TOW #30: Letter to Incoming APELC Student by: Julie Silverman

June 10, 2014

Dear Incoming APELC Student,

   

I’ll be brutally honest. APELC is not for the faint of heart. You’ll start out with worse grades than most of you have ever had. You’ll work really hard just to increase one score on the essay scale, not necessarily even for the A. You’ll stress over presentations and over perfecting essays. You’ll have some weeks where you’re swamped with readings. That being said, I have learned more from this class than any other in my life. Don’t let the talk scare you. You can most definitely do it. Not only will you learn how to really write, but you will learn how to approach harder school work. This class is a true AP in that it prepares you for college like no other. In finishing this course, I have an advantage over students in honors or academic classes. My writing has improved in leaps and bounds and I have a new-found confidence in my abilities as a student. I want you to leave this year with that confidence as well. My experiences are as follows:

I started coming into the year with a summer essay that I thought was amazing. I had both my parents edit it and I must’ve made at least 4 different drafts of it. I ended up getting a 74%. As of that moment, that was the worst grade I had ever received on an essay. And I worked so hard, at least ten times as hard as I had ever worked in honors. That scared me a lot. In the next weeks we learned about how to rhetorically analyze, something that was completely new to me. However, I was finding it was applicable in almost every other subject area. As the middle of the year approached, I was stuck at getting a 5 on the AP scale. All of my essays received the same score, which was extremely frustrating. Finally, (and I’m not even sure which essay this was), I got a 6. I was honestly so happy, and a 6 isn’t even an A. I really felt like my writing was improving. As the year went along, we learned different styles, we analyzed different pieces and we discussed advertisements. Later, we learned about constructing arguments, and fallacies not to commit. The Socrates symposium was intellectually challenging but fun. The timed essays got easier. Honestly, a lot of it is a blur now.

When I finally sat for my AP English Exam, I was confident there was nothing more Mr. Yost could have done to prepare us. We knew exactly how the exam was going to work, we had done countless practice multiple choice passages, and we had written a timed essay almost every other week for the entire duration of the school year. I’m here at the end of my year in APELC knowing that I learned so much. Yes, I am still concerned with getting an A, and I’m right on the border between an A and a B. I got an 84 first marking period, so, it can be done. But, even if I get the B, I’m proud of myself for enduring the challenge that is APELC.

I know people who dropped APELC in the first few weeks because they let the talk and the beginning of their year stress them out. Incoming APELC Student, please don’t make the stupid (for lack of a better word) mistake that they did. If you quit now, you’ll be giving up a year full of improvement and college preparation. You’ll be giving up an infinitely more beneficial year than another year of Honors English (and who wants to read books like Like Water for Chocolate and analyze for themes for a whole other year). If you quit now, you’ll regret not taking AP. Because everyone can do it, but only some people have the heart and perseverance to.

Good luck,

    Julie Silverman

P.S. Please find me come to me with any questions!

TOW #29: Jesus Camp directed by: Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing

Watching Goals: Same as above (same movie)

Writing Goals: Correctly identify a claim and support with various sources

Jesus Camp, a 2006 documentary following radical Evangelical Christian children, clearly did not set out to just follow these children. The documentary by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing set out to make waves and educate people on the under-the-radar presence of this growing religious power. Radical Evangelicalism has a cult-like following in many areas, and they believe in a different type of Christianity than the norm. Many followers pledge that they would “die for Christ,” in a similar fashion to terrorism. Throughout the documentary, Jesus Camp, makes the claim that radical Evangelical Christianity is a movement that, although its aim is to uplift American ideals in a twisted way, it challenges the fundamentals of American society. Rightfully so, radical Evangelical Christianity does threaten the fundamentals of American society because of the growing political pull a religion has, and the fundamental differences between their teachings and the Constitution.

