TOW #13 - Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense

Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America is an organization that promotes gun safety.  Rather than being against the 2^nd Amendment, they support it but strongly advise the public to consider the safety of their children when guns are in the household and in general.  The group was created four years ago after the founder was devastated by the Sandy Hook shooting.  Deaths caused by gun violence had always been a problem, with more teens and children being affected by these crimes, this organization finds it important to inform the public about gun “sense” and being aware of ways to stop gun violence.

            The ad featured is an image of two children, each holding something that is banned in America.  One is holding Little Red Riding Hood, a children’s book, while the other holds an intimidating gun.  Underneath the two children are the words, “We keep ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ out of schools because of the bottle of wine in her basket.  Why not assault weapons?”  Using the two young children is an essential part to their argument.  By including innocent children, viewers are forced to consider the fact that kids have some type of access to a gun.  Although not all households hold them, anyone around the viewers’ children could be around guns.  By expressing innocence with the kids, moms in this organization can make gun violence a more serious and relatable problem.  Appealing to viewers’ emotion and logic, none of them want to their children to be face with gun violence.

            Not only does a child’s innocence play into the effectiveness of this advertisement, but the sheer shock factor is important as well.  By including the fact about Little Red Riding Hood, viewers are appalled by the fact that it is banned to “protect” kids while guns are not.  In addition, encouraging their audience to guess which one is banned questions their morals.  This allows the organization to point a finger at those who want their children around guns.  By playing with the emotions and morals of viewer, Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense encourage readers to rethink how guns are monitored in society.

             In the advertisement created by the organization, Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense, the groups is able to show readers how appalling gun laws are in America.  By playing into the viewers’ shock, logic, and morals, they are encouraged to rethink their views on the laws of the United States and see the absurdity of the contrast between what is and isn’t banned in America.

TOW #12 - IRB The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle consists of many stories of her childhood.  Her low income family bounced around many destinations to live in order to stay alive.  Her father, a booze-addicted man who couldn’t keep a job, and her mother, a free spirited and wild woman, created an unpredictable environment for their children.  Despite the family’s oddities, they still found happiness in every situation.

An important aspect of Walls’ book is the way she tells the story.  Her book is structured in anecdotes.  Each one typically has a surprising or crazy event, but most of them end happily.  In one particular story, Wall’s falls out of their car while on the road.  When they “took a sharp turn over some railroad tracks, the door flew open, and I tumbled out of the car” (30).  Walls had the wind knocked out of her, had her hands and elbows scraped raw, and blood and dirt coated her body.  As she waited for her father to turn around and pick her up, it felt like a significant amount of time had passed.  Walls almost went back to the town they came from, but thankfully her car could be seen approaching her.  Despite her pain, her father took her into the car casually and said, “you busted your snot locker pretty good” (31).  This created laughter from her entire family, and they never mentioned anything about what had happened. 

                From this anecdote, it is clear that Walls’ family could find happiness in a bad situation.  More importantly though, is the underlying problem in their ways.  Her parents did not notice that Walls had fallen out of the car for some time.  Her brother had tried telling them, but her parents did not understand what he was saying.  This event labels her parents as more careless and almost deems them as unfit for parenting.  Walls was left on the road for a while and could have been injured further is she wasn’t so lucky.  Walls’ father making jokes about the situation definitely gives their kids a more carefree and go with the flow attitude, but soon, Walls starts to see through that.

                Another story Walls includes is when her father comes home drunk looking for her mother.  Her mom is hiding from him with a knife.  When Walls’ dad finds his wife, he wrestles her until she is trapped.  Despite Walls and her sibling trying to stop them, they continue to argue.  Finally, Walls mother admits that she loves Rex and they rejoice over the fact and “were so happy they hadn’t killed each other that they had fallen in love all over again” (122).  As her parents celebrated Walls “didn’t feel like celebrating.  After all he’d put himself through, [she] couldn’t believe Dad had gone back to the booze” (123). At this point in her life, she is starting to see through the happiness her parents fell after horrifying situations.  This shift in tone starts to set Walls apart from her family.  Rather than finding happiness in many situations, is become more apparent that they are just covering up what had just happened.  The progression of these revelations make The Glass Castle more of memoir about seeing the good and bad, and knowing when something is right or wrong.  

