ToW #13 - Article from ESPN: "Jaguars to let MJD test market"

Disclaimer: Be it through forgetfulness or repeated negligence, I have clearly neglected to complete this ToW, number 13, before its assigned deadline. That said, I have found APELC to be a very rewarding class, so I am determined to complete this ToW in solidarity with APELC's curriculum. Here goes.

        As someone whose only connection to American Football is passing glances at what his brother has on TV, it seems that football player Maurice Jones-Drew (MJD) is nearing the end of his contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, an NFL team that I have never heard of. This article presents many of the facts of MJD's career with the Jaguars and quotes a few statements from the Jaguars' General Manager and MJD about his chances of getting recontracted. The article excels in reporting and organizing facts but falls far short in being stylistically pleasing. Its author, Michael DiRocco, seems to have a duality in his credibility, too; he has received multiple awards from the AP Sports Editors but was educated at the lesser-known Jacksonville University. Either way, I would say that he succeeds in the reporting aspect of any article's purpose but fails in the entertaining aspect of it.
        Obviously written for football fans eager enough to look for articles on ESPN.com, DiRocco presents all of the facts that I imagine an avid sport connoisseur could want. In one information-filled but ever-so boring paragraph, he states, "Jones-Drew, who will be 29 years old in March, is a physical runner despite his 5-foot-7, 210-pound frame. He has a lot of mileage on his legs, too. He has carried the ball 1,804 times, caught 335 passes for 2,873 yards, and returned 70 kickoffs and 15 punts." These alphanumerics would constitute an appeal to logos, but DiRocco doesn't have anything to prove to the reader -- he simply presents the facts and lets the reader conclude on them.
        My inability to expertly conclude on these facts may be what made the article so boring to me, but we cannot ignore the rather dull style about it. For example, "He said it would be hard to keep Gabbert if the team re-signed Chad Henne and drafted a quarterback with the No. 3 pick, but he also said the Jaguars aren't automatically going to draft a quarterback with their first pick." The stylistic crime committed here is the double repetition -- of "he said" and "draft a quarterback" -- which makes a parallel structure out of an already boring sentence. So many errors like this are made that I have to wonder if DiRocco ever had a class like APELC to teach him the value of entertaining his audience.

Maurice Jones-Drew punching a guy.

ToW #12 - IRB by Meg Jay: "The Defining Decade"

        Jay begins her "self-help"ish book on how to seize your twenties with a chapter-long description of the plight of current twentysomethings and a preview of the advice that she gives them in her psychology practice. In doing so, she gives anecdotes about the twentysomethings that she has sessions with and frequently quotes other psychologists in proving her points.

        The introduction begins with the tale of Kate, a lost twentysomething who enrolled in Jay's therapy sessions. Stories are told about Kate's failures so far: she needs a driver's license to get to any good jobs, she distracts herself from her depression with shallow histrionics, and she insists on contemplating her life rather than living it. A conclusion is eventually made; Kate acts the way she does because she follows the doctrine that "thirty is the new twenty", giving her an excuse to procrastinate on her goals with the promise that they'll be easier to fulfill in her thirties. Jay denies this and makes an example out of Kate, likening her experiences and thoughts with those of many other twentysomethings. In talking specifically about Kate, Meg Jay makes it much easier to understand the plight of every new adult.

        Then, understanding that just anecdotes and examples are have messages too shallow to provoke understanding amongst her readers, Jay weaves a few quotations regarding early adult life for twentysomethings to use as maxims to live by. For example, when countering Kate's desire to contemplate her life, Jay urges her to stop following Socrates' "the unexamined life is not worth living" and start abiding by Sheldon Kopp's "the unlived life is not worth examining". She later states the adage that "hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper" when asking twentysomethings to hope before their twenties and then act during their twenties rather than hoping before and after their twenties. In using these short, memorable phrases, Jay provides her readers with a constant stream of take-aways from her text. Instead of having to develop mottos for themselves, they just have to read Jay's book.

<Source>

ToW #11 - Article from BBC "Autos": "For Japan’s hot-rodders, the eyes have it"

        This randomly-selected article from BBC's online magazine, written by Brendan McAleer, an "independent automotive writer" and thus member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada, compellingly portrays the history of Japan's Mooneyes hot-rod shop. Mooneyes, an extension of Dean Moon's 1950s-revolutionary custom parts company, soups-up cars from all over the world with Japanese style. This automobile culture, which is normally uninteresting to me, is artfully and expertly described by McAleer, making it not only interesting, but engaging. This raises a question: is he only writing for automobile enthusiasts? Its seems not; his prose is entertaining enough to appeal to a much broader audience than that. It is a combination of McAleer's unexpectedly descriptive writing and his tasteful choice of subject that allowed him to successfully educate me about the half-ordinary and half-wondrous Mooneyes Japan shop.

