TOW #24: Visual Text Analysis

As tensions flared once again this month in the St. Louis, Missouri Suburb of Ferguson, political cartoonists once again turned to the Midwestern town for comedic inspiration. In this comic, four locations are depicted, each being described as a "police state that suppresses journalists." While three of the locations are longtime, well known violators of journalistic freedom rights, the fourth plays off of current events to juxtapose an ongoing domestic situation with a number of less relevant, but equally comparable examples.

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 Ferguson, Mo. and the international hotbeds of human rights violations it is contrasted against is blatant, but nuanced. While the comic can easily be taken at face value,  as a visual text showing a domestic occurrence of a mostly-international issue, the level of nuance that the comic features are worthy of discussion, Perhaps the most interesting trait of this comic is the harsh way in which Ferguson is depicted, even compared to active dictatorships and war zones around the globe.

Comparatively, Ferguson is visually far more assaultive to the viewer than the other panels; Syria shows a bombed building, Iran is a sleepy old man in front of a temple, and North Korea is a row of soldiers in step, but Ferguson is the only panel to show actual violence, and the only to depict a civilian facing the repercussions of the censorship taking place. In showcasing this, the artist most likely wants to convey that the atrocities in Ferguson are perhaps even worse than those being committed across the globe, because in Ferguson, there are strict guidelines and legal infrastructure that prevent these sorts of abuse from taking place. In depicting Ferguson more violently than the other locations, the artist effectively accomplishes the above purpose.

TOW #23: Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas

Lewis Thomas, an American physician, poet, and etymologist, writes on man’s misguided views of himself as being distinct from nature, and his misguided views of nature as some fragile, tenuous construction that man might easily crush. He reveals to the reader his views that man, while sitting at the top of the world's ecosystem, is still one cog in the vast mechanism that is life on Earth. Lewis organizes his essay into a series of items, similar to subheadings, each conveying a unique idea. The first of these is used to discuss Thomas' idea that humans, in their role as the planet's dominant organism, aren't even organisms at all. 
Instead, Lewis proposes that we humans are little more than collections of prokaryotic "tiny animals" (359) that invaded a much earlier ancestor of ours, and stayed there permanently. As these evolved, they came to form organisms, including us. It is Thomas' belief that this means we humans are in fact little more than vessels for these very small invaders. He uses this as a way to substantiate his belief that man does not sit above other animals, as we act as an unwilling carrier for billions of other "tiny animals," (359) that we cannot exist without. He then goes on to outline his belief that Earth is, in and of itself an organism. 
From this, he formulates his deeper belief that the Earth is most similar to a cell, and that man, in all of his complexity and superiority to the other animals of the planet, is little more than one of the "tiny animals"(359) that he discussed as being a part of us in his first item. Lewis studied medicine and biology at both Princeton and Harvard Universities. The accreditation he receives from these institutes means that he is a credible source to write on biological topics. In considering he context of the essay, I can only say that it is scant. It isn't written in any sort of a linear sense, and it doesn't follow a traditional format. At best, the context of the essay is simply Thomas' desire to convey his observations on man's role in nature to the medical community. Thomas' purpose in writing this essay is to convey his beliefs and observations on man's evolving role in nature, and his unusual belief that man isn't necessarily above the rest of the animal kingdom, given the relationship between our cells and us, and our shared evolution with the rest of the Earth's species, as shown in the graph above. 
Given that this essay was originally published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the audience is clearly the medical and scientific communities. Thomas makes use of an extremely unique format in The Lives of a Cell, and this technique suits the essay well. Instead of organizing his essay into the traditional literary format, with transitions, an introduction and conclusion, and other trappings of most literary works, Thomas simply organizes his thoughts into various "items," each conveying a distinct idea in support of his main message. The use of these items helps him to achieve his purpose by allowing him to most efficiently lay out his beliefs and observations without having to concern himself with grammatical flow. It also allows the reader to draw their own ideas and opinions regarding the relationships between the authors various points, instead of having the author merely spell them out for the reader. Thomas' unique essay format suits his topic and his writing style extremely well. Overall, the lack of transitions between topics allows the reader to draw conclusions regarding the connections between Thomas' ideas for themselves, and the conclusion of the essay provides a thought-provoking final remark for the reader to contemplate, and arrive at further conclusions independently. All of these characteristics are the trappings of a good scientific paper, as they provoke further thought and research.

TOW #22: Second Half of David and Goliath

In considering the purpose of the second half of Gladwell's David and Goliath, it is first essential to understand that the book 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 second 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 fifth 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 sixth 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 example aptly illustrates Gladwell's intended principle, and provides for an intriguing glimpse at a modern application of ancient biblical principles.

TOW #18: Man on the Tracks by Erika Anderson

In this brief, yet poignant and deeply emotional narrative of Anderson's experiences one afternoon on a New York City subway train, the author makes use of several rhetorical devices to achieve her purpose of conveying her feelings in that moment to the reader. She conveys these feelings of shock, fear, and confusion even at the time of writing through repetition, and a poetic examination of the days and weeks following the incident.

"When you watch a man on the tracks before an oncoming train, that’s exactly what you do: watch.
     You can shout at him.
     You can yell, “Train!”
     You can grip your New Yorker and suck in your breath.
     You can exhale when the Brooklyn-bound A stops twenty feet short.
     You can widen your eyes when the man stumbles in your direction, toward the platform"

This is how the essay begins, and the use of repetition empowers the text by conveying the frenetic atmosphere of the moment. This serves the text well because its main purpose is simply to convey the authors emotion. This sort of rhetorical repetition can be seen again at the essay's conclusion, when the author writes 
    "They say, “Wow.”
     They say, “Are you okay?”
     They say, “That’s horrible.”
     They say, “New York moment.”
     They say, “Survival of the fittest.”
     They say, “The train hit him and then what?”
     They change the subject.
     They say something else."

In this sense, the repetition is just as effective as it is in the introduction, as it conveys the disappointing nature of the reactions of the authors colleagues. The repetition is effective here and before because it manages to convey the entire emotional context of the incident; the shock and initial confusion, and the melancholy disappointment that follows in the days and weeks after the incident. The concluding lines of the essay also serve to encompass the entirety of the second rhetorical tool that Anderson makes use of. 

The examination of the disappointing reactions of those around her to the bizarre subway incident serve to showcase the nature of incidents like these. At the end, all she is left with is a number of unusual tidbits like the races of those who helped the man off the platform, and a feeling of lingering confusion.

Overall, the authors rhetorical strategies are well chosen and they support the intention of the piece quite nicely. the use of repetition frames the incident nicely and conveys the same sense of confusion and uncertainty surrounding the event, and the essay's conclusion helps to frame the way in which the author's feelings lingered following the event. 

IRB #3 Intro: David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

For my third IRB of the school year, I have chosen to read David and Goliath, by Malcolm Gladwell. 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. David and Goliath is a series of essays, ranging from such diverse topics as the impact of population decline on public views concerning elementary class size to early leukemia treatments in Chicago hospitals. Each essay is tied together by a progressive analysis of how the main character or characters in each essay overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to achieve their ends. What is unique about this book, and about Gladwell, is his ability to extract a network of meaning and symbolism from seemingly disjointed events across time and space. This can be seen in the title text, which bills itself first as an examination and critique of how it was that, in the famous biblical epoch, David managed to defeat Goliath, and is expanded upon in each progressive text, until a complete picture of how the David's of the world beat the Goliath's of the world is achieved. I look forward to reading David and Goliath, and hopefully gaining more knowledge about the world as Gladwell observes it.

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.