TOW #29: Letter to a New APELC Student

So, here you are. You've survived the summer assignment and you now find yourself sitting in #APELC2K16 on the first day of school. Congratulations. The simple act of making it to this point means that you have the grit and determination, and probably the writing talent, to survive this class. That being said, I bet your'e still awfully nervous, with a lot of (rhetorical) questions still bouncing around your head. Are the writing assignments as hard as people say? Are we really expected to write full-length essays in forty minutes or less? Will Yost approve of my fantasy football draft picks?

The answer to these questions? Yes. For all of them. But probably not the last one. The truth is that this a hard class. Undoubtedly harder than Honors English, and maybe even harder than 12th Grade AP Literature. But you already knew that, didn't you? The simple fact that you chose to sign up for this class means that you're already determined enough to succeed in this environment. It also means that you probably consider yourself to be a pretty good writer. And even if you don't think that you are, this class will change that very quickly. As you embark on your journey through this class, there are several pieces of advice you should take to heart, and refer back to whenever the going gets tough.

#APELCTIP #1. Accept the fact that you'll probably do more writing here than in any other class in high school. 

Yes, it's completely true, this is a class that features writing. An awful lot of it. It's not hard to get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of writing that this class requires sometimes. The sooner you can accept that you'll be pushed to your limits as a writer in this class, the easier the year will be.

#APELCTIP #2. Cherish the fact that you'll do so much writing here.

The truth is that doing a lot of writing, and receiving a lot of really good feedback on your writing, is the best way to grow as a writer. That's exactly what this class provides, so appreciate the fact that you will leave this class a better writer than you were when you entered (whether you like it or not!)

#APELCTIP #3. Don't be afraid to seek help from #Yost and #Pronko, or even just drop by to review a draft with them.

Mr. Yost and Mrs. Pronko are your greatest resources as students in this class. They're usually available to review drafts and always appreciate the chance to help students through the writing assignments that they give. And trust me, you'll want to review at least one piece of writing with them during the year (It'll be the Certainty vs. Doubt essay. Consider yourself warned.)

Take these pieces of advice to heart, and you'll be well on your way to success in this class. I wish you the best of luck and hope that this year is as transformative for you as a writer as it was for me. Don't forget: only 254 days until the #APELC Exam!

TOW #28: TOW Reflection

1. Perhaps the biggest change in my TOW posts, from the earliest ones that I completed in July of 2014, up to my more recent ones, is simply the efficiency of my writing. In considering the many ways that I've grown as a writer during this class, I think that this is the most important and most meaningful way that I've progressed this year. I also feel that my writing has lost the edge of verboseness that I carried over from the gifted program, and became more approachable in nature.

2. I've mastered the art of extracting meaning from quotes within a passage, among other things this year. I look back at my analysis of Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster, and my later analysis of Mark Twain as evidence of this. I think I've also grown tremendously as an analyzer of visual texts. During the summer assignment, I struggled with extracting meaning from the images that accompanied many of the works of writing in our textbook. Having analyzed a great many visual texts during APELC, I now feel that some of my analysis of visual texts, as in my analysis of the Ferguson, MO. political cartoon, to be some of the best writing I did for this course.

3. Too many things to list. More than anything else, I would still like to improve my time management skills. Even on the AP Exam, I felt that I took too long working on the pre-writing, and the quality of my writing itself suffered as a result. This is the biggest thing I still see a true need for improvement on after this course. 

4. The usefulness of TOW posts can't be overstated, in my opinion. There is only so much time that the class can devote to formalized writing activities, which is precisely where the value of the TOW posts lie. In a class where the date of the impending AP exam was constantly hanging over our heads, in a very literal sense, the value of weekly time dedicated to writing and analyzing diverse documents played a big role in my success in this class, and my success on the AP exam.

TOW #27: To Build a (Better) Fire by Burkhard Bilger

As public concern has shifted more and more in recent years towards the idea of our own survival in the face of mounting climate change, many individuals have taken it upon themselves to seek their own solutions to the problems of our time in the face of failure on the part of the world's governments. Chief among the efforts of these individuals are efforts to return the power to halt climate change to the common people. In the opinions of these individuals, the common people shouldn't have to wait for government policy to change their lives. Instead, they should take it upon themselves to achieve the change they desire for themselves. These ideals are perfectly embodies by Dale Andreatta and Peter Scott, two homegrown engineers with a desire to solve a global issue by tackling its fundamental cause. These two intriguing young men are the topic of 2011 Conservation Magazine article To Build a (Better) Fire, by Burkhard Bilger.

As the article is more of an editorial than an opinionated piece, there is no essential argument to the piece, more an overview of the belief system and actions of two men, and their coworkers who support them in their endeavor. In this regard, Andreatta and Scott both feel that solving the issue of food production among the least technologically advanced members of the human race is essential to improving our species as a whole, as the emissions from the fires of these aboriginal peoples produce the same amount of carbon dioxide as a running car. Solving this issue is the primary purpose of Scott and Andreatta's quest to build a better stove for use in tribal environments. 

