AOW #16 Visual

Kids Calling Santa 1947

The pictures in this collection were photographed in 1947 when F.A.O. Schwartz set up a direct hotline to Santa Clause in their New York City mega-store. The collection contains six pictures featuring three girls and four boys of about six or seven years old, all over-joyfully smiling as they talk to Santa Clause, who is supposedly jotting down their Christmas list on the other end of the phone. Christmas time serves as the exigence for NPR publishing this collection; it was released early Christmas morning, 2011. This was published in order to remind the audience, parents who may be thinking of down-scaling their Christmas shopping list to save money in this bad economy, that Santa Clause, his presents, and children’s wish lists are part of why Christmas is such a special holiday (purpose). The collection contains many rhetorical devices that heighten this appeal to the audience: the black-and-white scheme and the old telephones signify the past, which reminds the audience of their own childhood Christmases and their own childhood excitement for Santa Clause; the smiles on the children’s faces are a direct appeal to pathos since parents want to make their children as happy as the ones smiling in the photographs; the wide-range of social classes portrayed by the settings and the children's outfits in the picture show that economical standing does not matter when it comes to Christmas, as all children hope for presents from Santa Clause on Christmas morning. NPR used the latter most effectively as they accomplished their purpose; even if we are suffering tough economic times this season, Christmas comes once a year and all children deserve a present or two from Santa.

AOW 15: Text

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il Has Died

This breaking-news article informed America that Kim Jong Il – the second leader of communist North Korea – is dead. However, NPR made their article different from those of other news-sources that also announced Kim Jong Il’s death by giving a history of how North Korea was formed and all the mystery and secrecy surrounding the political stability/instability in the country because of their intense isolation. The exigence of the piece came from his death being announced earlier this week on North Korean TV. It was written in order to inform Americans and other Westerners (audience) of the North Korean “tyrant’s” death. It was obvious this was the audience the author was appealing to because he cites a former American president, George W. Bush, in his description of past North Korean leaders. The audience is also evident because of the author’s strong, negative diction (like “tyrant”) throughout the piece, and especially in the introductory paragraph where the author writes “Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader whose iron rule and nuclear ambitions for his isolated communist nation dominated world security fears for more than a decade, has died. He was 69.” This sentence structure – a very long first sentence and then a short, 3-word addition – was capturing as well and added power to the news. The author accomplished his main purpose of informing us that North Korea’s leader is dead, but it also accomplished an underlying purpose of scaring warning that the next leader may be just as worse, and that perhaps there is some division within the political party – this not only keeps the American public informed, but also encourages readers to check back on NPR for new information that may be released. 

AOW #14 Text

'Mother Robin' wins CNN Hero of the Year

This article presented Robin Lim as the winner of the CNN Hero of the Year award. This is credible, since the reporting news-site is CNN.com and the author, Kyle Almond is a regular CNN reporter. The article described how Lim won the award for her charity work in Indonesia – she has been aiding poor mothers give birth and care for themselves and their children medically – and her organization that helps educate and provide medical care to poor mothers in third world countries. The purpose for the article is not only to inform readers about Lim receiving the award, but also to encourage wealthy American readers (audience) to do more charity work on their own like Lim, to spread awareness of world issues, and to also donate money to Lim’s organization and to CNN in order for CNN to continue these awards (CNN also gave Lim money to continue her work) (purpose). Certain rhetorical devices aided the author in showing this:

• placement: a link to Lim’s charity was embedded in the article so readers could donate and learn more about her cause.
• visuals: the article is attached to a video that has Lim receiving the award (with tears in her eyes) as the still-shot so everyone can see how appreciative and how in-need-of-help the organization is.
• taking advantage of the exigence: this was written during the holidays when everyone is trying to be more generous and trying to do charity work.

 The article accomplished their purposes of spreading awareness, but it did not convince me to donate to CNN or to Lim’s charity, or do my own charity, more than I would have been convinced if I hadn’t read the article.

AOW 13 IRB

Bella Tuscany

Frances Mayes

Frances Mayes works as a Professor of Creative Writing at San Francisco State University and also writes novels and memoirs (including Bella Tuscany), many about Italy – she travels between her homes in California and Tuscany. 

