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