        At the very outset of his article, McAleer goes into a frankly startling level of detail. Perhaps I'm just used to the rather sterile world of functional cars and not the realm of artful hot-rods, but doesn't this paint a gorgeous mental image?

"Welcome to Mooneyes Japan, a slice of Californian automotive history basking in the glow of the Rising Sun. Holding pride of place out front, a glinting yellow dune buggy looks as if it just alighted from the cover of a vintage hot-rodding magazine. Millions of metallic golden flecks in the citrus-yellow paint catch the dancing light, making the car twinkle like a mirage."

        You can almost feel the brush strokes. The beauty of the prose parallels the beauty of the cars perfectly. I can only assume that this move towards creative writing was a result of McAleer's perception of the creative side of custom car design. This makes McAleer the most literary "automotive writer" that I expect to find any time soon.

        Even without the more engaging of the descriptive tricks employed, this article may have still appealed to me. Through the sheer luck of myself being a student of the Japanese language, I find learning anything about the culture engaging. From working through the proper pronunciations of names like "Sugamuma" and "Ishii" to exploring the relationship between the Japanese Mooneyes and the Californian Dean Moon, I have to say that I found the experience spontaneously enjoyable. But I do not think that I am the only one who could enjoy a piece involving Japan; in modern times, when Japan seems to balance both extreme technological innovation and a richly historied culture, almost every forward-thinking or sentimental person has an eye for the Japanese. This recalls the question of audience; perhaps it was not fully wise for this particular article to be situated only in the "Autos" section. In my opinion at least, it's front page material.

ToW #10 - Infographic on Salt Intake: "Salt Mountains"

Yes, I did randomly select this infographic. 

I originally thought that it was about those huge piles of sediment that you see at mining sites.

        Made by the aptly named company GDS Infographics, this is a rather unengaging though powerful infographic that effectively compares the salt content of various foods with daily required salt intake. Though little information can be found about GDS Infographics (maybe they should make an infographic about themselves), its overflowing online portfolio tells me that the designer(s) behind it has a lot of experience. The inclusion of sources on "Salt Mountains" also lends itself to the credibility of GDS Infographics. Given the current state of health of the average American and the inclusion of the monstrously tall "Average US intake" mountain, it seems that the main reason behind the creation of this infographic was to ignite some movement towards salt intake awareness. Of course, given that it is only concerned with salt intake within the US, it is clear that this infographic was intended for Americans who eat or know someone who eats a lot of salt-rich food (i.e. all of us). While "Salt Mountains" was seemingly made for Next Generation Food, it seems that the denoted website, www.nextgenerationfood.com, is out of commission, adding to the ambiguity of the infographic's context.

        Being an infographic, "Salt Mountains" inherently appeals to logos. But how does it do this? In two simple ways: through its visual and numerical comparisons and through its orderly sorting system. Of course, its comparisons are its main premise, being perceived both through the number values in mg of salt and through the easier to understand mountains depicted throughout. But alas, these comparisons are not all that easy to see from a glance; the viewer has to read (which takes effort, often a deal-breaker) what each mountain represents, taking them out of the overall visual dissemination of information. If, say, pictures of each food item were depicted, the infographic would be both more engaging (allowing for easier view of the comparisons) and more visually appealing. Then, the sorting system, embodied by the upwards legend and the color coding, is a more passive appeal to logos; it doesn't exactly impose anything on the viewer. Instead, it is more a tool for the viewer to use in understanding the infographic. Again, if there were pictures of each food item, the viewer would be able to see the categories without a key. Because of these shortcomings, the entire infographic is pretty unengaging, hiding the powerful message about salt moderation beneath a layer of cognition.

ToW #9 - Magazine Article from Esquire: "The Best Coast to Buy Oysters From"

        I feel like I've only been reading ToWs that agree with my personality recently, so I decided to go for something conflicting with me: Esquire Magazine's "Eat Like a Man" blog. At odds were a deep thinker versus a shallow subject, a lover of obscure culture versus the poppiest of pop-culture magazines, a vegan teen versus a carnivorous man. And yet, I still found it somewhat enjoyable. Let's see why.

