TOW #20 1st Half of Gladwell's David and Goliath

In considering the purpose of the first half of Gladwell's David and Goliath, it is first essential to understand that the essay seeks to build a completed picture of "the art of battling giants," as Gladwell phrases it. With this notion in mind, it is true that the essays that comprise the first half of Gladwell's David and Goliath are intended to act as a sort of groundwork for Gladwell's later expositions on the nature of battling more powerful foes.

The first essay of David and Goliath considers the biblical epoch from which the book takes its namesake. First, it offers up a consideration of the historical setting, including a modern day examination of the location, and the nature of the region comprehensively known as Judea as being a hotbed for political conflict, even dating back to biblical times. It then delves into the specifics of the engagement between David and Goliath on that fateful morning, detailing in exact detail how David used the precision of his slingshot to fell the fearsome Goliath. This acts as an interlude to the book's first primary purpose: discussing the nature of perceived strengths that are actually weaknesses, and the role that this plays in battling stronger opponents.

To examine this, Gladwell first explains how this idea can be seen in the biblical epoch. He outlines how Goliath's numerous swords, daggers, full-body armor, and other battle equipment served as nothing more than hindrances in a one on one engagement against a more nimble opponent who could strike from distance.

He uses this principle to introduce his first example, of a girls 11-12 year old basketball team who made use of their opponents hidden weaknesses, which conventional logic viewed as strengths, to achieve their goals.

The full court press is a tactic rarely seen in modern basketball, at any level, because it often seen as a "dirty," even dishonorable, play to execute. It is far more conventional and well-regarded to allow an opponent to inbound the ball in a traditional sense, and focus defensive efforts as close to the basket as possible. When battling giants, however, this simply isn't a viable option.

Gladwell uses the example of a Californian 11-12 year old girls basketball team to illustrate this first principle in a modern setting. Where the good teams in their league seemed to dominate under the basket, it seemed as though the not-so-good teams were content to rely on traditional tactics, and suffer losses as a result. One team, however, decided to make use of an unconventional strategy, the full-court press, and capitalize on the fact that their more powerful opponents had no practice dealing with defensive efforts away from the basket.

This first example aptly illustrates Gladwell's intended principle, and provides for an intriguing glimpse at a modern application of ancient biblical principles.

TOW #19: Political Cartoon as a Visual Text

As tensions flared once again this month between the United States government and that of North Korea, political cartoonists once again turned to the deep seeded hostility for comedic inspiration. In this comic, a vintage Japanese warplane, representing hackers who recently compromised massive amounts of data from Sony Pictures, is seen bombarding the aforementioned company with binary code.

This comic, as published in The Week several weeks ago, is directed towards the educated masses of the American public. This is the case due to the fact that this publication's primary audience resides in the United States, and international publications of this publication are scant. It is directed more specifically towards the educated American public because the primary audience for a publication such as this would be politically conscious, liberally opinionated, highly-educated individuals. While this comic in and of itself is easily understandable, much of the content published in The Week is aimed at this sort of an intellectual audience. It is important to understand who the intended audience for this sort of a political cartoon is, as that viewership plays a large role in determining the sort of rhetoric that the comic makes use of.

In so far as this rhetoric is concerned, the comparisons being made between  modern day computer hacking against major corporations to achieve political ends, and the bombing of Pearl Harbor at the dawn of WWII in 1941 is blatant, but nuanced. While the comic can easily be taken at face value,  as a visual text showing a modern occurrence of a mostly historic issue, the level of nuance that the comic features are worthy of discussion, Perhaps the most interesting trait of this comic is the comical way that the violation of privacy rights is portrayed, along with the comical way that a surprise attack on thousands of Americans is shown.

TOW #16: Poltical Cartoon as a Visual Text

Published in the Houston Chronicle by cartoonist Nick Anderson this past week, this political cartoons seek to make a mockery of recent events surroundings the release of Sony Pictures The Interview. This cartoon seeks to make these points in response to several issues that have entered the national spotlight recently, concerning matters of international cyber warfare, and speculation concerning the growing role of North Korea in international acts of espionage. Specifically, this cartoon was created in response to the ongoing situation surrounding Seth Rogen and James Franco's political comedy, The Interview, in which the film's main characters assassinate Kim Jong Un.

Specifically, the artist's purpose behind the cartoon is to illustrate the degree to which political speculation and media frenzy around the "hot topic" of North Korea creates false perceptions of reality based on little more than baseless speculation and minuscule supportive evidence

It does this by depicting Kim Jong Un as a planet adrift in the cosmos, smiling broadly as the American media frenzy works towards his favor. In depicting Kim Jong Un as a planet, with a proportional gravitational pull, the cartoon evokes several important ideas, all of which are intentional. The first, and perhaps the most significant, is that it indicates the negative impact of the 24-hour news cycle, and the overall damaging nature of the "media frenzy" that comes to surround major international events. By showing a world leader as a planet, the artist provides a comical example of a very real issue; the inflationary effect of our media obsession with North Korea and the nature of the media frenzy in general. 

Overall the cartoon effectively achieves its purpose of offering a commentary on the state of the American media structure, the wrongful nature of American media's obsession with international politics, and providing a unique, most likely unconsidered take on the recent politically motivated tensions across the globe in the form of the artists suggestion that the gravitational pull of North Korea has led to harmful media speculation. It achieves these purposes through the use of a single rhetorical device; the depiction of Kim Jong Un as a planet, not a world leader. Most political cartoons are brief in their textual offerings, while others rely on no words at all. This cartoon is effective at achieving its purpose because it allows the reader to clearly grasp so much from a single, easily understood reference. 

