TOW #24- Visual Text

The North Carolina bathroom laws that have recently been passed have caused some great controversy.  One particular individual, Nate Beeler, an editorial cartoonist for The Columbus Dispatch, published a cartoon regarding the law.  In the image, there is a men's bathroom and a women's bathroom next to one another.  The transgender bathroom, marked by a question mark is replaced with an exit door.  The law that was passed called the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act in schools and government buildings says that people must use the bathroom that corresponds with their "biological sex".  This refers to the sex that is written on one's birth certificate.  For transgenders in North Carolina, this law has seriously frustrated some and made many feel uncomfortable.  The new state law signed by Governor Pat McCrory puts those who do not identify with the gender written on their birth certificate in a very weird position.  People are scared to go into public restrooms and often times will wait until they get back home before they feel safe enough to use the restroom.  In the cartoon, the artist uses the exit door to show how the transgender people are treated unfairly.  The law makes them feel like they might as well leave if they have to go to the bathroom.  Although it is exaggerated in the cartoon, this is how many people feel due to the new law.  Also, the normalcy of the men's and women's bathroom contrasts with the question mark written on the transgender bathroom door.  This shows how the law disregards their needs to feel comfortable and categorizes transgenders as outcasts.  The argument made by Beeler is very effective in getting his point across that the new North Carolina law is making many people uncomfortable and mistreating those who do not identify with the genders written on their birth certificates.  Some people have chosen to disobey this new law and many have chosen to speak up and against the new law.  Beeler is helping those who are outcasted by this new law by helping show what the law is really doing to transgenders.  Beeler uses contrast in the images as well as hyperbole in the law's restrictions in order to get this message across.  The feedback from North Carolina's population will be interesting to follow as this law is enforced and pushed by its population.

TOW #23- "Baseball is Injuring Too Many Kids"

In an article written for the New York Times,  a father and little league baseball coach, Jeff Passan, argues that the current pressure placed on baseball is injuring too many kids.  The year round training and intensity in pitching has caused many young players to develop serious arm injuries requiring surgeries and long term recovery.  To be injured at such a young age is not natural and is shown through a study that Passan references.  More than 57% of Tommy John surgeries, a surgery for a specific arm injury, were performed on teenagers.  An alarming study such as this one catches the attention of the audience and requires us to think about the immense amount of kids being injured playing a sport.  Especially for little league players, baseball should be about the love of the game rather than intense competition.  The author addresses those who are working hard to get a scholarship or make it to the major leagues but then refutes their argument by proving how small the number of scholarships really is.  The "pipe dream" that they are working for is not worth the injury because it will most likely not pay off in the long run.  And even if it did, how would they be able to fulfill their dreams with such an injury?  By addressing both young and old players, the author reaches out to players, parents, and coaches of all ages because he believes that is necessary to solve the issue.  He proposes different solutions for different ages and also compares the statistics of intensity of training of Japan's leagues and those of the US.  This distinction is important to mention because of the moderation that needs to be applied in both cases.  For little league players, Passan proposes that coaches only let kids pitch for one inning to stop them from breaking the number of pitches per game limit that keeps them healthy.  The year round training for older players is the trouble spot for his solution.  The hole in his argument is that most players in high school will not give up playing over the summer for fear that they will fall behind.  Many look for scholarships to colleges and will start intense training freshman year.  They will not let up until they graduate or commit to a school.  This is extremely dangerous for their health, argues Passan, but he does not have a solution to keep them from playing.  As much as a parent might warn, teenagers will still play if they want to play.  Proposing a change to teams or training facilities and coaches may work better.  If there isn't training available, they won't be able to injure their arms further over the summer or during off season time.  Overall, Passan proves that there are serious dangers to the way that baseball players go about their training now in all leagues of all ages.  However, the solutions to this issue may take some time and adjustment because of player determination for older teens.

