TOW #13: Visual Text- War Propaganda

In the early 20^th century, America was soon to begin two world wars that would propel the United States forward into years of supremacy following the wars. However, In order to be successful in both wars and ensure victory, America would need to win through a powerful army. In 1917, this poster was distributed throughout the streets of the nation in attempt to have more men enlist in the military.

Since the context was 1917, World War I was almost over, however since the war ended in 1918, it is evident that this poster could have caught the interest of average Americans who wanted to fight for the nation and fight for a common cause: The United States. With the speaker obviously being the American government, or American military, they are attempting to have more men enlist in the Army as the nation endures a world war, and unknowingly, will enter one in another two decades.

With the picture of Uncle Sam as the character, it connects nationalism as he not only is pictured in the poster, but also he is looking right at the reader with solid eye contact. Notice how the “you” is also capitalized, as if the speaker is focusing on the fact that “you” are the quality individual this Army needs, and they will be ecstatic to have a soldier such as yourself. During times such as this there were members of the army, however in order to win a war it is a national effort, therefore these propaganda posters targeted the average individual who was not completely dedicated to the war effort. Henceforth, the simple diction flat out says, “I want you” in capital letters, which is right to the point and almost a demand, and since these are crucial times for our country it shows that Uncle Sam needs you, but moreover America needs you right now. Finally, the last phrase suggests how and individual can take action and join the military, therefore I believe it achieves its purpose because it suggests why a man should join, and how they can do this. 

TOW #12: IRB- Eating Animals

Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals, is a detailed investigation about how we “truly” obtain our food that we devour on a daily basis. While his purpose if to inform the public about the “sketchy” procedures of the food industry, and it definitely is under the radar of the public’s knowledge. With his book being the basis of an investigation, the audience is obviously and average American, mostly because in order to inform the public about what our food industries are doing behind our backs, he needs to inform the common man about this issue.

Foer uses a variety of devices in order to make this investigation more appealing to the common man, because for the most part, many Americans with the typical background would much rather read a text with some humor and facts rather than a textbook. Foer accomplishes this with the use of humor. For example, when describing an issue regarding with the chickens we eat, Foer calls this process “bullshit” and even follows it up with the Webster’s definition of Bullshit. Not only does this spice up his text and add some humor, but it allows his to achieve his purpose because it shows how this issue is absolutely ridiculous since we continue to eat, but not even know “exactly” what we are actually eating. 

Foer also uses the device of personal anecdotes to achieve his purpose. With starting the story with a personal anecdote of his personal predicaments regarding food such as him deciding on becoming a vegetarian or not, the audience will now feel that “common experience” since almost every person has that one scenario regarding their food choices as well. This device Foer used was crucial for his text’s success as it was the almost “hook” for him to switch from his personal experiences that would attract the audience, and then guide him to informing them about his purpose. Overall, I think Foer is definitely achieving his purpose so far (I’m only halfway done the book), and I think he orchestrated both an informative, but also interesting book about the food we eat everyday. 

TOW #11: Written Text: The Struggles of a Vegan

Mark Bittman, a writer for the New York Times wrote in his text published this past September about what it truly takes to be a Vegan, and titled it “Going Vegan, if Only for a Day”. With the context being within the last two months, the text is applicable to our society as many of our people are changing their lifestyles and diets in order to improve their health as they limit eating meat, or totally avoiding any animal products.

The audience is slightly unofficial as it was released to anybody with access to the website, however it was most likely intended for anybody who has debated on becoming a Vegan; and they would be attracted to this text based off its title. The purpose of the text is to not only inform on what a Vegan is, but to illustrate the difficulties a Vegan faces on a daily basis in order to maintain a diet that does not come in contact with any animal products.

Bittman achieves his purpose through the use of humor, which he exhibits at various times in his text.For example, he states, “I could live off pasta with vegetables for weeks” which is obviously sarcastic, but helps him achieve his purpose of informing his audience that being a vegan limits your options, and that may affect your health worse than just eating these animal products.  Also, Bittman’s title connects to humor, and ultimately his purpose, “Going Vegan, if Only for a Day” because it shows that many decide to join this lifestyle yet do not realize its near-impossible commitment and struggle vegans have finding foods not made form animal products.