TOW #15 E.O. Wilson's Advice to Young Scientists

In this poignant, brief TED Talk, scientific historian E.O. Wilson makes use of a number of effective rhetorical tools in order to enforce his primary purpose, that scientific discovery and the pursuit of knowledge needs to be a major priority for future generations, and that our cultural perception of "scientific talent" needs to shift if we are to make the most of our opportunity.

Chief among the tactics that Wilson makes use of are a number of personal anecdotes, each centered around his own experiences pertinent to the point he is discussing. A prime example of this can be seen when he discusses the notion that cultural stereotypes surrounding nerdiness, and the myth of the "mathematically giftedness." Wilson is among the most celebrated of modern scientists, notable for a number of significant biological discoveries, and the recipient of a number of awards from Harvard and Duke Universities, yet he is quick to admit that he did not reach calculus until he was 32 years of age.

This example does much to cement what is the central message of Wilson's speech; that we have to collectively stop shunning those who have no "natural talent" in mathematical pursuits to the point where they no longer wish to pursue STEM careers.

This principle of self-exemplification can again be seen when Wilson speaks directly towards those who have no "mathematical giftedness" but maintain an active interest in STEM fields. He provides the example of a childhood fishing accident which has left him mostly blind in his right eye. He uses this example of a supposed setback to illustrate the principle that it is both necessary and crucial for humanity on a large scale, and among individuals, to preserver beyond the obstacles that hold them back from attaining their goals.

TOW #14 Second Half of David Foster Wallace's Consider The Lobster

The second half of David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster consists of four essays, spanning several decades of David Foster Wallace's writing career, and a wide variety of topics. These include The View from Mrs. Thompson's, How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart, Up Simba, and Host. For this TOW post, I'll analyze the two that to me, held the most significance. 

The essay that I enjoyed perhaps more than any other in this collection was The View from Mrs. Thompson's. This essay, spanning about twenty pages in length, detailed Wallace's experience watching the events of 9/11 unfold from his neighbor's house in his small Illinois hometown. Wallace's essential purpose in discussing these events is to provide a unique view on a famous event, and in doing so, connect on an emotional level with his audience and provide his own perspective on the impact of 9/11 on the American psyche. While most publicly known stories from September 11th, 2001 take place in New York City, amid the smoke, dust, and chaos that so many experienced that day. In providing his experiences from a completely different location on that day, the sort of location that very few consider when they think about the events of that day. 

This in and of itself acts as a sort of powerful rhetorical device, as it allows him to connect with a much wider audience when he describes his feelings from that day. The vast majority of American's where going about their ordinary day to day to lives on that day; working in their offices, dropping their kids off at school, etc. By retelling his experiences of this day from the same sort of perspective that so many other American's did, he provides a powerful sort of pathos-based connection to the average American's that make up much of his reading audience. This rhetorical tool does much to enforce Wallace's purpose of connecting his own experiences with the experiences of other normal American's on that day. "I'm trying to explain the way part of the horror of 9/11 was knowing that whatever America the men in those planes hated so much was far more my own, mine, and Frank's, and poor old loathsome Duane's -- than these ladies America, too." By this he means that the real fear of the day was knowing that others held such hatred for the things that he, and all of his neighbors held commonplace. In this way, he acknowledges rather powerfully that his fears were the same fears that most American's held on that day, and immediately afterwards. 

The other essay that I particularly enjoyed from the second half of Consider the Lobster was How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart. This editorial can best be described as a scathing review of famed tennis Star Tracy Austin's biography, a generally critical commentary on the nature of modern sports journalism, and what he observes as a major problem regarding celebrities and their ghostwritten biographies. It begins with a bold confession on the part of Wallace; as a younger man, he was very much romantically interested in Austin. This is in part what led to his disappointment with her autobiography. The primary reason, however, for his disappointment in her biography was what he described as "breathtakingly insipid" exposition and a generally poor writing ability on the part of the author. 

This, in Wallace's opinion is precisely why these stories sell so well. As Wallace describes it, the American public looks to super star athletes and other celebrities for autobiographies and other material surrounding their lives because they are consumable, and because they provide the sort of "potato chip" reading material than many Americans seem to crave. In a word, Americans seem to crave the story of humble beginnings, natural talent, overcoming obstacles, and striving for perfection against all odds that seems to define every story of an athletic super star currently sold in book stores. While this essay was written in the early nineties, the same notion rings true in the modern era with recent film hits like The Blind Side, and the emerging story of the super star Little League world series pitcher Monique Davis, who won the hearts and minds of America this summer with an astonishing performance at the Little League World Series.  

To justify this belief of his, Wallace makes primary use of direct quotes from Austin's autobiography. These are the only rhetorical device needed, simply because they provide all of the evidence required to clarify Wallace's opinion that the nature of sport's journalism has taken a turn for the worst since the dawn of the super star athletes autobiography. Overall, he is successful in his claim due to the scathing nature of his critiques, the pointed and supportive nature of the quotations he pulls from the text, and the disappointed tone of his essay.

TOW #13 Political Cartoon as a Visual Text

Published in the Houston Chronicle by cartoonist Nick Anderson this past week, this political cartoons seek to make a mockery of the state of race relations in America and the nature of the American justice system on matters of racial tensions. This cartoon seeks to make these points in response to several issues that have entered the national spotlight recently, concerning matters of police brutality against minorities. Specifically, this cartoon was created in response to the ongoing situation in Ferguson, MO. surrounding the shooting death of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson, and more recent events surrounding the strangling death of Eric Garner on Staten Island.

Specifically, the artist's purpose behind the cartoon is to illustrate the degree to which police brutality has become an issue in our nation. It does this by depicting a police cruiser, with a number of human figurines painted on, and a caption denoting that these represent unarmed black men. This is designed to imitate a common tactic favored by fighter pilots during WWI and WWII, in which an enemy insignia would be painted onto their plane to denote every foe shot down in combat, as shown below. 

