Blog 24: Outline Student's Guide Essay

Since this essay is about sex-trafficking, this picture seems apropos.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/iragelb/5611594783

A copy of the outline can be found here: https://docs.google.com/a/email.arizona.edu/document/d/1RpjjARg6wx45M_r0S6T2TilAxdB6dPcCgVsjTeKcVl0/edit?usp=sharing

Wanted: Emotional Response for the End of Sex-Trafficking

By Mikayla Gerdes-Morgan

Outline

1. Introduction

1. Shocking statistic to set scope of problem
2. Comparison to slave trade

1. Exploitation of women
2. Women as commodity

C. Documentary film

1. What is sex-trafficking
2. How it affects slaves

D. Thesis: “Through the use of reenactments and cinematography, Nolot effectively illustrates the dire need for the cessation of human sex-trafficking and appeals to his viewers’ emotions.”

E. Purpose

1. Catches reader’s attention
2. Provides transition into rest of paper

II. Dramatized reenactments to show how sex traffickers dehumanize females when buying them

1. Girl’s walking down runway

1. Watched by sex traffickers
2. Fashion show meant to sell clothes not women’s bodies
3. Shocks audience

2. Metaphor to show dehumanization

1. Victims treated worse than dogs
2. Comparison to dogs belittle victims
3. Victims are commodities
4. Depicts hypocrisy of sex-trafficking

C. Purpose

1. Hopes to elicit enough empathy from audience by showing how this is not humane

III. Commentary from expert on topic

1. Melissa Farley

1. Clinical psychologist
2. Director for Prostitution Research and Education

2. Insight on victims desperate situations

1. Victim obeys commands of trafficker

1. Allows trafficker full control

3. Appeals to emotion

1. Victims shown as lesser beings than dogs

D. Purpose

1. Provide insight from a credible expert to support her claim

IV. Cinematographic effects appeals to emotion and furthers power complex

1. Discussion with psychologist

1. Power over individual forces individual to disconnect from world
2. Recede into self, open to control from others

2. Image of man beating woman

1. Angle from victim’s perspective
2. Viewing window decreases in size

1. Reflects dwindling soul
2. Appeals emotionally

i. Allows readers to connect at personal level

ii. Places viewers in victim’s shoes

C. Purpose

1. Elicits pity from audience compelling them to free the victims

V. Narrowing circle metaphor for tunnel

1. Victim’s account of broken emotional outlook

1. Mindset like tunnel

2. Girl leaning against bed, crying

1. Screen’s field narrows, honing in
2. Girl becomes more distant
3. Hope to escape diminishes

3. Prospective earning from prostitution is a mirage

1. Circle border/tunnel fades to blackness
2. Loss of hope
3. Places viewers in victim’s situation

D. Camera angle from above

1. Victim in lower position
2. Appeals to empathy
3. Compels readers to want to pull her out of her situation

E. Purpose

1. Showing victims are helpless
2. Only the audience can do something to save victims

VI. Brazenness creates empathetic response

1. Exposing audience to victim’s situation

1. Provokes audience to take action to help victims
2. Reasoning and importance of helping them

2. Victims deserve a second chance

1. Humanizes victims

3. Justification to end sex-trafficking
4. Society must take action
5. Visual appeals

1. Humans must come together to end sex-trafficking
2. Free the victims

F. Purpose

1. Concludes the paper hoping to rally support against sex-trafficking

Analyzing the Analysis

Mikayla organizes her essay in an understandable way. The topics of the sentences flowed well going from how these sex-trafficking victims are dehumanized to how this belittles their view of themselves to how society or the readers could change this which follows her thesis. Her transitions at the end of paragraphs often mention that the ideas explored in the paragraph serves to make the audience want to take action. These concluding sentences may reiterate the purpose, but sacrifices its smoothness. She also seems to organize her paragraphs by providing evidence (mostly paraphrases) then following her evidence with an analysis which seems logical.

One of her stronger paragraphs is the paragraph that talks about the narrowing circular frame. She goes beyond the images to create her own opinions of what this symbolizes and how it influences the audience to take action by revealing how sex-trafficking locks its victims into a set mindset where any chance of hope is slipping away as these victims reach a harsh realization. Mikayla analyzes how the frame creates and represents this effect pretty well.

One of Mikayla's weaker paragraphs is the third one where she talks about the desperate situations of the victims of sex-trafficking. The information and evidence used meshed together with the second half of the second paragraph which makes this paragraph somewhat redundant. I would take the paragraph out or rewrite it so as to mention more than just what is said, but include the tone used. I may also consider rewriting the analysis so that it does not repeat the idea that women are made lesser beings.