This section described Mayes’ first memories of settling her home in Tuscany. Her husband and she decided to buy an old house that needed many repairs – she described the strains of huge refurbishing projects like replacing the old well and roof. At the same time, she described how the process wasn’t completely unenjoyable; she loved starting a garden and making friends with the men and women who helped repair the house and make them feel comfortable in Italy.

This book and its prequel (Under the Tuscan Sun, which described he first experiences in Italy) were released in the 1990s. The recession and bad economy that most of the world is suffering though now hadn’t hit yet, and many Americans were still financially sound – the real-estate crisis hadn’t happened and stocks hadn’t plummeted. Because many people, like Mayes it seems, had the money to travel, travel memoirs like these would be popular reads (exigence).

This book followed her first book, Under the Tuscan Sun; they were both written to not only describe the wonders of Italy as entertainment, but also to contrast the hustle and stress of American societies with the more quiet and relaxed life in Tuscany (purpose). Mayes achieved this purpose – as a reader, I think that Americans should try to copy the peace of Tuscan life. She views Italy with an American perspective which appeals to an American audience. She uses many rhetorical devices that interest the reader in the story, such as repetition, and help the reader imagine the beauty of Tuscany – not only does she use vivid imagery, but in some descriptions, her syntax reminds readers of a song or a poem rather than a story. She also includes Italian words, that are easily understandable for Americans because of context clues or translations in parentheses, which helps place the reader in her Tuscan experiences. 

Unit 2 Reflection: Argument/Persuasive Essay – Machiavelli

Erin Annunziato
AP Language and Composition
Gabriele/Pronko period 6/7
27 November 2011