I do believe Bittman achieved his purpose of informing the world what it really takes to become a Vegan, and with the use of humor to balance out his commanding tone to bring this ideal to the realities of potential Vegans, I think Bittman successfully informs his readers that this lifestyle is beneficial, yet is no easy task for those enduring the consequences of completely eliminating animal products from their diet.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/dining/going-vegan-if-only-for-a-day.html?_r=1&

TOW #10: Written Text: Kennedy Conspiracy

With the Kennedy Assassination anniversary only a few days ago, there were definitely many documentaries on TV about the possible conspiracy theories about JFK, therefore I decided to analyze a written text regarding the assassination for this week’s TOW. This CBS article has no author, however after reading the text it is obvious that the persona of the speaker is somewhat of a reporter since they tie many reports of the conspiracy theories together into one essay about a possible conspiracy of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Also, the article consists of reports from the last 50 years; thus, the purpose of the essay is to discuss possible conspiracy theories of the assassination because the government report that was given decades ago of the assassination of JFK is believed to be a lie by a large population of America.

In order to appeal to the logical reasoning of the audience, or logos, the author of this text compiles many different theories of the assassination. With a variety of sources that consist of everything between a book on JFK’s life to a computer animator who recreated the scenery of the assassination, it is obvious that this text truly a plethora of different ideas merged into one text, where the audience now has the option to read every theory and then compare them to ultimately pick one in which they believe could have happened.  Also, the parallel structure of the article enhances the text because each paragraph is its own conspiracy theory, therefore at the end of the text not only will the audience be introduced to many different theories, but the idea that the report given by the government is most likely a cover up.

I believe that this article definitely achieves its purpose of making the reader at least acknowledge that there could possibly be a conspiracy because with the inclusion of other sources it definitely enhances the text. While there are many quotations fro other related sources, the text maintains its own analysis and also statistics that make it different from every JFK article.  

                           

                              

TOW #9: Visual Text: Gun Laws Political Cartoon

With the recent debates in response to our gun violence, there has definitely been questioning about the second amendment to our U.S. Constitution. I found this image online, and it is clear that the subject of this political cartoon is in regard to the debate over our second amendment which allows American citizens the right to bear arms. Through the use of juxtaposition, the left side of the image has a militiamen from the colonial era of America, and on the right side of the image there is a 21^st century citizen holding an enlarged machine gun. The use of juxtaposition clearly shows the differences in the two society’s that are centuries apart, and how the need for this amendment hundreds of years ago is not really applicable to our modern society.

During the context of the 1700s-1800s, Americans needed guns to protect themselves from the British presence still within America even after the American Revolution, in addition to just having guns for protection. Because a majority of citizens had their own weapons such as guns, it was added into our Bill of Rights to protect the Americans right of the ability to own a gun for their own safety. On the right side of the image the juxtaposition proves to be effective with the statement “hundreds of rounds per minute-man” that clearly expresses the idea that the second amendment is only creating issues because it is not a necessity in country to own a gun anymore. Finally, the question on the top of the image suggests logos, by saying “what side makes more sense?”. Thus, the audience of the image is anybody who still believes in the justification of the second amendment, in addition to those without an opinion because this is image is persuading that audience in believing that the second amendment is not needed in our modern society.

I believe this image is successful in reaching its purpose through the use of juxtaposition to showcase the belief that our society has outgrown this amendment and change is needed in order to keep up with our modernized society. 

