TOW #13 - Visual

This political cartoon by Wasserman is clearly trying to make a statement about the current U.S. Congress. In the background, Washington D.C., and more specifically the Congress building, is shown while the foreground depicts two congressmen. The first aspect of this work that makes the overall message more effective is rather simple: each man is wearing a different color tie. Blue traditionally symbolizes the Democratic party, while red traditionally represents the Republican party. By representing both parties as in cahoots with one another the criticism is broadened to the entirety of congress rather than one party or the other. This also serves to broaden the audience of the visual text. If Wasserman were to target only Republicans, for example, he would risk offending readers who primarily agree with the Republican platform. It would also serve to weaken his argument that Congress as a whole is not invested in the concerns of the people, as representing one party would imply that only that group was at fault.

While this is a visual text, it is still reliant on words to make its overall purpose clear. The man in blue brings up an actual issue, a notice that all airbags nationwide must be recalled. In effect this scenario is rather absurd, but in context the entire nation is at risk. The second man simply reassures his startled friend by reminding him that they still have their jobs, and that there is nothing for them to personally worry about. The greater message is clear: Congress is out of touch with problems that affect everyday Americans. The first bubble serves to raise the stakes, and to make Congress's relative inaction seem dire. The issue presented could cause great harm to the nation if not fixed, but Congress does not feel a need to move as their jobs are not at risk.

The larger message of the text is not simply that Congress is content to mull about doing nothing. Instead it challenges the reader to force their elected officials into action by making it seem like their jobs are at risk. Changing out one party for the other will not change the issue either, Wasserman's image argues, as it is the people within the institution causing the problem not individual parties.

TOW #12 - IRB

For the second marking period, I chose to read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It is a non-fiction book based off of a true story about Louis Zamperini. He was a track star who was drafted into the United States Air Force during World War II. Unbroken narrates his life from his track achievements in his earlier years to his imprisonment at a Japanese execution camp. After crash landing in the Pacific Ocean because of a mechanical error in his bomber, he and only two other crew members, Russell Allen "Phil" Phillips and Francis "Mac" McNamara, survived to spend the next one and a half months on a life raft. Although Mac passed away on thirty-third day, Phil and Louis manage to survive two more weeks before being captured by a Japanese ship. Ironically, they were very well fed and treated on their transport to an concentration camp, Kwajarein, which was also known as "Execution Island". Although I only read about halfway through the book, there have been several rhetorical devices that Hillenbrand uses to narrate the story. She uses several symbols in order to foreshadow the events to come. At the beginning of the story in 1929, Louis sees a German dirigible named the Graf Zepplin. As it loomed over him, he stood in shock and awe, yet thought to himself that he never wanted to deal with planes, as they scared him. This is both foreshadowing and symbolizing the war that was to come: shocking and scary. Also, while Louis, Phil, and Mac were stranded in the ocean, they catch an albatross and uses its meat to catch fish. Having read "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, last year in English class, I remembered that killing an albatross caused bad luck, which certainly happened in Unbroken. Louis and Phil were sent to a concentration camp where they were under the watch of "The Bird", a nickname given to the unforgiving warden. So far, I thoroughly enjoy reading Unbroken, and Hillenbrand does an excellent job at using symbols to foreshadow upcoming events.

TOW #11 - Text

In response to the recent shootings in San Bernardino, California on December 2, 2015, the New York Times' editorial board made a statement that the gun epidemic in America should be ended. Although there have been many shootings, both related to extremist groups and not, in the past few years, this event had been the largest and deadliest terrorist attack since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In their article, the board mentions these shootings to reason why gun control should be enforced more than it is now. They also allude to our politicians who "offer prayers for gun victims and then, callously and without fear of consequence, reject the most basic restrictions on weapons of mass killings." Though their purpose of writing this editorial is to argue for stricter gun control laws, they acknowledge the impracticality in allowing citizens to bear firearms while keeping them from criminals. That's why they justify their argument by stating that only "certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed from civilian ownership." I thought that their argument and use of relative events was convincing and effective because of their well-supported statements and I agree that change must be brought to the issue of gun control.