TOW #11 - Chapter 1 - The American Crisis

Thomas Paine was a well-known author in the 18^th century.  He was widely known for his work Common Sense and his involvement in the Revolutionary War.  His work Common Sense urged colonists to unite and break America away from Britain.  Written before the climax of the American Revolution Paine’s piece Chapter 1 – The American Crisis parallels Common Sense and was written to inspire the American people.  Paine uses figurative language and inspiring diction to urge the American people to fight for freedom from Britain.  Ultimately, this contributes to the inspiration for America to become an independent nation.

Paine includes comparisons in his piece to bring light to the evil the British rule of the United States has become.  The American people suffered during their rime under British rule.  Harsh tariffs crippled family incomes and inhibited access to goods and services.  Paine takes advantage of the British’s decisions to hurt American people to exploit the British in his piece.  He says, “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered” (1).  Paine is using tyranny to describe the British’s rule.  However, he wants to inspire people to fight against it.  Comparing British rule to hell allows American citizens to see that the British’s effect on America is negative, not positive.  Although he says it cannot be conquered easily, he finishes the sentence with “the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph” (1).  Mentioning the triumph after breaking away from “hell” ignites a flame in Americans to fight British tyranny.  Paine’s use of metaphor successfully unites the people by promising triumph after breaking away from the British and creating a happy America (9).

Paine’s idea of making America happy through freedom is carried on throughout the essay with his use of diction.  During the revolutionary war, thousands had to be gathered in order to create a militia strong enough to fight the British.  Paine unites his people with the fact that, “It matters not where you live, or what rank of life you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and the poor, will suffer or rejoice alike” (11).  Paine addresses the entirety of America to unite them.  By mentioning multiple demographics Paine is able to relate to almost all citizens and make them listen.  By mentioning downfall and success, Paine recognizes that even though there will be troubles and victories, as a nation they are united.  Additionally, Paine singles out those who beg for mercy rather than fighting.  He calls mercy “only a trick of war” (13) in order to show his people that fighting and revolution is the only answer.  He even tells his people that he is going to “hold truth up to your eyes” (13).  Paine uses these inspiring words to bring together the colonists and push them towards the fight for freedom. 

In Chapter 1 – The American Crisis, Paine inspires the American people to unite and encourage them to resist British rule.  His use of metaphors and inspirational diction points out the flaws in the British rule, single out those who are weak, and in turn opens the eyes of the Americans.  By uniting them, the people of the United States are encouraged to start a revolution.  Paine’s eye-opening piece aides Americans in seeing how they have been wronged by the British and allows the people to become more educated about their freedom.  Freedom, valued so highly, must not be taken for granted, and those who have been taken advantage of must realize the problem before it’s too late.