This image can be found at

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/187225401.html

IRB Introduction Post #2: Eating Animals By: Jonathan Safran Foer

With my second IRB selection for this year, I have picked "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer. This book caught my attention back in 8th grade, when my Language Arts teacher Mr. Towarnicki had introduced me to the author Foer. I never thought about reading it until it was recommended by me on Shelfari, but now I have a chance to read this highly credited investigation by Foer.  I read other books by Foer such as "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" however I have never read a nonfiction book by Foer. This text is about an investigation into the meat industry and factory foods, therefore it caught my eye because I am interested in learning about how we obtain the foods we eat. I remember Mr. Towarnicki old us that this book will change our perspectives on the foods we eat; thus, I am excited to learn about the meats we are eating that we are told are healthy, yet we may regret eating these foods after learning about how they are processed. The audience for this text are average citizens of America, particularly parents because Foer wrote the book after having children and realizing these processed meats are not as healthy as they are preached by others in our society. The purpose of this book is to inform the world about the “unknown” processes the foods we eat undergo while being transferred from grower to consumer, and if Foer is successful in achieving his purpose, I will think twice about the eating the foods Foer mentions in his book “Eating Animals”. 

TOW #8: IRB- Adrift 76 Days Lost At Sea

Since reading Adrift, which is Steven Callahan’s memoir of his survival story at sea, I have read the entire book which concludes with his rescue. Where I left off was just when his boat Solo had crashed, therefore I have now read his entire survival story and how he survived when all odds were against him. After finishing the book, I realized that the rhetorical devices Callahan used are the reason why he was able to retell his story his audience of all ages. 

Callahan uses various rhetorical devices such as metaphors and allusions in order to give his readers a visual of what it was like to survive in the middle of the ocean for over three months, and that allowed his audience to visualize what Callahan experienced on his three-month mission of survival. On page 76 Callahan compares all of his decisions to a “two-edged sword”, and every action he did could either help or harm him. This metaphor definitely describes the scenario Callahan is in because he may not be able to give the reader a visual image of what happened, however through these metaphors the audience can now somewhat picture in their mind every aspect of Callahan’s survival mission that ultimately lead to his rescue. Callahan also uses allusions such as the one on page 181 that mentions how Columbus (The Explorer) must have felt when he first saw land once traveling across the sea for weeks. 

While both rhetorical devices are different and are not the same device, they both ultimately allow Callahan to achieve his purpose of telling his survival story because they allow the reader to visualize what happened because Callahan cannot show them what he actually encountered on his survival mission. This allows Callahan to achieve his purpose because the purpose of his story was to explain to the world what happened during those 76 days and why of all people HE was the one that was able to break the record for most days surviving at sea and live to tell his story.

Steven Callahan's story Adrift is definitely an inspiring story of defying all odds and how self-determination is one of the strongest forces on the planet. 

TOW #7: Written Text- Lessons From Hurricane Sandy

With the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy being this week, Adam Sobel from CNN was inspired to write his text “What we didn't learn from Superstorm Sandy”.  Adam Sobel is a professor at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, therefore he definitely has ethos and is certified in this area of discussion. The text basically beings with a summary of the destruction of the storm, however he leads into what went wrong with Sandy and the reason it devastated the east coast. While Sobel agrees that our leaders and society were planned for Sandy, we were lucky to survive because in the future the storms with the magnitude of Sandy will hit the east coast more often. Sobel then introduces how Global Warming will create larger storms in the future, that are much stronger than Sandy; therefore we must learn from Sandy and apply it to future storms.

While the audience of the text can be any particular American, I believe it is directed towards our political leaders because Sobel’s purpose is warning Americans of the lessons we did not learn from Sandy, and even though we may have survived Sandy, the future may not be quite as promising since the intensity of storms will only increase due to environmental factors.  

Sobel uses cause and effect to connect to logos in order to appeal to his audience and furthermore stress his purpose. By stating that Global Warming will increase the levels of the sea and also the temperature of water, it is obvious to realize that he not only makes a valid point, but also the effects of Global Warming will indeed create stronger hurricanes. Connecting to Sobel’s purpose, if we barely managed through Sandy last year, we will definitely be in major trouble in the future if we do not learn lessons from Superstorm Sandy of 2012. I believe Sobel achieved his purpose through the logos appeal and realization that we must take in the lessons we learned from Sandy last year. 