In depicting the number of black men recently killed by police in this fashion, the cartoon evokes several important ideas, all of which are intentional. The first, and perhaps the most significant, is that it indicates the recent issue of police militarization in America. By showing a police car making use of a military-style decoration, the artist provides a comical example of a very real issue; domestic law enforcement adopting techniques and traditions from the armed services. This was first identified as a prominent issue when photos from the Ferguson, MO. riots surfaced showing police offers training military caliber assault rifles on unarmed protestors (shown below).

The second point which the cartoon enforces is the issue regarding the celebratory nature of police brutality among many of our nation's police officers. While no major recent events directly enforce the idea that certain police officers take pride or enjoyment from committing brutal acts against innocent minorities, the text seems to wish for the reader to consider this as a possibility when examining incidences of police brutality. In much the same way that fighter pilots would celebrate their kills by painting an enemy logo on their plane, the artist is suggesting that police may be symbolically doing the same in regards to the slaying of innocent minorities.

Overall the cartoon effectively achieves its purpose of offering a commentary on the state of the American justice system, the wrongful nature of America's police militarization, and providing a unique, most likely unconsidered take on the recent racially motivated tensions across the nation in the form of the artists suggestion that perhaps crooked police officers are celebrating their supposed "victories" against minority communities. It achieves these purposes through the use of a single rhetorical device; the emblem's painted on the police cruiser in the cartoon. Most political cartoons are brief in their textual offerings, while others rely on no words at all. This cartoon is effective at achieving its purpose because it allows the reader to clearly grasp so much from such a small reference. 

TOW #12 "Prep School: Talking Trash" by Petra Janney on the Huffington Post

As the political landscape has become fraught with talk of education reform over the past decade or so, many parents have made the decision to avoid the trials and tribulations of public education and simply send their kids to costly, but perhaps more stable and higher quality, private schools. Chief among the concerns of many of these parents are the issues regarding public school funding, and the quality of the educations received in these sorts of settings, in the face of mounting issues over class size and crumbling academic infrastructure. In the opinion of Petra Janney, a recent graduate from the esteemed Phillips Exeter Academy, these high-priced private institutions often don't solve the underlying issues that led many parents to seek them over comparable public schools. Instead, Janney argues, they only serve to exacerbate them.

In examining this belief, Janney outlines her own experience with an esteemed private education to shed light on her feelings. "Those who attend Exeter learn not how to share and benefit from these differences - they learn how to be the same," Janney writes. It is her opinion, as she expresses here and throughout the essay, that private pre-collegiate institutions mainly serve to behave like public school's on steroids, magnifying and extending the underlying issues of a poor quality educational environment, and perhaps a broken grading structure, and making them all the more harmful.

Janney makes use of a number of rhetorical devices to qualify and quantify these beliefs of hers to an audience who is no doubt both taken aback and perhaps even appalled by her feelings. Chief among the devices she uses is frequent exemplification. "Students chasing the elusive "A" at Exeter learn to care more for the sound of their own voices than the class material when they discover that as much as fifty percent of their grade rests on their in-class verbalizations," Janney writes. "As a result, I spent much of my time listening to outgoing students compare the facial hair of the American presidents rather than analyzing the implications of their policy decisions." This sort of exemplification is, in reality, the only major rhetorical device that Janney makes use of to enforce her point. That being said, it is all that is necessary on her part. As a student at Phillips Exeter, she is rewarded an automatic sense of ethos, as she is qualified to speak on behalf of her own experiences. This, along with the frequent exemplification that the author favors, do all that is needed to clarify her belief that a private education is, in and of itself, not a solution to the problems that drive many parents to send their kids into such environments.

TOW #11 First Half of Wallace's Consider the Lobster

When considering what Wallace's purpose is in writing the first two essays of his text Consider the Lobster, it is important to realize that they're necessarily twofold.
In the first text, for which the book is named, Foster Wallace offers up an examination of the Maine Lobster Festival, an event that draws thousands each year in a communal quest to consume some of the best lobster that money can buy. It is important to note that this piece wasn't written for the text it is contained in, but rather was taken from a 2002  issue of Gourmet magazine, where Wallace was a writer at the time. What begins as a review of the various attractions, the type of lobsters available to festival-goers, and the history of the event, quickly becomes a discussion on the morality of the festival,  and eventually dissolves into a sort of plea by Wallace to, as the title suggests, consider the lobsters. Wallace details how the lobsters are caught, transported, and eventually killed for the festival. In one section, Wallace describes in particular detail the killing of the lobsters. ‘The lobster will sometimes cling to the container’s sides or even to hook its claws over the kettle’s rim like a person trying to keep from going over the edge of a roof. You can usually hear the cover rattling and clanking as the lobster tries to push it off. Or the creature’s claws scraping the sides of the kettle as it thrashes around." In this way, the author seeks to offer up a criticism of the festival, and perhaps invoke the reader to question the morality of the event, and the systematic killing of sea creatures, as a whole.
In understanding Wallace's varied purpose, it is necessary to understand that his audience is equally varied. While Gourmet magazine would seem to obviously be directed towards food lovers, chefs, and others who devote much of their free time to food, the article also makes an appeal to animal rights activists, and perhaps scientists as well, who would be compelled to answer Wallace's questions regarding the nature of lobster killing. This variation among the audience plays a significant role in the style of rhetoric used by Wallace.
Wallace's rhetoric can perhaps best be understood as a sort of give-and-take between a cheerful, minutae-laden description of a famous lobster festival, and an ominous moral discussion on the nature of killing animals. In this way, Wallace favors two distinct styles of rhetoric as a way to keep each of these sections distinct, and capitalize on the impact of each. When praising the event, Wallace keeps the focus on aspects of the event that one might need to know to attend. Things like specific stands that he enjoyed, parking spaces, and local points of interest are all aimed towards potential festival attendees, and do much to lighten what is an otherwise ominous piece. During his more morally-inclined discussion points, Wallace favors morose descriptions of the lobster killings, and other details meant to potentially disgust the reader. He also makes use of a number of open-ended questions, mostly regarding the common belief that lobsters and other crustaceans don't feel pain. These are designed to intrigue the scientists among Wallace's audience, and also act as a means for the reader to arrive at their own conclusions regarding the morality of lobster killings for an event like the Maine lobster festival. Overall, these two rhetorical styles do much to aid the purpose of Wallace's discussion, as he is successfully able to appeal directly to two distinct audiences, and potentially act as a persuasive device, as he is able to show potential festival-goers the truly brutal nature of the festivities. In this sense, Wallace is successful in accomplishing his purpose(s).