TOW #22- "Why Slaves' Graves Matter" Argument Tow

An article in the New York Times written by Sandra Arnold brings up what may be buried underneath a playground or park that you have been to.  She explains to her audience that many burial grounds for former enslaved Americans have been covered up by new developments in towns all over the country.  In the article she argues that the country should explore ways to preserve the public memory of enslaved Americans and recognize the places that they rest.  Her argument was made effective through her appeal to pathos.  She begins her article with an anecdote about her great grandfather who was a slave buried in a location that does not even recognize or memorialize his presence.  She talks about her distant relationship with a man she never knew before she discovered his grave.  Then she reveals her change in perspective after she realized where he had been buried and how strongly she felt for this man.  The personal relationship that Arnold has with the issue allows her audience to feel sympathy for her and also gives the audience an idea of what it is like for loved ones to be simply forgotten after death.  When the audience begins to think about this in relation to their loved ones or themselves, they are more likely to agree with Arnold's argument.  The author also appeals to ethos after her anecdote.  She lets her audience know that she has deeply researched this issue so the audience know that it is actually a nation-wide problem.  The author explains that she created the "National Burial Database of Enslaved Americans" in order to account for all of the times in which slaves were buried without recognition all over the country.  This is important to her argument so that the audience can understand the issue as one that occurs all over the country and also shows that the author knows the issue well.  I completely agreed with her argument and was easily persuaded by her article because of her appeals to ethos and pathos throughout the piece.  When I think about any of my family members being completely forgotten and covered up, it makes me feel just as frustrated as Sandra Arnold was.  Also, Arnold's arrangement of ideas in her article made the argument clear and persuasive.  Introducing the topic with an anecdote gave it meaning on a personal level for the audience and also gave us a basic understanding of what she was talking about.  Then, she moves into the numbers and statistics of the issue to get her audience to understand why it is such a big problem.  This arrangement was effective to me because of the way I could understand and follow the argument.  Overall, this article was very persuasive and the author's deep connection with the topic made her argument very agreeable.

TOW #21- "Here's How We Will Start Fixing Metro"

An article written in The Washington Post this past week identifies the issues with the Metro system and offers some solutions to how to fix these issues.  It was written by Paul J. Wiedefeld, the manager of the Metro system.  Since November of 2015 he has been making changes to the Metro system in order to improve it.  This article was written to share the biggest issues with the Metro and his ideas for solutions.  One of the ways he does this is by using statistics to present his audience with the issues of the system.  He mentioned that last year the number of rail car mechanical failures caused the rate of late trains to double.  Wiedefeld also presents the audience with financial information to show that Metro has the financial means to make productive changes to the system.  In order to appeal to ethos, he admits the issues that the Metro system has.  This makes his audience trust him to give them the facts of the problems and to acknowledge that problems exists.  Then, he begins to propose his solutions.  He addresses issues of safety and security first, to appeal to the audience, most of which are Metro riders.  This allows the author to build up a connection with his audience in order to get them to listen to what he has to say.  Since they are concerned about their safety on the Metro trains, they will be more likely to support his solutions on this issue.  The author strategically arranges his argument in this way to get his audience's support.  Continuing his focus on his audience, he addresses customer experience, in order to appeal to the Metro users.  His plans focus on reducing wait time and delays.  The focus he puts on his audience's needs are what allow readers to agree with his argument.  However, in the argument he lists a lot of things that he will fix but is not too clear on the "how".  He introduces a "get well" program, but not how he will implement it, how it works, or how he will afford it.  He focuses only on what its outcomes would be.  But the audience can not know for sure that these outcomes will be guaranteed because of the lack of supported information of the plan's success.  Hopefully Wiedefeld can implement these solutions and ultimately improve the Metro system for future customers.

TOW #20- IRB: Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill's biography has been a very informational book so far compared to the other IRB's that I have read.  As I'm learning a lot, I am also taking in some of the writer's style that is used to paint a picture of Winston Churchill as the author wants the audience to see him.  In chapter 5, "The Center of Events", the writer uses strategies of rhetoric in order to provide accurate information about Churchill in a positive light, even when his actions were not viewed so positively by others.  The author's ability to reveal the good side of Churchill even in his worst moments is the result of Keegan's use of arrangement of information and negative diction.  When presenting a situation in which Churchill was responsible for deploying police against strikers when he was home secretary, the author is able to use arrangement to show the necessity of Churchill's actions.  To justify Churchill's controversial actions, the author explains, "The need to contain industrial unrest, fomented by the recession of 1909, forced Churchill to deploy the police against strikers on several occasions... he was even obliged to put troops on standby during riots at Tonypandy," (Keegan 74).  Before even mentioning Churchill's actions, Keegan explains the context of the time period and the need for a leader to contain the unrest of the industrial workers.  By presenting this information first, Keegan is able to alter the view of Churchill's actions by showing the audience that he was forced into ordering the police to do this.  Rather than explaining Churchill's actions as his own, the author shows how the time period affected Churchill's decisions.  This places more blame on the 1909 recession and the strikers rather than Winston Churchill.  Another way that Keegan portrays Churchill in a good light is through the use of his negative diction against those who opposed Churchill.  When explaining the repercussions of Churchill's deployment of police against strikers, Keegan mentions, "'Remember Tonypandy!' was a cry that haunted him for years after his return to the Conservative Party in 1925, and helped to make him, quite unfairly, better remembered as a home secretary hostile to the working classes," (Keegan 77).  The author's bias towards Churchill seems very apparent in this quote because of his use of negative diction.  The use of the words "haunted" and "quite unfairly" victimizes Churchill.  Keegan makes the audience sympathize with Churchill and understand how the opposing side was attacking him for something he could not control.  Whether or not Keegan's bias towards Churchill undermines his credibility in this biography is debatable, however his use of rhetoric in this chapter very clearly helps him achieve his purpose of portraying Churchill in a good light.  He is able to help the audience see some of Churchill's most controversial decisions as uncontrollable ones forced upon him.  