        So, this particular (October 13th) installation of "Eat Like a Man" was a sort of Q&A correspondence between the "Man" himself, Josh Ozersky, and writers-in from all around the United States. Set up like an interrogation of Ozersky conducted by unassuming fans, the article flows pretty smoothly between questions on technical food terms to advice on what to make for "Thankakkuh" (of course, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah mix a bit this year). Ozersky does much to prove his credibility as an experienced chef and linguist throughout his answers, effortlessly naming various varieties of oysters, explaining the specifics of what makes a steak "rare" or "medium well", and using very impressive words like "milquetoast", "merroir", and "heterodoxy". Now, unless I've underestimated Esquire's key demographic, this article seems more than a bit advanced for the magazine. Some sprucing up could make it acceptable for some high-brow bi-quarterly food journal.

        The question-and-answer format of this article gives a good hint towards what the audience is like: people with nicknames akin to "Dr. BBQ" and locations within North America. It is quite clear that Ozersky's explicit purpose is to answer his audience's various questions effectively and act as a teacher of the food arts. In doing this, there are hardly any obvious rhetorical choices made; Ozersky writes very conversationally; one gets the feeling that he did not think through or revise his prose. Still, this creates a sort of uncluttered, simplistic feeling to the article, perhaps making it easier to glean facts from it. In this way, I'd have to say that this blog post was undeniably effective and even enjoyable; Ozersky's sheer knowledge of all things food is astounding and his conversational tone is engaging. But then, glancing at the sidebar titled "What to Read Next" and seeing oodles of banal, shallow articles, I still don't think that I'll stick around with Esquire Magazine.

Glidden Point oysters: "full of oomph and mineral zing".

IRB #2 Introduction: "The Defining Decade"

        In this next installment of these quickly progressing marking periods, I plan to read a book by clinical psychologist Meg Jay, The Defining Decade: Why your twenties matter--and how to make the most of them now. In case that subtitle does not explain the book thoroughly enough, The Defining Decade's premise is the argument that most of a person's personality and future life is decided while they are between 20 and 30 years old. After establishing this premise, it speaks primarily about how to seize that decade in productive ways.
        So why, out of all of the possible nonfiction books in the world did I pick this one? I mean, being a sixteen-year-old, I'm not quite worried about my twenties just yet. To put my reasoning shortly and sweetly, I love my mom. Yep, she's been reading this book recently (as her paper-towel bookmark sticking out of its middle attests) and, respecting her choices in reading, I decided to pick it up myself. And hey, after Jay used a Pink Floyd lyric to introduce her first chapter, I'm obliged to say there have not been any regrets so far.

ToW #8 - IRB by Michael Pollan: "The Botany of Desire"

        Michael Pollan, the long-time botanist, journalist, and author, continues The Botany of Desire with chapters on the human relationships to the beautiful Tulip, the mind-altering Cannabis, and the easily controlled Potato. The sophistication of his explorations increase somewhat as these chapters go by, making the book best suited for people with a high capacity for understanding and versed science and history educations. For example, subjects vary from neurological chemistry to Dutch history to Nietzschean philosophy. Pollan writes about the formerly mentioned plants after much scholarly research (he speaks with leading neuroscientists about THC, the high-inducing chemical in Cannabis) and after growing each of the plants in his own garden. In fact, he begins his chapter on Cannabis with an anecdote from his one and only pot-farming escapade. Needless to say, Pollan proves himself as an expert on the human history of those aforementioned plants.
        The primary purpose of Pollan's seems to be to encourage a deeper appreciation of cultivated vegetation. In the chapter on tulips, he contrasts the dime-a-dozen brightly colored modern tulip with the Semper Augustus, a tulip that brought the Netherlands into an economic flower frenzy. This comparison enriches the cultural significance of the tulip in the reader's eyes, allowing them to regard it in a more flattering light. Then, when speaking about marijuana, Pollan takes a scientific look at the chemical genius that it contains rather than the traditional romanticized sentiment that so many others write about. This brings the reader into a sort of reverence for the drug's chemistry regardless of whether or not they approve of its cultural taboo. For myself at least, a reader who was very lucky to find a book that was extremely well-suited for him, Pollan was undeniably successful. As I read The Botany of Desire, I felt my intellectual world broadening, my neurological connections being reinforced, and, most importantly for Mr. Pollan, I felt the seed of botanical appreciation being sown and enjoyed every moment of its roots burrowing ever deeper into my mind.

A little bit more than your average tulip, eh?

