TOW #17

My TOW this week is an Ernest Hemingway’s essay called Camping Out and it starts with Hemingway describing with how going camping can be either a relaxing vacation or a terrible experience based on your knowledge on the subject.  He outlines points that can make a camping trip horrible, leading the reader to believe that he has done this many times himself and he truly is an expert.Hemingway’s protagonist in this story is Wilson, the hunter who lives and breathes the great outdoors. The story to juxtaposes another character Macomber to Wilson while Wilson is the favored in that comparison due to his outdoorsiness. However, at the end of the story Wilson breaks the code to which he lives by as he hunts down buffalo in a car, an illegal act. .Two literary techniques are in play throughout the story that enliven the action and embellish Hemingway’s otherwise minimal descriptive passages. The first is onomatopoeia, and is best exemplified by “whunk,” the noise Macomber’s bullet makes as it hits the lion and “carawong,” the noise Wilson’s high-velocity “big gun” makes as it fires at game (p. 26, 34). Hemingway’s usage of these terms helps the reader imagine the noises of the hunt. The second technique Hemingway employs is simile and metaphor. The most notable example occurs in Wilson’s thoughts when Macomber asks if they should leave the wounded lion, “Robert Wilson, whose entire occupation had been with the lion and the problem he presented, and who had not been thinking about Macomber except to note that he was rather windy, suddenly felt as though he had opened the wrong door in a hotel and seen something shameful” (p. 24). This simile demonstrates Wilson’s shock at hearing Macomber voice such cowardly ideas. Macomber would rather leave the lion to suffer or risk someone else running into the lion and possibly being killed than face up to hunting it down and finishing what he started.

TOW #16

The TOW I chose this week is an article in The New York Times concerning obesity called "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" by Michael Moss. This article is about how the big brand food companies that most people would consider "junk" such as Nestle, Kraft, Nabisco, General Mills, Coca-Cola and ect. are concerned with the amount of obesity that has been going on lately so they have decided to figure out what actually leads people of eating so much. These companies also felt guilty with the amount of people that are eating their products and it is the main reason why they're getting so heavy or overweight. The author of this article is named Michael Moss and he is an investigative reporter for The New York Times. He won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2010 and he was an extra professor at the Columbia School of Journalism. The audience that this text was composed for are elder people since they are normally the ones who read The New York Times. The occasion of this article is during a meeting with all these brands deciding what they can do to help the obesity rates decrease in america. An important rhetorical device that the author uses to try to achieve his purpose in this article is logos since he states many statistics about obesity and how its increased over time. The author's purpose in writing this text was very vague to me because I didn't know what he was trying to come across. He wrote so much about the companies statistics and history of them but he didn't write about what they would really do to help end obesity. He also wrote in the beginning of the article that these brands were curious as to what leads people to eat so much so there we're many topics of this article that I couldn't find the purpose in it.

TOW #15

This weeks TOW is chose is an essay of Martin Luther King Jr.'s death and its effect. Due to his assassination, the civil rights movement was left at a sudden stop and many others were unsure of what was to happen next. The essay then explains the type of man he was, and how he fought for rights in a way with sermons and religion, the author then says that religion will no longer play a role in the fight for black rights. The author of this essay, Elizabeth Hardwick, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and educated at the University of Kentucky and Columbia University showing that her work is reliable because of her high level of education. Hardwick's work is also notable because she is a recipient of a Gold Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The context of this essay was written in a gloomy tone, and when the environment of Memphis was described as place broken in pieces that were left to be picked up after King's death. Hardwick's purpose of writing about the death of King was to reflect his life and to introduce what may become of the battle for civil rights. The  intended audience for this piece of writing is for civil rights activists at the time, and for people who were interested in King's life's work. To achieve their purpose, the author uses hypophora several times throughout the essay asking questions such as, "Was this a victory or a defeat?" and "What did they mean beyond a wish for the genuine act, a consoling communion with the garbagy streets?" She asks questions that her audience would like to see defined, then goes in to detail answering them. I believe that the author is well able to achieve her purpose because throughout the essay she acknowledges what was next for the battle of civil rights and also states that after King's death religion would most likely not interfere with the fight for African american rights. Hardwick leaves the reader with hope saying, "perhaps what was celebrated in Atlanta was an end, not a beginning—the waning of the slow, sweet dream of Salvation, through Christ, for the Negro masses"