You’re So Machiavellian

From the various history classes I’ve taken, I understand that the Enlightenment was a world-changing era known for philosophers whose ideas continue to govern mankind today. One prominent Enlightenment thinker in my mind is Machiavelli because he was different from his contemporary philosophers; rather than depicting idealistic societies in his writings as Locke and Rousseau did, Machiavelli used The Prince to instruct the Italian princes who ruled his homeland how to protect their city-states effectively in a realistic manner. Machiavelli understood that mankind was not kind at all, and a Prince needn’t be either: his instructions tended to be marked with deceit and manipulation. This is why the adjective, “Machiavellian” is defined as “using clever lies and tricks in order to get or achieve something: clever and dishonest”  in the modern Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Ethical or not, Machiavelli uses historical examples in The Prince to prove that his ideas work and have been used before by various rulers. Recent events show that following Machiavelli’s frank principles determine the success of government leaders today; for example, it is clear that the public supports certain leaders based on their ethical and religious appearance. Another well-known teaching from Machiavelli that I knew even before reading The Prince was that it is better to be feared than loved, but after reading his works, I learned the second part of this teaching: although a leader may be feared, they must not be hated. Riots and revolutions that have occurred within the past year demonstrate that this rule remains cardinal today. Following this rule helps leaders maintain rule after gaining power.
In order to gain power in the first place, however, Machiavelli lays down a persona that leaders must portray to the public in order to gain support. A prince “should appear... to be all mercy, all faithfulness, all integrity, all kindness, all religion” (Jacobus 49). At first, this instruction seemed daunting to me – Machiavelli just described the perfect person. However, I then realized that the key word was “appear.” Politicians did not need to have all those attributes, they only need to appear to have all those attributes. It dawned on me that politicians today put on such a façade all the time; they call it campaigning. I remember seeing advertisements on the television when I was younger showing governors serving soup to homeless people or reading stories to children at their local elementary school as charity work. The clips would not directly say “Vote for this person,” but viewers saw that that candidate had good merit – he was truly merciful and kind to the less fortunate. Or at least he appeared that way. Republican candidates are known for their ‘religious devotion’. A current Republican presidential candidate actually claims to be running for President because God told him to: Rick Perry’s friend released that Perry “didn’t want to do it, but he felt the Lord was calling him” to serve as President of the United States (Shellnutt). Whether God actually did tell Perry to run for Executive Office cannot be proven, but the idea depicts Perry as a faithful and religious person, in accordance with Machiavelli’s teachings. Although some people may consider Perry’s direct instruction from God unbelievable, Perry’s large-scale prayer rally that occurred over the summer (Shellnutt) reflected that many Americans supported him for his religious devotion; Perry puts on a convincing show. Time will tell if he is successful in gaining national power and if he will be able to maintain support if elected President.
Machiavelli had his own ideas on how rulers should maintain support of their public once in power. Although the idea that it is better to be feared than to be loved is known infamously rather than famously, leaders are still wary of this rule and some follow it rigidly. Gaddafi, the former dictator of Libya, ruled his country for forty-two years with an iron fist in order to maintain control and order. However, Gaddafi failed to follow through with Machiavelli’s well-known rule: the second part of the theory is that rulers must not be hated because conspirators would have little trouble rallying support to overthrow a hated ruler. The recent overthrow of Gaddafi, showed me how important the second part of the cardinal rule is for leaders to follow. Gaddafi was known for his cruel and inhumane practices of punishment and torture, and by the end of his reign his people were so frightened that at his funeral many were even nervous to look at his body (Walt). Gaddafi also sexually abused women – another major no-no according to Machiavelli: Machiavelli stated that in order to avoid being hated by his citizens, rulers must “keep his hands off... the women of his citizens” (Jacobus 46). Machiavelli’s words when explaining this idea in The Prince resonate with me not only because I am female, but also because of his bold word choice: “keep his hands off”. It is a perfect example of how Machiavelli wrote realistically rather than ideally: Machiavelli addresses the unpleasant truth that women have been physically and sexually abused in addition to being viewed as ‘less than’ men. Machiavelli uses the image of ‘keeping hands off’ women in order to emphasize that rulers may not abuse women in that way. This is one example of where Gaddafi went wrong: he did not keep his hands off  women, which, in addition to his widespread torture, contributed to not only being feared but also being hated. Just as Machiavelli warned, Gaddafi’s subjects were overjoyed when he was overthrown and many supported his overthrow. After reflecting on Gaddafi’s failure to heed Machiavelli’s caution to avoid being hated, it seemed that being hated and feared went hand in hand. However, I realized that it can be argued that the United States follows Machiavelli’s principle. American citizens understand that if they break the law, they will be put in jail or fined. The key is that American citizens do not fear these punishments in the life-threatening way that Libyan citizens feared Gaddafi’s torture. This prevents Americans from hating the government and demanding its demise. Therefore, Machiavelli’s idea that rulers must aim to be feared rather than loved, while also avoiding the hatred of their citizens can be and is followed successfully today.
While many people look back on Machiavelli as being “clever and dishonest,” I believe that his ideas in The Prince deserve to be remembered in a more positive light. Machiavelli took the ambitious goal of teaching rulers of his time how to rule a society effectively; this requires the public to believe its ruler to be religious and moral. Without following Machiavelli’s instructions as to how to appear this way to some degree, rulers may never have been able to manage their subjects and chaos would have resulted. Leaders today, including those in democratic governments such as the United States, have followed Machiavelli’s teachings. In addition to putting on crowd-pleasing appearance, American politicians have learned to be feared but not hated, which is one of Machiavelli’s most distinguished rules in The Prince. Recent events in Libya have shown that when this rule is broken, the ruler becomes ineffective and can no longer rule. Machiavelli wrote all these qualities of rulers in one treatise in order to serve the current Prince of Italy, but ended up effecting governments centuries later. The next time I am urged to call someone “Machiavellian,” I will step back and think: am I looking at the next President?

Works Cited

Jacobus, Lee A.. "Niccolò Machiavelli: The Qualities of the Prince." A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. 37-53. Print.

Shellnutt, Kate. "Rick Perry’s on a mission from God and ‘more spiritual than you think’ | Rick Perry 2012 Campaign for President– News and updates." Blogs - Houston Chronicle. CNN, 7 Nov. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. <http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/11/rick-perrys-on-a-mission-from-god-and-more-spiritual-than-you-think/>.

Walt, Vivienne. "Libyan Dictator Muammar Gaddafi's Body Lies in Misratah - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Time, 21 Oct. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097539,00.html>.

