Maisha Mashtura

Professor Pastore
English Composition
03 May 2022

Composition in Two Genres First Draft
Part One: Two Compositions

1. Blog-
       13 Reasons Why the Show “13 Reasons Why” Was Bad 

If you weren’t living under a rock in 2017, you’ve heard of the Netflix show, “13 Reasons Why”. Netflix released this show following the story of a teen girl’s suicide and its aftermath as a way to raise awareness about suicide, bullying, and other sensitive issues. The message of the show is very important, as suicide is among the leading causes of teen deaths in the U.S. Having said that, the show is a perfect example of a good idea being ruined by a poor execution. The show, upon its release, received backlash for its graphic scenes, glamorization of suicide, and overall having a negative on its teen audience. My top 13 Reasons for why “13 Reasons Why” was bad are:
13. Clay and Hannah

The romantic component of Clay and Hannah’s relationship was unnecessary. It was used to romanticize the show and it took away from the story the show was supposed to tell.
12. Why was Zach on the tape?
The reason for Zach being on the tape was because he took away Hannah’s “compliment notes”. She wrote him a heartfelt letter and he threw it away, which to her meant he did not care about her. But we see that he had the note all along. So what was the point? To the audience watching, it made her “reasons” look childish. And that took away from some of the more serious issues discussed in the show.
11. Lawsuit drama
Hannah’s parents start a lawsuit against the school, blaming them for negligence that led to her suicide. In real life, that would simply never happen. By revolving the aftermath of suicide around drama and blame, it gives an unrealistic portrayal of suicide to teens. In reality, the only thing parents are faced with after their child’s death is grief. 

10. School barely talked about suicide prevention

As for being considered a show about suicide, 13 Reasons Why fails to address important suicide prevention strategies that can help the teens/parents/guardians/school officials watching.
9. Sexual assault in the show
Although I believe the sexual assault is an important topic to be discussed in media, the scene showing Tyler (a character in the show) being assaulted was outright disturbing.
8. No advice about how to deal with the issues presented in the show

Many of the issues discussed in the show (i.e. cyberbullying, sexual assault, stalking, bullying) are all prevalent issues many teens deal with on a daily basis. So why not give teens a way to deal with the issues present rather than just showing suicide as an outcome of all the issues presented?
7. Parents were barely involved

In the show, Hannah was mostly hurt by her friends, peers, and school officials. Her parents were barely involved in her life when she was going through hardships. That does not send a good message to the teens watching.

6. Why did Netflix purposely ignore the predictions about the increased teen suicide rate?

There were many concerns raised regarding the show prior to its release. Many experts said the show will increase teen suicide rate (which it did). Netflix chose to ignore those warnings and release the show anyways, and it paid off for them because the show was a hit. Despite the many lives it took away from this world.
5. Lack of warnings
The lack of warnings in the show was a reason for a lot of backlash the show received. Multiple rape scenes and Hannah’s suicide scene were shown without any additional warning, traumatising many of its young audience.
4. Suicide used as a tool for revenge

The show received a lot of backlash for its portrayal of suicide as a revenge tool. The main theme of the show was blame. Who was to blame for Hannah’s death? Hannah blamed the people on the tapes, and left them behind to take revenge on them for hurting her. However, that is not a healthy outlook for suicide. Blaming people for taking your own life and leaving something behind as haunting as suicide tapes can be detrimental to those teen’s mental health as well.
3. Negligent adults

Mr.Porter is Hannah’s guidance counselor in the show. She seeks help from him following her rape and he fails to help her. He ignores her suicidal signs and completely dismisses her issues. What are teens in real life who want to seek help from their school officials supposed to take away from that? How can this show be considered a tool for starting conversations around mental health when it simply discourages youth from reaching out for help?
2. Bathtub scene and the suicide contagion that followed
One of the most controversial scene on Netflix, the bathtub suicide scene was a graphic and heartbreaking scene that traumatised its viewers to say the least. Netflix may have removed the scene after two years of its release, but the damage had already been done. Why was this scene shown in the first place? The answer is simple: shock value.
1. Is suicide the only solution?
In this show, suicide is potrayed as the last option for Hannah, after “everyone” fails her. The vulnerable teens who are battling suicidal thoughts may relate to the character, and also view suicide as a solution as a result of that. However, that is not the case in real life. The show fails to provide any valuable insight on how to overcome this battle against suicidal thoughts, leaving their teen audience pondering whether suicide is the only solution after all.
I hope you were able to take away something from this list about the negative effects “13 Reasons Why” had on its vulnerable teen viewers. And as Netflix continues to release new seasons of “13 Reasons Why”, I hope you’re reminded of this blog and scroll past it. Thanks for reading.
Best,
Maisha