ToW #7 - Visual Text by Daniel Kurtzman: "Marriage Equality"

"Marriage Equality"
Found Here

        Clay Bennett, the 2002 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, published this political cartoon in the Tennessee newspaper Chattanooga Times Free Press. The cartoon is on the topic of recent developments in marriage equality, specifically the New Jersey law enacted on October 21st allowing gay couples to marry. Triumphantly playing on this recent piece of legislation, it juxtaposes three happy advocates of marriage equality with one of its defeated-looking opponents. It also features the old marriage adage, "Something old, something new / something borrowed, something blue," which describes four separate items that are supposed to be worn by a bride on her wedding day. This reference to tradition emphasizes the four items worn/held by the figures in the comic: an old Constitution, a new LGBTQ support flag, a borrowed marriage equality pin, and a sign protesting gay marriage held by a blue, or sad, man.
        The Chattanooga Times Free Press seems to have online articles that are written with equal amounts neutral, liberal, and conservative intents, implying that its audience is of no specific political orientation. Other information, found on a demographics database, claims that 55.8% of Chattanoogans vote Republican while 42.4% of them vote Democratic. It is important to note here that Bennett depicted the defeated opponent of marriage equality as being a Republican, wearing a GOP hat. In doing this, Bennett seems to be isolating over half of his potential audience for the sake of celebrating with the implied Democrats who support marriage equality. That said, there does not seem to be much more to his purpose than celebration, besides perhaps guilting Republicans into considering the cause for equality. All in all, it can be said that Bennett is very successful in his celebration. This success comes mainly from his usage of the marriage adage; it's punchline, a defeated opponent, is snarky and gloating but nonetheless effective. He also includes the US Constitution on the side of support for gay marriage, reminding all that the primary document of United States government enforces marriage equality.

ToW #6 - Short Story by David Malone: "George II"

        "George II" is a second-person command narrative (much like "What Really Happened") in which the reader takes the perspective of George, a professor who has recently come back from the dead after six months of afterlife. The entire story manifests itself in a conversation between George and his already moved-on widow, Anita. It's writer, David Malone, is a postgraduate who works as a researcher for BBC World Service. His works have been published by five relatively small-time but high quality literary magazines.
        Carve Magazine published Malone's "George II" as one of the five short stories in their Summer 2013 issue. The core demographic of Carve, which has the slogan "Honest Fiction", must by nature be people interested in reading provoking literature. They don't even have to have formal training in literature; "George II" can be read at face value or analyzed deeply to be enjoyed. That said, as perception of honesty often comes with age and experience, Carve is probably best suited for an all-around mature audience. And Malone's subject is most certainly mature: in an interview with Carve, Malone gives some indication of the muse for his work, speaking about the "rational fear ... that there may be nothing beyond this life". He then poses the question "what if you suddenly knew the answer to the ultimate what’s next and didn’t like it?" The inclusion of these lines leads me to believe that his motive in writing was to explore this question with philosophical intent.
        Obviously, it is easy to get lost when following a philosophical path. Realizing this, Malone employed a few strategies in order to help his reader through the journey. From start to finish, he begins most sentences with command words, writing sentences along the lines of "Eat the spaghetti. Look at your glistening fork." These commands immediately immerse the reader into the narrative, forcing them into the perspective of George and thus helping them take ownership of the story. Also throughout the story, Malone helps his readers understand the story's implications by referencing familiarities from Christianity. Examples include Anita's Christ-on-a-cross necklace and her new boyfriend, "Peter the rock" (Peter the Apostle was named for the Greek petros, meaning "rock").
        All in all, Malone had a pretty simple purpose: to write a short story about knowing what the afterlife is. I have to say that he did fulfill that purpose; heck, George even divulges what the afterlife is like at one point. But of course, most authors have a higher purpose than their primary one. They want to make their writing good. Simply from the sheer sophistication of the previously mentioned strategies, I hope that it's clear that Malone's "George II" is better than good.

Read "George II" here.

George rises in much the same way, 

though Anita isn't sat there crying any more.

ToW #5 - Article by Joanne Lipman: "Is Music the Key to Success?"

        This New York Times article is an examination of music's role in success. In order to gather her information, Joanne Lipman interviewed traditionally successful people (Woody Allen, Chuck Todd, etc.) about how their musical pursuits have contributed to their success.