TOW #19- Thomas Nast "The Tammany Tiger Loose" (Argument)

In 1871 during the Gilded Age in America, Thomas Nast created a series of cartoons attacking Boss Tweed in Harper's Weekly and the New York Times.  The Tammany Hall tiger shown in this cartoon represents the New York City political organization that was charged for corruption as it was led by leaders such as William Tweed.  Nast created such cartoons in order to warn the public of Tweed's power because he was causing corruption in the economy in this time period.  Tammany Hall's original purpose was to help the poor and New York City's immigrants, however this did not occur that way.  Thomas Nast portrays Tammany Hall as a tiger, mauling a citizen, representing the population of New York City.  The tiger has destroyed her sword and shield, which represent the ballot and the freedom of voting.  Tweed and the other leaders of Tammany Hall would give baskets of food or assist the poor who could not afford it.  Then, those who received that assistance would have have to show their gratitude at the polls.  The corruption of Tammany Hall led to a corrupt vote and elections that did not accurately portray the votes of Americans.  Another way that Nast gets his point across is by showing the spectators just watching and enjoying the show.  Nast is helping his audience understand that the public is just sitting around witnessing the corruption and doing nothing about it.  This gives the audience something to feel guilty about.  As spectators, they are seeing the destruction of the freedom of the public and the freedom of the vote.  After seeing this cartoon, Nast hopes to inspire them to start taking action against this corruption.  After learning about Tweed's schemes of the Gilded Age in history, I would agree with Nast's point of view.  The image that Tammany Hall portrays is that it helps the poor and gives opportunity to immigrants.  While this was true for some, many suffered because of Tweed's corruption.  The tiger is an accurate depiction of Tweed's power structure because of it's strength and relentless aggression.  The citizens can not escape Tammany Hall's power because they were in need of economic support, but in the long run, all that this did was hurt them.  His depiction of the public's helplessness in this cartoon is also accurate.  They had nowhere else to run, just as this person was stuck in the arena with the Tammany Hall Tiger.  Thankfully, the cartoons that were published in Harper's Weekly and the New York Times did inspire change.  Nast's effective cartoon's eventually led to the downfall of Tweed and Tammany Hall.

TOW #18- The Crisis of Minority Unemployment (Argument)

The New York Times Editorial Board published an article this week about the necessity of a solution for minority unemployment in America and Congress's failure to put a solid plan in place to fix this issue.  Subsidy programs have been proposed and disapproved by Congress multiple times in the past years making it very difficult to fix this impending issue.  The author starts by introducing the problem of minority unemployment and emphasizing its importance to the functionality of America.  To support this, he uses statistics of the unemployment rates of various races in different cities with large minority populations.  This introduction to the article's argument puts it in perspective for the audience so that they can understand its importance.  The author then reveals that the subsidy programs have been proposed and shot down by Republicans in Congress, targeting a specific group to blame for the issue.  This is an effective strategy in order to get the audience to feel strongly towards this group in order to make a change.  The use of statistics showing subsidy program success in other communities is extremely helpful to the argument of the article.  By showing the success of the proposed programs, the author can convince the audience that subsidy programs are not only necessary but that they would be effective if they were used in America.  In the conclusion of the article, the author points out the advantages of increasing employment for the minority groups.  The author points out that the suggested programs would not only solve the issue of minority unemployment, but provide other benefits as well because "Work reduces alienation, gives people a stake in society and allows children in poor communities to absorb the ethic they need to be successful."  The strength of this argument is caused by its appeal to logos as the author works in different statistics about subsidy programs to show how effective it would be in America.  The only part of the article that may have weakened the argument is in the concluding paragraph when the author writes, "If Congress fails to take on this crisis, as it has failed on so many issues...".  The bias that is revealed in this dig at Congress's actions weakens the author's argument by showing that he or she already has a rivalry with Congress's decisions.  Rather than focusing on the Congress's decision about this specific issue, the author zooms out to a wider scale showing their underlying feelings of discontent with Congress.  Besides the flagrant bias in the conclusion, the article offered a very strong argument overall that convinced me of the issues of minority unemployment in our country.

