TOW #24- The Last One?

Is this really the end?  Will I never write on this blog again?  Will I ever read a single New York Times article again? Will I ever force-read an IRB in an hour on a Sunday night ever again? This truly is a bitter-sweet ending.  But enough about the end of my relationship with my TOWs, and now about my IRB.  As my third and final book, I chose to read the book by Leonard Mladinow titled, "Subliminal; How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior."  As this is the last TOW *cries*, I found it fitting to discuss the last paragraph that Mladinow writes.  He concludes with, "We choose the facts that we want to believe.  We also choose our friends, lovers, and spouses not just because of the way we perceive them but because of the way they perceive us.  Unlike phenomena in physics, in life, events can often obey one theory or another, and what actually happens can depend largely upon which theory we choose to believe.  It is a gift of the human mind to be extraordinarily open to accepting the theory of ourselves that pushes us in the direction of survival, and even happiness" (218).  I think that this quote speaks for itself, when I say how powerful it is.  By focusing on the wonder of the unconscious in his conclusion, he leaves his audience in awe, instead of trying to force a "so what?" factor into his conclusion.  By leaving his audience thinking about how amazing their own unconscious is, he allows them to create their own "so what?"

I was very glad that I chose to read this book, even though I had to share it with my dad for the last couple of weeks.  Though I tended to like historical fiction before this year, I found that books focused around research and meta-cognitive exploration are most interesting.  I would recommend this book to anyone in search of a thought-provoking read.

TOW #23- The False Alert of Global Warming

In 2016, if you heard someone say that they don't believe that global-warming is real, you would probably think that they are crazy, illogical, and completely outdated.  Before reading this article written my Tom Bethell, I would have acted the same way in that type of situation.  However, this article, titled, "The False Alert of Global Warming" opened my eyes to see that there is definitely a possibility that global-warming may just be something environmentalists are using for revenue.  By setting up a counter-argument formatted article, Bethell was able to disprove many arguments that environmentalists make to try and prove that global-warming is a serious crisis.  Though he seems a bit bias at some points, Bethell was correct in thinking that global-warming is not as serious of a crisis as environmentalists argue that it is.

One of his main points was centered on the fact that environmentalist Michael Mann used a “hockey stick” chart that completely skewed temperatures from the past.  Bethell points out that, “Once doomsayers convince us that we are experiencing something new, they feel free to claim that we face a catastrophe.” Therefore, by using a hockey stick chart that only shows an increase in temperature in modern times, environmentalists completely disregard any temperature variations in the past.   By ignoring the ice age, and warm periods that “science” has already proven, environmentalists can easily persuade audiences that the current global-warming is a catastrophe, simply because it is new.  Even if it was true that this was a new occurrence, this is still not proper means to define something as a catastrophe.  The fact that Mann, a “nonscientist”, with support of several environmentalists tried to present this chart to the United Nations to gain support for their cause to save the Earth from this incredibly life-threatening imagination is ridiculous, and Bethell uses this to show that global-warming is not as concrete of a fact as much of our population takes it to be.

Truthfully, I have not spent much time or thought on global-warming, because I thought that it was just a current event, something factual, and something widely agreed upon.  I did not understand how people could believe that global-warming may just be a scam.  After reading Bethell’s article, I can say that, with the information I have, global-warming is not a fact and should still be debated.  You may call me crazy, illogical, or completely outdated, but Bethell does an excellent job of convincing his audience of his view on the skepticism of global-warming.

