TOW #13- "Bright Lights, Big Predators"

Richard Conniff, an Amerian non-fiction author who specializes in human and animal behavior, wrote the article "Bright Lights, Big Predators" for the New York Times this past weekend.  The increasing population of wild animals in cities around the world has become a controversial issue due to the animals' threat to humans.  Conniff uses personification and comparisons of this issue to other issues in big cities to convey to his audience that the animals aren't as dangerous as they may think and the thought of coexisting in cities is not entirely impossible.  He uses personification to justify the animals' placement in cities.  Conniff shows his audience the innocence of the animals when he writes,  "That leopard on a hilltop in Mumbai didn't move into the city.  The city rose up and engulfed its world."  He uses the personification of the city to place a blame for this impending situation.  When people think of these animals invading their city living space, they are incorrect.  The city has been built in places of wildlife, so it is not the fault of the leopards for roaming around in the city lights at night.  Once Conniff shows his audience that the wild animals are not to blame for their coexistence with humans in cities, he uses comparisons to other issues in the city in order to convince his audience that they have had much greater danger before.  Conniff compares the wild animal situation with the existence of rivers in cities when he writes, "We have learned to protect and restore rivers in our cities, says Adrian Treves at the University of Wisconsin, even though floods sometimes destroy homes and drown people." By comparing the wild animals to another risky situation that humans are totally comfortable with in their cities, Conniff lessens the validity of the fearfulness towards such dangerous creatures.  If they have allowed things just as harmful in their city to exist peacefully in nature, why can't they do the same with wild animals?  Conniff then takes an even more common and effective example of a high risk allowed in the city when he writes, "... we let cars dominate city streets, though they kill more than 4,700 pedestrians in the United States every year."  Something as common as a car poses a much higher risk to city-dwellers than the four-legged prowlers of the night.  With these comparisons Conniff can show his audience that the risk posed by wild animals is nothing crazy when compared to the many other dangerous things that we allow to exist in our towns and cities.  His audience, people who live in the city, cannot ignore the strong points he makes against the rationale for eliminating the threat of wild animals to the civilians of large cities.  His article is effective due to his personification and comparisons, and makes his readers contemplate living a life in harmony with four-legged friends.

TOW #12- IRB: Unbroken

I am so happy I am finally getting the opportunity to read "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand because I have heard such great things about it from many of my friends.  Since page, 1 I have been hooked on this book and it has been such an interesting read so far.  One of the ways that Hillenbrand does this is by delving deep into the details of some of the little moments amongst the daunting events that take place in Louis's life.  The author makes Louis's story come to life and gives readers a connection to his story through her use of detailed description and a zooming perspective on the events of the book.  In Hillenbrand's description of the German Graf Zeppelin, she successfully makes Zamperini's childhood memory come to life through her description of the airship.  Hillenbrand writes that, "He could see only the blackness of the space it inhabited.  It was not a great presence but a great absence, a geometric ocean of darkness that seemed to swallow heaven itself." In this description the aircraft becomes a powerful monster rather than an amazing new advancement in aircraft technology.  The fear that people may have had at the time period easily transcends to the readers through Hillenbrand's description.  We, as the audience, are able to imagine ourselves there in that moment, watching the Zeppelin float above us.  This connection that Hillenbrand bridges from the biography to the readers helps her audience feel an attachment to Louis's story.  This description of the aircraft comes before the author begins to talk about Louis's troublesome childhood.  The zoomed perspective she has on the aircraft gives readers the context of Zamperini's childhood time period before the audience even gets Louis's entire story.  This is important to helping the audience understand the actions and emotions of the people in the biography.  After zooming in on the Zeppelin, Hillenbrand then takes a step back to change focus, and talks about Louis's childhood.  She writes, "Thrilled by the crashing of boundaries, Louie was untamable.  As he grew into his uncommonly clever mind, mere feats of daring were no longer satisfying.  In Torrance, a one-boy insurgency was born."  The change in focus gives the reader information about Zamperini's childhood, while still giving the audience and attachment to his life.  Hillenbrand is precise in the way that she places the details of the time period and the biography of Louie in order to give the readers the best understanding of what he went through during his life.  Through the changing scope and the detailed descriptions of historical context and Zamperini's biography, Hillenbrand creates a book that audiences can easily connect to in order to receive an inspirational reading experience.