The Evangelical radicals are in fact threatening the American way of life as we know it because of their immense political pull. As Jesus Camp specified, the lead pastor of the National Association of Evangelicals, Ted Haggard, spent every Monday with President Bush in his early presidency. Not only does this show how close the men were, but obviously if Bush and Haggard spent that much time together, their political agendas were entangled. This, along with the fact that Bush backed many Evangelical focal points like the war on abortion. This challenges American ideals because for essentially the entirety of the United States’ history, the separation of church and state has been a fundamental pillar of our society. This re-intertwining of church and political motives are an injustice to that American belief. In addition to threatening the belief that separation of church and state is essential, radical Evangelicalism challenges the Constitution.

The Constitution indoctrinates all citizens of the United States with the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, Evangelicals teach that all other religions but their faith are in the wrong. They say they have a duty to right the wrongdoings of this country and “save” others by converting them. These radicals do not believe that citizens should have the right to practice whatever religion they choose (or no religion, for that matter), but they support the view that you’re either with them or against them. And, if you are against the Evangelicals, there will be war to pay. Thus, this radical sect of Christianity challenges the fundamental American belief that each person is born with natural rights, and in our country they are able to exercise those rights.

Evangelical Christian radicals are, by innate fact, a threat to American values. They disregard the importance of separation of church and state with their movement to change countless abortion laws and other laws in the name of the lord, and they do not agree that every person is entitled to their own beliefs. However, this does not mean that Evangelical Christians cannot co-exist with the rest of our nation. As long as they do not take over our country politically, and do not bother others so much as the occasional pamphlet here and there, they can go on their own way like any other American born citizens.

TOW #28: Jesus Camp directed by: Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewin

Watching Goals: Correctly identify the director’s purpose in making the documentary, and pinpoint the two most used devices.

Writing Goals: Correctly apply the relevant devices to their rhetorical effects

The main way to tell if a documentary was a good one is if it leaves you thinking. Jesus Camp, directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, was one of those films. I found myself almost paralyzed in shock as the credits rolled with “Spirit In The Sky,” a Christian rock song playing. Jesus Camp is not about mainstream Christianity, rather, it followed Radical Evangelical Christians. It focused mainly on their tactics for “training” their youth for the “war” of faith. Then, it touched upon the enormous political pull that this group has today in America. There is no doubt that Grady and Ewing achieved their purpose in alerting non-radicals of the growing radical movement, and striking fear into the average citizen through interviews with the children, and suspense.

Interviews with children helped the directors to achieve their purpose because they flushed out the insanity of the movement and created shock value. Kids throughout the film would say things like: “when I meet a non-Christian, my soul feels icky” and, “I think Galileo made the right choice by giving up science for Christ.” Statements like these create shock value within the audience because they’re so blatantly radical and seemingly uneducated. As the film goes on however, and more and more of these statements are present, the viewer learns that this was their education, and that is the very nature of this radical movement. Statements like these exemplify the ideas radical Evangelicals instate in their kids, and thus shed light on the movement, inciting fear in the viewer because of how different and seemingly misguided this school of thought is.

Quotes from children strike a sense of fear into the audience, while suspense is discomforting and emotional. In the scenes where the pastors are preaching to the children, suspense builds. First, the camera focuses on the sermon and cuts to a few listening children with no music in the background; but as the sermon heats up, and the kids start screaming, music starts and the camera angle changes more rapidly. This creates a sense of discomfort in the viewer for a similar reason the interviews do. The radical ideas and practices are foreign to most of the audience and the whole belief system seems misguided, and on multiple occasions the people in the film threaten American life as we know it. Suspense builds to the highest points at places where they declare their war on all other faiths and small children declare they would die for christ in a fashion all too similar to terrorism.

With the interviews of the children, and the building of suspense, Grady and Ewing craft Jesus Camp to strike a sense of urgency into the audience, that this radical Evangelical Christian movement could have more effect on us than we had anticipated. With these devices, the film shouts to its audience: pay attention, they are stronger than we think.  