        Lipman is a frequent business commentator, appearing on CNBC and CNN. She is also the co-author of Strings Attached, a nonfiction work about her childhood music mentor, making her very qualified to write about music and success. Written just 11 days after Strings Attached was published, it seems that the main context behind this article is clear. I hypothesize that Lipman wrote this article in with the idea of promoting her book in mind. After all, each page of the article is followed by a line mentioning it. While the explicit purpose of this article is to answer the question "is music the key to success?", Lipman hints at a perhaps ulterior motive of hers (besides promoting her book) in the fifth-to-last sentence. She states, "[Music's ability to improve perseverance is] an observation worth remembering at a time when music as a serious pursuit — and music education — is in decline in this country." This note of Lipman's points to an implicit purpose of her's in writing this article about the benefits of dedication to music: to encourage more people to pick up instruments, saving music from its decline.
        Published by The New York Times and clearly written for people actively pursuing methods to success, this article is rather simply intended for an intelligent audience. This assumption is bolstered by Lipman's almost scientific data-collection and conclusion-making processes. Not to mention that the article is strewn with logical appeals. Lipman both begins and ends the article with lists of examples: at the start, it's successful people who play instruments; at the end, it's success-bringing skills that music teaches. Quotes from her interviewees are also frequently used, constituting appeals to ethos when the speakers are famous and pathos when they recollect personal stories. This article had an interesting effect on me: just a day after I declined an offer to learn how to play the guitar, I'm reconsidering my estrangement of playing music. Simply because of this effect, I feel compelled to say that Joanne Lipman was especially successful in this article. In fact, she was so successful that I must assume that she has played music for all her life.

Link to the Article

ToW #4 - IRB by Michael Pollan: "The Botany of Desire", Chapter 1

        Michael Pollan has been educated in Bennington College, Oxford University, and Columbia University and is an author of four agriculturally-rooted New York Times bestsellers. He begins the core content of his book on the causal relationship between human desire and the success of plants with a chapter on the sweet-tooth-gratifying apple. He primarily investigates the story of John Chapman, commonly known as Johnny Appleseed, in order to explain how the desires of early American colonists led to the biological success of the apple tree in North America. Pollan writes this chapter assumedly after he takes a trip along Chapman's path from Pennsylvania to Illinois and visits an apple orchard in Geneva, New York that houses some 2,500 varieties of apple.
        The most evident goal of the first chapter of Pollan's The Botany of Desire is to illustrate the marriage between the success of Americans and the success of apples. In order to accomplish this goal, Pollan transports his readers to early 1800s America, where he notes that John Chapman made it his business to plant orchards of apple trees so he could sell them to frontiersmen looking to establish new towns. When explaining this history, Pollan often employs primary source accounts, theories from established historians, and completely logical arguments to get his points across, constituting both appeals to ethos and logos. Appealing to pathos, he also reasons about the fear of starting a settlement in the 1800s and the comfort that the ownership of an apple tree brought. Given that Botany of Desire contains a fair amount of science, Pollan makes it very understandable to people of most levels of education by explaining any and all complex concepts that he presents (for example, the extreme heterozygosity of apple seeds). In other words, his audience ranges from the hardworking farmer of Tennessee to the scholarly biology professor of Harvard. With his combination of a large audience, credibly written arguments, and plenty of examples of the mutually beneficial American-apple relationship, Pollan is very successful in convincing his readers to view botany as a projection of human desire.

Recommended Reading

ToW #3 - Article by George Johnson: "Glowing Tumors, Cyclopean Eyes, and a Cancer Called Medulloblastoma"

        Fittingly found under the "Health & Medicine" section of Discover Magazine online, this article reports the cause of, treatments for, and stories behind the childhood brain cancer medulloblastoma. In this article, George Johnson establishes himself as a seasoned science writer by explaining various concepts with an authoritative tone. He also quotes a section of his own book, The Cancer Chronicles, appealing to ethos by proving to the reader that he is an authority in oncology. However, Johnson brings a very relaxed and even uncontrolled tone to this article, prompting the reader to question his experience in professional writing.
        This article was published by the online Discover Magazine, the slogan of which is "Science for the Curious". Thus, the explicit audience for this article is quite simply people who are scientifically inquisitive. However, the article discusses more sophisticated ideas than all can understand. All of its concepts are complex enough to only be understood by readers with the equivalent of a rigorous high school biology education. Besides being written on 9/15/13 for Discover Magazine by a science journalist, this text does not have any visible context. It does not speak about any recent developments in the study of medulloblastoma or give any reason for its being written. There is a small hint at Johnson's motive for writing this article: he speaks about being particularly moved by a number of medulloblastoma-related stories.
        Being a scientific article published by a purely scientific magazine, the almost predetermined purpose of this text is to educate on and spark interest in its subject. We see that Johnson primarily educates on the cause and treatments of medulloblastoma while interspersing emotional stories and moving statistics to ensure his readers' curiosity of the brain cancer. These stories are also Johnson’s main appeals to pathos, as they all focus on children being mentally disabled or even killed by brain cancers. The science magazine article is often very successful in its purpose; its scientifically curious audience is already interested in and wants to learn about its subject, so little persuasion is required. Johnson’s article is clearly no exception from this rule.

