Tow #3, Pope Cartoon (visual)

As the Pope entered The States for his first time, it seemed as though everyone from New York to D.C was impacted by his prodigious trip.  In the cartoon above, cartoonist Scott Stantis depicts how amidst the Pope's friendly visit, US politics are still at full fledge battle with each other.  This cartoon was published in US News, and Stantis's clever cartoons are also published in several of his books, as well as several of the most popular news companies in The United States.  His audience consisted of anyone who reads US News, and was intended to show how US politics are so filled with egotistical politicians, that they do not take time to think about the positive messages that are spread throughout the US.  One very effective device of rhetoric that Stantis uses in this cartoon was ambiguity.  His indirect, yet intentional use of of color highlights the differences between the Pope, and US politicians.  His use of a dark color scheme to make the US seem darker and evil, makes the bright white Pope seem like the good guy in this cartoon.  The multiple meanings behind his use of color contribute to his purpose of illuminating the egotistical, self-centered politicians that fight more than actually coming to productive agreements.  Along with that purpose, the words in the bubble above the Popes head bring along another effective use of rhetoric, which is colloquialism.  The short sentence which has the complexity of a third grader, gives the cartoon an informal vibe, yet is still as impactful as if he had used SAT words.  It adds to his purpose, because it is almost as if the Pope is treating the politicians like elementary schoolers, telling them to "be kind to each other."  Through Stantis's use of colloquialism and ambiguity, he accomplished his purpose in this visual.

TOW #2 "Filter Fish" (nonfiction)

Oliver Sacks, famed neurologist and idol to many,  recently wrote a short personal memoir, reflecting on his childhood and how it seemed to be shaped around his love for gefilte fish.  On the surface, it seems uninteresting, because who cares about gefilte fish?  However, as he recently was diagnosed with terminal cancer, his reflection of the fish is a symbol for the joyful life he lived.  Not only did he enjoy the gefilte balls, but they reminded him of his mother, and everything that she provided for him.  They reminded him of how he could not bare to eat anyone else's cooked fish, as none were as good as his mother's homemade style balls.  His audience, anyone from readers of the New York Times, but also those near the end of their lives, wanting to relive their joyful childhood memories are drawn into his writing through his appeal to pathos.  His use of the short stories he describes ensues his purpose of wanting the reader to think back on their special childhood memories.  While he was writing on how the only other gefilte fish besides his mother's he could eat was that made by his housekeeper, he gave emotional appeal while describing the situation.  His housekeeper, an African American catholic, would make the fish balls for her church, as he described the situation, "I loved to think of her fellow-Baptists gorging on gefilte fish at their church socials."  This appeal to emotion gives the reader something to chuckle at, while they think of little things that made their childhood unique.  To conclude, Sacks's legendary life full of achievement will be missed, but his short memoir published in the Times is achieving every purpose that it has.  When I am sitting on my front porch in sixty years, pondering the little things that shaped the man I will have become (just as Oliver is pictured in the article), I will think similar thoughts as Sacks did, realizing every little positive occurrence in life adds up to your overall happiness, just as Sacks wanted his readers to think.

TOW #1 "I have a dream" (nonfiction)

The Atlantic Magazine and College Board have teamed up this year to have their first annual writing contest.  The Atlantic asked students around the world to send in their best essays where they were asked to choose a document that shaped the United States, and analyze it in fewer than 2,000 words.  After thousands of submissions, lots of reviews by College Board and Atlantic editors, a student named Nicolas Yan of New Zealand won the contest, and his essay was published in the magazine.  Yan chose Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream speech" to analyze, and did so with such grace that it is hard to believe he is only a 17 year old student.  Yan is top of his class and entering his final year at King's College in Auckland.  His intended audience were those grading the essays, however was evidently the millions of people that read the Atlantic, and those that care about the past and current day civil rights.  He goes through MLK's speech, highlighting its impact, but MLK's diction as well.  Yan writes, "Nevertheless, he now found himself at the wheel of a massive vehicle for change."  The diction that Yan uses here to compose this fluid sentence is highly effective in his attempt to convey the large outcome MLK had accomplished.  As well as using rhetoric to capture the reader, Nicolas connected this past event with current day issues, where he writes "King in his 'dream' speech called 'the winds of police brutality,' such as in the cases of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray."  Yan's initial purpose in writing this essay was to not only to be rewarded and published by The Atlantic, but to analyze and speak on MLK's large development on shaping the United States.  In my eyes, but clearly in the eyes of millions of others, he accomplished his purpose in just under 2,000 words by using rhetoric strategies to convey his purpose, which won him the contest.

IRB Introduction- Wild Ones

The first independent reading book that I will be reading is "Wild Ones" by Jon Mooallem.  I saw this book in a book shop on the Lopez Islands off the coast of Washington State, and figured it would be cool to buy it as a souvenir.  Little did I know, this book about the extinction crisis of animals and what we can do to solve this issue is an award winner, and was on the New York Times 100 notable books list in 2013, leading me to actually wanting to read it.