TOW #10 - Visual

Gary Varvel, artist of the political cartoon shown below, is a political cartoonist for the Indianapolis Star. He has been the editorial cartoonist since 1994, and was the chief artist for The Indianapolis News for 16 years before he began work with the Indianapolis Star. Varvel is known for his political cartoons, as many of them address very controversial topics in the political world. In this particular cartoon, he addresses the issue of spending of the United States' budget by President Barack Obama. It depicts the president sitting back in his office chair while saying, "We don't have a spending problem," as the walls of the White House behind him are burning down.
Symbolism is a very prevalent rhetorical device used in this cartoon. Varvel helps the viewer to know that spending is represented by the fire by clearly writing "Spending" on the fire. The walls are also a symbol, and they represent many things: the infrastructure of our government, the country's and our well-being, our own freedoms, and so on. This depiction of fire implies that the spending in our country is destructive and counterproductive to the infrastructure of our government, our well-being, and our freedoms. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama, who is responsible for spending our money and causing this uncontrollable fire, is relaxing in his seat as if nothing is going wrong. He's either completely oblivious to the damage he's dealing, or he is choosing to ignore it, but either way, Varvel is not portraying a good image for the president.
Meant for the citizens of the United States, Varvel drew this political cartoon to raise awareness of the destruction that is being caused by Obama's actions of spending the country's thin budget. I believe that Varvel was accomplished in revealing that destruction because of how successful his use of symbolism was. Fire is a very straightforward symbol: devastation, havoc, ruin. There was no question as to what it was doing, and who was responsible.

TOW #9 - Text

On November 13, 2015, several terrorist attacks took place in the city of Paris, France. Currently, over a hundred lives have been claimed dead, and the number is still rising. The Washington Post reviewed the aftermath in their article with witnesses and experts. The authors, Emily Badger and Mark Berman, wrote this article to report to the world the devastating events that took place this past Friday and to get support for the families of those who were attacked by including logical statistics. The main purpose of the article was to analyze the reasons behind the places that the terrorists chose to attack. The Washington Post found that the sites were chosen because, "as the ISIS statement suggested, [they] were more abhorrent to the attackers for their culture than their politics. These are places where beer is served, where men and women dance together, where religions and culture mix" (Badger & Berman). They took into account the places in which the attacks occurred: the concert hall, the cafes, the stadium. Those places are all areas in which western culture clashes with Arabic culture. The terrorists intentionally chose those places because of this fact, and also for their intention to terrorize basic, everyday life. I support the families of the victims of the attacks on Paris, and have no doubt that these terrorists will be brought to justice.

IRB Intro Post #2

For the next nonfiction book I'm going to read, I chose Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Not only was it recommended to me by a friend, but I saw the movie that was based on it not too long ago. However, I expect many things to be different from the movie and from the book, as most book-based movies are. Although World War II isn't the most intriguing thing to me, it is still interesting and I hope to challenge myself by reading something that is a bit out of my comfort zone.

TOW #8 - IRB

With one marking period down and three left, I have finished reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. In comparison to many reviews, I rather enjoyed Into Thin Air. Krakauer did a spectacular job at narrating a personal thriller. Though the real event may not have been as crazy and action-packed as it was depicted in Into Thin Air, I still appreciated his rendition. In the second half of the story, Krakauer finds himself facing an enormous storm, both literally and figuratively. A massive blizzard renders his expedition crew inoperative, and at the same time the other crew members are not being cooperative with Krakauer and each other. One thing after another, luck is not in Krakauer's favor as him and his team descend from the summit. Eventually, with the loss of several members, they make it down. Even though it is a non-fiction account, Krakauer writes Into Thin Air for the purpose of entertainment. He accomplishes this through the use of his diction. His word choice and tone emphasizes the intensity or melancholy in certain situations. For instance, when Hutchinson, one of the expedition's team members, recalls when Weathers, another team member, was blown off of the mountain by a strong gust of wind, his tone makes the story short and gloomy. This causes the memory to be depressing and the reader can only feel sad for the unfortunate death. Overall, I thought Into Thin Air was well written and recommend it to anyone. Krakauer was very successful in entertaining me with his personal account of his expedition on Mt. Everest.

TOW #7 - Text

     Nadya Tolokonnikova, a Russian political activist, spoke at the Wired 2015 event just two weeks ago. Her speech, found on the Huffington Post, was based upon the idea of physical borders and its restrictions. She spoke about the concept of globalization and how we should not be citizens of the United States, of the United Kingdom, of Russia, but of the world. Tolokonnikova was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in August 2012 because of an anti-Putin performance with her band, but ever since her release, she has appeared on stage with several world leaders, including Bill Clinton.

Nadya Tolokonnikova

     Since her purpose is to convince the people of the world to live without borders, she depends greatly on the appeal to emotions. Because of this, Tolokonnikova uses first-person plural personal pronouns, like "we" and "our". The effect of her use of these pronouns is very strong because the audience feels as if she is part of them, and this effect is exactly what she is aiming for. Knowing that she cannot work alone, Tolokonnikova depends on working together with her audience. Therefore, I found her speech to be very effective because she successfully became one with her audience.