IRB #2 Introduction: Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace

For my second IRB of the school year, I have chosen to read Consider the Lobster, by David Foster Wallace. This book comes highly recommended from my father, and APELC seems like the perfect environment through which to understand the book at it's deepest levels. Consider the Lobster is a series of essays, each written and previously published elsewhere by the author. What is unique about this book, and about David Foster Wallace, is his ability to extract meaning and symbolism from every day life. This can be seen in the title text, which bills itself first as an examination and critique of a Maine Lobster Festival, but has the underpinnings of a discussion of man's morality through the lens of consuming lobsters. I look forward to reading Consider the Lobster, and hopefully gaining more knowledge about the world as Wallace observed it.

TOW #9: Corn Pone Opinions

Mark Twain describes in detail his childhood experiences with a “gay and impudent young black man - a slave”(1) named Jerry. He outlines for the reader how this boy was quite fond of “preaching sermon top of his master’s wood pile” (1) with a young Twain as his only audience. He speaks of the boy’s views on where man forms his beliefs, saying that it is easy to determine where a man forms his opinions from, because this is always the source of the man’s corn pone, as well.  

Using the same technique as Lynne Truss in her examination of English punctuation in Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Twain then expands this specific example to represent his own overarching views on where man forms his opinions from. This lengthy examination of his own views rounds out the remainder of Corn-Pone Opinions. He writes that “Jerry was right, in the main, but...he did not got far enough” (2.) Twain then informs the audience of his expanded views on Jerry’s corn-pone reasoning. He writes on page 2 that a coldly-thought-out and independently reasoned thought was a “most rare thing, if it has indeed ever existed.” 

He uses the examples of a hoop-skirt, and English table-setting habits to establish his belief that man in general operates with a sort of hive mentality, following all the trends of society, doing what the majority does in order to gain acceptance and approval from his fellow man, no matter how daft and unreasoning that fellow man may be. He concludes the essay by writing that man’s tendency to mistake feeling, emotion, and instinctual behavior for thought has led to the creation of a supposedly positive aggregation, called a boon, which represents Public Opinion. This boon is highly regarded, and considered by some to be the “Voice of God” (5.) In this way, Twain expands the views of a black slave living in Missouri in the 19th century to be indicative of a trend that permeates all of human society through all ages.

In so far as credibility is concerned, it is pertinent to know that Mark Twain had a rural childhood, spent on the southern ranges of the North American frontier. He was surrounded in his early years by a culture that propagated slavery and embraced new technology such as the steam engine. He was privy to a unique view of man’s tendency to embrace Public Opinion, Corn-Pone Opinion, if you will, without fail. The culture that he was reared in believed in slavery with little dissent, and was homogenous in it’s cultural, religious and social beliefs. This makes him a credible source to provide commentary on this era, this setting, and its social climate. The context of this essay is simply Mark Twain’s recollection of his childhood friend’s observations on man’s tendency to think collectively, and how he has chosen to embrace and expand these beliefs to vindicate his own. Twain’s purpose in writing Corn-Pone Opinions was primarily to relate his views on society’s collective mindset to the general public. His writing is said to have appealed to men, women, children, and the elderly alike (Zhang). This belief is applicable especially in the case of Corn-Pone Opinions due to the nature and topic of the essay. Given that Mark Twain’s works were mainly published in American newsletters and journals, it would appear that his audience was the American general public. Anything more specific than this betrays the broad appeal of Twain’s writing. 

Interestingly enough, the primary rhetorical strategy employed by Twain in Corn-Pone Opinions is essentially the same technique that appears frequently through the course of Truss’ Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. In the same manner that Truss frequently introduces examples, and then proceeds to analyze and expand them to represent her overarching views on English grammar, Twain introduces the example of Jerry the black slave, a childhood friend of his, and his views on the nature of man’s opinions, and how they originate from the same source as man’s corn pone. From this lone example, Twain expatiates his broader beliefs on the nature of society, before tying them back to the original example at the conclusion of the essay.Twain is extremely successful in accomplishing his purpose. He imparts his message that man typically subscribes to a hive mindset in his famously comedic, light fashion. Maintaining this level of relaxation in his writing makes the high-mindedness of his ideas much more palatable.

TOW #7, Freakonomics 2nd Half

In the second half of Stephen J. Dubner and Steven B. Levitt's Freakonomics, the authors continue their pursuit of applying statistics and mathematical modeling techniques in novel ways to discover the surprising underpinnings of our society. While the variation among chapter topics continues, with the later chapters incorporating such topics as plummeting crime rates in major American cities, the impact of parent behavior on child success, and the science behind why parent's tend to give their children certain types of names over others (long vs. short, number of consonants, etc.) and what impact this has on children's likelihood to succeed. As I mentioned in my previous TOW post about this book, the authors collective purpose is a simple one: to provide the general public with a logical and surprising view of the world we (think) we know so well. In accomplishing this mission, the authors continue to weave elaborate and unexpected connections between aspects of the modern world that would appear unrelated at first glance.