TOW #22- Male Barbie

Recently, Barbie has started selling their new lines of Barbie dolls that are dressed for different professions, have different body types, and are of different ethnicity and race. The Onion, taking a naturally satirical view, published an article titled, "Mattel Releases New Male Barbie To Inspire Girls To Imagine Holding Highest Leadership Positions".  This article's purpose was not to ridicule Mattel's variety of dolls, but rather to use this current issue as a platform to argue that women and young girls should be able to dream of becoming a very successful person, without having to be a man to do so.  The main audience of this article was most likely both the Mattel business itself, and the customers that buy their product.  To the business, it could be seen as a motive to make female-business leader dolls.  To customers, it could be seen to set a new perspective, that dolls should not be needed to allow a young girl  to think that she is capable of being successful.  Being a young woman, it is extremely enlightening to read this article, as it shows the subtle truths of today’s society, no matter how many feminists are starting to emerge.  

By using a very typical tool in teenage world, sarcasm, the author of this article was able to talk about a serious topic in an amusing and efficient way.  The author pretended to have interviewed the CEO of Mattel and quoted him sharing that, "When young girls play with Barbie, we don’t want there to be any limits on what they can imagine possible, and that’s exactly why we created the first-ever male version of the doll…” (The Onion).  Actually laughing out loud while reading this, I realized that this is probably an opinion that many Americans truly believe.  Unfortunately, no matter how far we may have come in society, it is still much easier and common for a male to be “the boss.”  Thankfully there has been much improvement, seen evidently in schools.  When talking about my own future, I am not asked how many children I want to have, or what type of husband I am looking for, but I am asked what major I am looking for, and if I have considered how my job will affect how much I could mother my children.  As a world, we are improving, but this article shows just how prevalent gender issues still are.

http://www.theonion.com/article/mattel-releases-new-male-barbie-inspire-girls-imag-52635

TOW #21- Visual Text (Argument Format)

Unfortunately, this visual text makes a very true point about life that many may not want to accept.  The artist made this cartoon for people living in first-world countries who are most affected by governments that control many aspects of their lives.  In making this, the artist's purpose was to show citizens that they are a part of an endless maze in an effort to find happiness, because outer societal pressures constantly change the path to happiness to benefit themselves.  The representation of citizens through the rats was crucial to this message, because the facial expressions and humanization of the rats could enlist fear within the audience and make the situation seem more real.  The repetition among the four images also helps to show how society is on an endless paths that may change messages but is still the same maze.  "Happiness is just around the corner!" is a common phrase that everyone has most likely heard before, but repeating this quote in every photo in the collage of the cartoon shows that however the message that society pressures you may change, you never get any closer to happiness, because society's pressures are artificial and not actually helping you to move towards happiness in life.

This artist, while intelligently using repetition and representation, also makes an argument with his visual.  The argument is that life is one big maze and society tells the people that they know the way towards it, but truly, it's only for their benefit.  In our American society, this is most definitely true.  Businesses no longer try and selflessly show their customers the best option for them, but rather show them the most expensive options that will profit their business the most.  Looking at this image, I do not want to be one of the rats, but this maze seems inescapable.  

IRB #3 Update- Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior by Leonard Mlodinow (Argument)

**this is the first TOW that I have used to switch to an argument format**

Finally, I have found an independent reading book which I do not feel like I have to force the words into my brain right before I have to write a TOW about it.  Subliminal is written for anyone interested in how the human mind woks, specifically the unconscious mind.  For such an abstract subject, the author, Leonard Mlodinow, can safely assume that his audience does not know much about how the unconscious works.  This is especially so because even people that spend their lives studying the unconscious, do not know much about the unconscious.  To prove his purpose that the unconscious is the base on which most decisions in our lives are made, Mlodinow organizes his book using deductive means.  In the beginning, he starts off with pointing out some universal truths, or the major premise of his deductive argument.  He states in one of the early chapters that, "We perceive, we remember our experiences, we make judgments, we act-- and in all of these endeavors we are influenced by factors we aren't aware of" (29).  By starting off with this mostly general statement, Mlodinow sets the stage for his readers to show what he will be writing about in the book.  His title being, Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior also sets his audience up for a deductive organization.  Mlodinow starts off with the broad statement that the unconscious mind does more than meets the eye, which is something readers of his book would automatically agree.  Then, in each chapter, Mlodinow goes on to apply this statement from a large variety of examples that can fit anyone that may be a part of his audience.  If he had used an inductive format for his book, then the audience would most likely have gotten lost among fancy neuroscience diction without understanding the main purpose of his book first.  By using deductive reasoning, Mlodinow successfully builds his purpose, as he will most likely continue to do as I read the later part of his book.