A dyed sample of medulloblastoma-infected brain matter. 

Article found at:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/fire-in-the-mind/?p=789#.UkjLSGSUMio

ToW #2 - Visual Text from xkcd: "Bee Orchid"

Comic from http://xkcd.com/1259/

        XKCD is a long-running webcomic that is focused on scientific and often nerdy topics. Its posts can vary in tone from the most sarcastic and modern to entirely sentimental and sincere. The artist behind xkcd is Randall Munroe, an American programmer, former NASA roboticist, and lecturer. Given the facts of Munroe's qualifications and his eight years' experience running xkcd (with over 1,200 comics produced), it is clear that Munroe's credibility has been long established. XKCD.com, being the 784th most-visited website in the United States, has a rather large and dedicated audience. I, for one, frequent it because of my love of both science and humor.

        This comic is no exception from xkcd's norm: it presents a scientific topic, the bee-courting Ophrys apifera, in a completely sentimental light (see: panel five, a watercolor painting). It also features recurring characters in the webcomic: Megan, the stick figure with long hair; and Beret Guy, the guy wearing the beret. Beret Guy is so consistently sincere in his comics that he has become a sort of indicator for which comics Munroe intends to be sincere and which he does not. As Munroe has established this text as being sincere, his purpose is clearly not to point out the humor or quirkiness in this comic's subject. He implies through his use of the poetic Beret Guy that his purpose is to plainly and humanly show the reader the sad state that the Ophrys apifera is in.
        It is notable that the two characters that Munroe depicts in this comic each fulfill a different aspect of his purpose. Megan explains the scientific value of the orchid, stating its proper name and evolutionary strategy while Beret Guy creates the sentimental tone of the piece, using artistic and emotional language to describe the flower's saddening predicament. Each character could then be considered, more or less, a rhetorical device that Munroe uses to ensure that his comic follows one of xkcd's established patterns: having a scientific topic and a sentimental, sincere tone. In using these devices, Munroe is fairly successful. His comic did not personally touch me very much, but this is almost definitely because I often visit xkcd.com in order to laugh, not to cry. If this text is provided with its intended audience of more emotional science nerds, then it will very likely be effective in its purpose.

ToW #1 - Article by Edward Lifson: "James Turrell Experiments With The 'Thingness Of Light Itself'"

        James Turrell, a contemporary artist who aims to concretize light in his works, is currently having an exhibition in the New York Guggenheim museum. This NPR article is written in light of Turrell's three big shows in the last year: one in Houston, LA, and most recently, New York City.
        Written by Edward Lifson, this story focuses on the why and what of Turrell's installations, noting the religious significance of light that Turrell investigates and the strangely solid way that light materializes in his works. Lifson is a long-time journalist for NPR, architecture critic, and once ran a Chicago-based radio program on the arts and culture. As the smooth, sleek shapes of light that Turrell creates are reminiscent of architectural forms used by Frank Lloyd Wright and I. M. Pei, there seems to be no one better to write about his works than art- and architecture-interested journalist Edward Lifson.
        As this story was written for a listening radio audience, Lifson included many quotes from art critics and Turrell himself to add a variety of voices to the report. However, when read, it is obvious that quotations do more than add variety; they act as rhetorical devices, aiding the ethos of the composition by providing more credibility to Lifson's argument that Turrell's works are unique.
        Given that Lifson includes many references to seeing Turrell's Guggenheim exhibition in his piece (he writes about long lines, walking into exhibits, and finally leaving feeling affected), it seems that his major purpose is to get his educated and art-aware NPR audience to see Turrell's works for themselves. The article, even neglecting the praise that Lifson gives to Turrell, encourages the surreal experience that Turrell offers. While I do not intend to make the trek to the Guggenheim to catch a glimpse of Turrell's light installations, I have to say that Lifson was very effective in making me want to. His generous inclusion of pictures of Turrell’s works is what did it for me. After looking at them for even a second, how could you not want to stare into those rich, pure colors in person?

In case you are interested:
Article Source
An excellent recollection of an experience with one of Turrell's works

IRB #1 Introduction: "The Botany of Desire"

        During this new and so-far wonderful marking period, I plan on enjoying The Botany of Desire, a book examining the symbiotic relationship between humans and their domestic plants. Written by Michael Pollan, this book specifically focuses on how the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato respectively satisfy the human desires of sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control.
        After noticing this Pollan book on Mr. Yost's 100 Great Nonfiction Books source, I decided to read it when it mentioned domestic plants evolving to satisfy human desires. I had always heard about animals evolving as they became domesticated – wolves teamed up with humans and eventually evolved into the modern dog – but never thought about plants becoming modified over time. So, intrigued about how dynamic plants really are, I picked up The Botany of Desire at my local B&N. I expect to learn all about how wild grasses 100,000 years ago became modern-day wheats, corns, and potatoes.
        Should be an entertaining historical read!

