How does one go about choosing a college? What types of effects do the campus’s surroundings have on you? Does it make you feel comfortable, connected, disconnected, uneasy, do they have activities that interest you or make you feel like being uninvolved wouldn’t be a big deal. A video created by the University of Nebraska Kearney did this. The video is an attempt to visually portray the outlined objective of the school which is that UNK is, “an affordable student centered regional hub of intellectual, cultural, and artist excellence that has been a prominent part of Nebraska’s higher education landscape for more than a century”. This statement was found at the University of Nebraska-Kearney’s website in the “About UNK” section. The makers of the video added content in a way that would appeal to a prospective college student’s emotions and establish the University’s credibility. This essay will examine the video and describe the different tools of rhetoric used including the excessive use of pathos appeals.
The video uses the rhetorical strategy of illustration (Envision 2 p39) to show how their University can have a substantial impact on a person’s experience in college and life afterwards. It does this by including different visual representations, such as pictures, of various aspects of college life. These aspects include: academics, athletics, and social events. The pictures in the video were careful chosen because they help portray a certain image. This image is that of a happy, comfortable, academic experience at a well rounded University. None of the pictures are of students that appear unhappy, stressed or partying. This is a casual rhetorical strategy of logical fallacies because we all know these are common experiences in college life. Most students are unhappy at some point, for example being homesick, and we all know that a large number of students like to party, but this video portray everyone smiling and studying hard. Including this logical fallacy makes the colleges appear very academically focused and would definitely help ease a prospective student’s parent’s apprehensions about paying for their child to study there.
The video opens with a picture of a traditional style building behind a cascading water fountain that is surrounded by green space and lush vegetation. This picture sets the tone for the rest of the video. The picture was most likely chosen because it captures the true beauty the campus has to offer. The creators use this to captivate its audience because quite frankly, who wants to go to a college that doesn’t offer a beautiful landscape. Beautiful scenery gives people the feeling of peacefulness and tranquility which are dispositions that foster learning and academic success. The video not only opens with a beautiful picture, but also utilizes a song called Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by the band Green Day.
This song is a mellow pop-punk song that is filled with deeply contemplative, heart tugging lyrics that emphasize the importance of making the best of your life. These are all examples of pathos appeals because they appeal to student’s emotions which are a major influence involved in making decisions.
Another example of pathos appeals in the video are scenes where students are helping others move into their dorms.This relates to the pathos because it portrays the students that attend the University as friendly and ready to lend a hand, as opposed to students who attempt to make you feel unwanted or like an outsider. The students helping each other move in are all smiling and seem to be happy to be assisting their “new friend”. The video is also flooded with various scenes of activities where the students can get involved and have a good time. One of these activities is shown in the form of a dunking tank and students participating in a fundraiser. This shows that students there aren’t always busy with studies and have time to take a break from studying to just enjoy the philanthropies and activities campus has to offer. This is an important appeal to students and parents because it gives the impression that the University of Nebraska-Kearney is a school that is involved with its students and that is active in the community.
There are also multiple scenes of a white haired, elderly, professors and visibly engaged students. This utilizes the ethos appeal by showing the University’s credibility of having experienced professors and determined students. Had they have showed students sleeping on their desks the picture would not have intrigued the audiences interest in wanting to have attended this University. The picture also wouldn’t have been as affective in gaining the parent’s trust in its credibility if they had taken a picture of a younger professor wearing jeans and sitting on a desk. Don’t get me wrong, some of my favorite teachers are younger professors, but a typical parent would be more inclined to send their child to a University that depicts their professors as “old and wise” rather than “young and inventive”. More examples of ethos appeal are multiple scenes showing resources that promote academic success. Some of the scenes include the campus library, student union, and outdoor study areas. The study areas are landscaped in a fashion that is perfect for academic progression or just socializing. All these scenes build the reputation of UNK as being a credible and trustworthy establishment for learning opportunity.
To show the diversity of the school, half way through the video the music changes from the pop-punk song Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), to classical piano music. Along with the change in music comes a change in scenery. Viewers are now shown images of the athletic features of the school and the aspects of school spirit and pride. These images were included in the video to appeal to the emotions of prospective students who enjoy athletics. Students who enjoy sports will be attracted to the University of Nebraska-Kearney after seeing these clips of successful teams and rowdy fans.
The video concludes by changing the music back to Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) and clips of campus and active students. Ending the video with this song leaves viewers with the pathos appeal that the University of Nebraska-Kearney is a fun, inviting campus and will provide its students with an academic career that will be “The Time of Their Life”.