"The Screening Process We Wish We Had" by Gary Varvel

      Protection and security of the people in our country has been a topic of controversy for quite some time and is clearly a very serious and relevant topic today.  This cartoon was from the Washington Times Newspaper created by Gary Varvel.  He has been a cartoonist for the Indianapolis Star for 16 years.  The audience for this cartoon is the US public.  In the visual text, "The Screening Process We Wish We Had", Gary Varvel uses juxtaposition of heart sizes and hyperbole of to argue that there is no easy answer to the issue of the security of America.  The cartoon expresses that America wishes that it had a machine that could measure the size of someone's heart.  With this machine it shows their ability to see that there is a man with a considerably smaller heart than the rest of the people in the line.  The juxtaposition of this man's heart size to the rest of the people in the line show how he must be more dangerous due to his small heart.  Varvel does this to show how the country wishes we could clearly tell the difference between someone who could hurt people and someone who is an average person.  Clearly, this is unable to happen so easily.  Varvel uses hyperbole to show how difficult finding a solution to the security issues in our country would be.  First, he exaggerates the size of the man's heart.  If someone is more inherently evil than another person or even has bad intentions, their heart would obviously not be smaller than a normal person's heart.  The author shows the difficulty of finding a solution to America's security issues through this exaggeration of the heart size.  Also, the hyperbole of the advancement of technology helps him to achieve his purpose.  It's evident to the audience that the machinery used in the cartoon is not realistic and probably will never be in the future.  Through the author's hyperbole of the technological advancements in the American security system, he shows the difficulty of finding a realistic solution to the country's security issues.  He argues the impossibility of finding a full-proof solution to this issue and leaves his audience considering the future of American security.  Although we wish that we could always be safe, and technology could improve our security, Varvel argues that we will never be able to be 100% protected.

TOW #10- " Choose to be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier."

This festive article caught my eye as I was searching this week for something to read.  Arthur C. Brooks writes about how to be grateful during the Thanksgiving season, and during everyday life.  Brooks is a writer, a professor at Syracuse, and most importantly, a grateful man.  In his text, "Choose to be Grateful.  It Will Make You Happier." he uses scientific studies and personal anecdotes in order to convince his audience that forcing the feeling of gratefulness will create true feelings of gratefulness and positivity in your life.  Brooks uses scientific studies to aid him in his argument that forcing a feeling of happiness will make the feeling become real.  He reminds his audience that faking the feeling does not make you a fraud at all, and it will help you be more appreciative of things in your life.  "For example, researchers in one 2003 study randomly assigned one group of study participants to keep a short weekly list of the things they were grateful for, while other groups listed hassles or neutral events. Ten weeks later, the first group enjoyed significantly greater life satisfaction than the others."  (Brooks par. 8)  The author uses examples like these throughout his article in order to show how this forced feeling works.  The brain will recognize the bad or good feelings and people will naturally become happier or sadder.  Through the incorporation of scientific studies, Brooks strengthens his argument and adds some credibility.  He also uses anecdotes to increase credibility and show how he has used this mantra to help himself.  He talks about an email he received from a reader of his book who didn't agree with his thoughts a few years back.  Brooks expresses that his "dominant thought wasn’t resentment. It was, “He read my book!” And so I wrote him back — rebutting a few of his points, but mostly just expressing gratitude for his time and attention." (par. 15)  Through Brooks anecdote, he shows how expressing gratefulness can make someone happier even in a situation such as this one.  Even when someone was arguing with him, calling him a fraud, and refuting what he wrote in a book, Brooks stayed positive.  He then shares the effects of his gracious feelings when he writes, "I felt good writing it, and his near-immediate response came with a warm and friendly tone." (par. 15)   By expressing the positive effects of his decision on his reaction to this reader, the author can show the audience why gracious feelings are better than feelings of anger or resentment and can produce a mutual feeling of happiness for both parties involved.  Brooks successfully convinces his audience that feelings of gratefulness, even if they are forced, can improve your overall quality of life.  This is definitely something to keep in mind this holiday season!