TOW #27: TOW Reflection

     My TOWs throughout the year have gone through a huge metamorphosis that I can only attribute to APELC. In the beginning of the year, I could tell that my TOWs were a little formulaic. I had just been taught to write an analysis essay, and I was sticking to the basics. An intro, a short thesis, at least two devices to analyze the piece, and a short conclusion. In the middle of the year, I was branching out a bit, using various sources, using different and new devices, and I could tell that my analysis of what the devices did for the piece was really maturing. By the end of the year, I was doing all this and more; I even dared to write a few TOWs on how the authors did not achieve their purpose through their devices. I also thing my general tone has evolved throughout the year in that I can pinpoint when an academic vs a casual tone may be used.
     I think overall, I've really mastered telling which devices are utilized in the piece. I think towards the middle and end of the year, all of the devices I said were in the passage really were there, and not only that, they were used in abundance. In the beginning of the year, I wasn't as familiar with all of the different devices I could use to analyze a piece and I was new to the writing. As I progressed and learned the devices, I was able to use this wide variety to describe pieces with better accuracy.
   However, not all is perfect in my writing (and I know it will never be). I still strive to improve analyzing the effect that the devices had on the piece. Sometimes, my analysis is completely on point with what effect they have, but others, I can find the devices, but can't figure out what they actually do for the author. Thus, my analysis of the devices has its good days and bad days, so I'm still working to make that even stronger.
   Overall, I think these TOWs benefitted me in that it gave me a way to constantly practice, or rather, made me constantly practice (lets be real, no kid wants to practice analysis essays on their free time). It helped me keep up my analysis skills into the argument and synthesis portions of the year. Not only that, the TOWs made it easy to see where I was clearly improving and where I still needed work. I think occasionally, I would get lax on my TOWs, and those weeks the TOW wasn't necessarily benefitting me. Of course, it added stress to my weekly load, and if I forgot about them Sunday night, and had a bunch due on Monday, taking the time to do the TOW could be infuriating. However, I think overall there is no doubt that the TOWs were helpful and my writing matured through them. So, thank you TOWs!

TOW #26: Russia Can't Decide if Ukranian Jews are Victims or Villains By: Alina Polyakova

Reading Goals: Understand the main purpose of the article (this one is quite complex)

Writing goals: Practice writing about a topic that I may not know a lot about, but while sounding convincing and finding examples in a seemingly rhetoric-free article

  Civil unrest in Ukraine this year has been multi-dimensional and convoluted. Russia has invaded a peaceful country and attempted to take back what was once their territory. Russian troops have taken over the Crimean peninsula, and this action has shocked the world, and split many opinions about the matter. Possibly one of the most confusing issue within the topic of Ukraine may be the difference of those citizens who support Russia and those who oppose Russia, and want a free Ukraine. The most recent accusation from those who support Russia is that the Jewish leaders of the Ukrainian opposition are the enemy, and in some way, supporting Nazism. Alina Polyakova, a journalist for the New Republic aims to tackle and report on this complex topic by utilizing concise statement.

  Polyavoka uses concise conclusions and statements in order to clearly come across to the audience. Throughout the article, she first explains the complexities of an issue, and then, at the end of her explanation, she offers a concise conclusion, such as, "the protesters are Nazis, the interim government contains Nazis, and before long they will come for the Jews," and "the term neatly captures two deep fears of Putin's regime. The first is Jewish oligarchs have too much power...The second fear is of successful democratic movements". With these two statements, Polyavoka is able to summarize both of the main points in her article. Who the people were, what they were doing, and why. 

   Thus, Alina Polyakova is able to achieve her purpose, to tackle and inform about the complex topic of the Ukranian and Russian statements about Jews, through concise statements which clearly outline her conclusions. These concise statements allow her reader to comprehend and the article has more impact on the reader as they go on about their lives. And because the reader now understands this topic, they may go on to use this information in a casual dinner conversation, write a report, understand any new news even more,  or even, to help the Ukrainian Jews. 

(zhidobandera, the derogetory term Russian-supporting Ukrainians use about democratic Ukranian Jews, with a menorah depicted with Nazi colors, showing just how complex the countries' dynamics are presently)

TOW #25: Donut Picture circa 1948

Reading Goals:  find the message and find at least one device

Writing Goals: Write a concise essay, even if I just have one device (change it up a bit)

(Source)

Everyone loves donuts. Kids used to line up at our neighborhood’s local KrispyKreme just to watch the donut production line. They would start bubbling in the hot grease, and move along to the oven, where they were warmed to perfection. Then, the glaze machine would pour the sweet sticky syrup of gods over them and they would be left to cool. Kids loved those donuts for decades. The donut is often the symbol for obesity. Homer Simpson is always pictured eating donuts, and cops who don’t do much of anything are stereotyped to be always eating a donut. This picture, photographed circa 1948, is aimed to illustrate how the American donut hole is getting smaller, but the actual dough amount is getting larger through parallelism.