TOW #6 - Visual

Considered one of the most famous political cartoons in American history--if it even can be called American history--is this cartoon drawn by Benjamin Franklin. It was presented by him on May 9th, 1754, in the Pennsylvania Gazette. This was just prior to the Albany Congress, the first time when the British colonies were united before the French and Indian War. The meeting called for representatives from eight colonies to decide on a plan for united defense against the enemy force: the French. Benjamin Franklin was very well-known and influential, easily establishing his credibility, and this political cartoon of his played a big part in his attempts to unify the American colonies so that it was no longer Virginians, Pennsylvanians, and New Yorkers, but Americans who were fighting the war.
One very big rhetorical strategy that Benjamin Franklin is using is symbolism. Very obviously, a cut-up snake is portrayed, with each of its segments labeled by a colony or group of colonies: New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Ever since the times of the Bible, the snake has generally represented death. Franklin uses this symbol to represent the death of the French. Also, a common myth in colonial America told that a chopped up snake could revive itself if its body parts were joined. Franklin wants the colonies, represented by the segments, to come together so that the French may be destroyed. Otherwise, as the caption states, the individual parts will die. I believe Franklin's political cartoon was very effective in persuading the colonists to join together. Even though it solely relies on an appeal to pathos, the colonists at the time were afraid of the French and an impending death, which are supposedly apprehended by the plans of Franklin.

TOW #5 - Text

In light of recent events that have taken place all over the United States of America, I read an article that addressed gun violence: specifically, if citizens with a concealed carry license do anything to stop mass shootings if they are present. This article by Eugene Volokh, found on The Washington Post, was posted just over a week ago. Volokh is a professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. He addresses the recent mass shootings in America and questions if there are citizens, not police officers, who stop the shooters with their own concealed carry. He then provides several examples over the past two decades in which a citizen pulled their licensed weapon on the shooter and successfully stopped them before any more harm could be done to the public, one of which describes an event in Philadelphia: "In a Philadelphia barber shop earlier this year, Warren Edwards 'opened fire on customers and barbers' after an argument. Another man with a concealed-carry permit then shot the shooter; of course it's impossible to tell whether the shooter would have kept killing if he hadn't been stopped, but a police captain was quoted as saying that, 'I guess he [the man who shot the shooter] saved a lot of people in there'" (Volokh 1). Volokh, in this case, uses these logical examples very well. He provides the information that the audience desires as proof of his point: that ordinary civilians do step up against crime and have successfully stopped it. He also uses the repetition of the phrase "In what fraction" while questioning the usefulness of the preceding examples. This makes his point less effective, but also shows the audience that there are more events that happen outside of what he showed. Overall, I believe Volokh accomplished his purpose in informing the audience of how normal citizens help the public by taking the matters of justice into their own hands.

TOW #4 - IRB

Into Thin Air, a personal account of disaster on Mt. Everest, was written by Jon Krakauer. It is a true story based off of his climb to the summit of the tallest mountain in the world. However, the expedition turns out to be less than pleasant during the descent when trouble sets in. During the first few chapters, Krakauer recounts the beginning stages of the expedition: arrival at the base of the mountain, the climb to Base Camp, acclimatization--the process that is undertaken to adjust to the change in the environment, which in this case is the altitude. Krakauer recalls his efforts to get used to the altitude through several fits of wheezing and coughing. He narrates his expedition with a young adult audience in mind because his purpose is to inform and encourage that goals should be pursued in life, even though risks must be taken, as long as it is important to you. Krakauer enforces his purpose through the use of narration. Almost the entire book is based off of his narration of his climb of Mt. Everest. His use of narration establishes his ethos. Not only is he proving his summit of the highest mountain in the world, Mt. Everest, but he also proves his own pursuing of his goals. He risks his life by going on such a dangerous climb and putting his trust in inexperienced strangers. However, he does so because of he strives to conquer the top of the world by his own will. Krakauer also achieves his purpose of encourage the pursuit of one's goals by writing with a first-person point-of-view. Even though it is his personal account of his climb, the first-person point-of-view helps the audience to be in the moment and know the thrill of taking risks to pursue a goal. I believe Krakauer was successful in achieving his purpose because he was able to prove his own account of pursuing a goal and through that, it encourages others to do so as well.