TOW #10 - 2016's Biggest Loser

In Kathleen Parker’s article “2016’s Biggest Loser,” Parker writes about the failure of media after the election.  As said in paragraph two, only “18 percent of Americans trust national news and just 22 percent trust local news” (2).  This lack of trust could end up being detrimental to our society.  Parker especially emphasizes the fact that this lack of trust could ruin democracy.  Parker, who is an opinion writer, received a Pulitzer Prize and is constantly writing opinion pieces.  Since this piece is about journalism, she immediately establishes credibility since she is a journalist.  Her piece is written for other journalists and the ones in charge of big news businesses.  She is trying to tell them that in this time it is important to provide information that is trustworthy and not lie to viewers.  Parker’s article is relative to today because there are always false news stories circulating around the internet.  Although a lot of them can be political, there are occasion when it’s just random stories.  However, to those reading and being convinced by fake stories about people like senators, governors, or our President-Elect, the false information can be deadly to political views.  Which is why Parker makes it clear that this problem can ruin our democratic nation.  Parker is able to explain to readers the importance of trustworthy media through the use of statistics.  With an article aimed towards main business leaders and other writers, simple appeal to emotion may not be enough.  A statistic like “only 4 percent of Americans trust social media ‘a lot’ as a new source, a 30 percent trust it ‘some” (13), makes a big impact on a business leader.  This is because their audience is the nation.  If a majority of people do not trust a source and end up not even listening or watching this source (of news), the news business will fail.  Including this information makes businesses rethink their companies and encourage them to work towards a more reliable company, and keep them from losing viewers.  In today’s day an age, creating a news source that is reliable is extremely important.  Those who cannot create a storm of misinformation and can ruin a viewer’s trust in a business.  Parker’s article encourages new sources and journalists to remain honest in order to avoid the spread of lies and maintain an educated and level-headed population.

IRB Intro #2 - The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle is a memoir detailing Jeannette Walls' life in her dysfunctional family.  The back cover of the book details the drunken state of her father and also the intelligent and inspiring side.  In addition, it mentions the irresponsibility of her mother and how both of her parents follow her, homeless, to New York.  I decided to read this book because in 8^th grade my class had read an excerpt from it and it sounded very interesting.  In addition, many people I know have recommended this book and say it is engaging and reads a lot like fiction.  From this book I feel that maybe I will learn more about family values and be able to compare her family to mine.

TOW #9 - Thrown Mud is Ground Lost

In Tom Stiglich’s visual text, he is commenting on the 2016 elections.  His political cartoon is two people, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, covered in mud.  In addition, they are throwing mud at each other and wearing their campaign buttons on their chests.  As a viewer, this text is credible because a majority of people have seen the debates for the election and noticed the insulting rhetoric both Clinton and Trump use.  The insults and dirty way of debating is evident to almost everyone.  This cartoon is for those who are voting, so everyone in America over 18.  However, those who are younger are definitely a part of the audience as well.  Stiglich’s political cartoon is published after and during a series of debates for the 2016 election.  During this time, high tensions created from the election make this cartoon extremely popular.  Stiglich uses syntax and metaphor to show the presidential candidates are acting terrible to each other and ruining their possibility to be president.  Stiglich’s text has the words “Thrown Mud is Ground Lost,” this saying is used to describe their actions in the debates.  The dirty words and harsh accusations not only insult the other candidate, but also their own credibility.  Losing ground is meant to say how you lose your stance in the race and ruining your reputation.  A metaphor in this cartoon is the mud.  The mud is representing the insults they give each other in arguments.  It is mud because some analyzers say that the way these two candidates debate is dirty and wrong.  The artist is trying to say that the way these two act is irresponsible and not how a presidential race should be.  Stiglich’s use of syntax and metaphors creatively show the reader that the way Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump speak in debates is dirty and unlike other elections.  Highlighting this type of rhetoric convinces the viewers to think about who they are voting for based on the way Clinton and Trump present themselves publicly.  

(#77) http://www.usnews.com/opinion/cartoons/2015/01/30/editorial-cartoons-on-the-2016-presidential-elections