TOW #19- Ask Your Doctor If This Ad Is Right For You

While reading through this article, I kept trying to pick out the claim that the author, Mark Pernice, was trying to make.  Once reading through it a second time, I realized that it was not that the claim was not there, it was simply that the article convinced me so much of the argument, that I did not realize that I could possibly disagree.  Pernice makes it clear that prescription drug companies have been increasing their use of advertising for their products, and this is negatively affecting both health care and the society that we live in by using a coherent mix of statistics and relatable examples.

Through this article, Pernice often references to how different advertisements entice different types of audiences.  His own article was written for a very broad audience, as seen through his use of examples that can relate to mostly anyone that would read this article.  In a society that is constantly evaluating the effects of media on itself, this article is extremely relevant to more people than not.

In an attempt to make this article more interesting, Pernice tried to use both facts and creative examples in his writing.  With facts, Pernice was able to prove that the topic he was arguing really did exist.  To start off his argument, he needed to show that prescription providers were indeed increasing their advertising, By stating things like, "The health care industry spent $14 billion on advertising in 2014, according to Kantar Media, a jump of nearly 20 percent since 2011" helps people like me, who do not keep up with the latest trends in media usage, understand what is truly going on.  Without stats like these, I would have had no idea that there was actually an issue.  To balance out this more bland type of writing, Pernice includes examples like famous Super Bowl commercials that an audience would connect with to prove that health care companies are using the media to make money instead of benefiting the general health of their consumers.

Though he may use a variety of examples and facts to back up his claim, Pernice could have done so much more with the topic at hand.  His argument may have been persuasive enough for people that already agreed with him, but this article would probably not sway anyone that was "in-the-middle" or indecisive on this topic.  Overall, it was good, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a jaw-dropping article to read.

TOW #18- Why Do We Teach Girls That It's Cute to Be Scared?

Caroline Paul, a firefighter from San Francisco, captured my eye with the title of her New York Times article, "Why Do We Teach Girls That It's Cute to Be Scared?"  Before I opened it, even the title got me thinking about the issue that society really does make it seem cute for girls, but not boys, to be scared.  I thought that it may just be another feminist rant that would lead to pay in the work force, but it introduced an entirely new topic, by using both personal anecdotes and scholarly sources to prove that society should no longer shy young girls away from risky situations, but rather encourage them to be confident and smart about their choices, like we teach young boys to do.  Although this article could apply to anyone reading it, it feels like Paul was gearing her writing towards parents, as most of her examples are directly examining the ways that children are parented.

One of her first examples was a personal anecdote about a talk that she had with one of her friends about her daughter.  The mom had said that she cautioned her daughter much more than her son, but she used her daughter's clumsiness as her reasoning.  This helped to prove that this is a real issue, that doesn't just affect a small population.  Paul builds off of this example by using a quote from Parents Psychology, stating that "...parents are 'four times more likely to tell girls than boys to be careful..."  And though this may seem like Paul is just stating facts from other people, she continues to analyze these points through her article.  However, without these examples and outside sources, this article may have seemed more like the typical feminist rant that are flooding every popular news source.

Through her almost excessive use of examples in her article, Paul successfully proves her purpose to her audience that as a society, we need to build girls' confidence instead of trying to protect them so much.  Instead of saying "aww" when a girl shys away from something, we should prove to them that they should be confident and attempt risks, or else they will not be able to learn important life lessons.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/opinion/sunday/why-do-we-teach-girls-that-its-cute-to-be-scared.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

TOW #17- How Could I Resist a Superbowl Commercial?

