'The majority of those who died today were children - beautiful, little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them - birthdays, graduations, weddings and kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who dedicated their lives to helping out children fulfill their dreams.'
Text B: Advert
'YOU WON'T TELL YOUR MUMMY, WILL YOU?
If this makes you feel uncomfortable, imagine it makes them feel'
The obvious link between these two pieces are the common theme of children and danger, although the second one is a little more ambiguous and a different form, the purpose of both is still the same. They both are attempting to stand up for the innocence of children and stop a awful situation from happening - Obama being school shootings and gun use in general and the advert is to stop child abuse. Both maintain the image of the children being innocent and, in a way, weak. They portray a dominant adult state, perhaps giving the feeling that the older generation should be supporting and looking after them, and hinting at a degree of responsibility. This is shown by the 'your mummy' from text B, 'your mummy' is meant to be looking after you and guiding you, if something has happened that's not right, which is what this advert is hinting at, your parents should be among the first to know so they can support you. In turn; being responsible for them and their well-being.
However; the obvious difference is the hiding from the adult figure in text B and the loss that is shown in text A. In text A, the children are directly addressed - 'beautiful little kids...' - but in text B they are simply referred to as 'them', showing isolation and distance, this advert is not supposed to be aimed at children, and neither is the Obama's speech, but in text B they purposely don't use the word children, other than the fact of it being unneeded, it is a bigger impact since the identity is hidden, this could be any child, and not only is it child, its plural ('them'). Text A takes the approach of sympathy and empathy with the parents and teachers of the children, although Obama didn't know anything about these children, he still says they were 'beautiful' and would go on to have various occasions happen to them, such as birthdays and weddings etc, this plays with the emotions because although the primary purpose is to show his support for the families, it is also trying to say we need to do something about this, facing the situation of guns etc..
However; text B is simply about advertising and promoting the safety of children and bringing attention to the fact that child abuse is a thing and we do need to do something about it.