Link To Adam Sobel's "What We Didn't Learn From Superstorm Sandy" 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/26/opinion/sobel-superstorm-sandy/index.html?hpt=op_t1

TOW #6: Written Text- "A Travesty of Justice"

Shortly after the final decisions of the Trayvon Martin case were released this summer, writer Susan Abulhawa wrote this article in response to the verdict that allowed George Zimmerman to be free man. While beginning the article with the basic information regarding the Trayvon murder case, Abulhawa uses pathos to appeal emotionally to her audience and stress the fact that a teenager who had yet to experience life’s beauty was murdered in cold blood, and his murderer was never punished. After explaining the details of the murder and her opinion on why Zimmerman should have been convicted of murder, Abulhawa then expresses her belief that this case was fueled by racism towards African Americans.

The audience of the text is particularly any citizen, however based off Abulhawa’s purpose, it is obvious that it is directed towards ethnicities (predominantly Caucasians) who are the ones fueling the racism and prejudice towards innocent citizens. The purpose of Abulhawa’s article is to use the Trayvon trial to showcase her belief that “African American men are targeted from the time they are born”.

In addition to using the Trayvon Martin murder trial as support to express her idea, Abulhawa also used other examples of racism towards African Americans. These include crimes such as rape and murder, however the individuals targeted for committing the crimes were never actually involved, but were only suspected because of the color of their skin.

Abulhawa successfully reaches her purpose with the use of pathos to connect to her audience. Since she wrote the essay to convince the majority who are indifferent to the cause, the use of pathos was strategically used in order to connect to the emotions of the audience. By using phrases such as, “Black bodies are worthless and expendable” the audience will now hopefully realize how cruel and indifferent they are to the racism present in the Trayvon Trial, and ultimately will feel embarrassed to create the scenario where a boy was murdered, yet the murderer will never be punished for the crime solely based off the fact that the boy was an African American. 

Link to Susan Abulhawa's Article

 http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/08/201384102857620336.html

TOW #5: Visual Text- Apple and Eve

While eating lunch today and thinking about my visual TOW for the week, I realized that my apple juice would be interesting to analyze. My Mom has bought apple juice for me since my elementary school days; therefore, by analyzing the bottle I could figure out why this product is so popular for parents with kids of all ages.

Apple and Eve Apple Juice Company does more than just to identify their product with the label, they persuade parents to buy their product. They specialize in various juices that vary from apple, to orange to juice box flavors. First of all, the bottle is only 10oz of juice, thus it is obvious that this sized portion of juice is suitable for a child’s lunch because they will need a beverage but not a portion too large. The bottle also has apples pictured all over the label in large print showing that their product is “100% Juice”.

This is emphasizes that parents will be feeding their child the nutrients of an apple and not concentrated chemicals; they want to show parents that their kids are worthy of true juice. Statistics such as 100% daily value of Vitamin C are printed on the front of the bottle, these statistics support the idea that not only will your kids enjoy this drink, but it will be beneficial to their health as well. 

The bottle is strategically created to stand out at the aisle of the supermarket. When parents are shopping for kid’s school lunches, they will easily be persuaded by the manageable size and also statistics on the bottle to purchase this apple juice over other brands. Due to the obesity and health issues of the newer generations of America, parents will look for healthier choices for their children, and they will now be influenced into buying this healthy apple juice. After analyzing the bottle and its strategically made label, it is obvious that the maker of this Apple and Eve product successfully achieve their purpose of creating an attractive yet persuading product through the label on their juice bottle.

I must say the juice was a refresher after writing this TOW

TOW #4: IRB- How Callahan Became Adrift

Steven Callahan’s story Adrift, begins with his creation of the boat “Solo” and leads into how his survival experience began. Callahan discusses how he built the ship “Solo” himself, and how he took pride in the boat as if it were his own child, therefore the reader understands his connection to Solo, and how devastated he is when it sinks in the massive ocean storm. The climax builds as he informs the reader about his journey from Spain back to the Caribbean, where he can take a mini-vacation, however this is when the story of a delighted sailor turns into the survival mission that Callahan had to endure in order to save his life.

