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.