TOW #8 - IRB - Do No Harm

Henry Marsh’s Do No Harm, details different cases he operates on in his career.  With the life of a surgeon, especially a brain surgeon, life is never guaranteed.  Marsh’s book includes cases of both life and death, and the feelings involved with it.  Marsh, a well-known surgeon in Britain, writes his book closer to old age, rather than midway or early on in his career.  This allows him reflect on morals and ideas he has created during his career.  He specifically emphasized being honest and hiding feelings while being a doctor.  He wants patients to feel like they are aware of everything but he does not want them to see the emotion he feels and make them afraid.  Although this book may be for those who can relate to him, like other surgeons, his book is more directed toward the public and others who are battling their own emotions.  One of his last chapters, titled “Anaesthesia Dolorosa” is about a woman who lost feeling to part of her face.  It was described as a “severe numbness on that side of the face, an unpleasant phenomenon, though one with which most people can come to terms.  A few, however, do not and instead they are driven almost mad by the numbness” (Marsh 273).  The fact that this woman had experienced a lot of pain from the losing of feeling creates a parallel structure between Marsh and the patient’s life.  As a surgeon, he hides the pain of losing patients or ruining their lives and tries to avoid it.  This reflects on the condition, Anaesthesia Dolorosa.  He fears that ignoring these feelings will ruin his life and create someone he doesn’t like or even recognize.  This parallel structure adds to the fact that one should not ignore their emotions and instead embrace them.  

TOW #7 - The High Costs of Not Offering Paid Sick Leave

In Austin Frakt’s essay The High Costs of Not Offering Paid Sick Leave, Frakt writes about the detrimental effects of not providing workers with paid sick leave.  He mentions how many types of worker, ones in the office to ones in restaurants, go to work despite their illness.  This proves to be a problem when diseases are spread around the workplace and possibly to customers.  Frakt is a credible aithor because the end of his essay it is said that he is a health economist and has several governmental and academic affiliations.  In addition, he blogs at The Incidental Economist, which is a health services research blog.  Frakt’s audience in this text are workers that have a higher position in businesses.  This can include managers and owners of businesses or corporation.  This is his audience because he is listing examples of the negative effects of unpaid sick leave.  To convince his audience that paid sick leave is better, he mentions that “paid sick leave slows the spread of disease” (Frakt 7) and that “each week about 1.5 million Americans without paid sick leave go to work despite feeling ill.  At least half of the employees of restaurants and hospitals… go to work when they have a cold or the flu” (Frakt 2).  Using these statistics make the readers feel gross and afraid of businesses where there is no paid sick leave.  This is because readers are afraid to visit businesses with ill workers and have a fear of contracting their disease.  By appealing to the reader’s reason, they feel that it is necessary to offer paid leave in order to combat the spread of disease in the work place.  To the reader, it only makes sense to do that.  Frakt’s essay is very relevant to news now because just recently Chipotle had E Coli spread from its food to its customers.  The High Costs of Not Offering Paid Sick Leave convinces readers to offer paid leave to their workers and not risk the spread of disease.

TOW #6 - Children Don't Always Live

In Children Don’t Always Live by Jayson Greene, the author tells about the heart wrenching story of his daughter’s death and how it changed the way he parented his new son.  The author of this article is Jayson Greene, the father of Greta Greene, who tragically died in 2015.  His credibility on this topic is immediately established because he is telling his own story.  Greene’s audience in his article is towards parents who have lost a child or who haven’t.  This is evident because he addresses parenting when it’s new and after losing his daughter.  He says, “becoming a parent is already a terrifying process” (Greene 7) and “When I am on the playground years from now, watching my son take a fall from the monkey bars, I might not panic. But some part of me will remember: A heartbeat can stop” (Greene 13).  He relates to parents who have just had children and are realizing how tough it is, and he is also mentioning the fears that parents who lost children face every day.  Greene wrote this article after his second child was born, and after Greta, his first child, died.  Greene effectively uses anecdotes to show how life can change in the blink of an eye and also how precious it is.  Greene recounts the time his first daughter was born and how he “leaned into the crook of my wife’s neck while she pushed,” (Greene 18).  And when she was born and she had to be examined by doctors he realized “All I am is a spectator: her body is not mine to protect, not mine to save” (Greene 19).  By telling these stories, he is showing how he cannot control whether or not his child dies.  He cannot trust that they will live past 2 or 3, he just has to watch while life happens.  In addition, by including the part about being with his wife while she delivered, he is emphasizing how important life is, and that it should be cherished with the people you love.