Parallelism between the donuts of the different decades illustrate the prevalent difference in dough-to-hole ratios. As one can see, the donut is the largest in hole diameter in 1927, but has the least amount of dough. As the years continue, the picture includes the same setup but you can see the donut start to change. This parallelism allows the viewer to clearly see the difference in the donuts throughout the years. This difference in donuts brings the readers attention to the fact that with each passing decade, the donut hole is getting smaller and the amount of dough is getting larger. This brings to a point the underlying message. It shows that throughout the years, Americans have wanted more dough and a smaller donut hole. This alludes to the obesity epidemic in America. This increase in dough might be one of the many things that exemplify Americans’ mounting greediness and overall inclination toward more food. Therefore, this parallelism allows you to see the evolution and difference in eating habits of Americans.

Parallelism in this image exemplifies the difference between donuts and donut hole size throughout the years, which in turn gets the picture’s underlying message across: more dough in our donuts is exactly why Americans are becoming fatter. We just don’t need the extra food.

IRB Intro #4: Lies My Teacher Told Me by: James Loewen

  As we approach May, AP tests loom in my future. The one with the most hard-core information that I have to remember is by far AP US. History (APUSH). I will surely be cramming and re-cramming my brain with dates, presidents, and wars. With laws, legislation, and amendments. But, I will surely be thankful when it is all over, because I officially have the CollegeBoard's approval that I know all about United States History.
   My dad, however, disagrees. This past summer, when I was reading The Crucible, to gear up for APUSH, my dad was reading a book called Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen. He told me that I absolutely have to read the book. Lies My Teacher Told Me is specifically about United States History. It examines the flaws in American textbooks and teachings across the country, and, supposedly, tells the reader what US History was really like. It cuts out all of the extra fluff details about our founding fathers, and other "great" leaders of America. Occasionally it exploits the glorified leaders for who they really are, often, they are not the good men you would expect. Most of all, it attempts to tell history from other points of view than just who wrote history.
  I hope to learn a few things from this book, especially now that I've just about finish the AP course. I strategically did not want to read this before so that I would not mess up the information I need to know for the test (because we all know how important that is). But now, I will be able to compare my two sources of information and maybe find faults within the book's claim, or even our education ethics here in America about our own history. After all, the losers never get to write the history books...something that Lies My Teacher Told Me aims to set right.

(Source)

TOW #24 Secrets of the Brain by: Carl Zimmer

Reading goals:

• find an interesting article from a different source

Writing goals:

• seamless transition
• fully analyze each device & connect back to thesis

The brain, as recently educated journalist Carl Zimmer describes it, is an extremely complex organ. Scientists agree, but, to a certain extent they understand even more so how little we know about the human brain. In a sense, most scientists would say that Zimmer was understating the brain’s intricacies. We have only studied the brain intensively for only a few short decades, and we have just started to grasp it’s capabilities and inner workings. Carl Zimmer, journalist from the National Geographic, aims to put these new found discoveries in the spotlight in his article “Secrets of the Brain,” by utilizing both imagery and numerical data.

In the beginning of his article, Zimmer describes laying in the machine to receive an MRI. He speaks of his thought process while laying in the machine, and mentions many parts of the brain, referring to how his “emotions were the creation of the three-pound loaf of flesh” in his head. He also mentions that all of the memories he is able to draw on were “coordinated by seahorse-shaped folds in the brain called the hippocampus,” and that the “web of links” that was his brain were firing. This imagery that Zimmer utilizes allows him to convey the brain as more of an operating system, or something that is alive. People commonly do not think about their brain and it’s functions so this is the perfect introduction to what the brain is like in simple terms before Zimmer talks about science-type things. Imagery helps the reader to begin thinking about the brains functions, and later on numerical data solidifies the new ideas that Zimmer presents.