Rude I Am in My Speech

Caryl Phillips’ Rude I Am in My Speech is an analysis of the struggle of first-generation immigrants to both belong to their heritage and to fit into their new society. Phillips reveals the balance that first-generation immigrants have to keep between their original culture in their personal lives and their new societal expectations in their public lives. Phillips is a Kittian-British novelist, playwright, and essayist who was naturalized in Britain at a very young age ("Biography"). As his father, Malcolm Phillips, was an immigrant to England, Caryl is in a credible position to write about this experience.

In this essay, Phillips examines two first-generation immigrants: his father, who acts as an immigrant is expected to act, and Shakespeare’s Othello, who ignores his new society’s rules. As he compares these two figures, Phillips notes that while his father was successful enough, Othello’s life ended in tragedy. This comparison reveals the message that, in order to thrive in a society, one must adopt the rules of that society. Within the text, Phillips makes it clear that he feels it’s the responsibility of the second-generation immigrant to convey the struggles of the previous generation. He states his purpose, “I am beginning to feel that witnessing and recording the predicament of the first generation is a responsibility [of the second generation].”

            The two most important rhetorical devices in this essay are displayed in Phillips’ main comparison. He tells both anecdotes about his father and analyzes parts of Othello’s story. Phillips also includes hypotheses about the way first-generation immigrants must live. For example, he imagines that there are only two places where immigrants can be themselves: at home with their families, and in a meeting place with other immigrants. In Rude I Am in My Speech, Phillips provides convincing analysis as to how an immigrant must conduct their lives, making him extremely successful in his purpose.

            Published in Salmagundi, a quarterly periodical of the Humanities and Social Sciences, this essay was probably intended for an audience who has a basic understanding of sociology, and who has a functional understanding of Shakespeare’s Othello.

Othello and Desdemona's interracial marriage goes against Venice's social codes.

Provided by The Stranger Newspaper. <Source>

Sources:
"Biography." Caryl Phillips, Author and Playwright. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Aug. 2013.
Image:
Bennion, Chris. Othello. Digital image. TheStranger.com. Index Newspapers, LLC, 16 July 2009. Web. 28 Aug. 2013.

Port-au-Prince: The Moment

Port-au-Prince: The Moment is a nonfiction essay written by Mischa Berlinski about his experience of the 2010 Haitian earthquake and its direct aftermath. The essay begins on the day of the earthquake, in January. It continues into the following few days as Berlinski takes in the destruction around him. At the time, Berlinski lived in the upper class district of Port-au-Prince, one of the few places in Haiti that was not damaged badly by the quake. Berlinski primarily writes about exploring his and the surrounding districts, juxtaposing the varying degrees of damage in the districts of varying wealth. Berlinski lived in Haiti for two-and-a-half years before the quake because his wife worked for the U.N relief service in Haiti. The knowledge of Haiti that he gained from living there gives him a suitable amount of credibility.

            It seems apparent that Berlinski’s purpose is to share his unique experience of the well-documented earthquake as an unharmed citizen. As he does not describe the larger effect of the quake, this essay is likely intended for an audience who already has knowledge of the Haitian earthquake but who may be looking for a new perspective on it. Compared to many of the other reports of the Haitian earthquake, this essay is emotionally sterile. Berlinski probably intended this, as he writes that in the days immediately after the quake, all that he felt was a curiosity to see the aftermath. He doesn't mention any other emotions. Berlinski mirrors this mental state in his writing, giving the reader only the facts and none of the emotion. This allows the reader to decide what they themselves feel about the earthquake, without any manipulation from the author.

            Berlinski’s clear, precise, and sensory descriptions create a full picture of his experience. Phrases such as “we heard singing and drumming all night long – and high throbbing prayer like chanting, which as the aftershocks came redoubled in intensity to shouting,” give the reader a very clear picture of what it was like to be Berlinski, so close to the center of this devastating event and yet uninjured by it.

The rubble of the Great Sichuan Earthquake -- buildings standing among the wreckage of others.

Provided by WebEcoist <Source>

Image:

Sichuan Earthquake. Digital image. The Queen & Her Bling. Jacelyn Sng, 16 May 2008. Web. 02 Sept. 2013. <http://www.daintyflair.net/archives/2008/05/16/sichuan-earthquake/>.