Given the topic of the piece, as well as the nature of the publication that it was published in, it is reasonable to assume that the audience of this essay is liberal in their political persuasion, and could also be considered environmentally conscious. More than simply being conscious of their surroundings however, the reader of this sort of an article is most likely an active participant in efforts to stem the tide of environmental change, and promote a healthier planet through conscious efforts to inform the public of the harmful effects of climate change. This is evidenced by the sort of articles that this publications tends to feature, most of which are more politically radical than this. 

In considering the effectiveness of the article in achieving its purpose, I am immediately inclined to say that it is extremely effective. This is the case primarily because it makes an effective claim to an audience that would most likely be willing to accept the claims and provisions that the article features, and able to affect the specific sort of change that the article promotes. The article features evidence of both the empirical and the data-driven sort, and effectively makes a two-pronged argument, which centers around the engineering efforts of a small group of dedicated men and women, and the positive effects of their actions. As is pretty typical for publications of this sort, the focus of the essay could also be considered the need for greater action to occur, while effectively striking a delicate balance between a concerted call to action, and a celebration of successful efforts already undertaken. In this way, the article succeeds tremendously in accomplishing its purpose. 

TOW #26: Dead Poet's Society as a Visual Text

This weekend, I had the pleasure of watching the classic film Dead Poet's Society for the first time. Given the topic of the story, and the fact that much of what happens throughout the film centers around classical texts and the impact that they have on modern characters, I think it serves as the perfect visual text to analyze in an APELC setting.

In considering what the director of Dead Poet's Society, Peter Weir, wishes for the audience to take from the film, it is essential to examine the social climate of the film as a whole, and understand how this affects the film's main characters. The story's setting at the Welton school can only be described as a place where conservative values of private education and institutionalism clash with the progressive ideals of youth, and those of John Keating, played by Robin Williams. As the film's tagline cites, Keating acts as the inspiration for the young men of his English class, who have been subjected to the rigged cultural ideals of the Welton School their entire lives. This is best evidenced when Keating reads aloud the absurd introduction to the classes English textbook, which instructs students to use an X-Y Axis to rate a poem's perfection, then allows the students to tear the book apart. In this way, Keating exposes the students to their first real taste of freedom and self expression in an educational environment. This is the first of several instances of Keating exposing the students to educational freedom over the course of the film. In the way, he challenges his students to question the social and political norms that define life at Welton. This leads Charlie to publish an article arguing for a coeducational environment at the school, and leads Neil Perry to take up an interest in acting, despite his father's stiff punishments.

Overall, this encouragement of doing what others might frown upon for the sake of "finding oneself" is the film's main message. Keating acts as the embodiment of the ideals he discusses in classic works such as Ulysees and The Odyssey. The relationship he shares with his students, and the outcome of these relationships at the end of the film, serves as an overall metaphor for the importance of questioning authority in all of its forms, and shaping ones identity not for the sake of others, but for the sake of oneself. It is important to note that Keating does not act a savior for his students, but rather that he acts as a tool for them to find the savior in themselves. It is through his lessons that his students go on to shape their own lives, and defy the rigid authoritarianism that surrounds them in the conservative environment of Welton, as well as the pressures they face from their at-home environments. Professor Keating enables his students to realize that they are more than mere products of the educational system, but individuals, capable of unique and wonderful things. He also attempts to instill in them a desire and a consciousness towards their ability to change the status quo of their environment. The films final scene, in which all of the members of the Dead Poet's Society stand on their desk's in a silent salute to Mr. Keating,  reveals his success at this endeavor.

TOW #25: Future of the Library

Published on CreativeNonFiction.org in 2007, this short essay seeks to paint a bright, if not troubled view of the future of the modern library in American society. This essay seeks to make these points in response to the massive decline in the quantity of American libraries in the wake of the growth of Amazon and other alternative forms of book consumption.

Specifically, the artist's purpose behind the essay is to illustrate her hope for how the library can remain an important physical institution in our nation, as society grows increasingly digitalized. It does this by depicting the life of a young woman in the late 2020's, recalling the history of the library over the past decade or so. This is designed to imitate a common tactic favored by authors paving a bright future on their own ideals; imagining the world as they would wish for it to appear. 

In depicting the future of the library in this fashion, the essay evokes several important ideas, all of which are intentional. The first, and perhaps the most significant, is that it indicates the recent issue of digitalization in America. By showing the issues that arise from a completely digitalized society, including the supposed death of printed texts, and the loss of physically important national institutions such as local libraries, the author illustrates why it is important to avoid these grim views of the future while it is still well within our reach.

Overall the essay effectively achieves its purpose of offering a commentary on the optimistic future of the library, the wrongful nature of American over digitalization , and providing a unique, most likely unconsidered take on the future of the library in an increasingly non-physical society. It achieves these purposes through the use of a single rhetorical device; the authors examination of a future with and without libraries, offered for the purpose of internal self-reflection on the part of the reader.  Most short essays are necessarily are brief in their textual offerings, while others rely on no words at all. This essay is effective at achieving its purpose because it allows the reader to clearly grasp so much from a series of admittedly narrow anecdotes.

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.

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.