As students, we have all faced the never-ending threat of becoming victims of a school shooting. This reality transcends all districts, all cities, or states. I know I have jumped when a loud noise clangs in the hallway; the room is temporarily still before returning to normal after the moment passes.   

The campaign that we will focus on today is titled the “Lost Class of 2021”. The campaign depicts what innocently appears as a high school graduation ceremony. However, there is not a single student present. Instead, there are 3,044 empty white folding chairs to symbolize the 3,044 students who have died from school shootings in the United States. The man giving the commencement speech is David Keene, the president of the National Rifle Association from 2011 to 2013, and has since been an active board member. The man speaks to a crowd on a bright green field, accompanied by a light blue sky. Keene himself stands in front of a white banner with gray lettering that states “Class of 2021” in large letters. The ultimate goal of this campaign is to advocate for more restrictive gun laws in the United States, so there will never be another “Lost Class.” This campaign uses a few major lenses to convey that point, like Kairos, ethos, visual rhetoric, to implore the United States and its government to relook at the lack of restriction on gun laws.  

One of the most notable rhetorical devices utilized is kairos. The timing and setting of the campaign in particular. The video was filmed on June 4th and was released shortly after that. This time in late May to mid-June students across the globe are walking across the stage and flipping their tassels from one side to another as new graduates. The campaign took advantage of this vulnerable timing in order to effectively grab the audience’s attention towards their argument for gun reform. The setting is another aspect of kairos utilized in the campaign. This event taking place at a graduation ceremony manipulates the audience’s sense of fairness, as it is not fair that some students do not get their special day. This furthers the lost class’s campaign. 

This video employs visual rhetoric 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”. 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. 

The Lost Class campaign embodies 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 adds to his ironic ethos. Keene’s ending to his speech went “My advice to you is simple enough. Follow your dreams and make them your reality. And never for a minute, think that you can achieve those dreams.” These phrases are embedded in society with a positive connotation. However, in this given circumstance, they present as morbid.

Our generation is the first that has grown up with school shootings being the “norm”. Within thirteen years, there have been 499 school shootings in the United States. The campaign hoped to establish a connection with the audience to bring action to the number of school shootings and lack of gun restrictions. By utilizing the kairotic moment of the setting, and timing of the campaign’s release, the “Lost Class” is able to establish a bond with the audience to gravitate their hearts towards the life that these children won’t have. The campaign embodied itself with ethos by including David Keene in it. David Keene’s presence offers a lack of trust due to his position within the National Rifle Association, and the event itself. The juxtaposition of this allows the audience to see the issue at hand in a new light. The audience observes how cold-blooded or insensitive certain political figures seem to their opposing side. Within David Keene’s presence, he also uses certain commonplaces that add to his warped sense of ethos. The words of “encouragement” Keene passes along to the audience, in reality, are heartless or merciless given the circumstance. This furthers the audience’s urge to provide safety to more students around the country. The campaign also hints at their message using visual rhetoric, more specifically, employing object placement and color theory to further the argument against gun violence in schools. The placement of the chairs forces the audience to remember that students are supposed to be sitting there, about to start their life. As well as the colors within the video, hinting at the larger message of the video. The campaign circulated around Instagram and other various social media platforms shortly after its release, and started the conversation against gun violence in schools again, making this a timeless civic artifact. Thank you.