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.

TOW #10 - Join or Die

Ben Franklin’s “Join or Die” is famous propaganda about uniting the colonies written for the British colonists. The French and Indian war was beginning at the same time that this political cartoon was released (1751). Ben Franklin thought that was very important that the colonies were unified during wartime. The cartoon includes a snake that has 8 British colonies, with the snake’s head being the north part and the snake’s tail being the south. The colonies are all separated, and the snake is dead. Ben Franklin, one of the founding fathers, created this political cartoon. He has instant credibility, he is one of the most influential historical figures of this time period and has a lot of ethos through his work during his lifetime. Ben Franklin uses rhetorical devices to establish his purpose. Ben Franklin uses symbolism. There was a myth that if a cut up snake was put back together by sunset it could come back to life. The snake symbolizes the colonial unity, and says that America need to put the pieces back together and become unified before it is too late. He also has an ominous tone. By saying “join or die” on the bottom, Franklin is showing the importance of unity at this dire time. If the colonies were not unified, then like the snake they would all die separately. This serves as a call to action, which is scaring the colonists into uniting, or else they will end up dead like the snake. Ben Franklin also juxtaposes all of the states together. What is interesting is that he does not seem to make one state seem bigger or more important than the other. Pennsylvania is a lot bigger than New Jersey, however in the text it doesn’t seem to be too much bigger. By keeping all of the parts relatively the same size, Franklin is showing that all of the states and their unification is important. Ben Franklin’s purpose was to ask for unity in the British colonists during the French and Indian war. This political cartoon was reprinted in many newspapers across the colonies, and it had a big effect on their unity. It almost scared colonists into unifying. I believe Franklin did achieve his purpose of asking for unity as it had a very big impact on America.

IRB Post #2 - The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle is a collection of memoirs written by Jeannette Walls that is about growing up with a deeply dysfunctional family.  I have decided to read it as my IRB because it received amazing reviews. Family has a deep meaning to me, so I wanted to read about the love of other families and see if it helps me gain a deeper understanding of my own family. 

TOW #9 - Not Our President

In “‘Not Our President’: Protests Spread After Donald Trump’s Election,” the authors explain how there were violent protests after Donald Trump was elected. The article was written by Annie Correal and Christopher Mele who are both credible as they are writers for the New York Times. The text was written for a general American audience the day after Donald Trump was elected president. Both those who support and do not support Donald Trump should understand the actions that are being made against him to fully understand what is happening in our country. By using interviews, the authors appeal to ethos, logos, and pathos. The authors appeals to ethos because they show that they are credible - they are getting primary sources to explain what is happening. They are appealing to logos through interviews to show the intentions behind the riots. Logos is also appealed to through the statistics they use, for example 15 people were arrested during one of the riots. They also use Rogerian Argument because they show both sides of the argument. They show how the riots are destructive and how they have negative consequences. However, the authors also show the intent behind the riots and give them justification. Through all of these rhetorical devices I think the authors wanted to show that the election of Donald Trump is causing a divide within the country. The American people who do not like Trump are very upset and starting riots. The authors are explaining the negative effects of Donald Trump’s election before he was even officially made president. I think that the authors achieved their purpose because it is very clear to see that there is a great problem caused by the people who dislike Donald Trump because Donald Trump was elected. The riots that followed the election showed that there is a divide between the people who support Trump and the people who do not.

TOW #8 - Thinking Without Thinking

In Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, Gladwell explains how subconscious thinking affects everyday choices. Malcolm Gladwell is a renowned author who has written many psychology books. He cites many surveys and studies to establish his ethos. Gladwell writes Blink because everyday, people are making mistakes by letting their subconscious control their thoughts. He says, "if we can control the environment in which rapid cognition takes place, then we can control rapid cognition. We can prevent…mistakes" (253). This text can apply to everyone, and everyone is affected by not taking control of their subconscious. His audience however is mainly those interested in psychology or how the brain works because that is the context of most of his works, including Blink. Gladwell uses logos and narration to support his purpose. Logos is shown through the many studies that he uses to back up his claims. For example, he shows that "most police officers - well over 90 percent - go their whole career without firing at anyone" (222). By using logos, he shows that he is not making up the information that he is writing, but is giving his evidence and then coming to a conclusion. It helps the audience see why Gladwell thinks what he thinks and gives the audience the choice to agree or disagree with him. Gladwell also uses narration to describe stories of the instances he describes. By using stories, the audience can understand what the effect of subconscious has in a variety of situations. This also makes the audience more interested because it gives them a story to go along with what Gladwell is trying to prove, not just a list of facts. Gladwell effectively uses narration and logos to show that the subconscious can allow anyone to make instant choices that will have drastic effects. However, Gladwell shows that if one can think about their subconscious, and try to eliminate the way their subconscious affects them, they can be a lot more effective in their decision making. For example, when orchestras started to have blind auditions, they selected better musicians because they weren't affected by their first-impression of their look, only their impression of their music. I think that Gladwell effectively showed his purpose because his narration and logos lead the audience to reach the same conclusions as him. I agree that it is important to focus on subconscious and be aware of it, and hopefully it will change the way that I make decisions in the future.