AOW 12 Advertisement

Apple created this advertisement to sell a new program that is featured on the iPhone 4 called Siri. Siri can detect and understand voice commands, and can act much like a human personal assistant: it can move meetings, send texts, check the weather, etc. according to what someone tells it to do. The advertisement shows four different people using Siri: a mother helping her child get ready for school, a man finding directions to an expensive-sounding hotel, another man walking in a park, and a small boy looking out the window asking if it will snow. Having all these different people use the program in the advertisement indicates that the audience Apple is trying to appeal to is the general public who can afford it – the hotel name was fancy and foreign, which is why it sounded expensive. The exigence of the advertisement is that Siri was just made, but the context that Apple used as a rhetorical device is that it is fall right now, and that people are thinking about winter and the holidays: although the scenes that featured the adults using Siri looked like the season was fall, the young boy looked up hopefully at the sky and asked if it was going to snow. This reminds the audience of a young child looking up at the sky to see if Santa Clause was on his way yet – Apple is evoking pathos by using a child and by reminding people that it is time to start thinking about giving gifts, and that Siri would be a great gift, thereby evoking logos. The music that plays in the background also sets a hopeful and dream-like mood, as if Siri is a dream come true. Apple goes further as to have all the notifications and actions that the people are using their iPhone 4 for be happy and helpful (tone): for example, Siri tells the mother that she has an easy day ahead which is further emphasized through diction (“only two meetings”). The audience feels reassured that Siri is not too good to be true, and that they can have one too – maybe from Santa for Christmas. Apple did achieve their purpose in interesting people in Siri; I want it.

AOW 11 Text

BBC News – Egypt protests: Death toll up in Cairo's Tahrir Square

This news article describes violent protests in Cairo that happened recently; after the Egypt public was able to overthrow President Mubarak in February, the military claimed temporary rule. Although the new constitution that the military leaders drafted did give power to a democratically civilian-based branch in government, many citizens feel that too much control was left to the military – the military’s policies and budget would not be able to be affected by the civilian-based branch. This article was published by BBC News, a news organization based in England that has bases all over the world. The author establishes ethos by quoting protesters and the BBC news-reporter stationed in Cairo at the time of the protests (rhetorical device). This event is taking place currently in Egypt (exigence) and was written for citizens of democratic countries outside of Egypt (audience) as a reminder that even though the protesters were successful earlier this year in overthrowing Mubarak, they are still struggling to accomplish a democracy (purpose). The outbursts in Cairo and elsewhere in the Middle East were major headlines earlier in 2011 and were widely discussed in outside countries like America. However, they haven’t been featured in the news until now and the events have slipped to the back of the minds of many people outside of the Middle East. This is why the author’s use of imagery (rhetorical device) in the beginning of the piece is so important – the article reads, “police were beating protesters - ‘about 20 or 30 of them I saw, covered in blood’”. This immediately draws attention to the events by evoking sympathy for the protesters, who foreigners cheered for earlier in the year (rhetorical device). The author did achieve their purpose of reminding foreigners that the revolutions in the Middle East are still major issues and have not been completed as successful yet.

IRB 2: Bella Tuscany

Title: Bella Tuscany
Author: Frances Mayes
Sections:

1. pages 1-92
2. pages 93-180
3. pages 181-286 (end)

I chose this book because the last book I read was about war, so it was not very happy. This memoir about a woman's experience in Italy seems more uplifting and enjoyable. I've always wanted to go to Italy, because I have family in Sorrento (near Naples), and this book may give me some insight to how rural Italians live (or at least how Italians in Tuscany live).

AOW 10 Visual

Gaddhafi gives a Democracy lesson to Scott Walker

Created by Kaveh Adel, a member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, this political cartoon, “Gaddhafi gives a Democracy lesson to Scott Walker,” relates the riots in Wisconsin to those in Libya; both happened around the time this cartoon was made in 2011 (exigence). Scott Walker is holding a pair of scissors, while the crowd next to him is holding signs that read “Jobs” and “Education” suggesting that they are responding to Walker’s funding cuts in these areas as result of the poor economy. Walker is scratching his head with a skeptical look on his face as Gaddhafi shows Walker how he handles the outcries for democracy in his country: he destroys them with missiles and bombs. At the time that these riots were occurring, there was a rumor in America that the riots against state and federal funding cuts could turn as radical as those in Libya and other Middle Eastern countries. This cartoon had the purpose of rejecting those rumors: with the use of facial expression, Adel showed that Walker did not believe Gaddhafi’s response to his protesters was right, and would not shower bombs and missiles on the American crowds. Adel also rejected that rumor with placement: Walker is lowering his hand holding the scissors, which represents that he has stopped funding cuts and is trying to figure out what to do in response to the public’s protests – another difference between the two rioting situations. Adel appeals to pathos by including a child in the crowd rioting against education cuts in Wisconsin. Not only does this evoke sympathy for the Wisconsin rioters, but it implies another difference from the riots in Libya because there are no children in Gaddafi’s riots. This is because the rioters in Libya and the rest of the Middle East were mainly independent-minded college students who wanted to improve their country, not innocent parents and children responding to funding cuts in jobs and education that hurt Wisconsin families. Adel did achieve his purpose, because it is clear to the viewer that the riots in the Middle East and the riots in Wisconsin in 2011 were not similar, and therefore could not be executed or handled the same way.