In approaching a topic of such a blizzard nature, the authors make use of continually applied ethos, as an effective way to clarify to the audience that their initially far fetched claims are in fact, plausible. Both of the authors are accomplished in their field, with each holding a doctorate in economics, and one being a well-known author on similar topics. To effectively use these accreditations to their advantage, the authors make frequent direct and indirect allusions to past work of theirs, and experience in the educational aspects of their fields.

It can be assumed, based on the low technical level of the authors' writing, that this book was only intended to brief the general public on the novel applications of data analysis, and provide a conversational level of understanding to the reader. In this sense, the book wholly succeeds. This is the case because Freakonomics does a tremendous amount to both interest the reader in novel data analysis, and intrigue the reader with the larger social implications of data analysis. It does this through low-level data examination of intriguing, unusual examples, in such a way that manages to inform, and entertain the reader.

In concluding this imaginative, thought-provoking text, the authors provide a final insight that effectively leaves the reader with an idea to dwell on, until they inevitably pick up the book's sequel shortly after finishing it. On the book's final page, the authors consider the perceived cycle among wealthy parents to choose unique names for their children, leading to the popularity of these names, until they are passed down to the lower classes, and the cycle repeats itself. In examining this pattern, they conclude by asking the reader to perhaps consider which other cycle and patterns exist in our society that have yet to be discovered and analyzed properly. This is an effective way to conclude the book, as the reader will carry this question with them, and perhaps modify their behavior as a result. In this way, the book, and it's message, extend beyond the pages, and remain with the reader.

TOW #6, Analysis of Joshua Rothman's "What Gone Girl is Really About"

Earlier this week, an article appeared in the online edition of The New Yorker,  outlining one writer's views on the popularity, and the underlying message, of the most popular films of the fall. Gone Girl, a complex film with a deceptively simple premise, is the story of a man who's wife goes missing, and the events that occur as the search for her takes place over a number of months through the summer and fall of 2012.

As Rothman argues, however, the film intends to tell a story much darker, and much more thought-provoking than its premise would imply.  Written and directed by David Fincher, known for thematically heavy and complex films such as 1999's Fight Club and 2010's The Social Network,  Gone Girl is Fincher's latest attempt to showcase his view of modern society to the public through an engaging and intense narrative. In this case, the message that Fincher wishes to convey, in Rothman's view, is that one of the institutions of modern society that we cherish most is perhaps deeply flawed, and that once someone realizes that truth, life becomes a daily struggle against that part of society. If this message seems familiar, that's because it's nearly identical to the idea put forth in famous literary works like The Catcher in the Rye, and even in Fincher's own 1999 cult classic Fight Club. In that film, the part of modern society that Fincher was showing as broken was the media and advertising of modern society, which the film's characters come to view as fake, and promoting a destructive lifestyle. In Gone Girl, the same can be said for marriage. While these sorts of claims might seem too far-reaching, Rothman is credible to make them, simply because he has seen the film.

While The New Yorker's audience definitely leans to the left from a political standpoint, there is nothing particularly liberal about this article, which leads me to feel that the audience for this review is simply the general public. From the standpoint of context, the article was written simply because of the film's release and huge success at the box office.

Rothman has been noted for his ability to extract meaning where no one else is able to in his examinations of books and films, and this idea can definitely be seen in his critique of Gone Girl. Where other internet reviews focus on well-known parts of Fincher's cinematic work, like his use of certain kinds of filming techniques, or focus on how the film compares to the 2011 book, Rothman attempts to draw information about what lies below the surface of a film or book, and in this way he succeeds. Most of his review centers around Fincher's views on marriage in modern society, and how the film shows Fincher's belief that modern society makes it extremely challenging for marriages to be healthy and beneficial relationships. While it is important to understand what Rothman is saying, why he is saying it is equally important.

In so far as the why of this review is concerned, the answer is pretty straightforward. Rothman wrote this critique of Gone Girl because he wished to share his observations, thoughts, and feelings on the film with The New Yorker's audience. While one could also argue that he might want others to see the film because of his writing, his message centers only around his own feelings on the film, and doesn't deliver any sort of a final verdict in the way that most reviews do. In this way, he succeeds, simply because he does a wonderfully succinct and engaging job of relating his views on Gone Girl.

TOW #4: Freakonomics 1st 1/2

In Stephen J. Dubner and Steven B. Levitt's Freakonomics, the central structure is key to the nature of the message they are conveying. With chapter titles that range from the rather pedestrian, such as chapter one, The Hidden Side of Things, to those with more curious titles, such as chapter four, Why do Drug Dealers Still Live With their Moms? 

While the topics discussed in each of these chapters are obviously varied to a great degree, their individual role within constructing Levitt and Dubner's narrative is identical. Each of the topics discussed in Freakonomics six chapters, especially the three I have completed thus far, plays an equally significant role in contributing to the authors' collective purpose. In writing Freakonomics, Dubner and Levitt wish to showcase that within the fabric of the everyday experiences we refer to as "life," there are myriad connections, however distant they may be, between seemingly unrelated concepts. Specifically, this is true within the realm of economics, hence the book's title. It is precisely for this reason that the authors' switch seamlessly from a discussion of the similarities that sumo wrestlers share with elementary school teachers (both are willing to cheat for the sake of those they are teaching,) to a discussion of Ku Klux Klan real estate tactics.

