TOW # 25 Image

This image shows are large hairy man eating fast food, smoking, and drinking beer screaming about the dangers of Ebola. He represents the fear in the USA about the Ebola virus, when in actuality the real dangers to the people's lives are already all around us. This advertisement's use of statistics of yearly death causes appeals to logos, giving reason as to why these household killers are of more relevance than an African virus that has killed 2 people so far. This large man's disproportionate head is also meant to appeal to the reader's sense of pathos as well. His shaved, neckless head is stereotypical of a buffoon and his actions show it. This picture captures the American fears that some new/uncommon danger to people are going to kill us all, when really, the easiest way to die has been with us the whole time.

TOW #17 IRB

              In Malcom Gladwell’s outliers, Gladwell in the epilogue of his book, decides to talk about his own life, and his mother’s “Success” story. This was done through very anecdotal means of him telling the story of his own family. Though the story was most likely biased or embellished, it was most likely there to appeal to pathos. It was meant for the average person. The rest of the book had talked about the right people at the right time who worked hard enough to get the right result, but not everyone has the right place, or the right brain. This epilogue was trying to show that everyone has a story of success, no matter how much is against you. It may not be as grand as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, you may not play hockey for professional Canadian leagues, but Gladwell wants his audience to not end the book feeling alienated. He tries to keep people feeling like they are able to accomplish things in their life, that they don’t need luck.

Gladwell also incorporates the device of rhetorical questions into his writing. During the beginning of the epilogue, he keeps things vague on purpose, and he asks the reader questions that they are not capable of having the answers to. At first the reader may be confused but it again, appeals to pathos once the connection is made between Gladwell and his parents. Gladwell writes this ending to qualify his own point. He does not deny anything he said previously, but he does not want to leave his readers feeling hopeless in their life achievements. 

TOW #18 The Writing Life By: Stephen King

Stephen King, renowned horror writer, has written this piece to share his experiences with writer’s block. King demonstrates this through a personal experience with is by appealing to our sense of pathos. He describes himself at a park with his corgi. Occasionally he will get a person talking to him about his dog, but overall nothing significant about him being a famous author ever comes up. It appears that this article is meant to discuss writer’s block and what it is exactly. He describes the muse that motivates and inspires people to write as something that can be there then disappear almost instantly. He further shows this through his use of allusion. He references the book Catch-22, and how it took several years to release the sequel due to the author suffering from writer’s block. Furthermore, Stephen King describes his piece in a very neutral way. He does not have a set opinion he is attempting to push. No negative imagery, nor positive. He sets out a very dull and grey view of how a writer lives. No high points or low points are necessarily expanded upon. He merely shows his everyday life. It’s almost as if King is attempting to describe the life of a writer as a quaint, and boring one. Nothing great about it.

TOW # 24 Die, Selfish Gene, Die By: David Dobbs

In this essay, Dobbs explores the world of evolution and why Dawkin’s idea of the “selfish gene” should not exist. He does so by organizing his essay into 4 main parts. First, he gives an example of the Grasshopper/locust in order to hook the reader with an interesting bit of knowledge. It also adds to his statement later denouncing the rigidity of the selfish gene’s existence. Then Dobbs goes on to explain what the selfish gene entails exactly and why it does not make sense based on his previous statements made about genetics in general. Finally he goes on to explain why the selfish gene has been wrongfully accepted into the biological field. Dobb’s organization is very powerful and makes the overall essay easy to read on a holistic standpoint. By introducing a common idea, Dobbs eases his reader in, then he defines the selfish gene so the audience can clearly understand his view on why it is illogical. Once he has already proven it to be false, it is the perfect time to then speak of the final part. The final part of his essay is definitely the weakest, providing little concrete evidence, and mainly made up of conjecture, but is compensated for by the ethos and logos previously showcased in the essay.

Dobbs also is very anecdotal, when talking about the story of Mendel. This makes the reading turn from a dry history lecture into an interesting story-time excursion. This appeals to pathos, and makes the reading a more enjoyable experience. Dobbs manages to turn what could have been a boring and overly-jargonized piece of niche literature into an essay that is relatively accessible while also being effective in his main purpose. 