The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas

"Man is embedded in nature" (358).  Those five words summarize Lewis Thomas's essay, The Lives of a Cell, into what its overall purpose is.  To inform mankind how important cells are, and how they all come from nature.  Thomas graduated from Princeton University, then went on to Harvard Medical school where he gained his knowledge to become a physician.  He was a Pulitzer Prize winner for general nonfiction, which led to his strongly praised essays and research, such as The Lives of a Cell.  This essay was written for the New England Journal of Medicine, and was spread around to many books and different physicians, becoming a well regarded text.  Thomas wrote this with the intentions to prove his purpose that we may not think about nature, but without it, we literally would be non-existent.  We are made up of nature, including the individual cells that we need to make our body function, and make every day life possible.  He uses mitochondria as a metaphor to orchestrate his purpose, proving that they seem to be little parts of nature that mean nothing to us, but in reality are more complex and necessary than Jamaica Bay (359).  This metaphor is meant to make us realize that the little things we see and use may be of little help, but without them (nature) we are nothing.  Lewis had an intended audience of doctors and any readers of the New England Journal of Medicine, but his metaphoric references and use of imagery made the essay blow up into something high school students can read to understand the importance of nature, which is exactly what Thomas's initial purpose was.  If one were to ask these readers, anyone from high school level to Harvard Medical school, everyone would agree that his purpose was accomplished in just two short pages.

PHOTO: Kingsley Felix, These are just some of the thousands of little but very important cells we need and rely on.

Pamplona in July by Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway, similar to Mark Twain in that their presence was essential throughout the history of writing, was an American author, whose stories played a huge influence on fictional writing throughout the 20th century. He begins this essay with the trouble he went through when arriving in Northern Spain, and how every local in the town tries to benefit from the thousands of people that flood into Pamplona in July.  The hotel host was trying to make as much money off of Ernest and his crowd as she could, only adding to this adventure that he went through in 1923.  After describing the many different events that he witnessed throughout his trip, one analogy he used, which made his picture of Pamplona very vivid, was when he said "All the carnivals I have ever seen paled down in comparison.  A rocket exploded over our heads with a blinding burst" (Pamplona in July 98,99).  After effectively achieving his purpose, Hemingway's additional use of imagery placed me in Pamplona with him.  His purpose to make me aware of the culture of the bullfighting capital of the world was seemed to be achieved too easily by Hemingway.  He keeps the reader engaged by using subtle hints of humor.  When Ernest is writing on why there are little accidents during this festival, he says it is because everyone relies on the steers to guide the bulls safely throughout the streets (101).  Adding to the list of vivid essays that captivate the reader, allowing them to be placed in Ernest's shoes, Pamplona in July successfully conveys to the audience eager of learning about the world what exactly Pamplona is like in July.  Hemingways effective use of imagery, analogies, and diction kept me engaged, and placed me in Pamplona.  His purpose to show me the culture, and to entertain me of his past events was done with grace, never leaving me at a pause while reading the essay.

PHOTO: Callum Graham,  The thousands of people turn Pamplona in July into the chaotic city Hemingway described.

Corn-Pone Opinions by Mark Twain

As I flipped throughout The Best American Essays, Mark Twain's name jumped out at me.  Little is needed to say about this author, as he is arguably by many the greatest author of all time.  His Mark Twain Prize award is the most prestigious award for American humor.  I have always heard so much about his prodigious writing, but have never actually read any of it.  So, I dove into Corn-pone Opinions, and immediatly realized why he is such a praised writer.  Twain analyzes the meaning of corn-pone opinions throughout this essay, and writes on how there are no true, self made opinions in the world.  There are only opinions that are made based off of what others think.  He begins this by telling a short story of a young black slave that he would listen to preach during his teenage years in Missouri.  One day, as the slave was preaching his daily sermon, he said "You tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I'll tell you what hus 'pinions is" (1).  From that day on, Twain was intrigued by how all opinions come from the influence of others.  His purpose is highlighted when he uses a rhetoric strategy, connotation, suggesting why "Catholics are Catholics, why Presbyterians are Presbyterians."  It is because they follow the opinions of what their associates follow.  If I stop wearing blue jeans to school one day, then my peer will notice and stop wearing blue jeans, and this whole process will snowball.  The audience of anyone from students to pleasure readers can assume from here that there are truly only corn-pone opinions in this world, which is what Twain is trying to convey.  After finishing the essay, I realized that Twain hit the nail right on the head,  he proved his purpose that opinions never come from one's self-realization, and are only formed from what they are influenced by from others.

Cartoon by Glenn Mccoy.  Illustrating how the voter is basing his opinion on someone else's.