TOW #9- The Truth about Applying to 'Reach' Colleges

Kat Cohen, a college admissions counselor, wrote an article for the Huffington Post entitled "The Truth about Applying to 'Reach' Colleges".  A a college admissions counselor, Cohen has extensive knowledge on the process of admissions of schools.  This article reveals things that high school students may not have realized about their reach schools.  In Cohen's article she uses denotation and rhetorical questions in order to help high school students understand how to appropriately choose and apply to their reach schools when applying to colleges.  One of her main points in the article was that many students don't understand the meaning behind a reach school.  A lot of kids will apply to schools that are too unrealistically out of reach.  Cohen writes, "A reach college, by definition, is a school where the applicant's academic profile is not as strong as the middle 50 percent of students who are typically admitted." (par. 4)  She then gives an example of someone with a 2.7 GPA applying to Yale and the unlikeliness of his acceptance.  By defining reach college first, she is able to clearly justify why this student should not apply to a school like Yale.  She proves that if you are too far below the middle group of accepted students, the college is not truly a reach school.  When explaining which reach schools to pick to apply to, Cohen uses rhetorical questioning to show that she understands the views of students, but refutes their process of thinking.  She writes, " A school's selectivity can make it seem more attractive than it otherwise would. After all, who wouldn't want to say they made it into a college that's hard to gain admission to?" (par. 6)  Cohen understands that students would love to be able to say that they were accepted into colleges like Yale, however, it may not be the best school for them to apply to.  She argues that even if a name brand school is within your reach school range, there are so many more factors to consider when applying to your reach colleges.  Cohen successfully accomplishes her purpose through the use of these rhetorical devices to help high school students when they are applying to their reach schools.

IRB Intro #2- Unbroken

This marking period I will be reading the book "Unbroken" written by Laura Hillenbrand.  This book is a biography of Louis Zamperini who was an Olympic track star in 1936.  He served in the US Army Air Force as a Lieutenant and went through unbelievably difficult obstacles throughout the years he spent in World War II.  I heard about this book through friends and it has been something I've wanted to read for a while.  I hope to finish this book and gain a new appreciation for my life as well as get some inspiration from Zamperini's story.  I'm excited to start reading!!

TOW #8- IRB: Freakonomics

Freakonomics does exactly what it promises: Makes the reader ask questions.  After reading this book, everyday norms have become situations to analyze and experiment with to find trends in the human population.  Studying human behavior doesn't only apply to the world of economics, although it is an important part of the study.  Knowing the trends of human behavior can just give you a better understanding of the way the world works, and why people do what they do. The authors of this book use statistics and anecdotes as well as rhetorical questions to get readers to think about trends of the everyday world differently.  A very interesting chapter of this book pertained to baby names and the implications of a child's name.  First, to prove to the audience that names did have an effect on a child's life, the authors shared an anecdote about a child named Loser and his brother named Winner.  The authors write, "Loser Lane did in fact succeed.  He went to prep school on a scholarship, graduated from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, and joined the New York Police Department, where he made detective, and eventually, sergeant... The most noteworthy achievement of Winner Lane, now in his mid forties, is the sheer length of his criminal record: near three dozen arrests for burglary, domestic violence, trespassing, resisting arrest, and other mayhem." (Dubner, Levitt 212)  Clearly, the names don't correlate exactly as they should, however the anecdotes in this chapter support the fact that the names given to children have an impact on their lives.  The use of lists of most popular names in different socioeconomic groups of different decades later help the authors to prove this same idea.  The names given to children can reflect their economic status, parents education level, or their likelihood of succeeding in their professional lives.  Another way that the authors accomplish their purpose is through the use of rhetorical questions.  The authors tell an anecdote about a girl named Temptress who landed in Albany County Family Court in New York.  She was charged with ungovernable behavior, including bringing men into the home when her mom wasn't home.  The surprising correlation between her name and the charges caught the eye of Dubner and Levitt.  They write, "Was Temptress actually 'living out her name,' as Judge Duggan saw it?  Or would she have wound up in trouble even if her mother had called her Chastity?" (Dubner, Levitt 183) By using rhetorical questions, the authors provoke thought in the direction they want the readers to be thinking.  It shapes the train of thought throughout the chapter so the readers are guided in the same direction of the authors' thoughts.  Also, by provoking thought about this case, they accomplish their purpose because readers may start to question things like this in other patterns that they come across in their lives.  Using anecdotes and rhetorical questions, Levitt and Dubner are able to successfully encourage readers to think and ask questions about patterns they find in the world in order to make sense of the way people act and think.