What Really Happened

What Really Happened is Madge McKeithen’s recollection of the process that she took in order to visit the murderer of one of her old college friends. It includes every step of the task, from looking up the prisoner ID of the murderer to visiting him, seeking resolution. At the end of the essay, it is revealed that the murderer was the husband of the unnamed friend. McKeithen is a teacher at The New School and has worked as a researcher and editor ("Madge McKeithen"). In an interview with Charlotte Viewpoint, McKeithen reveals that this essay is autobiographical, making her the most credible person to tell the story ("The Luxury of Writing: Madge McKeithen Speaks."). What Really Happened was published in TriQuarterly, a journal compiled by Northwestern University, allowing the reader to assume that it is for a mature, well-educated audience. Given that the essay involves losing an old friend, it would probably be more emotionally effective on an audience old enough to have seen friendships fade away.

The main events take place 13 years after the murder, when McKeithen is turning 50. She notes that she is married, keeps in touch with the rest of her college friends, and most importantly, has not yet resolved her emotions about the murder. As it is most likely that McKeithen wrote this essay as she went through the process herself, I assume that the main purpose of hers was to motivate herself to continue the process.

The most noticeable strategy that McKeithen employed in this essay was her choice to write in entirely second person commands (ex: “Walk to the river. Walk along the river for a while. Watch normal people doing normal things,”). This allows the essay to be read as a step-by-step guide to meeting a prisoner, perhaps giving McKeithen the motivation to continue. McKeithen also uses no proper nouns, choosing pronouns instead. This ensures that the story remains personal to McKeithen, as she, not the reader, knows the names of those involved. Given that McKeithen quite clearly accomplishes her goal of meeting with the murderer before the end of the story, it is obvious that her purpose is achieved.

A step-by-step guide to dancing the Charleston, comparable to the guide that McKeithen's What Really Happened is.

Provided by The Telegraph. <Source>

Sources:

"Madge McKeithen." MadgeMcKeithen.com. Madge McKeithen, n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2013.

McKeithen, Madge. "The Luxury of Writing: Madge McKeithen Speaks." Interview by Lacey Lyons. CharlotteViewpoint.org. Charlotte Viewpoint, 29 Aug. 2010. Web. 27 Aug. 2013. <http://www.charlotteviewpoint.org/article/211/The-Luxury-of-Writing---Madge-McKeithen-on-Poetry->.

Image:

Do the Stravinsky. Digital image. Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited, 23 May 2008. Web. 27 Aug. 2013.

Auscultation

Auscultation, an essay by Steven Church, is a collection of four segments, each centered on a chamber that is listened to in order to diagnose a situation. Two of these parts are about miners who get trapped in cave-ins. When this happens, miners are instructed to make noise against the cave walls so sound sensors on the surface can locate them. The other two parts are about using medical instruments to listen to the heart. Church is a respected author and college professor whose essays have been widely published ("Steven Church"). This gives him more than enough credibility in regard to writing an artistic essay such as Auscultation. As the essay first appeared in The Pedestrian, a quarterly journal of essays, one can deduce that it was selected for a well-read audience.
          The first part deals with trapped miners who fail to make noise and are thus assumed dead. The second part is a sensory introduction to the idea of a stethoscope. In the third, Church examines the occupational symbolism and creation of the stethoscope and describes the first time he heard his son’s heartbeat. The fourth part is about miners trapped in a flooded cave who do make noise and are easily located. Research reveals that all of these stories are nonfiction. Auscultation does not seem to have a message deeper than “there is beauty in writing,” so it can only be assumed that Church aimed simply to stimulate the reader mentally with his interesting connections and emotionally with his touching stories.

Church uses one rhetorical device to solidify the connections within this essay. He titles the parts of the essay as a series of “Chambers,” both drawing attention to the cavernous subjects of the parts and alluding to the four-chambered anatomy of the heart. The author also brings the reader into the essay in “Chamber 2” by describing the intimate touch of a stethoscope in second person. In Auscultation, Steven Church is very successful in stimulating the reader mentally and emotionally. His web of connections within the essay, such as likening a cave to a womb after telling the reader about hearing his baby’s heartbeat in his wife’s womb certainly sparks interest in the reader’s mind. Finally, his two stories of the deaths and rescues of helpless miners bring emotion into the essay.

The four chambers of the heart, mirrored by the four "Chambers" of Auscultation.

<Source>

Sources:

"Steven Church." FresnoState.edu. Fresno State Department of English, n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2013.

Image:

The Chambers of the Heart. Digital image. Chambers of the Heart. University of Michigan Health System, 18 Apr. 2011. Web. 02 Sep. 2013.