It is really quite a shame that there was no TOW due last weekend, after the abundance of interesting super bowl commercials.  Luckily, so many were such great hits that they are still being talked about in normal every day conversation.  One commercial that surprisingly got me to stop eating wings and chips with amazing buffalo chicken dip was the T-Mobile ad, starring Steve Harvey.  By using this ironic "host" and contrast with the recent Verizon commercial, T-Mobile is able to successfully show the flaws in their competitor's argument while also promoting their own business.  

The audience obviously had to be extremely broad in this commercial, as almost 50 million people were tuned into the Super bowl this year.  Any business is lucky to get air time, so this commercial had to be short, memorable, and powerful, so that its viewers did not forget about T-Mobile the moment the next commercial aired.  Their main purpose was, of course, to get people to join T-Mobile, but this commercial focused on providing a counter argument to Verizon's recent commercial when they use a visual representation of balls rolling down a ramp to show statistics for other phone companies.  

To set up the commercial as a counter argument, T-Mobile used the exact same format as Verizon, but focused on statistics that were in favor of their own company instead.  Steve Harvey pointed out that Verizon had used data from last year, saying that T-Mobile had more than doubled its coverage since that data report.  This not only makes Verizon look unreliable, but also makes T-Mobile look more trustworthy.  

Using Steve Harvey as the host of the commercial also helped T-Mobile add an extra element to their commercial that brought an ironic humor to it, contrasting to Verizon's more serious commercial.  Steve Harvey is currently best-known for his mishap with the Miss Universe Pagent, when he announced the incorrect winner.  In the commercial, he says that he won't even take responsibility for this mistake, because Verizon got it wrong this time.  

Congratulations T-Mobile for effectively using multiple layers of what makes a good commercial to make a great one.  This commercial stuck in the audience's mind, probably let them laugh a little, and most likely gained many new customers for the business.

IRB Intro Post #3- Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior by Leonard Mlodinow

For this marking period, I have decided to try the book, Subliminal, written by Leonard Mlodinow.  In the past, I have been reading historical non-fiction books, both of which did not excite me in the least bit.  This book seems a lot more interesting and it's more about psychology, something that I really do not know muc about.  It is a national bestseller, and although it is focused mainly on neurological research, by skimming through the chapters, it is obvious that Mlodinow is an equally talented writer as he is a scientist.  As the Huffington Post reviewed, "with great wit and intelligence, Mlodinow takes us on a sweeping tour of this [mental] landscape and the latest revelations in neuroscience." How could a student looking for the opposite of a history book pass this up?

TOW #16- IRB 2 Post

In TOW #12, I discussed the first half of the Biography of Abraham Lincoln, a book that 5 weeks ago, I was thoroughly interested in and it seemed to be getting better and better.  However, it seems like one teenage girl can only take so many pages about one man.  Mr. Donald is definitely a historian who has great knowledge about President Lincoln and has provided me with information about him that I may have never learned elsewhere.  Out of his two purposes, one to entertain the reader, and one to portray Lincoln as something other than the Civil War, Donald is truly only successful in the latter.  Although this may seem like the more important of the two purposes, without capturing the readers' attention, the author loses the audience of purpose, ultimately losing the basis to build the larger purpose onto.

Through the beginning of the first half of the book, Donald mainly used imagery and lengthy, detailed stories about Lincoln's childhood and early days in politics.  Then, the second half of the book was all politics, something that I'm not as much interested in as how Lincoln grew up.  At first, Donald's long stories were interesting, but soon they became boring, and I found myself wanting to skip ahead in the book to find any sort of change in plot.  Donald's use of diction is so dry, that the audience could plop it down into a history textbook without anyone noticing.  In one paragraph, Donald writes, "They were eager to get away from Washington, which Mary thought was a place filled with their enemies and which Lincoln knew was a city filled with office-seekers.  They wanted to learn how Robert was faring in the army.  And, most of all, they needed rest" (571).  These were some of the most interesting sentences that I could find.  Unfortunately, most of this biography, was written this way, with bare sentence structure, and adjectives that look like they are sick and in need of care.  With this sort of writing style, Donald makes it very difficult for the audience to stay engaged in Lincoln's story.  Perhaps, the disconnect here may just be that I did not like history as much as I thought I did.  If someone were to write a biography about Lincoln, it would be very difficult to capture the entire spirit of one of the best human beings in all of American history.  But, if you are attempting to do it, don't fill 600 pages with meaningless details and stale language.