TOW #17- "Staying Sober After Treatment Ends" (Argument TOW)

     An article written in The New York Times by Tina Rosenberg addresses the issues with patients who suffered from an alcohol or drug addiction after they leave a rehab treatment facility center.  She argues that today, doctors are not doing enough after the initial treatment to keep patients sober.  The statistic she uses that only 40% of people who leave a rehab center stay sober shows the necessity of a solution.  I agreed with the author's argument that more needs to be done by doctors to help those patients stay sober.
     The author offers a few solutions that are currently being worked on by people around the country that are helping patients.  For example, in West Virginia, as opposed to having to find a way to get to group meetings or one-on-one sessions with peer coaches, the Atari Program allows patients to get "one-on-one outpatient counseling over secure video."  This program allows patients to get the counseling they need even if they do not have transportation to attend group meetings.  Rosenberg then continues to offer some more solutions that have been tested across the United States, but the most effective and interesting one that I found strengthened her argument the most, was apps that help patients stay sober.  These apps aren't used as treatment by themselves, however, they can help keep patients on track when on the road to recovery.  They help them communicate with their counselors and find rides to group meetings.  The most interesting aspect of one of these apps, A-Chess, is that patients can program it to notify family members or counselors when they are in a location that isn't safe for them.  In other words, the app would send a message to their support team when they were in danger of relapsing.  This could be in a spot where they used to buy drugs or a place where they used to hang out with people who encouraged this behavior.  Overall, the author covers a lot of different solutions that could work to improve this issue.
     Although, the other 60% of people in the statistic she mentions in her introduction, may not be those who aren't getting the necessary treatment, but those who do not seek it.  If people do not want to go get help or treatment, they will not benefit from group meetings over video chat or apps such as A-Chess.  They will leave treatment and continue their unhealthy habits regardless of how people try to help them.  The statistic that Rosenberg uses to show the issue of relapsing is valid, but the solutions she offers probably wouldn't be applicable to many of those who have suffered from an alcohol or drug addiction.  Rosenberg's argument does establish a need to find a solution for relapsing drug users, and it does offer some solutions for those who try to seek treatment after being in a rehab facility, but the majority of drug users who leave rehab and do not seek more help will not benefit from the solutions that she offers.

IRB INTRO

This marking period I will be reading Winston Churchill by John Keegan.  I chose to do a historical biography this marking period, which contrasts with what I have read the past two marking periods.  This biography is written by Keegan, a contemporary military historian and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.  I chose this book through a recommendation from my dad, who read and loved it.  I'm hoping to learn a lot about this prominent American figure this marking period and I'm excited to be trying something new!

TOW #16- IRB

One of the most impactful parts of "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand was the chapter called "The Boiling City".  In this chapter the author's use of detailed description brings the book to life.  I think one of the most important parts of this story is attempting to understand and feel the characters' emotions as the war consumes them.  And sometimes, it is important to recognize that we cannot understand what it is like to be them in that situation.  The author does a skillful job of describing parts of Louie's experiences so that the reader can get a glimpse into his life.  In the beginning of the chapter, Hillenbrand describes the city and the people in it.  She writes, "No one in Naoetsu was sleeping.  B-29's crossed over every night, and the air-raid sirens wailed for hours on end, competing with the roar of the planes, " (300).  Her use of personification between the sounds in this description gives the readers a piece of how Louie must have felt.  Her use of the word wailed gives the readers a grasp on the blaring noises in this city during the war.  Just something as simple as her word choice impacts the readers' perception of the text much differently.  Another deeply descriptive section in this chapter is towards the end.  Hillenbrand explains the crewmen's bomber plane flight over Hiroshima.  She describes, "...the sky over the city ripped open in a firestorm of color and sound and felling wind.  A white light, ten times the intensity of the sun, enveloped the plane as the flash and sound and jolt of it skidded out in all directions... A fantastically huge, roiling cloud, glowing bluish gray, swaggered over the city.  It was more than three miles tall."  (306)  Hillenbrand's account of this event that most readers have heard of or studied in history class is much different than most people have ever known about the bombing of Hiroshima.  It takes a much closer scope to the event, and makes it seem more personal, more impactful.  Again, her use of personification adds to her description.  Also, her transition between long descriptive sentences to short ones gives a blunt feeling to the chapter's end.  After more description she writes, "Below it, Hiroshima was boiling. " (306)  This final sentence leaves an impact with readers far beyond what any history book would tell them.  The imagery used in this chapter is amazingly descriptive and gives readers a chance to view certain historical events from a different angle entirely.  Hillenbrand's use of descriptive language in this chapter stood out to me as one of the most effective skills that she uses throughout the entire book.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it is very easily one of my favorite books I have read.

