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.