TOW #13 - Media Screening on Presidential Candidates

With the recent election of Donald Trump, there is a wide range of political cartoons on the subject of his presidential campaign. Many people are very pro-Trump, and believe that the media portrays him more negatively than he actually is. However, many people also dislike Trump and believe that the media accurately portrays him as a monster. In the Indianapolis Star, they published a political cartoon that captures their interpretation of the media’s views on Trump and Clinton.

The text, created by Gary Varvel, is showing how the media is attacking Trump, but barely touching Hillary’s topics. Gary Varvel is a cartoonist for the Indianapolis Star. The audience is those who read the Indianapolis Star. The majority of those in Indiana voted for Donald Trump. That shows that the majority of the audience is pro-Trump, or at least anti-Hillary. The text was written during the election.

The visual text uses symbolism. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are obviously not in an actual airport together, but the airport security is symbolizing the way that the media researches the candidates. The visual text also juxtaposes Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. It has Donald Trump stripped down and going through a serious screening process by the media. This is what many Donald Trump fans feels happened to Trump because they feel that he was unfairly judged by the media. However, Clinton is freely walking in a prison uniform, suggesting that she is a criminal who the media is not attacking. The media is believed to have not focused on Hillary’s criminal actions, but instead focused on the, what Trump-supporters believed were, minuscule actions of Donald Trump.

I think that the author wanted to show what he felt was the unfair screening process that the candidates went through. He wants to show how he feels Trump was poorly portrayed through the media, but Hillary Clinton could do whatever she wanted without the media making it seem negative. I think that he did accomplish his purpose because he does show his opinions on the screening process of the two presidential candidates.

TOW #12 - The Glass Castle

Children have an innocent view on the world that is almost impossible to imagine. How can one child love their parents even after they have, from almost anyone’s perspective, ruined their childhood? Jeannette Walls explains how familial love is unconditional, and even in the worst of times parents and children find love.

The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls who has instant credibility as she writes all of the events from her point of view. She grew up in a dysfunctional family, constantly moving around with a father who was a dangerous drunk and a mother who doesn’t always act as responsible as a mother should. She wrote this book after growing up to show the unwavering love of family. The audience she writes to is pretty general because it was published so that anyone could read it. It probably appeals most to those who need inspiration or have a loving family because it shows the strength of love.

Walls utilizes narration and point of view very well. Through narration she shows how her father makes extremely harmful decisions to the family, but he makes the decisions as an attempt to maintain his pride. For example, when his daughter was in the hospital he took her out of the hospital and drove her to another town because he didn’t trust the “heads-up-their-assess med-school quacks.” However, without these doctors Jeannette would most likely have died from her burns.

The narration is aided by first person point of view. It is very important that the story is told through first person because it shows the innocence of Walls. She thought that her dad was perfect and that everything that he did was just. However, as a reader it is very easy to tell that her dad was not perfect, and that he acted differently around his children than he actually was to keep up an image of a perfect father. The point of view shows how easy it is to convince children to trust their parents, and how one can love their dad unendingly even though their dad caused their homelessness growing up. This is important with her purpose, because both the narration and point of view show how the author can love her parents unconditionally. The book shows the true strength of love, and that love trumps all, even homelessness and near-death experiences. I think that purpose was achieved and that I could understand how the daughter of an unstable man like Rex Walls could love him.

TOW #11 - Ain't I a Woman?

In the 1800’s, equality was not achieved. The fights for equality that occurred in the 1800’s are important in shaping the status of women and minorities today. Sojourner Truth was very influential and inspirational to women of that time period and even today. The author, Sojourner Truth, was an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. She is very credible because she was born into slavery and understands the hardships that came with being a slave and the need for equality between all people. In her text, Truth is explaining to a crowd that women are strong enough to stand together and demand equal rights. The speech was given at a Women’s Convention in Ohio in 1851 because women were not treated equally in the 1800’s. The audience was women and some men who supported women’s rights.

The author employs repetition and allusions to make her message effective. She utilizes repetition with the phrase “ain’t I a woman” to show that she has the same strength as a man, but is a woman. That has a powerful effect on the speech because she shows that women aren’t weak, she is an example of a very strong woman. Another rhetorical device that the author uses is allusions. She alludes to the story of Adam and Eve in the bible when she says, “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again!” She uses Eve’s story to show that women have the power to make a big change in the world, and although Eve’s was negative it still shows the power that women have. The allusion empowers women to get their rights back. The author wants to show women that they can team up and fight for their rights because women are strong.  I think the author did an excellent job of accomplishing her purpose because she made me feel empowered as a woman and think about my personal strength.