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.