TOW #10- Visual (Debt)

College students today and those that have graduated college face enormous amounts of debt that restrict them from focusing solely on education.  Even some of the brightest students coming out of high school cannot afford to go on to college because of how expensive it is.  In a world where education is of the highest regard, debt is making students suffer and strangles them, which is portrayed in the image above.  Award winning cartoonist for The Columbus Dispatch, Nate Beeler, utilises frightening connotations and modern day slang to portray the strangling effect of debt on students today.  Snaking its way around post graduate students is debt, which wants to pry its fangs into their wallets.
By using the snake to resemble debt, Beeler creates a frightening connotation of the word debt.  The intimidating snake brings everything but joy to the word "debt" which is written along the body of the reptile.  By using this negative connotation, the readers of The Columbus Dispatch think of the four lettered word as something that wants to bite them, giving an impactful message to go along with the visual.  Now that the mood of the drawing is established, Beeler uses the word "selfie" to draw in readers of all kinds.
The modern day slang brings a friendly approach to capturing the audience, as "selfie" is not exactly a sophisticated word that draws away readers who cannot understand it.  This friendly vibe that selfie creates balances the terrifying snake which Beeler does so effectively.
The use of frightening connotations and modern day slang attracts readers to see the portrayal of what debt is doing to college graduates.  It chokes them out of everything they learned, and, limits their abilities to actually do what they learned in college (hence the snake dragging down his left arm so he cannot use it).  Nate Beeler successfully shows the true shame behind universities and the debt they drown students in.

TOW #9- Wild Ones (2)

The importance of animal conservation and climate change cannot be understated.  As a result of the human races rapid industrialization, the earth is changing and heading down a road of pollution and extinction.  The truth is, there is no one to blame besides ourselves, but there is also nothing we can do to change the past.  Jon Mooallem, author of "Wild Ones" writes in his book about the many different animals that are becoming extinct, and the different methods humans have done and will continue to do in the future to preserve animals.  From using parallelism to appealing to ethos through facts, Mooallem gives an indepth look in the second half of his book of climate change.

In one chapter of "Wild Ones," Mooallem touches on military bases actually providing shelter and relief to animals on the verge of extinction.  He draws parallels between the Department of Defence and the Department of the Interior.  "As strange as it sounds, military bases are actually proving to be strongholds of biodiversity.  Land owned by the Department of Defence now has more endangered species on it per acre than land owned by the Department of Interior, the arm of the government that is actually responsible for setting up refuges to conserve those species" (162 Mooallem).  Comparing the two departments and showing how the different departments impact climate change give the reader a new perspective on who is actually contributing to the cause and who is taking away from it.

Along with parallelism, Jon furthers his appeal to ethos through using facts and stats throughout the entire book.  In the Birds chapter, he is writing on the rebound of whooping cranes and states, "The handful of birds that were left in the 1940s have rebounded into a population of about 265 today" (201 Mooallem).  His numbers here appeal to the mind and give a statistical viewpoint that makes understanding climate change easier.

The world is changing faster than ever, and it is up to the human race to make sure that it does not change for the worst.  Jon Mooallem uses parallelism and facts throughout his book to educate his audience and to make them aware of the climate change the earth is facing.  The importance of climate change and preservation of animals cannot be stressed enough, and Mooallem provides a neat outlook of these current day issues.

TOW #8- Kitchen Confidential (IRB)

From Parts Unknown, being a CNN correspondent, or one of the most well respected chefs to walk into a kitchen, Anthony Bourdain does it all.  He has become the face of cooking and the role model of so many young chefs and restaurateurs.  Bourdain has expanded his horizons beyond the kitchen as well; his show Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown narrates his adventures throughout the world as he tastes and explores new cultures.  Kitchen Confidential features all of Bourdain's restaurant advice, as well as his personal stories of how he became the man he is today.  He uses sarcasm and real quotes from other chefs to provide a full and realistic outlook of the adventures of the restaurant world.

In Anthony's book, he provides sarcasm to give the reader a sense of what working and owning restaurants is like.  As he was telling a story about two restaurant owners that had no idea what they were doing, he wrote "they'd chosen the restaurant business as a way to lose their money more quickly and assuredly" (122). He sarcastically jokes about how hard it is to make money and become successful in his line of work.  This gives his readers who may never have stepped foot in a kitchen a different perspective.  Along with sarcasm, he quotes former chefs he has worked with to show his audience the type of lingo and style that is so prominent in the restaurant world.  "'So...what the f*** are you doing calling me in the middle of a f****** lunch rush' I scream into the phone, smashing it abruptly into the cradle" (192).  This type of jarring diction associated with the restaurant world that he incorporates into his book allows the audience to gain a better understanding of the constant chaos that takes place in restaurants.  His purpose of providing an outlook of the restaurant world is achieved through his use of sarcasm and quotes, as they paint a picture easily understandable for his readers.