AOW #9: Last IRB Post

The last three sections of my independent reading book, “The Forever War,” by Dexter Filkins, discussed war in the Middle East further. Filkins focused on the fighting in Iraq in addition to continuing his reflection on the fighting in Afghanistan, which I discussed in my last post. He described different battles between the Northern Alliance, the Taliban, Al Queda, and the United States; by using different anecdotes he portrayed the overarching idea that these Middle Eastern countries have experienced war for a very long time, and probably will always experience war. Fighting is apart life there, and the only way men survive is by joining the stronger side before it marks them as enemies and kills them.

Rhetorical Analysis: Filkins was the rhetor of this story, and the audience was the American public, which is apparent by the way Filkins explained certain concepts. For example, in the beginning of the story, Filkins told that one of the only activities of entertainment was watching prisoners have their hands chopped off for petty crimes: it is apparent that he is writing for an American or Western audience because if he was writing to Iraqis or Afghans, this practice would not need such detailed explanation because it would have been commonly known. In his detailed explanations of such awful and almost unbelievable practices in the war-torn countries (i.e. the hand-chopping) Filkins is appealing to logos in order to give the reader insight into why these practices are followed today. Filkins appeals to ethos by citing interviews of specific commanders, soldiers, and civilians, and therefore proving to the audience that he is using primary sources. One prominent way Filkins appeals to pathos is by using diction that evokes sympathy for soldiers, even if they are jihaadis fighting against American soldiers. For example, on page 61, Filkins describes tending to a young Jihaadist soldier who was dying in an abandoned house. He describes the soldier as “very young,” “thin,” and “delicate”. By using such gentile language, Filkins evokes sympathy from the audience. This allows the audience to read the description of how the characher became a jihaadist (like many other Taliban and Al Queda members, he was tricked by other extremists into “killing the nonbelievers”) without automatically judging him as an enemy. In this way, Filkins shows that many of the jihaadists are actually pitiful young men who did not intentionally sign up to kill Americans. This alludes to the message of the book: the War on Terror is a complex war unlike any other because many of the soldiers fighting against the Americans do not mean to to fight the Americans. Filkins presents this message through short anecdotes he recorded during his time as a reporter in the Middle East. In addition to this style of using anecdotes, Filkins uses a mix of long and short sentences in order to quicken the pace of action scenes and build suspense (syntax). Being a reporter, Filkins tries to remain unbiased; however, it is clear that he views many events with an American perspective. For example, he wrote that, like many Americans, he was very surprised and disgusted when he watched the Taliban cutting off the hands of prisoners. This perspective was reflected in his use of imagery throughout the book. For example, his description of the man on page 61 might have been different from a Taliban’s description of the man; a Taliban might not have thought this man to be young because many Taliban soldiers are young. 

AOW #8: "The Path Not Taken" Editorial

The Path Not Taken

The author of "The Path Not Taken," Paul Krugman, has wrote as an Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times since 1999. He is also a professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University; therefore his opinion on the coping strategies of certain countries through these hard economic times expressed in this piece is knowledgeable. This editorial was specifically prompted by his visit to Iceland, where economists discussed how Iceland was handling their economic situation differently than other countries (exigence). Krugman explains that many European countries and the United States took the approach of cutting spending and bailing out banks at the cost of unemployment and hurting workers. He refutes their claims that this was the only approach; Iceland let its banks go bankrupt and “expanded its social safety net”. Krugman indicates that he would have rather seen the United States employ Iceland’s approach rather than their “‘fiscal consolidation’” approach (purpose) through rhetorical devices:

• diction: by using simple words rather than economic jargon (“an economy that is 18 percent smaller..” instead of something like, “The GNP is 18 percent lower...”), Krugman expands his audience beyond other economists to the public.
• repetition: in two consecutive sentences, Krugman used the term “slump” three times, which emphasized the economic repression.
• tone: for most of the piece, the tone was a bit depressing because Krugman continuously bashed the United States government for their costly economic coping strategy. However, because he was writing for an American newspaper: “It [the suffering of so many citizens because of the economic crisis] didn’t and doesn’t have to be this way.” With this last line, the tone switches to hopeful, which appeals to his American audience and encourages them to agree with his opinion.

