathize and recognize the great toll taking place in our country, forcing us to agree with the messages of the campaign and cartoon.
Our generation will be the first that has always had school shootings. We are the first generation that has had to map out paths out of our classrooms, the first generation that has had active shooter drills, the first generation to text our loved ones goodbye. Campaigns like the Lost Class of 2021, and the political campaign both argue that the American government needs to reevaluate the lack of gun control. Both artifacts use a variety of rhetorical devices like Kairos, ethos, pathos, and visual rhetoric to demand change in order to create a safer world for the next generation.
Works Cited
The Lost Class of 2021. (2021). Vimeo. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from
Jennings, B. (2018, February 15). Parkland, Florida School Shooting. [Cartoon] The Guardian.
Retrieved September 27, 2021 from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2018/feb/15/ben-jennings-florida-school-shooting-cartoon
1. Identify the writer’s main claim about the rhetoric, ideology, lenses of analysis, or and subtext of the piece.
Main claim: School shootings are a constant threat in today’s society and more people need to pay focus to the growing problem. Like you said, not many people are putting in the effort to stop school shootings, instead relaxing and watching the news about these shootings instead of intervening.
2. Identify and comment on the writer’s introduction or “way in” for this piece of rhetoric. Name one thing that might be added, deleted, changed, or moved.
Your “way in” to the artifact is interesting as you begin the essay stating students have developed a new way of learning, escape routes. It does a great job explaining how times have changed and how school shootings strike fear into every student’s eyes. One idea you can potentially add is the psychological toll that a school shooting might have on a student. Maybe they experience restless nights in fear of what may transpire the next day or how some are constantly weary that anyone at any instance can cause immediate death among their peers.
3. Warning flags: check any of the following predominant themes this paper contains that might suggest a weak introduction or thesis:
Rhetoric is everywhere___
Artifacts try to persuade us___
Life really isn’t like what the artifact proclaims__
Rhetoric has many components__
Ads are deceptive__
The artifact did a great job __
The artifact catches your eye__
4. Find a strong analytical topic sentence and a weak one. Explain why you have identified them as such.
Strong analytical sentence: “In reality, these phrases add to his warped ethos because he undermines himself. By stating how these students are destined for greatness when they are deceased due to his role, every word he speaks is discredited.” This sentence is so powerful because it plays into the role of ethos, Keene, however downplaying his credibility. It does a phenomenal job of existing as a parallel, someone who seems to have credibility but can be looked at as the cause of this destruction.
Weak analytical sentence: Honestly, none. Every sentence from the use of kairos to ethos to pathos is done so well that every sentence carries meaning. Every sentence is at equal importance of another and the deletion of one sentence would not allow to paper to be so readable. Great diction, empathy, sensory imagery. Well done.
5. Comment on the organization of the piece. What other possible arrangement strategies might make more of the material and develop arguments more fully? How well is the second comparative piece of rhetoric incorporated?
Everything flowed really well, the only piece of would advise is that you combine the two artifacts. You stated that both artifacts use a color scheme to convey their audience into a sense of empathy so if you combine the two paragraphs it can show a common comparison between the two and show how different artifacts can display the same idea.
6. You wanted to read more about….
Just the story overall. You have a very well organized people with lots of meaningful diction and I genuinely enjoyed reading your paper. Not many concerns or mistakes and relatively enjoyable, even though it is a dark piece, you made it worthwhile.
As I have stated before the use of colors as cues is so interesting as something as simple as a color can symbolize for death or innocence. Your rhetorical devices are spot on and they all are meaningful and impactful. Great posture, tone, pace, with very little fidgets/movements. Great speech overall.
I was really impressed with how thorough your analysis of the artifact was, and how you managed to explain it in a concise way. The delivery/language was clear in a way that made the information easy to follow along with, and I never felt myself getting lost or becoming confused.
Your presentation was stellar. You had consistent eye contact, wonderful gesticulation, and articulated your words very well. Going from your essay to your speech, you really did a good job of condensing those ideas down with the restrictions but still getting your point well across.