TOW #7- Article: Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League

     The article "Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League" was written by William Deresiewicz, an English professor at Yale, as well as an American essayist and literary critic.  The interesting thing about this article is that it was written by a Yale professor, but it criticized Ivy League schools while revealing their true motives and what Ivy League education does to students.  The audience of this article is students deciding where they want to go to college.  William Deresiewicz convinces students not to choose an Ivy League school in order to balance the education inequality that exists in America as well as help students realize how they can get quality education from another school.  William uses figurative language and references to other authors throughout his essay to achieve his purpose.  When describing the admissions process to Ivy League schools, Deresiewicz uses a simile when he writes, "...the admissions process itself, squatting like a dragon at the entrance to adulthood," (para. 6)  The author uses this simile to describe the admissions process in order to cast a wickedness on the admissions for Ivy League schools.  He shows his audience how big of an impact they make on the lives of students as they transition into adulthood, but it also demonizes these people by comparing them to dragons.  William makes it seem as if they will blow fire-breath on a student, instantly ruining their life, if the student doesn't meet the standards of the admission process.  Another way that William encourages students to open their eyes to other schools besides Ivy League schools is by referencing other authors of essay or studies that have the same views.  For example, when describing the cons of attending an Ivy League school he writes, "'What Wall Street figured out,' as Ezra Klein has put it, 'is that colleges are producing a large number of very smart, completely confused graduates.  Kids who have ample mental horsepower, an incredible work ethic and no idea what to do next.'" (para. 24)  By referencing Klein, an American blogger and columnist, he adds support to his argument and reveals the downsides of attending an Ivy League school.  Although these kids may have super-power brains, they don't have the experience in high school or college, or even everyday life, that shows them what to do with their lives after school is over.  This article was very effective in revealing the truths about Ivy League schools using figurative language and references to other authors.  It is an eye-opener to Ivy-driven students who find themselves studying their lives away, without any end goal or purpose.  It is a call to all students to focus on getting an education that matters, and an education that is worth what they pay for.

TOW #6- Visual Text: Political Cartoon by Stantis

     Scott Stantis created this political cartoon for the Chicago Tribune in September regarding the refugee crisis in the Middle East.  Europe had been the destination for many fleeing refugees who had lost everything due to the crisis.  Because of its location, it was a perfect place for desperate refugees to go.  However, as many Serbian refugees were planning to cross over the border to get to Croatia, the connection and flow ended abruptly when Croatia ended road links to Serbia.  This ended the Serbians' ability to find refuge in the European countries that they thought would become safe shelters.  The illustrator of this political cartoon, Scott Stantis, is an editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune.  The audience of this cartoon would be Croatians because he is trying to emphasize the abruptness of Croatia's decision to take back its invitation to the refugees from the Middle East.  Stantis accomplishes this purpose through the use of contrasting colors and irony.  The brick wall in the cartoon represents the Croatian decision to end their invitation to refugees into the country, where refugees were once welcomed.  The welcome mat in front of the brick wall represents how welcoming they first acted towards the refugees.  The irony used by Stantis in the cartoon between the welcome mat and the brick wall shows the abruptness of Croatia's decision to close its borders when they originally made a decision to allow refugees into their country just a day prior.  The contrast in the yellow color of the welcome mat and the black color that represents European territory  emphasizes how abruptly and quickly the decision was changed.  By revealing the effects of this decision on the refugees, Stantis accomplishes his purpose.  The cartoon helps the audience understand that the change of decision led many refugees to having doors slammed in their faces.  The severity of this decision is shown to be devastating for the refugees who have no where else to go.