TOW #15- You to Still Die One Day

The Onion, as we know it, is meant to lighten the mood, to spread laughter, and perhaps to emphasize the atrocities that fill the lives of the average American.  When I came across this article, I wasn't exactly attracted to the title; "You To Still Die One Day".  It's a Sunday afternoon, right before midterms, not especially a time that I want to spend thinking about when my life is going to end.  However, my love for The Onion was stronger than this haunting title, so I gave it a read and surprised myself.  The Onion had almost outdone itself by taking the most melancholic topic imaginable and allowed the audience to laugh at themselves and find a bright spot in their day.  The author, who was unnamed, used devices such as allusion and intelligent sarcasm to alleviate the wonders of the typical human being, by proving that everyone has thought about dying, no matter how positive they are.

By using allusions, the author successfully makes the audience laugh without seeming like that's what they want to do.  Throughout the article, and even in the subtitle, the author alludes to the fact that everyone thinks about death too much, by repeatedly saying that they "...wondered it perhaps you had momentarily forgotten about that-- forgotten that one day, you will be dead for all of eternity."  And if in a conversation, someone would probably say, wow, thanks for bringing it up.  Everyone knows that they will die someday, and most people probably try to forget about it.  But this article makes it impossible for us to forget about it, with allusions to thinking about death in every paragraph.

Articles on this website are popularly ridden with intelligent sarcasm, something that makes The Onion stand out among other "news" providers.  This article uses it to entertain the audience and make them feel a little better about their death obsession.  Through the article, the author always references to "sources" or "experts", who obviously are neither of the two.  These sources and experts all verify our nightmares that "...everyone you've ever known and loved is going to die, too..."

By writing about death and how unavoidable it is, The Onion allowed their audience to perhaps forget about death and laugh a little.

http://www.theonion.com/article/you-still-die-one-day-52183

TOW #14- Humans of New York

  

November 27, 2015

While scrolling Facebook, its quite common to come across all sorts of posts, pages, and videos.  Perhaps including a couple of politically enthusiastic rants, adorably addicting cat videos, and even purely humanitarian pages designed solely for the benefit of mankind. The popular "Humans of New York" page is one of these humanitarian pages, created by a New York native named Brandon in efforts to tell the stories of people in his great city.  

Along with their sometimes lengthy captions, the photographs that Brandon captures are stunning, in a sense that they're completely human.  It seems elementary, but capturing absolute human emotion is an extremely difficult task.  The emphasis on this woman is extraordinary, by focusing the lens on her instead of the background, and by having a background that is mainly black and white.  If this picture were a paragraph, the woman would be a sentence of vivid adjectives and unique sentence structure among a blob of repetitive "potato chip" style English.  

This drastic emphasis on her obviously genuine happiness is what makes Brandon so successful.  His main purpose is to give hope to all types of Americans, no matter what situation we are in.  He simultaneously gives his audience a rich perspective, that while walking through the streets of New York, or any city, there are stories like these everywhere.  The caption of this particular photograph was entirely made up of this woman talking about her battle with depression, yet in this picture, it looks like she is the happiest woman on earth.  By capturing this moment of juxtaposition, Brandon proves that even though life may seem tough, there are always ways to be optimistic.  This gives his audience a humbling sense of happiness and by incorporating pictures like these throughout his page, he reinforces time and time again the amazing stories of what may seem like the average New York person.