TOW #19 Fanboys by Lessley Anderson

On the Verge, Lessley Anderson describes her experiences and interviews professionals in order to understand the fanboy mentality. Specifically towards smartphones. Anderson uses many testimonial evidences to try and clarify where fanboys come from. What makes them so extreme? Etc, etc. She uses many internet hosted pros such as Michael Fischer and Aaron Baker, very prolific and very popular geeks in the smartphone space. Anderson also uses many rhetorical questions as transitions in order to improve the flow of her writing. Questions like, "But smartphones?" and "So why do it?" allows Anderson to lead the reader into directions that aren't necessarily related to what she was just talking about, but still important to the overall article. She uses these questions as a way to control the pace and the flow. Anderson has complete control over her writing and it allows her to explain what she wants when she wants, whether for dramatic effect or humor. She also makes use of anonymous Twitter tweets in order to strengthen her position. By using random, unprofessional quotes as evidence of her point, it makes the overall read much lighter feeling and nuanced, as opposed to something dry and overly official sounding you would find in filibustered  politics.

Lessley is very clear, very controlling and at the same time, very unsure. She lacks a solid viewpoint on the topic, which for an informational piece is fine, but by the end the "so what?" does not really get to me. I'm only left with the opinion that fanboys are bad, but sometimes can't help being bad. There is a lack of self-reflection I get to achieve on my own.

But again, as an informational piece, not a persuasive or argumentative one, the lack of necessity makes it a minor flaw in an overall great essay.

TOW #20 Image

This image attempts to advertise Nictotinell by showing a very old, tar-covered woman. She looks like she should be 80, but the birthday cake says otherwise, being almost half that age. By using this form of analogy, the photo appeals to pathos by scaring the smokers that see the image. It's meant to act as a wake-up call to people who smoke tobacco and is meant to have them then buy Nicotinell to try and fix their problem. The image also makes use of showing how ridiculous and stupid it looks to be a smoker. In the photo, when the woman should be trying to blow out the melting candles (as per birthday cake tradition) but instead she is attempting to light a cigarette on the flame from the candles. This is a metaphor for how smoking is so difficult to stop, again advising people they need Nicotinell.  It shows that the woman in the photo has such an addiction, she is using her cake instead of eating her cake. A normally happy tradition is now being manipulated to fuel someones dopamine tank in their brain. This woman does not look happy, nor does her body look healthy. This woman is addicted and you can visually see what it has done to her body. Tuberculosis, Lung Cancer, Heart attack, Stroke, and countless other diseases all have the risk factor increased by simply smoking tobacco products. Nicotinell is trying to help those people as well as make money. Whether or not the audience will listen to this one photo, will depend on the individual, but those that are far too addicted already will at least have the idea in their heads.

TOW #21 IRB

Malcom Gladwell's Outliers uses many statistics, allowing for a very convincing argument in that Success is reached through opportunity. He constantly utilizes charts and clearly explains the significance of them throughout his book. Whether he is showing the correlation of Hockey Players' birthdays or why Asian countries are good at math, Gladwell never fails to back up his statements. He uses many cases of anecdotal evidence in order to prove real life applications of his research as well. He backs up his claims through not only theory and cold numbers, but he also shows how this data can be used; what does it actually entail for people, rather than statisticians. Gladwell also uses the repetition of ideas and concepts very often. Malcom's argument is cumulative. It lacks the ability to have its points stand individually for his purpose. The fact Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were born in the same year means very little to overall idea of success that Gladwell is attempting to paint. However, the ethnic theory of plane crashes, combined with KIPP schools and the story of Christopher Langan all build onto each other. A seemingly helter-skeltered mess of somewhat impressive results would analytically mean nothing. But with each idea, Gladwell constantly connects new ideas with the old, slowly narrowing the idea he wishes his reader to achieve. Gladwell is blunt in his explanation and subtle in his message, making his conclusion all the more convincing. He makes sure every individual example is explained as clearly as possible so the reader can come to their own conclusion. Gladwell's Show-Don't-Tell approach to writing has the reader led to his message, rather than spoon-fed an answer to a question. Just as the story of Renee in Gladwell's book shows the importance of coming to your own conclusions, Gladwell does nothing but water that idea into tree. A tree titled, Outliers: The Story of Success.

Tow #22 Image

This image is meant to stop driving with your phone on. Though many would blame the drivers, this ad blames those who talk to the drivers despite their endangering of the drivers' lives. By having the blood splurge out of the phone's speaker, the reader is allowed to understand what has happened. The driver on the other side of the phone call has undergone an accident. In red underneath the tide of blood is a message, "Don't talk while he drives." This message is pivotal to the image because it clarifies completely what the image is meant to provoke and addresses its audience directly. The use of color is also important here. The image is predominantly gray scale, with the use of white being very prevalent. This allows for better contrast of the foreground and the background, putting the focus on the most powerful part of the image, the blood. Another way the image manages to emphasize the foreground is in the use of camera focus. The background is significantly blurrier than the foreground, again, trying to avert the audience's attention to the woman and the blood. The fact that the person is a woman is also important to the appeal to pathos. By placing the woman in a kitchen setting, she is automatically assumed to have a family, supposedly a husband and most likely children as well. This is provoking to the idea that calling someone who is currently driving is detrimental not only to the driver's physical health, and the caller's emotional well being, but the situation will also affect anyone with a relationship with the driver in question. This is a powerful image overall that encapsulates the dangers of and the responsibility of driving while talking on a cellphone.