TOW #3 - Text

In the more recent years, there has been a lot of attention on women's rights. Women have been fighting for recognition in the social world, especially in the workplace. However, Ann-Marie Slaughter brings up a very valid point in her article on Time, Women Are Sexist, Too. As the title states very obviously, Slaughter's main argument in her article is that women are just as sexist of men as men are of women. Of course, it's been known that in the workplace, women are treated unequally compared to how men are treated. Slaughter even brings up a scenario in which, "you walk into your office on your first day of work and your boss, a man, says, 'I have evolved biologically to do this job better than you can, but I'm going to let you try. To be sure it's done right, however, I will leave you detailed instructions for every individual task. And when I travel, I will call in every couple of hours to make sure you are following those instructions to the letter.' " (5). She continues by saying how women become upset at this situation. However, she notes, in regards to leaving male partners in charge of children, the double standards that women hold. Just as men criticize women for not doing something their way in the workplace, women criticize men for not doing things their way in the household. The only difference is that men have been addressed about their criticism, while women have free reign to criticize their husbands; otherwise, they say that their rights are being violated. Although I am for women's rights, I agree with Slaughter that men should be receive their rights in the household just as women receive theirs in the workplace.

TOW #2 - Text

Katherine Anne Porter, author of The Future is Now, writes about her experiences in the post-WWII era during the 1950s. The Cold War, which occurred from the late 1940s until the early 1990s, dominated the way that Americans lived. The military doctrine known as "mutually assured destruction" first applied to the Cold War and stated that both the attacker(s) and defender(s) would be completely annihilated in the full-scale use of weapons of mass destruction. This doctrine controlled American lifestyle and shaped their view on the world. Though they were almost forced to live in constant fear of a preemptive nuclear strike from the U.S.S.R., Porter shows the reader a new perspective on life.
She starts her essay with the use of an anecdote to establish her ethos as well as bring forward her view on the use of weapons of mass destruction. As Porter inquires into the procedure of retreating to safety in the event of a bombing, she realizes that "the only real safety seems to lie in simply being somewhere else at the time." (Porter 1). Even though it is such a grim fact, she takes it that there is nothing she can do to increase her chances of survival of a bombing but to refocus on just simply living her life. Porter proves this point further when she describes looking out of her window. She sees a man polishing a table of his, perfecting this seemingly useless object. However, she comes to the realization that "he was not preparing a possible shelter... he is doing something he feels is worth doing now, and that is no small thing." (Porter 3). This extended metaphor ultimately points to the fact that people should cherish the present for what it is instead of being anxious of the future.
I believe that Porter's use of anecdotes and extended metaphors are highly effective in proving her point that the future should not be worried about, and that the present should be focused on. She not only supports it through emotional appeal, but also connects to it on a personal level.

TOW #1 - Visual

This cartoon is drawn by Tom Toles in 2005 for the Washington Post. He spent almost thirty years as a cartoonist for the Buffalo News and the Buffalo Courier-Express prior to joining the Washington Post in 2002. He received the many awards while working for the Post, and also was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1990. This political cartoon expresses the gratitude that is given towards Rosa Parks for her brave act of refusing to give up a front row bus seat to a white person. Her actions got her arrested, but it also helped to spark the civil rights movement that was heating up all across the United States. It implies that she went to heaven for the good she did, and that there was a great reward awaiting her arrival. The cartoon was drawn especially for the African-American community so that they might be joyful in the sacrifice that Parks made to stand against racial injustice. That being said, the cartoonist, Toles, primarily appeals to the emotions of the audience. He appeals to pathos by first drawing the gates of heaven awaiting her arrival. This reinforces the fact that her actions of refusing to move to the back seats of the bus were to stand up for her own rights and against racial injustice, and therefore good. Another way he appeals to pathos is through the caption located at the bottom-right corner of the cartoon, which states, "We've been holding it open since 1955," and suggests that there was a reserved seat in heaven for her ever since she had done that good deed. There can also be some satire interpreted from this comment, criticizing the amount of time it took--fifty years!--for the entire country as a whole to recognize and appreciate her act. I believe Toles is very successful in accomplishing his purpose. His cartoon directly states that Rosa Parks was awaited at a better place because of her good actions against racial discrimination.

IRB Intro Post #1

This marking period, I will be reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. I found this book just from the bookshelf in our classroom. Just scanning for any interesting books, I recognized the author of Into The Wild, which I read a few years ago. Since I enjoyed reading Into The Wild, I am expecting a good read out of this one, too. Besides it being the tallest mountain in the world, I don't know much about Mt. Everest and its history/origin. I hope to learn more about it and the adventures of those who took on the challenge.

Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away – S.J. Perelman

S.J. Perelman’s essay, Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away is full of humor, as the title entails. His entire purpose is to entertain readers who struggle with following directions and feel the need to improvise as they go on, just like he does. He amuses the readers by describing a particular Christmas morning in which he had to assemble a cardboard toy. It sounds easy, but chaos ensues when Perelman begins to put the pieces together. Perelman attended Brown University and moved on to write many popular collections that were famously humorous. He was awarded an Oscar in 1956 because of that same humor for his screenplay of Around the World in Eighty Days.

Perelman used several rhetorical devices to amuse his audience, one of which was humor. This doesn’t seem surprising and is expected, as it is what he is most well-known for. After his ordeal in failing to assemble the toy truck correctly, he describes himself being “on [his] hands and knees, bunting the infernal thing along with [his] nose and whinnying, ‘Roll, confound you, roll!’” (Perelman 189). Perelman gives the reader a visual of a grown man on his hands and knees, using his face to push a poorly constructed toy truck along the floor. Not only do kids get a laugh out of this silly moment, but adults, too, can enjoy this story of a silly parent trying to amuse their children. Perelman indeed accomplished his purpose in entertaining his readers because of the rhetorical devices he used, another being satire. He describes a different scene in which he is assembling a closet called the “Jiffy-Cloz” and has yet more embarrassing troubles with the process. When he finds trouble in assembling the contraption, Perelman finds later that “the Jiffy-Cloz people cunningly omit four of the staples necessary to finish the job” (Perelman 186). Now he is blaming manufacturers of their failure to provide all the correct materials in order to make up for the inconveniences he faced. Perelman gives his audience a laugh from his satire, evidently entertaining them.

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The Lives of a Cell – Lewis Thomas

In Lewis Thomas’s essay, The Lives of a Cell, he describes a cell, pointing out the different organelles and their purposes, as well as the history of how they came to be in the eukaryotic cell. He presents the endosymbiosis theory and explains how the eukaryotic cell was formed with those migrant prokaryocytes. However, Thomas takes this idea of a cell and compares it to the earth. Lewis Thomas had this essay published in 1971 in The New England Journal of Medicine, and during that time, the cell was still being defined. His view of comparing our world to a cell—something so massive on a macroscopic scale to something so small on a microscopic scale—was a very big leap. However, Thomas was fully aware of the step he took. Educated at Princeton and Harvard Medical School, he rose to become a professor of pathology at both New York University and Yale University. There is no doubt that he intended on comparing Earth to a cell. 

His entire essay is essentially one extended metaphor. Thomas means to simplify our works on Earth to the minute works within a tiny cell and its surroundings. Our grand advancements in technology are like the viruses spreading DNA from cell to cell; information known by our ancestors has been passed down, generation through generation, just like how DNA is received from parent cells. Thomas shows mankind that the world that we live in is just like the cells within our own bodies. He wrote to inform us that no matter what we do to separate ourselves from nature, “Man is embedded in nature” (Thomas 358). Thomas accomplished this purpose as he had provided the reader with facts about the cell and how everything is connected within the cell just as we are connected with nature on Earth.

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How it Feels to Be Colored Me – Zora Neale Hurston

This essay by Zora Neale Hurston addressed her view on discrimination against colored people. Despite being born into an era in which colored people struggled to be distinguished, Zora Neale Hurston succeeded in writing noteworthy books. Her views on racism are credible because she had experienced it herself. However, she put aside the discrimination that was set against her and did not separate the fact that she was an American citizen and colored at the same time. Hurston had that idea in mind when writing this essay. She wanted the world to know that she was not held down by discrimination, but was instead highlighted by it. It allowed her to stand out and be proud of herself. 

An important rhetorical device that was used by Hurston is found at the end of the essay. She makes an analogy between herself and a brown bag, and also connecting everyone else to other bags of different colors. She pours out the contents in her bag, revealing a mix of things, both valuable and worthless. These contents represent the things that make up a person, which is the bag. When the contents of every bag is poured into a single pile and refilled back into the bags, there is no doubt going to be some random things spread out here and there over the bags. Though the contents of each bag is not greatly altered, they all contain something new. Hurston states that, “A bit of colored glass more or less would not matter” (Hurston 117). This complex analogy helps her to reveal the inner feelings of being discriminated against as a colored person by signifying that there can be no harm in having colored people around. I believe Hurston accomplished her purpose in denouncing discrimination because of her pride of being colored. She accepted her nature while placing no blame on those who discriminated against her.

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