TOW #14

Have you ever noticed a change in weight with every generation throughout these past years? If you view the picture I displayed below, you'll really start to question this world. The TOW I chose this week is a visual text by an anonymous illustrator. If you analyze this visual text closely, you'll notice that the overall message of this photo is that our society is paying more attention to new technology than people, themselves or that the people are worrying more about technology than themselves. As you can see, on the first image, the time period is 1980, and the man sitting on the computer is very thin but the computer is very large, almost bigger than himself. On the right image, the time period is around todays time or 2013 and the same man is on a computer, relatively smaller, and he is completely overweight and struggling to even sit on the desk without his fat rolling all over the place. It sends the message that we worry more about our technology than our own being. This all leads to superficiality and materialism. The audience for this text is towards the upcoming generation or just simply to everyone. We all need to realize that this is a current issue that is going on today and we need to make action. We should care more about our own health than worrying about technology. The occasion of this visual text would we today at this time being. I would say that an important rhetoric device that the illustrator uses is hyperbole to exaggerate the fat in the person and maybe the comparison in sizes with the person and the computer, but I feel like that could actually happen. The authors purpose of making this visual text is to try and change others perspectives to show what's wrong with the image and change. I think the author did a well job because when I viewed the image, I could identify it's purpose immediately. 

TOW #13

 An article in The New York Times concerning obesity is called "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" by Michael Moss. This article is about how the big brand food companies that most people would consider "junk" such as Nestle, Kraft, Nabisco, General Mills, Coca-Cola and ect. are concerned with the amount of obesity that has been going on lately so they have decided to figure out what actually leads people of eating so much. These companies also felt guilty with the amount of people that are eating their products and it is the main reason why they're getting so heavy or overweight. The author of this article is named Michael Moss and he is an investigative reporter for The New York Times. He won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2010 and he was an extra professor at the Columbia School of Journalism. The audience that this text was composed for are elder people since they are normally the ones who read The New York Times. The occasion of this article is during a meeting with all these brands deciding what they can do to help the obesity rates decrease in america. An important rhetorical device that the author uses to try to achieve his purpose in this article is logos since he states many statistics about obesity and how its increased over time. The author's purpose in writing this text was very vague to me because I didn't know what he was trying to come across. He wrote so much about the companies statistics and history of them but he didn't write about what they would really do to help end obesity. He also wrote in the beginning of the article that these brands were curious as to what leads people to eat so much so there we're many topics of this article that I couldn't find the purpose in it.

TOW #12

What if you were working at the same old job you've been working at for 10 years straight and you do not have a raise coming to you any time soon? This situation really happened, explained on the New York Times article. This article is about having trouble asking for a raise, after 10 years. The article is written by Rob Walker, a journalist, born on 1968 in Texas. The audience this article was composed for was for adults, considering that this article is mainly about jobs that people have been working in with experience. An important rhetorical strategy the author used to achieve his purpose was anecdotes. The main anecdote that he used was said in the beginning, when he was explaining that his boss was a close friend of his and he felt bad asking for a raise. He's been working in the job for 10 years straight. I personally think thats why this man did not get a raise, simply because he created a friendship with his boss. I think this would be his purpose. Keep your job professional. If you don't, you could risk your non-going raise. Another purpose this article could also have is if you want to change something, you have to do something or just to learn to adjust. The author explained this at the end and he was saying how he had to adjust to the situation since he did not want to feel the awkwardness and unpleasantness in the conversation. The author is a little not for switching jobs and he would rather stay in his job and keep silent, than trying to have the unpleasant talk with his boss. I think the author did an pretty good job with his purpose because he did have more than one purpose but he backed them each up well.

TOW #11

Would you say the United States is a little harsh when it comes to getting into a college? Do they consider all the obstacles a teenager has to go through to actually be accepted to a college that they really desire? This visual text by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists shows all the hardships and obstacles (literally) that an average american teenager has to go through in order to finish a college application. As you can see in the political cartoon, the slide reads, "activities" and "extra-curricular" as if its so easy to just slide right through them. Next, you really can't tell which is in order, but theres a gpa section, a class rank section, SAT, A.P. classes, essays, letters, checks, forms, recommendations and so on. This cartoon seems as if this is all an obstacle, which it is. All of these responsibilities and how well do them really determines whether or not you're capable enough to get into college. It can be described as stressful and other famous phrase I can say is "survival of the fittest," or Dharwin's theory. The audience of this cartoon is for adults and the purpose is for them to realize that being a teenager in generation x is not easy at all, they should consider all we have to do. The illustrator of this cartoon used a big metaphor, comparing a college applacation and all the responsibilities of a teenager to an obstacle. The author did do a good job trying to create that purpose of it not being so easy to be a teenager in this generation because they used something that most people would point out first, which is the obstacle course. Many people consider it challenging and only those who really are the strongest, win. The illustrator then used the obstacles as all the responsibilities a teenager has for school, then drew a worn-out person at the end of it, showing that none of this was easy.