TOW #5 - When Women Feel That Hand Begin To Creep

Ruth Marcus’ article on The Washington Post titled, “When Women Feel That Hand Begin to Creep,” is about the inappropriate advances made by men in business and the present event relating to Donald Trump.  Marcus recalls her own incident involving sexual assault and connects it to today’s comment that Trump has made and the allegations made against him.  We know that Marcus is a credible author due to the fact she has had an encounter with sexual assault and the fact that she has been working with The Post since 1984.  In addition, she is an alumnus of Yale College and Harvard Law School.  Marcus’ audience is young women and also women any age.  This is evident when she mentions her “daughters, now college students themselves” (Marcus 5), she wants to reach out to young women in order to tell them that they need to stand up for themselves in serious situations, and not be afraid to speak up.  This however, can also be applicable to women any age.  Her article is published at around the same time women have made allegations against Donald Trump claiming sexual harassment.  Marcus uses anecdotes and appeals to her reader’s emotions in order to tell them that women should speak up for themselves and blame men for sexual harassment and not the victims.  Marcus starts her article with her encounter with “an editor from whom [she] wanted a summer job” (Marcus 1).  When he began “creep, farther and farther, down the neckline of [her] dress” (Marcus 1) she couldn’t speak up due to the fact she needed a job.  In addition, blamed the incident on alcohol rather than his own decisions.  She includes this anecdote in order to set an example of how things should not be handled.  She is trying to show how women should never blame themselves or alcohol, they should blame the perpetrator.  In addition to anecdotes, Marcus also includes how she felt afterwards.  She says it “feels more humiliating than it did back then” (Marcus 5) and she mentions that she wanted to prove a point to her daughters.  This makes the readers feel sympathy for her and make other mothers that may be reading want to also teach this to their daughters.  No mother wants to have their daughters afraid to speak up for themselves or blame themselves for harassment.  With the use of anecdotes and appeals to emotion, Marcus shows that women should speak up for themselves and not blame themselves for things they cannot control.  

TOW #4 - IRB - Do No Harm By Henry Marsh

In Henry Marsh’s book Do No Harm, Marsh tells of the highlights and downfalls of his profession as a neurosurgeon. Henry Marsh is a well-known brain surgeon in Britain.  He has worked with other neurosurgeons internationally and has gained credibility through his successful work.  Marsh’s audience is mainly upcoming or current neurosurgeons.  He includes complex vocabulary that other neurosurgeons would understand like “trigeminal nerve” (Marsh 99) and “intraparenchymal bleeding” (Marsh 123).  Most of these words are used without defining, which means Marsh assumes his audience understands.  Although the general audience is medical professionals, from another point of view, this book can be directed to the general public.  With the rise of technology in medicine and new advancements every day, Marsh tells people who may not be educated in medicine how doctors can make mistakes and not everything is perfect.  Marsh uses anecdotes and descriptive language to show his audience how valuable life is and how dangerous and unpredictable surgery can be.  One story that Marsh tells is about the unpredictability of some surgeries: the brain sometimes “suddenly swells and arterial blood shoots upwards, turning the operative site into a rapidly rising whirlpool of angry, swirling red blood, through which you struggle desperately to get down the aneurysm” (Marsh 28).  It is impossible to predict how a brain surgery can go and Marsh describes the panic that sets in when realizes someone’s life can go from perfect to a disaster in a second.  Readers get a grasp of how delicate their lives are.  In addition to anecdotes, Marsh uses detailed descriptions to show how “elegant, delicate, dangerous” (Marsh 14) surgery can be.  One example of this is when he described the work of another surgeon; “he caught the aneurysm, trapped it, and obliterated it with a glittering, spring-loaded titanium clip, saving the patient’s life” (Marsh 14).  Descriptions like this make surgery sound very artful and delicate, many readers feel emotions like gratitude for surgeons who performs these tasks every day.  Marsh’s use of anecdotes and descriptions are very effective in showing his audience that life is valuable and unpredictable.  