TOW #5- Article: The Parent Who Wants to Fall Asleep

One of the most difficult tasks to accomplish is to put little kids to sleep at their bedtime.  In an article from The New Yorker, Rebecca Mead uses allusions and comparisons to show parents why the newest bedtime story, The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep, isn't worth their money.  Her audience is parents with little kids because through the article, Mead tries to convince parents why the book is not a good bedtime story to be reading to their children.  One way she does this is through allusions and comparisons to other popular stories.  For example, she alludes to Peter Rabbit when she writes, "...Peter Rabbit demonstrates that children can be enthralled by a good story even when its vocabulary might be regarded as demanding.  (Peter becomes entangled in Mr. McGregor's gooseberry netting and almost gives himself up for lost. 'But his sobs were overheard by some friendly sparrows, who flew o him in great excitement, and implored him to exert himself,' Potter writes, in one of my favorite passages in literature.)" (Mead para. 4)  Mead uses the allusion to Peter Rabbit to compare a classic bedtime story with a new one that doesn't quite live up to the standards of good literature for children.  She shows the difference in vocabulary used in each bedtime story.  She also explains the importance of challenging language in children's books so parents understand why the new bedtime story isn't worth reading to their kids.  Also, the author alludes to the story Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown when she writes, "Brown's masterpiece, first published in 1947, manages to be both warmly reassuring and transcendently awe-inspiring at the same time: it might have been subtitled 'A New Way of Giving Children an Insight into the Human Condition While Introducing Poetry Into Their Souls.'" (Mead para. 6)  By emphasizing the greatness that this bedtime story has achieved to help kids grow as readers, Mead compares Goodnight Moon to The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep by showing the differences in their poetic style.  Mead conveys to the audience that although the new bedtime story can make a child fall asleep, it does not accomplish the job of a children's story, which is to help them grow as young readers.  Using allusions and comparisons to famous texts also makes an appeal to ethos because the author of the article uses other famous and well-known texts to compare to The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep.  Mead accomplishes her purpose by using strategies to appeal to the audience, the parents, that the new bedtime story that everyone has been talking about isn't all it's made out to be.

TOW #4- IRB POST "Freakonomics"

After reading about one half of this book, I am thrilled that I chose it.  The intriguing studies that are collected by this author have made me think about things like the similarities between teachers and sumo wrestlers or the KKK and real-estate agents.  Steven D. Levitt, one of the authors of "Freakonomics" is an economist, and Stephen J. Dubner, the other author, is a writer.  Together they have created this unique book that has blown my mind several times already.  The authors use a variety of rhetorical devices in order to intrigue readers and provoke thought about trends in the world.  Their audience is the general public because it isn't geared towards economists specifically.  In one of their chapters, the authors discuss the similarities that can be drawn between sumo wrestlers and teachers through the analysis of each person's use of incentives and cheating.  In the introduction of this chapter, the authors use repetition to relate to their audience.  They write, "If you toddle over to the hot stove and touch it, you burn a finger.  But if you bring home straight A's from school you get a new bike.  If you are spotted picking your nose in class, you get ridiculed..." (Dubner, Levitt 16).  This section continues on for a half of a page repeating the same phrase over and over.  The authors use an "if, then" pattern to show the audience that incentives are all around them.  Through this rhetorical device, they prove to the reader that incentives and the way people react to them are happening everyday all around them.  Another rhetorical device used in this chapter is rhetorical questions.  The authors use these questions to make the reader come to a realization of their own.  For example, when talking about the incentives behind not doing something, the authors bring up prostitution.  They write, "Which is a more horrifying deterrent: a $500 fine for soliciting a prostitute or the thought of your friends and family ogling you on www.HookersAndJohns.com?" (Dubner, Levitt 18)  Through this rhetorical question, readers understand why the use of shaming convicted johns or prostitutes publicly is such a successful incentive.  By utilizing these two rhetorical devices successfully, the authors can accomplish their purpose of intriguing the reader as well as getting their reader to think about the crazy connections made in the book.

