Lee 1

Jessica Lee
Professor Kaye
Rhetoric and Civic Life
13 October 2014
Save Syrias Children
What was your childhood like? Children commonly play with toys, eat moms warm
homemade cookies, and get tucked into bed every night. Unfortunately, not all children are able
to enjoy these luxuries, let alone the basic necessities in life. In fact, children in Syria are
thankful for the mere fact that they are alive in the midst of the Syrian Civil War. Save the
Children is an organization that fundraises money to help these poor children in emergency
needs by giving them what every child deserves- a healthy start, the opportunity to learn, and
protection from harm. Its video titled, Most Shocking Second a Day Video is a compilation of
one second of each day in a girls life. In the beginning, she is a happy, ordinary girl living in the
UK. However, a war occurs, and her life gets turned upside-down. By narrating the girls life to
make her story relatable, focusing the camera on her face to appeal to the audiences emotions,
and contrasting certain aspects of her life before and after the war to demonstrate the effects of
war on children, Save the Children reaches its audience and effectively promotes its campaign to
save Syrias children.
The Syrian Civil War is an ongoing armed conflict that began in the early spring of 2011
with protests against the Presidents government, whose forces responded violently. This conflict
gradually turned from popular protests to an armed rebellion. The death toll has surpassed
200,000, and tens of thousands of people have been put in state prisons, which are reported to
use widespread torture and terror. Save the Children focuses on the children that have been

Lee 2
affected by this conflict. According to their campaign website, more than five million children
are living in inhabitable situations inside Syria; they experience poverty, displacement, and are
caught in lines of fire. More than one million children are living as refugees in Lebanon, Jordan,
Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, and other countries in North Africa. Sadly, the situations in these countries
are not much better due to the conflicts that are also going on in them. One in three children have
been hit, kicked, or shot at. Seven thousand innocent children have been killed (Syria). Save the
Children recognizes and aids these children in danger. One of the main purposes of its video is to
raise public awareness about the situations that the children in Syria are in. The video uses a
common and popular trend in social media: a second a day video. These videos are compilations
of one second of a day, revealing changes and progress that happens over time. In this case, one
second of a day of a girls life is compiled as she goes through a war.
Save the Children utilizes a narration of the story of a young girls life as it turns from
ordinary to tragic to argue that war could happen to anyone. The video begins with moments of
the girls life that are very common in peoples childhoods, such as playing with dolls, riding a
bicycle, and trick-or-treating. Viewers that share similar moments in their own childhoods can
relate to the girl. After the audience has made this connection to the girl, the video shifts to the
war. The girl flees her home, gets sick, is attacked by a bomb and chemical weapons, becomes
homeless, and loses her dad. She cannot wash, must seek food from nature, and becomes so
unhealthy that she loses handfuls of hair. Children in Syria go through the hardships experienced
by the girl every day. The text at the end of the video says, Just because it isnt happening here
doesnt mean it isnt happening. Thus the video argues that such tragedies could happen to
anyone. The tragic events in the video are normally unrelatable to the common viewer because
they have never experienced them. The viewers of this video, however, have made the

Lee 3
connection to the girl in the beginning. Thus as the story progresses, they realize how war could
drastically change the life of an ordinary person like themselves. The narration in the video
effectively promotes the campaign to save children in Syria by making the story of the girl more
relatable to the audience.
During the narration of the girls story, the camera constantly focuses on her face to bring
an emotional impact to its audience. By watching the girls reactions as she goes through the
hardships, the viewers feel for the girl. In the beginning scenes, the girl is always smiling,
revealing that she is happy, carefree, and loved. The early moments appeal to the positive
emotions of the audience by making them relate to the girl and reminiscing the warm feelings
they had in their own childhoods. When the war occurs, the audience can tell that the girl has
noticed that something bad is happening. Her eyes become extremely wide, emphasizing how
bewildered and frightened she is. She never smiles, often times even frowning. Her eyes slowly
lose gaze and eventually become lifeless. These scenes bring out the worst emotions of the
audience: panic, fear, horror, and abysmal depression. In the last scene, the girl looks directly at
the camera and thus at the audience. The whole time up to this point, the audience has been
making the connection to the girl. It is in this moment that the girl reciprocates that connection.
The video changes from the audience looking into the life of a girl to the girl telling the audience
her story. The girls eyes gaze into the souls of the audience, and make them feel the most sorrow
and misery. Save the Children utilizes this method of appealing to the emotions of the audience
to spread awareness about what children in Syria go through everyday. When the emotional
connection is more effective, the impact of the situation is greater. Save the Children not only use
pathos, but also use logos to appeal to its audience.

Lee 4
The video contrasts certain moments of the girls life before and after the war to logically
convince the audience the effects of war on children. These moments reveal how the girls life
has changed. Instead of her loving grandmother pinching her cheeks, a soldier pinches them.
Instead of cuddling her doll, she holds on to it for her dear life. The main contrast is when she
celebrates her birthday. In the first scene of the video, the girl blows out nine candles on a big
cake as her family and friend sing her happy birthday. She smiles, feeling happy and loved. She
celebrates her birthday again in the last scene, signifying that a year has passed since the
beginning of the video. The atmosphere, however, has completely changed. She is in the
hospital. Only her mom sings to her because she has lost everyone else in the war. Instead of a
birthday cake, she gets something that looks like a pie. She does not even have the energy to
blow out the one candle she gets. Her face is blank, and her eyes are lifeless. Her life has turned
upside down. The differences between the scenes before and after the war reveal how much the
war has changed the girl. Thus by contrasting certain scenes in the video, Save the Children
argues the consequences of war on children.
The lives of children in Syria are in danger at this very moment because of the war. Save
the Children uses a video to promote its campaign to save those children. Its Most Shocking
Second a Day video utilizes a narration of a story of a girl to connect to the audience, focuses
on her face for an appeal to pathos, and contrasts scenes before and after the war for an appeal to
logos. This video effectively reaches its audience and promotes the campaign. Its ultimate goal is
to raise public awareness about the situations in Syria and to get the audience to donate to the
cause. A war could happen to anyone. It may not be happening near you, but it is happening
somewhere else. Children in Syria need your help right now.

Lee 5
Works Cited
"Syria." Save the Children. Save the Children Federation. Inc. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.