TOW #3 - Is This The President We Want For Our Daughters?

In a video posted on Hillary Clinton’s Facebook page called “Is This The President We Want For Our Daughters?”, Clinton exploits Donald Trump with his offensive comments made in public.  Clinton’s video focuses on sexist and misogynistic remarks made towards women in order to show families why he should not be voted for president.  Clinton, a well know politician and former First Lady of the United States, is a credible source due to this video being “Approved By Hillary Clinton” at the end of the video and also by it being posted to her verified Facebook page.  Clinton aims her video towards families and parents who may support Trump already or are unsure of who to vote for.  This can be shown with the use of the word “our” in the title of the video.  This implies that the viewers of the video have daughters and want the best for them.  This video was posted due to the impending 2016 Presidential Election.  Clinton wants to have viewers vote for her instead of Trump.  Clinton is able to effectively persuade viewers that opponent Donald Trump is not a good choice for president by appealing to emotion and reason, and establishing a concerning tone.  Viewers’ emotions while watching the video play a large part in their decision with who to agree with.  Including rude comments made by Trump makes them feel worried for their daughter(s) because his words are hurtful.  This also impacts the viewers’ reasoning, because it would only make sense to vote for a president that is respectful and polite towards others.  When asked if he treats women with respect a response like “I can’t say that either” (0:25) does not put a good feeling in a parent’s mind.  In addition, Clinton’s video also establishes a concerning tone with the use of visuals of young girls and Trump’s comments playing over them.  Clinton’s video is able to convince viewers that Donald Trump is in fact not a trustworthy or good candidate for president.  The video is able to point fingers at Trump supporters and indirectly ask them why they would vote for him and his questionable actions and morals.

https://www.facebook.com/hillaryclinton/videos/1255694001153793/

TOW #2 - The Fight Working Moms Won

In “The Fight Working Moms Won,” Bryce Covert covers the battle between working moms and their struggle to establish ground in politics.  Emerging from the past where moms were encouraged to stay home and raise the children, the idea of paid leave for mothers was uncommon.  But since that time, the situation has evolved from women deciding whether or not to work, to how mothers can balance work and family life.  Covert’s credibility is not established directly in the article, but at the bottom it is mentioned he is an economic policy editor at ThinkProgress and also contributes to The Nation.  Covert’s article is directed towards working and non-working women who are trying to create a family at home.  His article immediately gets a mother’s attention when he states that some plans for paid leave would make employers “wary of hiring women of childbearing age for fear they will disappear if a baby arrives” (Covert 14).  The fact that women’s’ jobs are in danger due to their lifestyle makes women more inclined to listen to Covert’s piece.  This article comes from recent event where politicians like Marco Rubio, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump are debating over certain policies and plans they have when becoming president.  In fact, Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump agrees with the struggles many working mom’s face.  She says “as a mother myself of three young children, I know how hard it is to work while raising a family” (Covert 17). Many politician are trying o gain more votes by appealing to wider audiences, for example, working mothers.  Covert uses rhetorical devices that appeal to emotion and reason in order to convince his readers that women’s issues are becoming more talked about in politics, and that it’s a good thing.  Covert appeals to emotion by including accounts of how tough raising a family can be.  Most families don’t realize that “once they start their families, their energies are zapped by sleepless nights, running after toddlers, and all the other labor that goes into raising children” (Covert 8).  This makes mothers and other readers see that it’s difficult to raise a family and balance a job too.  In turn, this makes working mothers feel proud that they can handle such a struggle and still be able to work.  It also encourages women who don’t work to start working if they desire to.  In addition, it gives hope to women who worked hard to show how their pleas on paid leave should be discussed in politics.  Not only do emotions play a big part in coverts article, but reason does too.  Covert says how “poll after poll finds that overwhelming majorities of Americans support paid family leave” (Covert 11).  This shows to working mothers that is makes total sense why this topic should be discussed more.  The topic of paid family leave was rarely spoken of until Clinton started mentioning it in 2008.  The fact that it is popular in polls increase the need to discuss it in politics.  Covert’s use of emotion and reason effectively show readers how paid leave is an important topic and it being discusses more is important.  The more this topic is talked about, the better chance it has to be being resolved in the future.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/opinion/campaign-stops/the-fight-working-moms-won.html?ribbon-ad-idx=15&rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=article