Tow #23 Malcom Gladwell's The Art of Failure

This article in The New Yorker describes the importance of what it exactly means to "choke." Gladwell describes what happens when you choke, as well as distinguish it from panicking. Through his use of allusion, specifically in sports, Gladwell is able to relate the idea of choking with near perfect scenarios. The rookie Jana Novotna about to utterly dominate her match against the longstanding veteran, Steffi Graf, loses 5 sets in a row, being one away from victory. He also uses the example of Greg Norman and Nick Faldo. Norman ahead several strokes by hole 9, is down 4 by hole 18. Gladwell also utilizes a well varied sentence structure. This allows him to add more impact to his writing. Statements like, "The two men began to cry" and "Graff gave her two kisses" are extremely short phrases surrounded by tension built, wordy exposition, thus by comparison, making these dramatic and climactic conclusions to his allusions all the more powerful. Gladwell overall does an excellent job at making his writing exciting as well as meaningful.

However, there is one part that requires addressing as to what may have been improved in this essay. Gladwell does not have the most optimal way of  organizing his essay. He goes from an example of choking, to an example of panic, to the implications of panic, to the implications of choking, to a more granular form of choking, to his conclusion. Though the flow on paper may not sound too atrocious, when actually reading it had made it difficult to understand exactly what the essay was about. I felt like I was being led in circles rather than be led to some climax or "So what?" I had assumed the paper was meant to distinguish between choking and panic, but in reality, the whole thing was about choking.

Overall, Gladwell does well writing his paper's details, always conscious of sentence structure and detail, but on the whole, he fails to flow things properly to convey his message consistently throughout.

IRB #3 Outliers by Malcom Gladwell

My IRB for the third marking period will be Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. I actually have not much idea about what this book is about other than it defines and attempts to dissect the definition of success. The main reason that I selected this book was not out of self interest. I got it for Christmas. My sister got it for me and she said I would like it.

TOW #10 Image Psycho-Pass Episode 11

Though this isn't so much a standalone picture, I deemed this specific screenshot of the animated sci-fi dystopian series Psycho-Pass to hold enough symbolic value and depth to be analyzed in this week's TOW. In this picture, the gun in the woman's left hand has the ability to measure the likelihood of a person committing a crime, in her right hand is a standard rifle. This scene symbolizes the capacity of human morality and judgement vs the defined social ethics defined by society. The gun in this police officer's left hand is symbolic of the judgement of society. In this show's scene, a terrorist/kidnapper/murderer, has been incorrectly deemed to not be a latent criminal and as such the trigger has automatically locked itself. However, the officer, who has seen this man commit his crimes, is now confused. The police force has not used their own individual discretion to judge a person's capacity for commiting a crime in what is assumed to be several generations. The woman must do her job and subdue the criminal, and tries to use her own judgment, as symbolized by the manual, more archaic rifle. However, she is clearly holding the rifle (a two handed weapon) with a single hand, while her other is preoccupied with the other currently locked and useless gun, representing her uncomfort and outright refusal to abandon the judgment of society she has relied on for so long. As a result, she misses her shot with the rifle entirely and fails to capture the villain right in front of her. By using the two guns, this scene acts as a commentary on people's morality and their expression of judgement, saying that our decision making and ideas of morality are shaped by our society around us and as a result, a clear injustice or wrongdoing  may be in front of us may never be put to justice because people are too preoccupied with their society's view on something rather than one's personal discretion.

IRB #2 The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World I found this book after googling, "funny nonfiction books" and clicking "related" after seeing Eats Shoots and Leaves as one of the suggested books. I read the synopsis and now I want to read it. Also the amazon reviews were positive. I have no further context. Should be fun.