Like any good scientific article, Zimmer presents the reader with numerical data in order to solidify concepts and theories for the reader. In order to convey just how much work barely dents the complexities of the brain, Zimmer describes researcher's brain mapping: “[they have been] charting the activity of 20,000 protein-coding genes at 700 sites within each brain.” Zimmer also is able to convey the magnitude of the brain. He states that even just for a mouse brain, it will take “another two years to complete a scan of all 70 million neurons in a mouse.” This concrete data appeals to logos in the reader. Who can argue the cold hard facts? Especially because it is a scientific article to an audience that is interested in science, these numbers will aid comprehension and make the information more believable.

Zimmer is able to shine a spotlight on new scientific discoveries about the brain while utilizing imagery in order to ease the reader into the topic, and then numerical data in order to solidify the validity of the research the article discusses. Thus, Zimmer is able to open up the eyes of the reader to a blossoming world in science.

(Robert Clark)

** Note: totally did not realize that my previous article was about neuroscience as well. I guess I'm unconsciously very interested in brains!** 

TOW #23: "Life and death at his fingertips: watching a brain surgeon at work" by: Erica Wagner

Reading Goals:

• find adequate (but new) devices
• be able to identify her purpose in using each device

Writing Goals:

• to be cohesive in the way that my points flow together
• a strong analysis of evidence

At the top of the article, “Life and death at his fingertips: watching a brain surgeon at work,” sits a simple picture of a wrinkled old man in scrubs. His hands are folded in front of him and he is standing against a white wall. His white hair peeks out of his surgeon’s hat and his round glasses match his equally round face. This is Henry Marsh, Ukraine’s best neurosurgeon. He is 64 years old and will retire next year. In this article, Erika Wagner, writer for the NewStatesman, examines his life and what it takes to be a neurosurgeon, especially in Ukraine, through imagery and a personal narrative.

Wagner’s imagery allows the reader to better understand the world of a neurosurgeon. Not many people can visualize what brain surgeons actually do, but when describing Marsh’s surgery, Wagner states that what she saw through the microscope was, “A glittering, undulating landscape of shining whites and greys and reds is revealed in vertiginous 3D,” she also compares the arteries and veins in the brain to “deltas of a river.” This allows the reader who does not know much about the brain or brain surgery to achieve a better understanding of the very basics of Marsh’s profession and the intricacies of surgery. Once the reader can really conceptualize the difficulty of Marsh’s day to day tasks, Wagner then can branch out and describe, through her personal experience with Marsh, what it means to be the best brain surgeon in the country.

Wagner utilizes a personal narrative in order to connect with Marsh directly, and thus examine his life more directly. Instead of taking a disjointed approach and describing Marsh’s life from a distance, Wagner speaks to him directly, and includes dialogue. “‘What proportion of the body’s blood goes to the brain?’ Henry asks me-- and for a moment my own heart is in my mouth, and I feel like one of the interns he questions in the meetings he holds every day at 8am.” This personal narrative gives the reader a stronger connection to both Marsh and Wagner. Not only that, but it displays their personalities as well. Wagner is able to add personal commentary as well. She thinks aloud: “Would I trust Henry if I were a patient, or a patient’s relative? I reckon I would.” This add an extra layer of dynamic to her writing, making Wagner and the story she is telling all the more interesting.

Wagner is able to capture the meaning of Henry Marsh’s career and the implications of what he has done so far in the surgery world through imagery which furthers understanding, and personal narrative which allows the reader to connect to Marsh and Wagner.

(http://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/2014/03/life-and-death-his-fingertips-watching-brain-surgeon-work?utm_content=buffered8d3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer)

TOW #22 Save The Twinkie by: Nick Anderson

(Source)

Recently, there has been much backlash after Hostess, the company that makes twinkies, has discontinued them. To many Americans, Twinkies have been a staple throughout their entire life, and the thought of their childhood favorite no longer being available is, well, unthinkable. In this cartoon, artist Nick Anderson argues that there are way bigger problems than the death of the Twinkie, and that people should stop focusing their energy on trivial causes.