TOW #3 - Visual Text: Gieco

           Many people would recognize this gecko anywhere.  This advertisement is for Geico, an auto insurance company.  Gieco Insurance has been around since 1936 and the famous gecko first appeared in 1999.  The popular slogan, "15 minutes could save you 15% on car insurance," isn't their only catchphrase.  A very successful ad campaign that was run before the gecko included the slogan, "So easy, a caveman could do it."  Geico's marketing strategies have been inviting customers in for a very long time.  The purpose of this advertisement is to convince readers to buy Geico's insurance.  I believe that the creator of the ad accomplishes his or her purpose through the use of appeals to pathos.  Before the slogan is mentioned the ad says, "You Know The Lyrics."  This line helps the ad  create a personal connection to the audience.  When the audience sees this ad, they will remember the slogan and feel a sense of inclusion with Geico's company and with the gecko.  It's important to note the intended audience with this advertisement.  Anyone with the need for auto insurance would be included in the audience.  However, many people who don't need auto insurance, such as children, would recognize this ad in an instant.  The spread their image and slogan to everyone, even people who don't need insurance, will help increase their customer following.  Another way the creator of this ad accomplishes his or her purpose is through the use of the slogan.  The Geico slogan makes an appeal to pathos by connecting to the wants and needs of the audience.  The general public is very busy, and we are always rushing around trying to get everything done as quickly as possible.  In the ad, Geico assures the audience that they will only take 15 minutes of their time to get a quote.  By connecting to the needs of the audience, the ad appeals to pathos.  Through strategies of the appeals, the creator of this ad effectively accomplishes his or her purpose.

TOW #2- Article: "Like the Syrians, I Fled My Country"

This article was written for The Washington Post by Mikra Krasniqi.  He wrote about his experiences fleeing his home country, Kosovo, in 1998.  Throughout the text, Krasniqi compares his account of refugee camps to the situation that millions of Syrians are facing in the present day.  Krasniqi is a writer who worked for the United Nations and studied at Harvard University.  Although it is important to recognize that the author is well educated, I believe that there is more to his credibility.  It is more important that he has lived through the same experiences as the Syrians are going through.  His credibility comes from his knowledge of life as a refugee.  Most of the text uses anecdotes to appeal to ethos.  Krasniqi writes to his audience about the ways of life as a refugee who had to flee his home country.  The purpose he has in writing this is to educate people about the reasons why people flee their countries as well as convince them to be more understanding and welcoming to those who need somewhere to go.  His audience is Europeans and Americans who have the opportunity to help Syrians feel safe.  He expresses this purpose in multiple ways throughout the text.  Through the anecdotes of his fleeing experience, Krasniqi appeals to pathos by showing the audience what life was like as a refugee.  He writes, "By late afternoon, hundreds of Serbian soldiers had infiltrated our town of 1,000.  They lit homes on fire and shoved people into trucks at gunpoint.  Their message to us was clear: Leave." (Krasniqi para. 9)  By sharing this anecdote, the author appeals to pathos because he makes the audience feel some of the fear that refugees must face every day.  His audience is more likely to feel sympathetic towards refugees if they understand their story and what they had to go through in their home country.  This contributes to his purpose by helping to convince Americans and Europeans to help Syrian refugees when given the opportunity.  Another strategy that the author utilizes is asyndeton.  The author uses this strategy when he explains his feelings during his time spent at the refugee camp.  Krasniqi writes, "Though we were finally out of danger, I felt depressed, heartbroken, hopeless."  (Krasniqi para. 13)  By using this rhetorical strategy, the author can make an appeal to pathos by expressing the feeling of hopelessness to his audience.  When reading this sentence, the audience feels the weight of each word as it is written.  Each word contributes to a feeling of hopelessness that helps the audience understand why it is important to help the refugees.  By using all of these strategies, I believe the author accomplishes his purpose by making the readers rethink how they act towards Syrian refugees after reading this text.

TOW #1- Article: "Trauma Needs a Witness"

“Trauma Needs a Witness” was written by Alison Carper, a psychologist from New York, about a patient discovery and breakthrough.  Paul, a patient of Alison’s, suffered through an abusive childhood, but never talked in detail about it with his psychologist.  He always seemed as if he wasn’t affected immensely by the trauma he experienced.  This wall that he put up between himself and the world was unhealthy, causing him to still feel tense when he heard an argument, and still freeze up whenever his wife narrowed an eyebrow.  Alison found that when Paul opened up about his abusive experiences, they were mostly about instances in which a witness was present.  Through this discovery, Alison could more appropriately handle Paul’s emotions toward his abuse, and get him to open up about it with her.  I think this text was written to any other psychologists who feel the same way with their patients.  Hopefully, after reading this, they can try to use this technique on their own patients to get them to open up about trauma in the past. 