TOW #1 - How It Feels To Be Colored Me

Zora Neale Hurston writes a compelling essay about the way our environment effects our race.  Hurston kicks off How It Feels to be Colored Me by stating that “I lived in the little Negro town of Eatonville, Florida.  It is exclusively a colored town” (Hurston 114).  This establishes some credibility with the fact that she knows what it is like to grow up feeling included and common in her community.  But when she goes to a different school in Jacksonville.  Her environment changes and becomes foreign to her.  In addition to validating her opinions through tales of her childhood, she was also associated with the Harlem Renaissance, a period which shined light on black artists.  Hurston’s accounts on being black in an all-white community are mainly directed towards younger black women and men.  However, her message can be pertinent to others who struggle with their identity.  Hurston mainly focuses on the fact her feelings with race change wherever she is.  For example, when listening to jazz music, a white man simply states that the music was good, but to her it was an anthem.  The music empowered her and put her into a state full of rage and emotion.  When he simply commented on the music, she realized he did not feel what she did because “he is so pale with his whiteness then and I am so colored” (Hurston 116).  She and him do not feel the same emotions from a historically black genre.  At this time, she sees the divide between her race and his, and it is extremely relevant when they are together in a cultural environment. 

Hurston’s ability to connect her race and a simple brown bag effectively show readers how race shouldn’t be speculated heavily about.  She says that in a bag, “a bit of colored glass more or less would not matter” (Hurston 117).  Her statement screams not only equality, but also diversity.  The “priceless and worthless” (Hurston 117) pieces mentioned in the bag assert the fact that everyone is made differently with different traits, but her point about how colored glass shouldn’t matter proves that race is merely a color, not a social restriction.  In addition, she uses imagery to strengthen the hopes of young black people.  She mentions how the jazz music “rears on its hind legs and attacks the tonal veil with primitive fury, rending it, clawing it until it breaks through to the jungle beyond” (Hurston 116).  This empowers readers with the need to fight against racial boundaries and feel great about their color, Hurston even says that when she feels “discriminated against,” “it does not make me angry.  It merely astonishes me” (Hurston 117).  The use of her imagery and comparisons prove to reader race is not the center of the universe, confidence is.

IRB Intro Post #1 - Do No Harm by Henry Marsh

Do No Harm by Henry Marsh
This book is about a brain surgeon and his accomplishments and failures.  I wanted to read this book because I am interested in medicine and I think learning about how lives can be changed with one right move or one mistake is scary, yet cool.  I also feel that I can learn from this book about how hard surgery can be and how your job can affect your everyday life and your views on the world.

Bop By Langston Hughes

Bop By Langston Hughes

Bop begins as a casual conversation between two men about a music they called Bop.  The narrator is clearly a person in a social class than the other man, or Simple.  The narrator confuses two different types of Bop and Simple has to explain it to him.  One has been used by white people while the other came from a sad history of police brutality against black people.  Simple then explains to the narrator that white people cannot imitate Be-Bop because they haven’t gone through the pain that others have.  They haven’t been wronged by law or questioned where they were going due to the color of their skin.  Langston Hughes understands the fear and struggles victims of police brutality himself because he was a man of color during the 1900s, a time when racism was present.  He was also an early writer of jazz poetry.  Hughes faced racism in his time and this caused him to educate the public about what his people went through.  Fighting ignorance with poetry helped get his point across well.  His essay provokes the reader to think about how those of different races have gone through completely different tragedies and black people certainly have more history with racism and some racism present today.  This essay applies to young and old generation that may not have been educated on the struggles of the past.  But for sure, Langston Hughes wants readers to know that ignoring history or not understanding it is careless.  This point is proven when his final sentences hit readers’ hearts with emotion.  “Your explanation depresses me,’ I said.  ‘Your nonsense depresses me,’ said Simple.”  Hughes uses pathos to make the reader feel guilt that the narrator’s lack of knowledge and maybe even sympathy offends those brutality victims.  Hughes also uses Simple’s story of how he gets beat just for the color of his skin in order to make the reader feel for the ones who listen to Be-Bop and created it.  Emotion helps make the author’s message more important and can give readers who may not know much a call to action. 