Parallelism helps Anderson to create his argument because it shows the difference between support of the two causes in this picture. On the left, there are two lone people holding a small “Save the Earth” sign. To the right of them, there is a mob with a huge banner reading: “Save the Twinkie.” The difference in support for the two causes are highlighted by the layout of this picture and the parallelism between the signs which differ only by one word. This helps to show the reader how ridiculous the amount of support for the Twinkie is compared with the cause that is beneficial to society.

Parallelism helps to bring forth the argument in a very prominent way, but the background colors and setting are more subtle devices that Anderson uses. In the cartoon, the setting is nowhere distinguishable. The ground is grey, and the sky in the background, is a blue-pink haze. This creates the feeling that the woman’s “Save the Earth” sign is targeting pollution. The simplicity of the background also works to draw the reader in to the central argument made without distractions. Thus, the argument is subtly clarified and the focus is drawn to the main image in the picture.

Anderson is able to make the argument that the hysteria surrounding the Twinkie dissemination is ridiculous through parallelism and a minimalist background. Thus, the reader is left feeling almost ashamed to be a part of a society that holds Twinkies in higher importance than the planet they live on.

TOW #21: Revenge is Sour by: George Orwell

George Orwell is a well-known British author who was prevalent during World War II. His article, “Revenge Is Sour” was published in the London Tribune in 1945. In his article, Orwell examines the true meaning of revenge when it comes to finally being able to punish the Nazis after the war. In order to fully examine the true effect of revenge, Orwell utilizes both similie and personal anecdotes.

In the beginning of his article, Orwell uses a simile to describe the officer he met when he visited a war criminal prison. Orwell describes how the Jewish officer who oversees the imprisoned Nazis kicked and verbally abused the men constantly. But Orwell makes an intelligent observation: “he wasn't really enjoying it, and that he was merely — like a man in a brothel, or a boy smoking his first cigar, or a tourist traipsing round a picture gallery — telling himself that he was enjoying it, and behaving as he had planned to behave in the days he was helpless” (para. 7). This simile is essential for Orwell to be able to examine the extent of the fulfillment of revenge because he is characterizing it in a tangible way for the reader. The reader can then understand that the officers only think they enjoy it because they would have enjoyed it when the war was still going on. Yet, they don’t now that the Nazis are pathetically easy to target. Not only do similes help the reader to conceptualize the concept of convincing oneself revenge is better than it actually is, but personal anecdotes help analyze this feeling too.

George Orwell uses a personal anecdote of a fellow journalist in order to appeal to pathos. Orwell writes how he was traveling with another young journalist on the only bridge into a decimated German town. Beside the bridge was a dead German soldier. The young journalist had never seen anyone dead before, and he immediately began acting different towards any German. Orwell uses this anecdote to appeal to the sympathy within the reader just as the journalist was suddenly sympathetic enough not to carry out his own forms of revenge (in this case by harboring remorse). This, by invoking sympathy within the reader, they finally understand that sometimes revenge just is not worth it.

(Source)

TOW #20: IRB Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) by: Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling, my biggest (unrealistic) friend crush of all time has crafted one of the most interesting autobiographies I’ve read. Actually, it may be one of the only autobiographies that I have read in my lifetime (but still). Right from the very beginning of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), Kaling makes us fall in love with her genuine heart and spirit. In her book, Kaling employs an explicit purpose and a casual tone which both make her writing extremely effective.

Kaling explicitly states her purpose, which helps the reader to know why she wrote the book. Many authors write autobiographies with just themselves in mind, because they want to discuss their incredible achievements. Mindy, on the other hand, has an introduction section in which she answers frequently asked questions about her book. In it, she says that she, “wrote this book in a way that reflects how [she] think[s]...[she’s] only marginally qualified to be giving advice” (3). Mindy later on talks about how her book is just really a manifestation of things she would like to say, times in her life that are worth talking about, with a few lessons thrown in, that hopefully gets a lot of laughs. Mindy being extremely up-front about how she writes first, to entertain people, and next to talk about things that are relevant to her make her writing effective in that it helps the reader to know the underlying purpose to all of her stories and opinions. Thus, if the reader is curious about why she told a specific anecdote, they realize that it may be just because she was trying to entertain.