With topics as far-flung and unusual as these, it is fortunate that Dubner and Levitt, both economists by trade, make frequent use of statistical analysis and data modeling to determine the correlations they spot within society. In the case of the cheating teachers in chapter two, Dubner examined State-level standardized test answer sheets from California, and was able to discern over hundreds of students results, where and how often suspicious large blocks of correct answers appeared. Dubner then compared the students with the highest number of correct answers grouped together, and juxtaposed these students scores with their past performance in school subjects. What he determined was that the students with the most blocks of correct answers tended to be those that did poorer in the corresponding classes. From this, Dubner was able to draw a simple conclusion: the teachers of these students recognized that they were struggling more than other students, and went out of their way to help those students do well on State-level mandated testing. Put simply, the teachers were cheating for the benefit of their students. 

This sort of "big data" analysis is seen on numerous occasions throughout the first few chapters of Freakonomics, and it would seem to me that this is the main rhetorical device that the authors use to convey their purpose. 

It can be assumed, based on the low technical level of the authors' writing, that this book was only intended to brief the general public on the novel applications of data analysis, and provide a conversational level of understanding to the reader. In this sense, the book wholly succeeds. This is the case because Freakonomics does a tremendous amount to both interest the reader in novel data analysis, and intrigue the reader with the larger social implications of data analysis. It does this through low-level data analysis of intriguing, unusual examples, in such a way that manages to inform, and entertain the reader. I look forward to the concluding three chapters of Freakonomics.

TOW #3: Visual Text Analysis: Political Cartoon by Steve Kelley

This political cartoon's primary intention is to poke fun at the most prescient political and social issues facing the American public during this past week. It relies on the popular "bait and switch" technique, oft employed in political cartoons to address multiple issues that are unrelated, aside from the fact that they are both current events. In this case, an image of the White House, with speech bubbles showing a discussion of "boots on the ground" leads the reader initially to believe the cartoon is a depiction of Barack Obama discussing the pressing issue of ISIS' advance through the Middle East with one of his staffers. In the second panel, it is revealed that he is actually discussing the state of the National Football League, and its various publicity scandals.

A large portion of the comic's appeal is derived from the fact that it can be easily understood and appreciate by almost all Americans, and the fact that it doesn't play towards or against any specific political persuasion. Any American who turned on the morning news during the week of September 15th to 21st would be keenly aware of both issues that this comic discusses. This sort of appeal is rare among political cartoons, given that most rely on one sort of extreme bias or another. This comic, however, skillfully relates a clever retelling of current events without igniting any political fires amongst its viewers. 

As a result of the comic's brevity, the rhetorical devices used are necessarily very small in number. Perhaps the only true rhetorical device used is the assumption of knowledge of American popular culture on the part of the reader. Kelley assumes that the reader is aware of both issues being discussed, because they have been in the public eye for several weeks at the time of the cartoons publishing. One could also argue, however, that the use of the "bait and switch" technique discussed earlier is a rhetorical device as well. Also that the change in the angle from which the White House is shown in the second panel is a visual tool to relate the new angle from which the reader will view the comic after reading the second panel. 

In analyzing a visual text, it is equally important to understand what the author is saying, and why they are saying it. In this case, Kelley is playing off of two unrelated but equally relevant events; the various public relations scandals within the NFL, and the growing concern over ISIS' spread throughout the Middle East are both discussed and poked fun of in this comic, despite their lack of relation to one another. In my opinion, Kelley succeeds in achieving this purpose for a number of reasons. Primarily, he succeeds because I was able to find the comic humorous, even though I don't follow football in any way whatsoever. In this sense, he appeals to his intended audience, and elicits an emotional response from him.

TOW #2: Okinawa: The Bloodiest Battle of All by William Manchester

Manchester's Okinawa: The Bloodiest Battle of All is an essay composed in four distinct sections. The first details the author's experiences as a young boy, growing up in the quaint New English hamlet of Attleboro, Massachusetts during the late 1920's. He relates his fond, if not later disillusioned,  memories of Memorial day parades, watching veteran servicemen float by in their dress blues, perched atop convertibles, admiring their heroism and representation of America's fighting spirit in the way that most boys do. Immediately following this polished description, he relates one detail that casts a grim shadow over the fond memory; his own father was among those veterans floating by in the annual town parade, and as Manchester writes, his father represented "the poster of a Marine, with one magnificent flaw: the right sleeve of his uniform was empty. He had lost him arm in the Argonne" (499).

Next, Manchester relates a brief history of armed conflict, and it's changing nature over the centuries of its existence. He details the battle of Camlann, fought in 539, complete with it's bloody use of pikes and daggers, followed by an account of Napoleon's loss at Waterloo, and a description of the technical advancements of the Industrial Revolution, which forced the battle to differ extremely from those fought in previous era's. Finally, he depicts the nature of WWI, complete with horrifying use of trench warfare, fixed bayonets, and mustard gas.

From this, he moves on to detail an account of his own experiences with armed conflict, on the bloody sands of Okinawa,  the site of the bloodiest and most protracted battle in the history of the United States Marine Corps. He describes such details as the nature of Japanese suicide charges, the issues faced by a mechanized army fighting on terrain comprised solely of muddy expanses, and finally describing his discharge from this veritable hellscape, thanks to a mortar shell that landed amongst him and his men, leaving him with a chest filled with shrapnel and temporary blindness.

The essay is concluded by a description of his return to Okinawa, as an older man, to attend the construction of a memorial for the battle which he fought there. He relates his uncomfortability with the possibility of seeing Japanese veterans of the battle, and finally, informs the audience that he made the decision not to attend. He concludes the essay with a brief, yet illustrative remark on the nature of men and wartime. "The fact is," Manchester writes, "some wounds never heal" (506).

The essay is written to those who are presumably unfamiliar with the nature of armed conflict, or at least are less familiar with this topic than a member of the armed forces, especially one who fought during the second World War, would be. The context of this is Manchester's reflection upon being invited to attend the christening of the memorial on Okinawa island.