The purpose of this survival tale is to not only inform the public of his mission of maintaining to survive for 76 days in the middle of the Atlantic, but to also thank his peers and role models who prepared him for this experience. Callahan constantly states that he is not a hero nor heroic, he believes that he succeeded in a scenario where he was expected not to, and he stresses his gratitude to his ex-wife, boy scout troops, etc, for preparing him for the toughest experience of his life. The memoir is directed to any audience because he wants to make his story well known because it is indeed a record breaker for the longest time a man was stranded at sea.

Callahan uses humor to connect to ethos, and also metaphors as rhetorical devices. The humor is used because it fits well into his story by taking away the seriousness of his survival mission and contrasting it with humor to make the story flow better. The metaphors connect the story of survival to ideas that the audience is familiar about, therefore they will understand the complexity of Callahan’s story, and hopefully understand his experience better. This ultimately allows him to achieve his purpose because humor connects to ethos because it allows the audience to trust Callahan, therefore they will listen to his story, which will achieve his purpose of writing the text.

 
  

TOW #3: Written Text- All I Can Say Is "'Merica"

 On May 1^st, 2010, the United States had received news that not only strengthened their sense of patriotism, but united the nation as a whole. This was the death of Osama bin Laden, which was carried out through the United States. President Barack Obama gave this speech hours after confirmation, because the purpose of it was to not only inform the world about the death of Osama, but also to state why the killing was justifiable and America had ethical reasoning in taking Osama bin Laden’s life.

While the speech was obviously directed towards the citizens of America, the extended audience would be countries from throughout the world, especially ones that have a population of al Qaeda living amongst their people. While the speaker is President Obama, which applies to ethos based off the fact that he is the President of the United States (Ethos that is given, not needed to be earned), there is also an indirect speaker, which is the military and counterterrorism officials. Since these people were the ones that have endlessly searched for Osama, it is obvious that Obama is nearly speaking on their behalf because their efforts now have the ability to be recognized since Osama was successfully killed.

President Obama uses pathos to appeal to his audience based off his use of emotional connections to September 11, 2001. Obama uses phrases such as, “The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother and father”.  Phrases such as this connect to the audience’s emotions, and therefore Obama hopes that the audience will realize how those affected by 9/11 feel about Osama. If the audience can comprehend this concept, they too will now realize that the killing of Osama was justified and America had the right to take his life.

I believe that Obama achieved his purpose of informing, yet persuading the audience that the killing was justified through his use of pathos and also ethos, to appeal to the audience and use their emotions to affect their opinions.

This link contains the manuscript in addition to the video of the speech given by Obama http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-dead-obama-speech-video-transcript_n_856122.html

TOW #2- Visual Text: Toucan Sam Visits SOAPS St. (Box of Fruit Loops)

Back when I attended Stony Creek Elementary School, every morning I would eat a bowl of my favorite cereal, “Fruit Loops”. The Kellogg’s company has found success in many of their products, however one of their bestsellers are “Fruit Loops” because of the various rhetorical strategies they use to appeal to their audience. The audience for the “Fruit Loops” brand is families with young kids, or overall just young kids because the cereal box and also shape of the cereal are created in order to appeal to children.

When first looking at the cereal box, the first thing that catches the audience’s attention is the colorful titles “Fruit Loops” next to the image of the cereal’s mascot, Toucan Sam. In addition to these images, there is an enlarged image of the colorful loops falling out of the bowl from the pouring of milk. Based off the bright colored box, a kid-friendly mascot that’s a toucan, and the colorful loops of cereal, it is obvious that the purpose of the box is to attract families with young kids to buy their product. On the top of the box is a nutritional fact that states fiber and whole grain, which also appeals to the kid’s parents because they want their children to eat nutritional foods that also taste good.

In addition to the front of the box, the other sides of it all are constructed to appeal to little kids. The back of the box has various games that include “Clifford the Big Red Dog”,  a magical maze, and also short stories. Also, on the other sides are nutritional facts, and also a side with a large image of the friendly Toucan Sam.            