I do not think Krugman accomplished his purpose because, although he did a thorough job in pointing out the failures of the bank-bail-out plan employed by the Unites States, he did not explain what Iceland was specifically doing (other than not bailing out banks) in their economic plan. This omission prevented the audience from being persuaded that the United States should copy Iceland’s economic plan.

AOW #7: Carcinogenic Cell Phones

Why the Latest Study on Cell Phone Use and Brain Cancer Won't Be the Last Word

This article, “Why the Latest Study on Cell Phone Use and Brain Cancer Won't Be the Last Word,” discusses the possibility that the radiation emitted from cell phones increases the chance of developing brain tumors. The author, Bryan Walsh, a senior writer at TIME.com (a well-credited, widely-read news source), presented both sides of the argument: he cited some scientists who concluded from their studies that cell phones are not carcinogenic, while also including the response of other scientists saying that such studies were unreliable because they were too short and uncontrolled. Walsh concluded that the issue it is still undecided, and there will most likely be more research and debate on the subject in the future. This article was written in the context of Cancer Awareness Month; October was designated as a period to remember those who died, survived, or are surviving from cancer and to support those who are working to find a cure. The purpose of this piece is to address circulating concerns in society on the subject: rhetorical devices such as using first person point of view when saying, “If you're suspicious of cell phones,” indicates that Walsh is trying to appeal to an audience of public readers who are concerned that their cell phones may be carcinogenic, and let them know that the answer to their concerns is unclear. Walsh is successful in this because he presents the conflicting ideas of both groups of scientists, showing that both groups are uncertain and need more research in order to back their claims. Another possible purpose of the piece is to lead readers to read other TIME articles, because there were links to articles written about a similar topic embedded in this article; I found this to be unsuccessful because I did not feel inclined to read those additional articles.

AOW #6: "To the Student"

“To The Student” is part of the introduction that explains the Lee A. Jacobus’s purpose of comprising A World of Ideas and how he intends the collection to be used by students. Jacobus writes that he first compiled the passages found in his book for his own students and was not expecting such a supportive and appraising public response; there were not many collections of its kind since the idea of publishing excerpts from multiple authors and thinkers ranging from Aristotle to Martin Luther King Jr. in one book was “modern.” Jacobus explains that this book is designed to help students with understanding the writing and meaning of such great thinkers, which is why he included footnotes and guides within the readings. Jacobus (author) is credible to write this passage because he is also the writer of the book that the passage is meant to introduce. The purpose of this passage was to instruct teachers and students on how to use this book since its exigence was that teachers and students were not used to using this kind of collection. Although the author appealed to instructors, his main audience for this passage was students, which is signified as he writes that students should not be intimidated by the readings in the book because his tips and notes will help with comprehension. Jacobus effectively uses the rhetorical element of arrangement to introduce himself to his audience by starting with the process he went through comprising the excerpts in the book, and ending on the assuring idea that understanding the authors in the book is possible; this further appeals to the students in his audience. He also appeals to logos by providing examples from letters he received from his readers that explained why this book was helpful and necessary for students. This helped him achieve his purpose of explaining how the book should be used.

Unit 1 Reflection

So far, the most helpful assignment was analyzing Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell A True War Story" on our own and analyzing its rhetorical strategies further in class. Analyzing the piece in depth on my own not only allowed me to form ideas about the rhetorical strategies, but also find the themes and other characteristics of literary analysis that O'Brien portrayed. Although this class is focused on rhetorical analysis rather than literary analysis, the literary aspects of the piece helped me identify and understand the rhetorical aspects that were discussed in class. For example, O'Brien's juxtaposition between light and darkness is a rhetorical strategy, but with my own literary analysis of the theme and meaning of the story, I can identify this juxtaposition to symbolize goodness and evil. Although we practiced these analyses for other pieces (like Pablo Picasso's Guernica), the lessons I learned from "How to Tell A True War Story" made the most memorable impression in my mind because we spent the most time on it.