TOW #15- Visual Text

Tom Toles, the editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post recently published this cartoon with the caption, "Inexplicable Metro robbery in minute-by-minute detail".  He made this cartoon with the intended audience to be train commuters.  It shows a man reporting his money stolen during his experience on the metro when in fact, he was not actually robbed.  Tom Toles uses hyperbole of an average person's metro experience and humor in order to show the lack of quality of the metro services.  He believes that the prices that are paid for the metro are too high for the efficiency of the system.  Toles uses hyperbole in his cartoon in order to exaggerate the bad quality of the metro system.  The man's second quote is lengthy and describes a terrible situation that I'm sure the average metro user does not experience.  The exaggeration helps Toles's argument by showing his audience how awful the system is and hoping that they can relate to the mishaps that occur with the metro system.  Although the quote is not really valid, it is very effective.  It helps the audience feel a connection by sharing a common annoyance of the trains.  Toles appeals to pathos by attempting to make the audience feel angry about their subpar train experiences that they paid full price for.  Toles also uses humor in order to compare the train experiences with a robbery.  When the man in the cartoon says he was robbed, he is not being literal.  He feels that he had been cheated for his money because of his poor train service.  This is an effective strategy for Toles because if people start associating the poor quality of the trains system with being robbed, that will only increase the anger of the audience.  Once they compare their experience with the metro to being robbed, it puts the idea into perspective.  His audience may think, "If I am not getting 100% satisfactory service, I shouldn't have to pay full price!"  Thoughts like these will help Toles build an audience of angry train commuters that feel that change must be made.  Toles used these devices to successfully convince his audience that the metro system is 'robbing' them of their money because of its poor efficiency and quality.

TOW #14- Why Teachers Are Aggrieved

An article written by Mark Mix, the president of the National Right to Work Committee, was published in the Washington Times this past week.  On Monday, the Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association case will be heard by the Supreme Court.  The case involves policies that force teachers to pay mandatory dues to a union that they do not support.  Mix's article proves the unconstitutionality of these policies across the country through the use of rhetorical questions and references to quotes of the opposing side.  To prove that the policies are not just, Mix uses rhetorical questions at the beginning of his article.  He asks the readers, "If you belonged to a club that benefited other members at your expense, would you consider leaving?  Would you resent it if the club collected dues from all members but only provided benefits to a select few?" (par. 1) In order to get his readers to understand the unconstitutionality of the policies that require teachers to pay dues to unions they don't belong to, Mix first has to get the audience, which is any working American who pays mandatory dues, to understand why the policy is unjust.  When he asks these questions, the reader can clearly understand that the mandatory dues that don't benefit the people paying them does not make any sense.  In order to further prove the unconstitutionality of the argument that the policy should stay in place, Mix references an attorney general supporting the California Teachers Association, Kamala Harris.  He proves that many teachers are not benefited from paying these mandatory dues when he tells his audience that Harris, "actually admitted that union bargaining disadvantages many teachers in a brief filed in support of the California Teachers Association."(par. 4)  Once he proves that even the opposition was in agreement that the unions don't give advantages to all of the teachers, he slices through the CTA's argument.  The strength of Mix's argument comes mostly from his appeal to logos because his article is used to invalidate the California Teachers Association's case.  While proving his point, he gets his audience to think about the unfair dues that they possibly have to pay to their unions, in hopes of helping working Americans make a change in their own states.  This article gives encouragement to those who work and are victims of the mandatory dues that do not benefit every employee fairly.  Mark Mix's article successfully accomplishes this through rhetorical questions and evidence from the opposition in the case, and on Monday we will find out whether or not this argument will be supported in court.