Therefore, the purpose of the “Fruit Loops” box is to catch the eye of any young child or parent with young children the next time they are in a grocery store. Based off many of the  rhetoric strategies that Kellogg’s uses to reach their audience, I believe that they successfully achieved their purpose of creating a kid-friendly cereal that will maximize Kellogg’s profit.

TOW #1- Article: "With Death Penalty, Let the Punishment Truly Fit the Crime" By Robert Blecker

From a young age we are taught the clichés "Let the punishment fit the crime" and also "Give a person a taste of his own medicine", however many believe that when it comes to the death penalty, nobody should ever truly deserve to die. In Robert Blecker's essay "With Death Penalty, Let the Punishment Truly Fit the Crime", he writes about a possible alternative for the death penalty to replace the current method which is lethal injection.

 Robert Blecker is a professor at New York Law School, where he teaches criminal and constitutional law; therefore he specializes in this category regarding the death penalty and has credentials in this field. This article was written on August 22, 2013, thus the context is this past summer because there has been a recent increase of “abolitionists” who are petitioning the current method of the death penalty. Due to the fact that pharmaceutical companies have stopped shipping the deadly vaccinations to criminal facilities, Blecker and abolitionists from throughout the United States have started to think of alternatives for the death penalty and hopefully make it more constitutional.  

Blecker’s purpose of the article is to create awareness of the unjust methods of the death penalty, and to give options or ideas to create a way to execute our worst criminals in a way that is not regarding medication. Blecker believes, as do many others, that medication is a way to improve a sick human body, not kill a healthy one; thus he offers options such as a firing squad, that is civil yet not through the use of medication.

 Blecker’s audience can be any American citizen, mostly because in order to change the government’s methods it will require a movement by the people, which will begin with informing the general public of why Blecker’s ideas are ones to believe. I do believe that Blecker achieved his purpose through the use of ethos because his credentials relating to the topic of the death penalty attracts the reader to his side of the argument, ultimately allowing him to achieve his purpose. 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/22/opinion/blecker-death-penalty/index.html

IRB Introduction Post #1: Adrift by Steven Callahan

For my first IRB selection, I have decided to read the New York Times Bestseller, Adrift written by Steven Callahan. The story begins with Callahan's anticipated trip to travel the Atlantic Ocean on the boat he built; however, he soon found himself without a boat when his sank in a powerful storm. This memoir is about the seventy-six days that Callahan spent stranded on a small life raft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and how he struggled for over a month to survive without any food or water. I never heard of this book until I was looking on the website Shelfari, and through recommendations of the previous books I have read, I was introduced to this bestseller. This book caught my eye because of the title's simplicity "Adrift" and also illustration on front; therefore, after reading a synopsis of it I believed it would be an appropriate book for a nonfiction IRB.The purpose of the story is to entertain and also inform the reader of Callahan's survival story and how he used every single of his instincts to survive when everyone else would have expected him to die. I have read books similar to "Adrift" such as Alive, which was one of the most interesting books I have ever read because the author, Piers Paul Read, did a fabulous job making the story easy for the reader to visualize. Similar to "Alive", I hope that "Adrift" is an intriguing story that shows the determination of Steve Callahan throughout the memoir and how he would do anything to save his own life. I have also always found it interesting to read about individuals who were forced to survive in dreadful circumstances, and how they persevered through the unforgiving environments they were expected to die in.

The Good Short Life

Written By Dudley Clendinen

Dudley Clendinen is a sixty-six year old man with loving friends and family, however he learns that his life is coming to an abrupt end because he is diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. In response to his diagnosis, Clendinen wrote a short essay titled, The Good Short Life about how he plans to live out the final months of his life. He also explains how he is ready to endure the remaining weeks of his life, however his loved ones (such as his daughter) are having a tough time coping with the unexpected diagnosis. Throughout the essay, Clendinen stresses the fact that he wants to live out the rest of his life, and not use various life-saving medications, that will drastically exacerbate the remainder of his life.  The essay was written to an audience of any reader, mostly because Clendinen wants to inform his readers of how “The blessing of Lou” (As in the ALS disease) has changed his life completely, even if it was for the worse. The purpose of the essay is to introduce an unaccustomed idea to the reader, which is “How to learn how to die”, simply because we are continuously taught how to live life, but never how to approach your own death. In order for Clendinen to achieve his purpose, he uses rhetorical devices such as diction, to ultimately connect to the concept of pathos. Sentences such as, “It suddenly hit me that I was going to die” (Clendinen 64) exhibit the simple diction used by Clendinen to connect to pathos. The word choice that Clendinen uses regarding his quickly approaching death is so simple that they create an emotional effect on the reader that makes them feel sympathy and therefore accept the purpose of the essay. In my opinion, Dudley Clendinen successfully achieved his purpose because the simple diction he used as a rhetorical device is the reason why the purpose of the essay is so simple to comprehend as the reader.

