"Bully" summary response

Summary Response Outline

Summary:

• Topic sentence: title, author, strong verb, main idea : Lee Hirsch’s “Bully” invites viewers to the scary world of bullying in the United States, where those who are different suffer from prejudice through physical and mental torment.
• Supporting ideas to prove main ideas:  From the story of Kelby who was bullied because she was a lesbian, to the story of Jameya who was pushed to bringing a gun to the bus, to the story of Tyler, who killed himself due to continued bullying, Lee Hirsch depicts the evil that some still face in our “good as gold” nation.
• Explanation of ideas : There are stories like this all over the United States and people continue to deal with bullying.
• Concluding sentence: Bully demonstrates a wide coverage of bullying experienced by kids in the U.S. who don’t have the voice to tell the story  of their torment themselves.

Response:

• Topic sentence: title, author, strong verb, agree/disagree (correctly portrays/ incorrectly portrays) because ___________ . : Bully by Lee Hirsch  correctly portrays the storie(s) of physical and mental abuse bullying victims experience
• Claim 1: Bully accurately displays how widespread bullying is in our schools
• Set-up: The documentary clearly shows Alex (a bullying victim) being physically abused and hit on the bus to school.
• Evidence: Alex pleas to the school administration to stop  the attacks on the bus, and specifically gives examples  “ Alex: They punch me in the jaw, they strangle me and knock things out of my hand.”
• “Alex: Sit on me.”
• “Alex: I feel like I belong somewhere else.”
• (Hirsch)
• It's Obvious physical bullying happens, and Alex is just one of many.
• Counterclaim 1: However, .... some might argue that bullying is not very widespread and that kids will be kids and roughhouse and say bad things, contrary to Lee Hirsch
• Set-up: These people might say that Alex, Kelby, Ty, Ja’meya, and Tyler are just isolated events and that these are just kids messing around. They would say that from the beginning of the film, the kids were abusive to each other and not just to Alex. There are many instances where Alex just laughs along and acts like he isn’t affected by the constant battering of both physical and mental bullying.
• Evidence: Alex goes along with it, and calls these bullies” his friends  “If they aren't my friends what friends do I have?” ( Hirsch)
• Explanation of quotation to prove counterclaim: If these kids are truly bullies why would Alex think they’re his friends? Is it that hard to believe they might just be messing around?
• What are the strengths/ flaws of this argument?: At first glance it is easy to assume that bullying happens only in these isolated cases. However, it is undeniable that these cases are too common to remain unaddressed. These stories showcase the bigger problem which is bullying happens and it is widespread
• Concluding sentence: Bullying is in America and needs to be addressed due to its  of the widespreadness.

Jackson Sanborn & Daniel Guo