Tow #9 God unable to Remember what year humanity goes extinct ()

This piece is a commentary on the arbitrary fear of the world ending. There have been many occasions such as 2009, and 2012 specifically in which groups of people have made predictions as to judgement day or the end of the Mayan calendar, but almost all reasons for the Apocalypse are based on some sort of divine intervention. The text states, "Dammit, when are [the humans] supposed to die again?" showing the ridiculousness of the situation. The fact that the all-knowing God has forgotten something is showing the asinine nature of all the people dying. He starts to throw out random dates in an attempt to remember but fails. Then, at the end, God had "Scrapped all former plans and just slated the mass extinction for next week." This arbitrary sentence represents the ethos of other theories of the Apocalypse, Ragnarok, Armageddon, etc. happening in a few years, or even months.

TOW Week 8 (Visual Text)

The image I have found has a very profound view on the way people perceive the value of individual human lives. By using a a nighttime backdrop, the eyes notice the ipads in the foreground, with its two messages: One Dies, millions cry, and Millions die, no one cries. The image serves a commentary on the self-absorbed nature of society. By using the famous figure Steve Jobs, and the entire nation of Africa, the artist is able to represent how despite society trying to wholesomely believe in the notion that all lives are equal, is lying to itself. It weighs the influence of a single man over the millions that we should be supporting in Africa.  Using such a stark difference in subjects, but making them commonplace enough, makes this image very shocking and revealing to people who look at it. It's also devoid of any people, but is in a clearly man-made structured area. This may be to give the image a very impersonal, and cold look. It wants to make the audience feel bad about themselves. This images purpose is to spread a message to the people in society who fail to realize their own hypocrisy. It's appeal to pathos and in a way logos, makes this image an effective commentary,

TOW #4 Clear Channel Billboard (Image)

I think this piece of advertising is very witty, but also has a few flaws in its effectiveness. This billboard was placed by ClearChannel in order to promote healthy eating. This billboard, from a distance would obscure the comma and as a result cause the reader to think, "if I eat shit I will die." This is also more likely to cause the viewer to be peeved subconsciously due to the use of the color red, packaging the emotion of anger. This is an obvious message to get people to eat right. However, close up the comma would become more clear. The billboard now uses toilet humor in order to entertain the viewer, and simultaneously now uses the color red, not for anger but a symbol of health, as represented by the heart-shaped logo on the bottom right. It easily transforms an attention-grabbing jab at the viewer into a type of dark-comedy. However, although the idea is very witty and well-thought out, there is one glaring issue. The location. It is placed roadside. A person in a moving vehicle going 40 mph has almost no way of seeing this billboard properly. Perhaps if it were larger and more faraway, someone with non-herculean ocular muscles could comprehend that behemoth of text in the bottom left. Even in this picture, I cannot read the words. I think the word diet is in there, so it clearly is trying to say something about health, but at that proximity to the road, there is no possible way anyone could properly read what is written there. The road is literally right in front of this sign. The billboard was great in concept, but fails in its execution.

TOW #3 How To Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff (IRB)

Darrell Huff writes a very good book about the ways one is able to deceive other people. The book could be interpreted to have different purposes depending on the the audience. Branching from that idea, the book has two main audiences that it attempts to appeal to. The first group would be people who do not want to be deceived. This book would inform the audience of the many strategies that can be utilized to tricked by misleading graphs and charts. Another audience would be a group would would want to learn HOW to mislead others. In which case, this book would serve as a didactic, teaching the future scumbags how to make the ignorant fall victim to their sleazy methodology. This book uses a very tongue-and-cheek type of approach, allowing it to be entertaining at times, however, the extensive use of allusion makes certain analogies anachronistic. This weakens certain parts of the author's writing because I feel like I've missed some important joke that may help me to understand the text more accurately. Regardless, the book is also very blunt. It makes use of varying sentences structures by having longer, potentially boring sections, and quickly sums it up in a few words directly afterwards. This makes the text more easier to understand and helps to achieve its purposes of informing and teaching, but it also helps the author's ethos in a roundabout way. The book is meant to teach about deception, and personally, I had a thought ringing, "What if this book is ALSO tricking me in some way?" of course, the bluntness of the author's style had quickly dismissed the thought, as it was so simplistic, yet sophisticated, that I felt there was no possible way to interpret the text any differently that I had. Overall, I would say the optimal reader would have to be older due to the more dated references, but I think the author can still achieve his purpose.

TOW #2 Confessions of an Ex-Mormon by Walter Kirn

“Confessions of an Ex-Mormon” by Walter Kirn is an essay that ran In “The New Republic”, a liberal political magazine that has been running since 1914. The essay informs the reader of the story of Walter, from his childhood to his current affairs and how Mormonism has affected his life. Kirn uses pathos almost exclusively. Though for something like an argument, this would be ineffective, however, in this specific case, it makes for a very powerful essay. The spiritual nature and personal experience of the essay is very captivating and works in Kirn’s favor. By utilizing different facets of how has religion has affected him, Kirn can connect to his audience on multiple levels as well. For example, his struggles with stereotypes, self-pride, questioning of religion are all very common issues in today’s society.

