To make my piece more effective and persuasive I used ‘Triple-X Phrases’, as much as possible. There is evidence that hearing something three times will make it easier to absorb and understand. I started it off with a triple-x phrase, using the date Victoria Climbie died as repletion. My opening lines were made as effective as possible as it is the opening sentence that grabs a reader or listeners attention. I created suspense in the opening lines by describing how the young girl had died, but not saying how until the third line. Lengthy pauses between each line help make it more dramatic and full of suspense.
Extremely emotive language is used throughout, and this is probably the most effective technique I have used as it will really play on the listeners emotions. I have used strong words such as ‘beaten up’, ‘tied up’, ‘forced’ and ‘violence’.
To help play on the listeners emotions I have used empathy, ‘Imagine you are a young, small, innocent child’. This way the audience will not only have sympathy for victims of child abuse but they will see things from their perspective by empathising with them. I used the word ‘small’ so the child you are imagining yourself to be will seem even more dominated by adults, and everything around you will seem even more daunting and frightening.
I have quoted from an authorative source – ‘The NSPCC have witnessed an increasing number of related incidences’. This creates the effect of it being more official, researched and genuine.
The main idea of this is to get people to donate money to my charity, of which I have created a slogan for. I have called it ‘Help Break the Cycle of Child Abuse and Neglect’, which is shortened to ‘Help Break the Cycle’. I chose the word ‘break’, as it can be considered a play on words, as opposed to breaking a part of a child’s body, or even the fact that a child’s heart would be broken, knowing they are unloved.
I decided to create the voice of an adult woman who suffered child abuse in her earlier years; she now speaks telling the audience how it has affected her in later life. I personalised her by giving her a name, age and town of which she resides, therefore she is more realistic, and listeners can create a picture of her in their minds. She speaks with Received Pronunciation, the aim of which is to let audience realise that anybody can be abused, from any class. She will sound respectable, optimistic and determined yet altogether disturbed, angry and distraught. She explains what happened to her, her feelings then and her feelings now, which will help the audience empathise with her. She speaks with highly formal language and a somewhat medical jargon is used, ‘chronically’, ‘anxiety’, and ‘disorder’. Her speech makes her sound aware of what has happened and also make her sound intelligent, and more realistic.
I found out where the NSPCC’s money goes and decided that my charity would work alongside the NSPCC in providing therapy for victims of child abuse. I feel that therapy is an important factor as it can give people the determination they need to go on living their lives, as many people may feel suicidal and worthless.