The purpose of this piece was to explain to the audience that trauma is better handled when there is a witness present.  The victim would feel less at fault for the abuse if someone else is seeing it and telling them that it is wrong of the abusers to be treating them a certain way.  I think that Carper accomplished her purpose by communicating the information using rhetorical strategies.  She uses a simile when describing her connection with her patient once she broke through to him.  Carper writes, “And if I still sense, on occasion, a distance between us, I feel freer to talk about it.  When I do, the distance shrinks, like shadow exposed to light.” (Carper para. 16) This use of imagery and a simile helps Carper accomplish her purpose.  By conveying to the audience how she can easily and openly talk about the distance between her and her patient, she shows the success of her breakthrough.  By searching for traumatic events that were witnessed, and then talking about the patient’s abuse from that point, Carper experiences this breakthrough with Paul that she has not seen before.  I'm very curious to see if this technique is carried out by different psychologists, and is deemed successful.  Thanks to Carper, there may be a new way of handling closed-off patients who have experiences of damaging trauma in their past.

IRB Intro Post #1

Freakonomics is a book that I recently came across by suggestion from a classmate.  Although I have never heard about it before this past week, I feel like I will really enjoy this novel.  The book was written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.  Levitt is an economics professor at the University of Chicago and also won the John Bates Clark Medal, which awards influential economists for their work.  Dubner is a former editor and writer at The New York Times Magazine.  This book covers studies performed about everyday life, not just economic situations.  I think a book like this will be perfect for me.  However, after hearing just the title, I wasn't so sure.  I have never been a fan of economics, or studying the economy.  After reading only the back of the book, though, I was immediately intrigued.  This book covers much more than just economic studies.  The author takes the information he finds, and reveals a different way of looking at something or thinking about something.  Of course, the author does include applications of that information to the economy.  I am really excited to dive in to this book, and I hope I will gain some new knowledge about economics in the process.

"Duh, Bor-ing" by Joseph Epstein

        Joseph Epstein writes this essay about the idea of boredom, how it has developed, and what we know about it.  Although he is no expert on boredom, Epstein was the editor and a contributor of essays at The Weekly Standard.  Epstein pulls ideas from some of the best pieces of writing about boredom and formulates an idea about what we can do with this information.  He finds that boredom tells people that their lives need change, and it is also good for us.  It allows us to have time for introspection.  He lets the readers know that they cannot escape boredom, for it will always follow us around.  Boredom shows us that we are all part of the universe for a short while, and then we are gone.  Epstein’s purpose is to show the reader that boredom puts us in our place, and that we should all learn to accept and appreciate it.  The audience that Epstein is writing to is the bored population of the world.  He hopes to change their views on the topic of boredom, and assure them that it is a necessary part of their lives.

            I believe that Epstein achieves his purpose in writing this essay by using humor as well as figurative language.  When explaining his own encounters with boredom, he writes, “After perhaps an hour of driving along the coast between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, British Columbia, encountering one dazzling landscape after another, I though enough was enough; Mae West was wrong, you can get too much of a good thing; and I longed for the sight of a delicatessen stocked with febrile Jews,” (Epstein para. 21).  The humor used in his own anecdote shows the reader that he is not exempt from boredom, and he realizes that he struggles with it too.  However, it is his interpretation of that boredom that separates him from the rest.  Epstein uses figurative language and irony when he is describing Heidegger’s thoughts, “Boredom, in this reading, readies the mind for profound vision.  I could attempt to explain how, in Heidegger, this comes about, but your eyes, in reading it, would soon take on the glaze of a franchise doughnut.  Besides I don’t believe it,” (Epstein para. 12).  Epstein’s use of the metaphor about doughnut-glazed eyes gives the reader a laugh, as well as helps to prove his purpose.  He shows how many different interpretations there are about boredom, and contrasts his own beliefs with those of Heidegger.  Epstein chooses to include this in his essay to help the reader understand that boredom is more than what it seems, and instead of dreading it, we can use it as a tool to our advantage.