Pictured above was the famous Yankee ball-playuer Lou Gehrig.

When Clendinen was diagnosed with ALS (Gehrig's disease) he stated, "It's about life, when you know there's not much left. That is the weird blessing about Lou" (Clendinen 64). 

This image is from www.Time.com

Outlaw

Written by Jose Antonio Vargas

In Jose Antonio Vargas’ compelling essay Outlaw, he retells his journey from the Philippines to America that he started at the age of twelve. Vargas flew to America by himself more than twenty years ago, traveling halfway across the world to move in with his grandparents that would take care of him. Jose’s mom decided to send Jose to “The land of opportunity” due to the fact that she was a single mom who saw better chances for her son in America, rather than their homeland in Eastern Asia. The essay consists of Vargas’ experiences moving to a foreign country; that includes his high school years, eventually leading up to college and also his years as a professional journalist for some of the largest newspaper organizations in America.  Even with all of his success in America, Vargas thoroughly explains the issues he had being an “Illegal Alien” in America, even though he contributes to society and was well-liked by many of the people he met throughout his activities. The essay is written to an audience of any reader, particularly because Vargas’ purpose behind the essay is to tell his story of his journey to America and also apologize for misleading his former acquaintances that he is not indeed a “legal” American citizen.  Vargas’ readers easily comprehend his purpose of Outlaw because of the rhetorical devices he uses such as hyperboles. When recalling a business experience where the editors at his journalist job Vargas writes, “And worried that any of these professional journalists could discover my secret. The anxiety was nearly paralyzing” (Vargas 270). The use of the hyperbole by over-exaggerating “The anxiety was nearly paralyzing” allows the reader to truly understand the situation Vargas was in for many years, conclusively allowing Vargas to reach his purpose. I believe with the use of hyperboles and also Vargas’ perfectly scripted conclusion, he successfully accomplished his purpose for the essay Outlaw, which was is to tell his journey as a young boy from the Philippines in an unfamiliar country to a successful American journalist.

This political cartoon regarding "Illegal Aliens" showcases how Americans view illegal immigrants moving towards America. However, after reading Outlaw the reader realizes how valued a trip to America is by immigrants such as Jose Antonio Vargas. 

This image is from www.legalregulationreview.com

Other Women

Written by Francine Prose

The essay Other Women, is written by Francine Prose, a formerly married college graduate who became a writer and is also an active member in her local women’s group. Prose’s essay is about how her young marriage changed her view of men, and eventually turned her into a feminist. When her first marriage at the age of twenty soon began to fail, she started to question why men are still valued superior to women in this day in age.  This led Prose to her decision of joining the local women’s conscious-raising group in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When Prose moved away due to an editor’s interest in her new novel, her former husband decided to sleep with several women in her women’s group. The audience that Prose writes to is a reader of any gender, however it is more directed towards men because her goal is to gain equality for women and destroy the common belief that men are superior to women. The purpose of Prose’s essay Other Women is to address the idea that many truly believe that women are inferior to men, however this idea is foolish and also unfair due to the fact that women deserve better, and are just as capable as men. Prose uses diction as a rhetorical device to achieve her purpose because her word choice connects to the reader’s emotional appeal. An example of Prose’s diction is, “I remember why he slept with all those women…by all those women, we meant two women” (Prose 243).   When Prose carefully used “all of those” instead of the actual “two women” it connects to the reader’s emotions because the reader now feels sympathy for Francine Prose because of the horrific treatment by her ex-husband because he believed that women are inferior to men. Therefore, the diction used by Prose as a rhetorical device helps her reach the purpose of the essay because the reader now will side with Prose due to the emotional appeal created from the diction of her essay.

