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