It is important in fully understanding the essay, to analyze not only what Manchester is saying, but how he is relating it. In this regard, he relates his message with a callousness and terseness that is oft seen among those who have survived armed conflict. Manchester uses this tone effectively to relate his message that war leaves some scars on those who partake in it that can never be healed.

It can be derived that Manchester is writing this because he wishes to inform the public of the true nature of war. He writes during the third portion of the essay how he and his friends could scarcely stand the projections of false bravado and machoism that they witnessed in pop culture after returning from the war. It is clear to me that Manchester writes Okinawa so as to help others avoid falling victim to the same trap that he occupied prior to being a soldier; that the machismo and heroism put forth by popular culture is indeed false, and that the reality of war is far more grim. It is clear to me that he succeeds, by virtue of the fact that his argument is extremely compelling, because his writing does not waver in relating his message, and because the audience is immediately forced to regard Manchester as an authority on the topic, due to his own personal experiences.

IRB #1: Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Steven J. Dubner

For my first IRB of the year, I will be reading Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Steven J. Dubner. This is a book that I have intended read of several years, and APELC seems like the perfect environment to truly delve into and analyze the book at its deepest levels.  Freakonomics relates to the reader two authors thoughts, feelings, and keen observations about the innermost workings of our modern society, explored through a diverse range of very specific examples. Or, to phrase it as the authors themselves did, Freakonomics is "a book about cheating teachers, bizarre baby names, and crack-selling mama's boys." The book bills itself as one that focuses on economics and the science of consumerism, but with examples ranging from such diverse backgrounds as the similarities between teachers and sumo wrestlers,  and whether or not parents really matter, I find it hard to believe that the book will be homogenous in its discussion. Overall, I look forward to exploring the extremely informative world of whacky statistics and unusual social connections that Steven D. Levitt and Steven J. Dubner have assembled.

TOW #1: How To Say Nothing in 500 Words by Paul Roberts

        How to Say Nothing in 500 Words contains the synthesis of an English Professor's views on the proper way to construct prose. Roberts does so via an informative and succinct organizational structure, in which his beliefs are introduced and enlarged individually. He makes excellent use of illustrative, humorous examples as well. The authors credibility is confirmed via a blurb prior to the essay, which explains who the author is, and defines his noteworthiness for publishing "clear..helpful" (54) textbooks.
        As an author noted for his composition of textbooks, it would only make sense that the intended audience is an English student either at the high school or undergraduate level. This assumption is confirmed when Roberts directly addresses the audience, stating "it's Friday afternoon, and you have almost survived another week of classes." on page 54. This sort of writing is meant to directly empathize with the feelings of the audience, and engage them in Robert's writing. This technique, in which the author deliberately empathizes with the feelings of high school and college students, is an effective means of relating the authors message, and is just one of the defining rhetorical techniques of this essay. 

        500 Words' rhetorical techniques are heavily informed by the authors purpose, and by the context under which someone would be reading Robert's text. Robert's purpose, as the author of an English textbook, would obviously be to inform students of the English language of the correct way to synthesize prose. To suit this, he adopts a casual tone, and laces his essay with humor. The intended purpose of this sort of language, which is relaxed to the point of breaking the rules of grammar, is for the author to truly connect with his audience, and avoid adopting a condescending or authoritative tone, as so many textbooks do. Instead, he wishes for the audience to view the text as approachable, friendly, perhaps genuinely funny.

        It is clear to me that Roberts succeeds in achieving this purpose. Even from a 21st century perspective, I still find the essay to be relatable, approachable, and bear many applicable ideas. I found his anecdotes on the difference between "colored words" and "colorful words" to be both apt and intriguing, as I'd never considered the difference between various types of associative phrases. I found phrases like "most modern readers would say "Good grief" and turn on the television" to be humorous, and I can certainly understand why a high school or college student of the mid-20th century would find that phrase genuinely hilarious. Overall, I feel that Roberts succeeds in achieving his purpose of informing the relatively  uneducated reader of the proper ways to construct prose, due to the text's approachable nature, and the genuine usefulness of the lessons that the text contains.

"Corn-Pone Opinions" by Mark Twain

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Wikipedia.org

Mark Twain describes in detail his childhood experiences with a “gay and impudent young black man - a slave”(1) named Jerry. He outlines for the reader how this boy was quite fond of “preaching sermon top of his master’s wood pile” (1) with a young Twain as his only audience. He speaks of the boy’s views on where man forms his beliefs, saying that it is easy to determine where a man forms his opinions from, because this is always the source of the man’s corn pone, as well.  

Using the same technique as Lynne Truss in her examination of English punctuation in Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Twain then expands this specific example to represent his own overarching views on where man forms his opinions from. This lengthy examination of his own views rounds out the remainder of Corn-Pone Opinions. He writes that “Jerry was right, in the main, but...he did not got far enough” (2.) Twain then informs the audience of his expanded views on Jerry’s corn-pone reasoning. He writes on page 2 that a coldly-thought-out and independently reasoned thought was a “most rare thing, if it has indeed ever existed.” 

He uses the examples of a hoop-skirt, and English table-setting habits to establish his belief that man in general operates with a sort of hive mentality, following all the trends of society, doing what the majority does in order to gain acceptance and approval from his fellow man, no matter how daft and unreasoning that fellow man may be. He concludes the essay by writing that man’s tendency to mistake feeling, emotion, and instinctual behavior for thought has led to the creation of a supposedly positive aggregation, called a boon, which represents Public Opinion. This boon is highly regarded, and considered by some to be the “Voice of God” (5.) In this way, Twain expands the views of a black slave living in Missouri in the 19th century to be indicative of a trend that permeates all of human society through all ages.

