English 1020 at UCDHSC: The Rhetoric of Columbine

Amidst the sense of security and calm within the U.S., many were shocked by events that occurred at Virginia Tech and Columbine. Fingers were being pointed on why a tragedy such as this came to place; easy access to guns, ostracism at school, lack of prayer in school, etc. Yet, before anything, this picture speaks to America on what we felt the most; sorrow of the loss of precious lives and the pain that followed it.

The picture is of powerful image; smiling faces of those who have died, people in mourning, and a flower to perhaps give the sense of fragility of life. The pictures utilize ‘pathos’ to speak a message out to the audience and the text above the picture supports that message by speaking out in the same fashion. Each face in the picture is shown smiling happily. To know that lives of those smiling faces were taken away on an unsuspecting day really stirs in our hearts great emotions of grief, pain, and sorrow. Within the layout of the collage, we are also able to observe a few strategies that were used to heighten the message. One of the strategies is the compare-contrast. The collage is put together into one big picture, but within the pictures, we are able to discover that it’s divided roughly in two. The bottom portion of the picture shows the smiling faces of victims, while the top portion shows of people mourning, SWAT officers with guns drawn, and flowers and letters written to those who’ve lost. The bottom portion speaks to us in a manner where had the tragedy not happened, those smiles on the victims would have continued. But, because of the occurrence of the tragedy, the smiles of those victims were replaced by great pain and suffering. In a similar fashion, the picture depicts a strategy of Cause and Effect. Because of the shootings, lives were changed from smiling faces to crying tears. In either way, these strategies heavily supports the ‘pathos’ message of the pain in losing those close to you.

We are also able to discover in the collage that each victim is also made very visible to utilize the ‘ethos’ connection with the audience. Advertisements by big companies such as Nike or Gatorade use big time celebrities like Michael Jordan or Carmelo Anthony to sell their product. However, to utilize a character, one does not have to be a known face to have its affect. This collage is one of the cases where a sense of ‘ethos’ is brought to play without celebrities. Within a mix of other pictures and messages, we see clearly in the collage faces of those who had died in Columbine. While every other picture is hidden or less emphasized, each picture of a face is made focus of the whole collage. This delivers a message to the audience of how each life lost is care for genuinely. As is delivering a positive public image for a corporation becoming an ‘ethos’ method, so is this, a collage delivering an empathetic image to America as an ‘ethos’ method as well. It adds a perspective to the audience as a character.

However, all these strategies and methods become useless unless the audience knows what happened in Columbine. Without proper background knowledge of what happened and who had died, these smiling faces and those mourning above it can even seem confusing. The collage is embedded in cultural resonance based on U.S. culture, and makes the message of the collage not as effective as possible. For example, in some cultures of the world, it is improper to show pictures of those who have already passes away. In other countries, flowers of a certain type or color (like the sunflower on the frame for example) carry specific meanings and should not be used. Yet, because this tragedy that is background to the message is really pertained to the U.S. culture, the matter of efficiency should not be considered. This did happen in U.S., and the audience that is most affected by this message would be those within the U.S. anyway.

The physical layout of the collage is positioned well. A flower (Regardless of what message it can hold out of cultural resonance) is in fade on the center of the collage. Above the fade are pictures of faces of the victims as well as the pictures of those who are hurting after the lost. While the picture sizes of the victims are relatively small, so are pictures of everything else. This balanced symmetry in sense delivers a message that those who were killed are being remembered, while those who are mourning are thought of just as much. The coloring of the collage is relatively dull, to add emphasis to the pain. A bright, light color may have not been appropriate for this subject; people suffering from the loss of life is not a joyous occasion. In understanding to that, it appears that the face pictures were chosen to be presented in black and white and other dull colors. The border is bright however; it is covered by flowers and laced in gold. Perhaps a message that despite life moving on (represented by bright colors), scars from the tragedy are always remembered (represented by the dull colors within). In any retrospect, the two differences create contrasts which accentuate each other; the pictures in black and white seem more dull, while the borders of the collage seems light.

This collage in its rhetoric voice speaks to our society to remember what’s really important; precious lives of precious people taken away. Disregarding how the collage was made and how it was effective seems to be put aside within the simplicity of the message:
Where have all the Children gone! Across our land – COLUMBINE AND ALL THE OTHERS LOST

THE COLUMBINE FLOWER