AOW #5: Retracing the Steps of Ansel Adams

collection: Retracing The Steps of Ansel Adams

The purpose of the six pictures in Peter Essick’s collection featured on NPR, a publicly-funded world news source, is to honor the deceased famous photographer named Ansel Adams, who, like Essick currently, was a valued photographer for National Geographic. Essick’s black-and-white photographs in the collection mirror scenes of Adams’ own photographs. Judging by the number of comments expressing praise and appreciation for the beauty of the purpose and the beauty of the pictures, Essick’s purpose was accomplished.

Essick is trying to appeal to a wide audience of people from many different locations; this is apparent from the content of nature scenes from all over the world, which lets many people connect to them especially if they have been to the sites being featured, and from the context of being featured on a news website that is well-known to and viewed by many people all over the world.

Rhetorical Elements included:

• the pictures flow together well and are pleasing to the eye because each has a similarity to the one before and after it in the order: The first picture shows mountain ranges covered in snow, which relates to the second one that depicts dirt-covered mountains 
• the repetition of the contrasting black-and-white subjects in the pictures (the lighter mountains juxtapose the black sky in Picture 2, and the black trees juxtapose the white background in Picture 3) stresses the tone of reflection and commemoration

AOW #4: IRB Post #1

Dexter Filkins lives in New York, but has worked overseas as as a foreign journalist covering wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the New York Times in 2001. Before this project, he worked as the chief of the Los Angeles Times’ New Delhi bureau, and for The Miami Herald. Filkins’ awards include a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the George Polk Award, and two Overseas Press Club awards. 

This book was published in 2008, a context that would have helped sell this book. In America, the 2008 presidential elections were underway and one of the key issues being considered for both the Democratic and Republican runners was their stance on the war in Iraq.

In this section, Filkins describes his experiences in Afghanistan. He converges many short stories of horrifying every-day events that he witnessed himself or that he gathered from his interviews. The story starts off with a detailed scene full of war action when he was with American marines, trying to advance in an Iraqi city. This was a clever introduction chapter because his audience, American citizens, would most likely be interested in the American side of the war – this is shown because he clearly pits the Iraqi soldiers as the ‘bad guys.’ In retrospect, this is understandable because, being a true, primary account, he did feel as if the Iraqi soldiers were the bad guys; they were firing at him too. Still, by addressing the part of the war that Americans are most likely to recognize and be interested in (especially for those interested in action-packed war), he is effectively achieving one purpose: pulling his audience into the story. A notable rhetorical element Filkins writes with is the syntax, especially the bluntness of certain sentences. For example, the detailed, fast-paced, anxious first chapter about the marine advance in an Iraqi town spanned of 9 pages long. Yet, Filkins concludes the experience with, “We’ve advanced about two hundred yards.” Not only does this symbolize his idea that the war is more complex than it seems (another purpose), but it also stresses the fact that the war is very real, dangerous, and hard for soldiers. The rest of the section is about his travels in Afghanistan, where he met with refugees, orphan children, and members of the Taliban – some who tried to kill him, and others who invited him to press conferences. Diction was another pivitol rhetorical element used; the words Filkins used to describe the setting, actions, and people mirrored the tone of the scene and how it made him feel. During one interview, the Afghani refugee was described with lifeless, piteous adjectives and his actions were described with verbs of the same tone, which emphasized the devastation Afghanistan has suffered over the years of fighting.

The overall purpose for this part of the story was to show the other side of the war, to portray the lives of the soldiers, refugees, and leaders of America’s opponents. Filkins highlights that many of the people mixed up in these towns have turned to fighting as a last resort because they are are uneducated and do not know any other way to survive, or they have been forced to do so by the Taliban or warlords. He is successful in this purpose. Filkins show that despite which side Afghanis choose, everyone suffers tremendously.