In so far as credibility is concerned, it is pertinent to know that Mark Twain had a rural childhood, spent on the southern ranges of the North American frontier. He was surrounded in his early years by a culture that propagated slavery and embraced new technology such as the steam engine. He was privy to a unique view of man’s tendency to embrace Public Opinion, Corn-Pone Opinion, if you will, without fail. The culture that he was reared in believed in slavery with little dissent, and was homogenous in it’s cultural, religious and social beliefs. This makes him a credible source to provide commentary on this era, this setting, and its social climate. The context of this essay is simply Mark Twain’s recollection of his childhood friend’s observations on man’s tendency to think collectively, and how he has chosen to embrace and expand these beliefs to vindicate his own. Twain’s purpose in writing Corn-Pone Opinions was primarily to relate his views on society’s collective mindset to the general public. His writing is said to have appealed to men, women, children, and the elderly alike (Zhang). This belief is applicable especially in the case of Corn-Pone Opinions due to the nature and topic of the essay. Given that Mark Twain’s works were mainly published in American newsletters and journals, it would appear that his audience was the American general public. Anything more specific than this betrays the broad appeal of Twain’s writing. 

Interestingly enough, the primary rhetorical strategy employed by Twain in Corn-Pone Opinions is essentially the same technique that appears frequently through the course of Truss’ Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. In the same manner that Truss frequently introduces examples, and then proceeds to analyze and expand them to represent her overarching views on English grammar, Twain introduces the example of Jerry the black slave, a childhood friend of his, and his views on the nature of man’s opinions, and how they originate from the same source as man’s corn pone. From this lone example, Twain expatiates his broader beliefs on the nature of society, before tying them back to the original example at the conclusion of the essay.Twain is extremely successful in accomplishing his purpose. He imparts his message that man typically subscribes to a hive mindset in his famously comedic, light fashion. Maintaining this level of relaxation in his writing makes the high-mindedness of his ideas much more palatable.

Works Cited:

Zhang, Eric. "Mark Twain’s Writings Still Appeal to Broad Audience 100 Years after His Death." Daily Bruin. University of California, Los Angeles, 7 Feb. 2011. Web. 03 Aug. 2014.

"Illumination Rounds" by Michael Herr

Bell 204/205 UH-1 Helicopters in Vietnam. Helis.com

In Illumination Rounds, Michael Herr describes his experience as a war correspondent in-country during the Vietnam War. He does so through in-depth examinations of several brief moments that take place over an indeterminate amount of time. First he accounts his experiences aboard a Chinook transport helicopter, listening to the thunder of artillery shells exploding around the aircraft, watching a young man meet his unfortunate end as a shell penetrates the helicopter, directly striking him. Next he relates his time at the Continental Hotel, observing the men on leave, injured, scarred, permanently damaged by the war. He describes their mistresses as being “the saddest, prettiest girls in Vietnam” (330). In doing so he conveys in an instant why it is that the Vietnam War is recalled with a particular sense of dread by the American public. It was a conflict that not only left deep physical and psychological scars on a generation of young Americans, but a conflict that brought out the worst in America's military. In no war prior to or after Vietnam did American soldiers ever take mistresses from among the local population. In mentioning this ever so briefly, he aptly conveys why the Vietnam War is recalled with such a unique sense of dread. Finally he relates his experience listening to a cassette recording of Jimi Hendrix for the first time, while under fire in a rice paddy, and his experiences smoking marijuana and running cans of beer to surgeons in the province hospital at Can Tho.

Michael Herr is a former war correspondent and the author of a number of works on the Vietnam War. He is perhaps best known for Dispatches, a memoir of his time in Vietnam, from which Illumination Rounds is taken. Dispatches is considered to be “the best written about the Vietnam War” by The New York Times Book Review, and was reviewed as “the best book have ever read on men and war in our time” by novelist John Le Carré. He is also known for his work with Stanley Kubrick and Gustav Hasford on the acclaimed 1987 war drama Full Metal Jacket. He also contributed to the screenplay of Apocalypse Now, another classic American war film (Schultz). In addition to the fact that he is widely regarded as one of the best wartime writers of the modern era, the simple fact that he spent time in Vietnam during the American conflict there makes him a credible source for information on this time period and the event.

Herr enters Vietnam during the height of the American conflict there, and is at first unfamiliar with war on a first-hand basis and overcome by a feeling of simply being an observer, playing a passive role in the events taking place around him. He writes that he doesn’t feel as though the things happening around him (men dying, bullets being fired at him, injured civilians being carried past him) are actually happening to him. Instead he is merely observing them as an outsider. As time passes, however, Herr becomes more comfortable with the notion that he is as much a part of the Vietnam War as any enlisted Marine or Viet Cong soldier. As a result, his perspective and his writing style change over the course of Illumination Rounds.

To convey to the American public, whose perspective on the Vietnam War was often obscured by political bias and extreme movements on the home front, what it was actually like to be a soldier on the front lines of America’s most abhorred conflict.The American public had scarcely been provided with a first-hand, in-country account of the Vietnam War at the time of this essay’s publishing. The use of a first-person narrative helps to better convey the author’s feelings on the conflict he experienced. In addition, Herr’s use of stylistic alterations, such as the misspelling of words to convey a character’s accent, lend a greater sense of depth to the essay, as it allows the reader to experience action in the same way that the author did originally.

Using the aforementioned tactics, Herr is able to efficiently and aptly convey his message and achieve his purpose. In an essay of only a handful of pages, he manages to convey the entirety of what it was like to be an American in Vietnam during the famed conflict there. As an American who was not alive during the Vietnam War, and has only heard second-hand accounts in the form of novels, films, video games, and other forms of modern media about the conflict, Herr’s work allows me to gain some form of insight into the true nature of the Vietnam War, allowing me to experience it in a fashion similar to the way that the author did.

Works Cited

Schultz, Connie. "What It Was Like." Columbia Journalism Review. N.p., 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 03 Aug. 2014.