This image of an old fashioned scale connects to Other Women because the author Francine Prose discusses the unfair treatment women receive as a result of the ancient belief that men are superior to women. 

This image is from www.photospin.com

Killing My Body to Save My Mind

Written By: Lauren Slater

In the essay Killing My Body to Save My Mind, the author Lauren Slater describes her struggle between various psychotropic pills and their affect on her obesity. She starts out the essay stating her issues with incredibly high cholesterol levels, however she then leads into her story that deals with her body’s “breakdown” due to her strongest pill, Zyprexa. Slater states that she used to be a petite young lady in her early twenties, nevertheless, she rapidly increased in weight when she started to take more and more psychotropics to deal with her complications with depression. Despite the colossal weight gain that Slater endured as a result of the Zyprexa, she declares that she would much rather be in a better state of mind than one regarding her physical appearance. The essay is not written to specific reader, largely due to the fact that her purpose is to tell the world her story and how she has no regrets sacrificing her weight for a better attitude, and happier outlook on life. Slater finds success in attaining her purpose with the help of rhetorical devices. One example of a rhetorical device Slater uses to achieve her purpose is an analogy. When examining her decision to take the Zyprexa pill (that had many side effects), Slater writes, “I would have rather been a happy elephant than a miserable hominid” (Slater 257).  The use of this analogy helps Slater acquire her purpose because the reader evaluates the comparison between the lifestyle options Slater was dealt. As a result, the reader will also evaluate the analogy and will see Slater’s opinion, which ultimately allows Slater to achieve her purpose. I personally believe that Slater successfully achieves her purpose because of her use of rhetorical devices such as analogies, and also because of her well-explained reasoning that this decision was the best for not only herself, but also her children and husband.

When talking about the powerful psychotropic pill Zyprexa, Slater states "Zyprexa, I put the one pill in the center of my palm. I put it right on my lifelines, smack in their center–a reminder, a reassertion that this is the choice I've made–and then I send it down the chute, while high up in my head I look all around" (Slater 261). 

This image from www.rxlist.com

How Doctors Die

Written by Ken Murray

In Ken Murray’s essay How Doctors Die he addresses the concept of how doctors do not die like normal people because they know the power of modern medicine and the human body’s limits. Murray, a former doctor, uses his prior medical experiences to persuade the reader that most medical professionals do not believe in life-support devices, and would much rather a natural death when the time has come. In addition to using past experiences Murray has gained as being a doctor, he also adds personal stories of his mentor and cousin, both regarding the death process and how both of these men chose a natural death compared to one full of constant medication and endless misery. Murray delivers his ideas to an audience that consists of typical Americans, mostly because he wants to inform other Americans the different opinions that most doctors have of the death process, compared to people of other occupations. Murray has success in achieving his purpose of explaining the differences between how doctors approach death compared to other individuals through the use of irony in one of his past experiences. One of Murray’s former patients was a woman who had clogged blood vessels in her legs, and after much debate Murray performed bypass surgery on her. The irony comes into effect because, “Two weeks later, in the famous medical center in which all of this occurred, she died” (Murray 234). The irony plays a role in this past experience of Murray because the women would have most likely lived longer without the surgery rather than having it. The irony of Murray’s failed medical experience gave insight to his belief that doctors do think of the death process differently than other individuals because of stories such as this that haunt doctors and their views on a natural death. Overall, I do believe that Murray accomplished his purpose of informing the reader about the differences of thought between a doctor and any other individual regarding the death process because of his touch of personal stories and irony of a failed experience. 

Murray and other doctors agree that they would rather have a quicker natural death than one prolonged with the assistance of a life-support device, such like this ventilator. 
This image is from http://darthmed.dathmouth.edu