Thank you, Alexandra!!!

  I got this video idea from Alexandra Butler, who shared the video on her finsta page haha. The video titled "How to Narrate Your Life Story" highlights how every single person unconsciously creates their own "autobiography" through simply living our lives. It discusses how we can narrate our story based on how we view our own actions. This video quotes Macbeth when titular character Macbeth comments on life by saying, "Life is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury." The narrator moves on by stating that depending on the time of day, we can maintain different levels of optimism towards our day. Every mistake we make is not a result of spite or malice, but it rather helps lead us to decisions that are more significant. There are a lot of events that seem like they are meaninglessly tragic, like a broken heart or a lost job, but these events help us to mature into an individual that will harvest much more fulfilling successes.

  The narrator uses ethos and the concept of equality to get their point across. They state that everyone has the right to create their own story, and by keeping the answers to life's questions ambiguous, it puts more pressure on the listener than the narrator. The narrator is trying to persuade the audience to see life in a more positive light, and they claim that doing so would allow one to become a much more respectable person in the long run. Pathos is used by referencing relatable events like a breakup or being fired, to pull at the audience's heartstrings, when discussing negative things that happen in one's life. This helps the audience feel a closer bond to the narrator and the video as a whole. Something that is missing in this video is the fact that there are some events that simply have no silver lining. How can one explain how the (benefits?) of events like the Holocaust or colonial American slavery outweigh the tragic short-term and long-term effects it had on society? This makes the narrator unreliable, as they seem to not consider all examples of life.

  Overall, I agree with the message of the video. I sometimes have troubles overcoming my misfortunes, and I used to be someone who would wallow in self-pity for hours or days on end if I lost any aspects of my personal contentment. There have been many (MANY) negative things that have happened in my life (heck, I broke my foot and got in a car accident within the same month). However, I am still an overall happy person, because there have always been positive benefits from my misfortunes. When my sister was diagnosed with cancer, I thought my life was over, but had she not been diagnosed, my family would not have known as much about the childhood cancer world, and now my mom works for the UNC Children's Hospital, my dad was the director of the UNC Children's Hospital Board, my sister became a national spokesperson for both Hyundai Hope on Wheels and Pinwheels & Promises, and I would not have raised over $7,500 for Make-A-Wish and the UNC Children's Hospital. We have had a much more fulfilling life, and that tragic event allowed my family to find our purpose, and to devote our lives to helping others who are less fortunate. I am also a fairly religious person, and I believe that everything happens for a reason. For these reasons, I agree and I enjoyed this video immensely.