Kaling also employs a casual tone throughout her book in order to relate to the reader on a personal level. Kaling occasionally says random things directly to the reader in the middle of her writing in order to create a dialogue between herself and the reader. In her second chapter, called “I Am Not an Athlete,” she begins it directly by saying, “I know, I know. Did you put down this book in surprise?”(21). This sense of causality allows the reader to relate to her on a personal level because she is not speaking down to the reader like the superior writer of the book. Kaling seems like she is just having a casual conversation with you as friends.

In conclusion, Kaling utilizes a clearly stated purpose and a casual tone in order to entertain and relate to her reader in an extremely effective way.

(Source)

TOW #19 Princess Cartoon

Reading Goals:

• Identify the relationship between the picture and caption
• Check to see if use of color could be strategic
• Analyze the purpose from many different aspects

Writing Goals:

• Clearly identify purpose(s)
• Fully analyze what each device does for this purpose, and connect it back
• strong introduction

(Source)

In today’s society, girls have very different attitudes than they had just a mere fifty years ago about success. Women's ability to climb the socioeconomic ladder without the help of a male counterpart in America is an important cornerstone of life our country takes pride in. In this cartoon from The New Yorker's weekly cartoon section, illustrator Christopher Weyant's purpose is to first shed light on the fact that women in today’s society have very different views on success, but on the other hand, to make the reader question the severity of modern day feminism. This is evident in the juxtaposition between traditional and modern mindsets, and humor drawn from the little girl's comment.

The juxtaposition illustrated in this cartoon brings to light the modern difference in cultural views because the cartoon replaces what you would expect with something completely different. In this cartoon, a father is reading a little girl a bedtime story. If one were to just see the cartoon without the caption, one would think the little girl is asking the father when the princess will find her prince. Instead, the caption reads, “Skip to the part where the princess climbs to the top of the corporate ladder”. One would think the little girl would be looking forward to when the prince comes to save the princess, but this young girl, encapsulating feminism, sees success as a self-propelled thing. This sharp contrast brings to the forefront how society today has changed in its views of women’s roles because this  dialogue differs from the expected. This juxtaposition adds a certain shock value to the cartoon that humor then drives home.

This cartoon utilizes humor in order to somewhat undermine the ridiculousness of over-the-top feminism. In the cartoon, the girl wants to see the princess “climb to the top of the corporate ladder”. This statement is humorous because girls that young usually don’t even know what the “corporate ladder” is. Thus, the underlying point here is that feminism is creeping into even something as innocent as a bedtime story. This cartoon may be trying to tell us that sometimes we may be going too overboard on the women’s equality issues, and this may be tainting sacred aspects of our culture, such as the traditional bedtime story.

In conclusion, the juxtaposition in this cartoon allows the illustrator to  show the difference between modern society’s views and past views on women’s rights, and humor works to shed light on the fact that sometimes modern feminism can be too sensitive and over the top. However, the best thing about this cartoon is that the illustrator crafts it in such a way that many different messages can be taken away from it, depending on the reader’s persona. One could see this as a cartoon praising women’s newfound social mobility, or one warning of the danger of too much empowerment.

TOW #18: Storm buries Northeast; 16 inches of snow in NJ by: Kathy Matheson and Michael Rubinkam

My father is convinced this winter is the worst he’s ever seen. Almost every day he says some variation of, “I’ve lived in this area all my life; I’ve never seen a winter like this.” Of course, who does not know that we have been bombarded with blizzard after blizzard. With another monster storm looming, I googled “snow in Philadelphia” and came up with pages and pages of articles. I clicked on one, by citizens/Yahoo writers Kathy Matheson and Michael Rubinkam, and got sucked into their description of the peril that the snow has brought us. Through descriptive diction and mini anecdotes, Matheson and Rubinkam are able to paint an accurate picture of winter here in the Northeast that makes readers feel for this area’s unlucky inhabitants.