The Lives Of A Cell By Lewis Thomas

The Lives Of A Cell By Lewis Thomas (pg. 358)

As much as humans try to distance themselves from nature and Earth, it is incredibly hard to since both mankind and nature are so similar.  Humans are full of miniscule ecosystems that hold their own even smaller villages too.  Man tries to differentiate itself from Earth by becoming a single entity, acting as though they are their own and in charge of their own body.  Yet just like Earth, man is filled with small organisms with a mind of their own.  All doing their own job and taking care of their body and man’s.  It is impossible to say that man is different than nature when both have mitochondria and nuclei that run cell systems.  The essay then dives into the fact that with changing technology, the earth changes too.  Lewis Thomas, who attended Princeton University and Harvard Medical School has his essay conclude with the opinion that even though the Earth may seem like one giant organism, it is “most like a single cell” (Thomas 360).  Thomas’s essay written in 1971 starts to mention that man distances himself from nature, this comes from a time when new technology is constantly being created and the human nature is becoming more bionic, than natural.  He is trying to show that although human may seem strong and an incredible race, we have the same things inside of us as the grass under out feet.  Everything in our existence is interconnected through microscopic systems full of even more life.  This message reaches to both old and new generation.  Old can see the way technology has allowed us to see our connections in nature and the new can be humbled into seeing the way our lives weave into others.  Thomas proves his point with a large dose of logos.  He slams biology terms in our brains yet still gives the reader a clear understanding of how all life is connected.  His wording gives the piece a serious tone and his last sentence ties together everything mentioned throughout the essay. 

The Disposable Rocket By John Updike

The Disposable Rocket by John Updike (pg. 549)

The Disposable Rocket by John Updike kicks off with a humorous simile comparing the male body to a bank account, “as long as it’s healthy, you don’t think about it much” (Updike 549).  He implies that men treat their bodies like an afterthought, it’s only important until a problem arises.  Updike then dives into the anatomy and desires of men.  He says a man’s urge to have sex with women parallel with their drive to live weightlessly or, “experience the release from gravity” (Updike 549).  The realization that males live carelessly highlights their likeliness to injury and poor care.  He then describes his relationship with his body as detached, almost as if he’s watching his body age and change.  In his career, Updike worked for The New Yorker and had numerous short stories, novels, and poems.  He wrote his essay when he was older, 60 years old.  At this time, Updike sees his pale ankles and balding head and realizes his relationship with his body has been like a movie.  Even though he sees what’s happening he doesn’t completely comprehend it.  This proves his message to emphasize the importance of taking care of one’s body and being in tune with it.  His careless treatment of his body didn’t allow him to see changes that he saw as strange when younger.  He mainly directs this idea towards a younger audience, who have time to take care of their bodies and learn about it.  He uses an anecdote to describe what he did when he was younger that showed how he treated his body.  He “used to jump and fall just for the joy of it” (Updike 550).  This automatically gives the reader a bridge to his life.  They see what he was like and can also relate.  When younger we tend to treat our bodies like they’re indestructible.  His relatable stories give the essay a nostalgic mood and allow you to feel remorse for not taking care of your own body, which effectively delivers his message.