2. Tweet Thread Outline –
   

Part Two: Rationale
Rhetorical analysis of blog – I’m the author of this blog and I’m credible as I watched the show “13 Reasons Why” and have done extensive research on this show and its effect through my inquiry based essay. The audience of my blog is Netflix viewers between the ages of 16 and 30 years old as they are the main demographic the show was meant for. The purpose of the blog is to inform the audience about the show’s negative effect on its teen audience. The tone of the blog is persuasive since I’m trying to convince my audience this show was detrimental to the mental health of teens, sensitive because the issues discussed such as rape, bullying, suicide are all sensitive topic, informal, and disapproving which helps me build up my negative stance of the show. The genre is a blog and the medium used is online. The clock time for the blog is April 2022 and suicide is one of the leading causes of teenage deaths with an upward trend of teen suicide rate. Media potrayal of suicide has also increased in this past decade. The author has a disapproving stance toward the release of the show and its effect on teens. The cultural expectation for this article is to make an opinionated, informative piece that engages the audience with an honest review of the show.
Rhetorical analysis of tweet thread – I’m the author of the tweet thread and I’m as I watched the show “13 Reasons Why” and have done extensive research on this show and its effect through my inquiry based essay. The audience of my tweet thread is Netflix viewers between the age of 16 and 30 years old. The purpose of the tweet thread is to inform the audience about the show’s negative effect on its teen audience. The tone of the tweet thread is informative, disapproving as I have to make my stance clear and direct since the character limit is very low, and serious because suicide, bullying, and sexual assault are all very sensitive topics. The genre is a tweet thread and the medium used is online. The clock time of the thread is April 2022. At this time in the world, suicide is one of the leading causes of teenage deaths with an upward trend of teen suicide rate. Media potrayal of suicide has also increased in this past decade. The author has a disapproving outlook on the release of the show and its effect on teens. The cultural expectation for this tweet thread is that it should be well researched with links to credible sources or data from those sources. It should also appeal to people’s emotions.
I chose a tweet thread and blog through an online medium for the genre. My audience are Netflix users between the age of 16 to 30 years old. As a part of the aforementioned age group, I know my audience consumes a lot of their information from social media posts. That’s why I chose to use twitter where it’s typical to see threads on takes of popular controversial shows. I think my audience is more likely to read a twitter thread over something more lengthy and wordy such as a newspaper, since a twitter thread is less time consuming and easier to read through. As for the blog, I chose the genre as it can be an opinionated, humorous, and often short piece of writing that delivers information in a way that’s accessible and easy to consume. 

One of the barriers I came across for my blog was being able to find 13 equally important reasons. In my inquiry based essay, I only included 3 main reasons why the show had a negative effect on teens. However, to match my model blog I had to find 13 reasons. I did that by breaking up my “main” reasons into more specific details, and listing them in order of least to most important to keep my audience engaged and further convince them as they continue to read the blog.
A barrier for my tweet thread was making sure my tweets were concise as there is 280 character limit and too many tweets in the thread can cause my audience to scroll away before reading the full thread. In order to ensure my audience scrolls away before reading the main points of my research findings, I put the tweets in order of most important points to least important, and used pictures of data from research studies and created short summaries instead of writing a long paragraph about one point.   

The writing process was different for this assignment as compared to the inquiry based essay as I was strictly following the structure of my model blog and thread. I also had to use less words to convey the same message in order to keep my audience engaged.
Part Three: Outline of Model Essay

1. Blog – Koto, Amy. “13 Reasons Why You Should Watch ‘13 Reasons Why’ Season 2.” TV Fanatic Girl, 28 July 2020, tvfanatic.blog/2018/05/24/13-reasons-why-you-should-watch-13-reasons-why-season-2/. 

Structure:
Clever title with a pun. 

Author’s short excerpt about their experience with the topic and a summary of the main focus.
List goes in order of least to most important.
Each reason listed has a short title.

Concluded like a letter.
Rhetorical principle:
Purpose: Inform audience about the central messages of the show and persuade them 

Genre: Blog
Tone: Persuasive when she lists each reasons and finds the deeper meaning the show highlights, emotional/sensitive when talking about Mrs.Baker and Clay’s closure with Hannah’s suicide , informal when she says the show had her “laughing, crying, shocked more than I thought possible”

2. Tweet Thread – Naiem, Mariam. “As a Russian-Speaking Person of Color Who Was Born and Raised in Ukraine, I Believe That I Am in a Position to Speak on the Issue of Nationalism and Neo-Nazism in Ukraine. A Long Thread 👇.” Twitter, Twitter, 7 Apr. 2022, https://twitter.com/mariamposts/status/1511995713135443969?s=20&t=xlk83f5GouaZlIdd96Abpg.
   Structure:
   Gives background of author’s credibility and introduces issue in the first tweet. 

Historical context given.
Links to statistical studies.
Use of quotes.
Concludes with questions and yes or no answers that summarize the main point of the thread.
Rhetorical Analysis:
Purpose: Inform audience about the harmful nature of a topic

Tone: Serious, informative, disapproving
Genre: Tweet thread