In order to transport the reader to the frozen tundra that is now the Northeast, the writers use descriptive diction. In describing this storm, words were extremely varied, and evoked an image in the readers’ mind. The storm was a “fierce blast of winter,” “swirling,” and “stinging” people’s faces. Instead of conventional words, these more descriptive adjectives bring new life to this storm. With language like this to paint a picture, I could practically feel the snow on my tongue even if I was in Texas.

Working in conjunction with descriptive diction, mini anecdotes work to illustrate the dire conditions and evoke sympathy within a reader. One person was described to be “squinting to read the destination on an approaching bus in near white-out conditions”. Another was “wearing just a thin jacket huddling underneath an overhang as snow stung his face”. These short but effective anecdotes make the reader feel the same pain (or something far-off but seemingly close) as the poor victims of WINTER 2014.

In conclusion, Matheson and Rubinkam do a good job at attempting to convey our widespread pain here in the polar vortex. They use fresh and descriptive words, and construct a string of short anecdotes. Both of these achieve the desired effect: the reader inevitably thinks “oh those poor people!” Yeah, we know.

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IRB Intro: Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by: Mindy Kaling

  Every Tuesday night without fail, my mother and I sit down to watch one of our favorite shows (just second behind The Bachelor/ette), The Mindy Project. In this show, comedian/actress Mindy Kaling plays herself as a female gynacologist who owns a small medical practice in New York City. Sure, this show isn't the most sophisticated humor ever, but we think it's hilarious. I relate to Mindy's awkwardness and love of food on such a level that I think we're long lost sisters. Anyway, I love Mindy, and remembered my good friend Marta telling me about how she loved reading Mindy's book. 

  So, when I was watching the season finale a week ago, it came to me what my next non-fiction book was going to be: Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). Mindy's personal memoir covers all of her life experiences in a collection of humerous tales with an interlacing of Mindy's commentary on the lessons she has learned throughout her life. This is no self-help or woman-empowerment book; it is just a book by a really funny woman written to hopefully help give girls just like her someone to connect to or laugh with. 

  I hope to just have fun with this book and enjoy my favorite TV star's personal stories. I can't wait to enjoy some of Mindy's humor away from the TV as I wait with baited breath for her show to be back on in April. Maybe, I'll even learn a life lesson or two, but I'd be just fine with getting a few laughs.

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TOW #17: Sophomore Sensations by David Rahme and Patrick Stevens

College lacrosse is the highest level of women’s lacrosse that exists today besides the national lacrosse team.  That means that the game’s biggest stars all take the field during the NCAA championships in May. In the latest issue of Lacrosse magazine, two freshmen stars were featured in the article “Sophomore Sensations”. The article about Syracuse’s Kayla Treanor and Maryland’s Taylor Cummings highlights what the world has seen from these two incoming sophomores, and what we can look forward to in the coming season. In “Sophomore Sensations,” David Rahme and Patrick Stevens aim to highlight and inform about these two rising stars by using direct quotes and strategic images.

The article’s use of direct quotes allows the authors to include information about each player, but in a creative way. In talking about Treanor, the article makes use of a quote from Syracuse’s head coach, Gary Gait, he says that “[Treanor] has the potential to be the best I’ve ever coached,” (44). Similarly, the article includes a quote from Coach Cathy Reese about Cummings’ nerves freshmen year. She said to Cummings, “‘What are you nervous about? It’s lacrosse and you’re awesome’” (46). These quotes work to supply essential information that makes the athletic journey of both girls interesting, but while also keeping the article informative.

Next to the columns of text are strategic pictures that draw in the eye, in order to grab the reader visually as well. The magazine had both Treanor and Cummings pose in the same athletic ready position in the shoot for the article. This enhances the imaging of both girls as tough athletes, and also adds to the comparison the two sections of the article have to both of these freshmen superstars. The pictures also work to draw the reader in, making them want to know more about these mysterious girls who look beautiful but dangerous all at once.

In “Sophomore Sensations,” Rahme and Stevens accomplish their goal, to inform the reader, and to even excite the reader to watch these two girls step on to the field this upcoming lacrosse season. As for me, I was excited to follow this years’ NCAA tournament regardless, but now I have two young stars I can root for, because I feel like I know them personally.

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