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.