                However, the essay may be controversial. Despite my personal positive reaction to Kirn’s piece, it may not connect to all audiences. I think the ideal audience for this essay would have to be someone who is either agnostic, or skeptical of their religion. A zealot, or an atheist may disregard the essay as either a non-believer looking for an answer he’s not putting his whole heart into, or an ignorant person who refuses the leave the edges of spiritual desires and logical reasoning, respectively. Based on the ending of the essay, where Kirn states that despite the rejection of his religion, his poor religious habits, his drug addiction, and his shell of anti-Mormonism, he still desires the burning in his stomach that symbolizes his faith. I have seriously contemplated religion in my life and what to believe in spiritually, but in the  end this essay’s almost exclusive use of pathos has no grounding, nor reasoning. Only those who can truly empathize, rather than simply sympathize with Kirn can truly appreciate this essay.

Though it’s not poorly written, the audience feels very specific so I would imagine this piece being controversial. You either feel the passion or you don’t.

TOW #1 How To Say Nothing in 500 Words

Written by Paul Roberts is a piece titled, "How to Say Nothing in 500 Words," where he describes how to avoid getting C's and D's on 500 word essays. Paul Roberts, being known for countless English textbooks as well as taking a scientific approach to the language- understanding what makes writing effective or not- he is a worthy source of information. Roberts explains to its presumably college or possibly even high school level audience how to and how NOT to write essays. He combines rhetorical devices such as juxtaposition, ambiguity and wit in order to present his ideas to the audience. He will take an example of writing, and while the audience may assume this is an exemplar, but then he throws out several paragraphs of writing, and makes it clear that, "THIS WAS ALL A LIE." By using this strategy of betraying expectations, it acts as a signal to the reader, telling them they should be sure they are paying attention. This allows Roberts to assure his readers are not only skimming the context and exposition of his essay, but truly understand the meat of his points. He also uses convincing perspective, by providing the audience with the perspective of the teacher/professor that is grading the work. Small details such as getting a C or D depending on the teacher's mood supplements his writing by adding realism and a bit of humor to the scenario, creating a more convincing argument.

I think Roberts does an excellent job at portraying his point. By keeping the reading very interested and focused using his witty juxtapositions, making his essay relatable through his football analogy (Having to write on a topic you have an insubstantial stance on), and the way he gives purpose to every little detail, he makes very clear and helps tips to allow students to understand the secrets to bad writing, and how to improve it.

Essay #5 El Camino Delrosso by David Searcy

This essay has a very distinct purpose: Showing the reader the ephemeral nature that life presents. The truck had been gotten rid of swiftly, even the man driving the truck had his life taken away swiftly. The essay overall is relatively depressing. There is not much to go by the credibility of the author, however, his message is so universal, and the essay was so anecdotal, assuming the reader can trust his telling to be true, Searcy does a good job at portraying his purpose. By spending the majority of the essay on the obtaining of the truck, and quickly and brutally killing the kitten, taking the truck, and killing of Tracey, it really helps to emphasize the fast nature of life.

Some Say life is short. But wouldn't this essay argue that it simply moves too fast? 

Picture Source: http://www.sevenrefrigeration.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/fast-track.jpg

Essay #4 Epilogue: Deadkidistan by Michelle Mirsky

This essay attempts to discuss the experiences a woman goes through after dealing with the death of her child Lev. Although a heart-wrenching story and experience aimed for all audiences, I feel as though the overall purpose was no executed well. I think the use of comic relief and several comparisons, such as a the boat and captain metaphor were used very well in Mirsky's favor, however, 5 1/2 pages of grieving was not compensated by the message at the end. The message that the essay attempts to convey is supposed to be something along the lines of, "Don't worry about the bad things, because good things happen everyday!" However, the final paragraph has poorly placed comic relief. The humor with the pun-self-created words were needed to lighten the mood and make the reading more emotionally bearable, but the remark about some people being natural assholes just ruins the mood. Nor is there any specific events that the author leads up to to logically reach this conclusion.

Death is a very bleak subject. I think a lot of people will try to cling on to something to comfort themselves from the fact that someone important to them is now gone. Picture Source:http://skately.com/img/library/logos/large/death-skateboards.png