AOW #3: Christine Lagarde article Vogue Magazine

Article:
Christine Lagarde: Changing of the Guard

Controversy about the new leader of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) has been covered widely on the news, and also in Vogue Magazine. The author, Diane Johnson (a well-read journalist and novelist featured in The New York Times, among other prestigious newspapers/magazines), uses a positive tone to describe Christine Lagarde’s election and what she has been doing to fix the economic crisis, while noting how many of her critics are male politicians. The article suggests that men are still wary of successful women in the professional world, further supported by quotes from Lagarde. Being that the context of this piece is that it is written for Vogue Magazine, a magazine whose audience is women interested in fashion, the author included a paragraph or two on Lagarde’s wardrobe and how she suggests dressing in the professional world. Although one may argue that the purpose of the piece was to inform women on how to dress respectively and professionally, ultimately, the author wanted to show readers that women can be successful leaders, even in the IMF, whose other members are male.  The author definitely accomplished this purpose because readers are left with the impression that Lagarde is a successful woman in a world of men. Johnson used positive and encouraging words when describing Lagarde’s current actions in government which connoted her as a successful leader; such diction was a crucial rhetorical element when persuading readers of the purpose.

AOW #2: Solar Panel Visual CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/

Summary:

At first glance, I could not tell what the image was portraying. It looked like adjacent rectangles shot at an odd angle under a dawning sky. However, its unique geometry and color patterns caught my eye and encouraged me to read the caption. From the caption, I was easily able to tell that the picture was of a solar panel roof; the article was about how a school installed solar panels in the hopes of saving money on power in the future.

Source: 

cnn.com is the website of CNN, an international news source based in Atlanta, Georgia that is also aired on television. CNN is staffed 24/7 and has almost 4,000 news professionals on staff. The site is updated constantly with new information in multimedia presentation.

Context: 

In the world today, one of the major issues is conserving energy and saving the planet. Therefore, more people are likely to read this article on alternate sources of energy (solar power); the visual and its article pertain to a topic that is on the top of everyones’ minds. 

Purpose: 

This advertisement is trying to attract people viewing the CNN homepage to read an article about solar power, while also featuring another article on a similar topic (“Hollywood’s strange energy sources”).

Audience: 

The visual was meant to be seen by people perusing the CNN homepage for interesting news. It is under the heading “This Weekend,” so the audience does not include people who are searching for a specific topic or article, but rather people who are looking for current events and issues.

Rhetorical Elements:

• caption – linked picture to article and explained what the picture portrayed
• organization – the patterns in the picture caught audience’s attention
• geometrical panels, horizontal stripes of dawning sky
• symbolism – the dawning sky suggests that solar panels may be a new start and hope in conserving energy and saving the planet 

The photographer accomplished his/her purpose because the image made me want to figure out what the article was about. However, I did not feel the need to read the article, so the author/editor failed at making the picture’s caption that described the article enticing to read.

IR Book: The Forever War

The Forever War
By Dexter Filkins

Sections:

1. 3-86
2. 87-184
3. 185-266
4. 267-346

I chose this book because I would like to learn more about the war on Iraq from a soldier's point of view. Even though this is written by a journalist, Dexter Filkins, the first few pages of the prologue lead me to believe that his memoir describes the soldiers' lives, as well, since he is traveling with them.

AOW due 9/11

Article:  

9/11 Psychology: Just How Resilient Were We?

By Ruth Davis Konigsberg 

Thursday, Sept. 08, 2011

     Kinogsberg reflected on the psychological aftermath of 9/11. In 2001, psychologists didn’t know how to help survivors; terrorist attacks of that magnitude had never occurred before. An international committee of psychologists was organized to form a comprehensive coping plan, but failed without preceding research off which to base their plan. Konigsberg wrote that 9/11 provided valuable data on how to help in a future attack. He concluded that the best method is to provide basic necessities before assessing psychological trauma and need for professional help.

     The context (the 10th anniversary of the attacks) made the story more relevant; this week, 9/11 is at the front of people’s minds more than any other time of the year, and so this context helps the story be more widely read. This piece was written to reflect on how the psychologies community tried to help survivors cope. Another minor aim was to lead readers to other Time articles about 9/11 with links to other Time pages after several of the paragraphs. The author was successful in informing the public of one way the community tried to help victims, but unsuccessful in drawing me to the other pages advertised by the article. Being written for Time Magazine, the audience was the public, perhaps particularly people interested in psychology. 

Rhetorical Elements:

• logos
• facts made the writing logical rather than mournful with personal stories (pathos)
• ethos
• prevented the reader from being critical in the relatively-failed international meeting held after the attacks