Boredom at its Finest
Office worker was bored with blank office walls, and created a masterpiece. 

Picure by Zach Noble

"Objects of Affection" by Ewa Hryniewicz-Yarbrough

     Ewa Gronkiewicz-Yarbrough writes about the importance of finding sentimental value in family heirlooms and everyday possessions.  Ewa grew up in Poland in the 1950’s, when communism was responsible for shortages of practically everything in the country.  The author explains that her possessiveness, appreciation, and sentimentality for everyday objects have a direct connection to her childhood lifestyle in Poland.  Ewa also makes a point of comparing herself to her grandmother, who would never replace her furniture or any other household objects.  Ewa moved to America in the 1980’s, and saw many differences in Americans’ behavior towards possessions.  The author’s purpose is to show the readers the importance of finding value in possessions in order to feel a sense of security and permanence.  Ewa writes this essay for those who don’t place sentimental value on their possessions, in hopes to open their eyes to a new perspective.

      I believe that the author accomplishes this purpose because of her use of juxtaposition.  Ewa uses the juxtaposition of Polish and American norms when she writes, “ Other necessities were so hard to get that serpentine lines formed in front of the stores before daylight. A few days after I arrived in the United States, a friend took me to a supermarket on Long Island where she lived… I kept watching people piling item after item into their shopping carts until they looked like elaborate pyramids,” (Hryniewicz-Yarbrough para. 8).  By comparing the lifestyles of the Polish and the Americans, Ewa shows the reader how people may take things for granted.  The author tries to get the reader to understand the reasons behind her sentimentality with objects.  Ewa also uses pathos to accomplish her purpose when she writes, “But with many objects I felt as if I had opened a sluice gate: I was flooded by memories. And once that happened, I knew I had to keep those items, no matter how trifling they would seem to someone else.” (Hryniewicz-Yarbrough para.16)  Many can relate to the feeling of going through old photos or mementos and finding emotional value in those experiences.  Ewa tries to get the reader to feel this attachment to personal objects in order to achieve her purpose.  These two rhetoric devices ultimately help her reach the readers and communicate her purpose to them.

Leverett Family Heirloom
There’s always more to an object than meets the eye.

Picture by Morgan Leverett

"How Doctors Die" by Ken Murray

In the essay, How Doctors Die, Ken Murray points out the surprising number of doctors who choose not to take extreme measure when it comes to their health.  The author discusses that the three main reasons for this are the patients, the doctors, and the system.  Ken Murray is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at USC.  After working in the health care system, he justifies the reasons that doctors do not want to be resuscitated or put through intense treatment when they are ill.  He describes that the doctors can see what the patients must go through, how doctors treat their patients, and how the system disturbs the requests of patients.  Murray’s purpose in writing this essay was to reveal that dying in peace is better than taking extreme measures.  Even though intense treatment may be able to prolong life, it can make a patient miserable.  The author wrote this essay with the intention of sharing his thoughts with anyone who is not a doctor and may be making decisions about emergency treatment for themselves or a loved one. 

Murray definitely proved his purpose in writing this essay using a few rhetorical devices.  The diction used by the author when describing futile care was a strategy that he used to accomplish his purpose.  Murray writes, “The patient will get cut open, perforated with tubes, hooked up to machines, and assaulted with drugs.” (Murray para. 4)  The verb choices that the author uses helps to show the destruction caused by futile care and show the reader that taking extreme measures is violent and invasive.  Another rhetorical strategy used by Murray is the anecdote about his cousin, Torch.  When Torch decided against any treatment for his lung cancer, Murray wrote, “He had no serious pain, and he remained high-spirited.  One day, he didn’t wake up… Torch was no doctor, but he knew he wanted a life of quality, not just quantity.” (Murray para. 19)  Through the anecdote, the author can connect with the reader by showing his relationship with a loved one who chose against treatment.  The quality of his cousin’s life helps to prove his purpose to his readers.  After reading the essay, I believe that most people would reconsider the extremes that they would go to, or make a loved one go through, to live longer.

Peaceful Death vs. Extreme Measures: Is it worth it?

Pitcture by Andy Otto