TOW #3 - Celebrity Apprentice Political Cartoon

For my visual text, I choose this political cartoon by Nate Beeler. Beeler is an award winning editorial cartoonist who earned his reputation for his works in the Washington Examiner. He received his journalism degree at American University (a school in which I am interested in). This image was published in the Columbus Dispatch in November of 2015, so this text was intended for an audience of adults voting in the upcoming election. The purpose of this text is to spread awareness to Beeler’s audience of the dangers having Donald Trump as the next president will bring. The cartoon depicts our Republican Candidate for the 2016 election, Donald Trump, on the left, and Nazi-Germany's dictator, Adolf Hitler, on the right.

This cartoon is a parody on Donald Trump's show, Celebrity Apprentice. Apprentice was a reality T.V. show that gave celebrities the ability to pitch their ideas to a board of well-known businessmen. In this image, Hitler is in Trump's role of the show, using his classic line "You're Hired". In addition, Trump appears to be "Hailing", an action Hitler is predominately known for. By reversing characteristics of both subjects, the artist illustrates the similarities that Hitler and Donald Trump share. By drawing parallels between the two, this supports the authors purpose. Obviously, Hitler is arguably among one of the most infamous political leaders, so having a president who shares similar views as him would not be ideal for the future of the United States.

I think this cartoon is persuasive in showing Beeler's purpose. I have heard of many people comparing Trump's beliefs to that of Hitler's. This cartoon makes that juxtaposition more evident to me. What's frightening to me is that this image was published about a year ago, yet Trump remains in the election. 

TOW #2 - Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying

My second TOW is from The Best American Essays of the Century. I read the essay "Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying" by Adrienne Rich. Rich has been credited "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century". Her essay shows just this. As a lesbian and feminist at a time where women's rights were tested, Rich writes about the effects oppression on women have on our relationships, both men to women and women to women. She logically explains why when women grow trusts in others, they are often let down and feel out of sorts when this trust is broken.
One way Rich persuades her audience of women to take an interest in her ideas is by repetition. In explaining the process of forming an "honorable" relationship, Rich says,"It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion. It is important to do this because in so doing we do justice to our own complexity. It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us" (414). By repeating the opening line for each of these statements, the readers are more alert to what proceeds after. Rich uses repetition to isolate significant points and gain the readers attention to her issue at hand. In doing this, the authors purpose becomes more valid: to prove that women lie out of habit as a cause of our patriarchal society.
I thought this essay was very persuasive and mind-opening. Rich's purpose serves universally. Although this piece was written in 1977, I was able to still find truth in her words about women's position in society today. As a female in a place where men typically have the power, it is empowering to me to take from Rich's example and to identify myself as more than just a stereotype.

TOW #1 - "Outliers: The Story of Success"

This week I read a large portion of my IRB, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Outliers was Gladwell's third published book (after Tipping Point and Blink) and is considered by many his best work. Similar to his other novels, this book is classified under the genre of "Sociology-Non Fiction". Gladwell’s writing’s focus particularly in areas of sociology and psychology, topics used in his column in The New Yorker as well. The premise of Outliers is how every person who is a "success" earns this by a commonly seen factor. Contrary to the title, Gladwell tries to persuade his audience through numerous studies how there are no true "outliers" to this circumstance.

His audience, the average member of society who has a preconceived notion on how to be successful, is presented this fact in forms of different rhetorical device. Logos is an example of which used by Gladwell. By having distinctive statistics to back his purpose up, Gladwell makes a more reliable testimony. For instance, he cites a study done by Anders Ericsson, a Swedish professor of psychology, who found established the '10,000 hour' rule. In this theory, it is proven that if one practices something for the duration of 10,000 hours, they will achieve expertise on this activity. Two prime cases of this theme are Bill Gates and the Beetles. Both are validation that after 10,000 hours of performing a skill, for Gates, computer programing and for the Beetles, rehearsing, one can master it. By using two highly well-known and appreciated 'successes', Gladwell effects his audience in having more confidence in his teachings. This is because the audience can better visualize these individual’s achievements and therefore, can better understand the time one must allot to be on that level of success.

As mentioned before, Gladwell’s purpose in writing this text is to argue against the spectacle that outliers exist when it comes to success. So far, I think the author has done well with this, although I cannot say if he completely accomplished his purpose yet. He has not mentioned any counter ideas that are too far outside of the box of how someone achieved success. In other words, I am curious to see if Gladwell will mention a bigger ‘phenomenon’ of success and be able to refute this.

IRB #1 Intro Post

For our first IRB, I am reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. I was having trouble deciding on a book, so Ms. Pronko recommended a few titles previous students have enjoyed. Gladwell's style of writting is very different from what I would usually read, but I have always been interested in psychology, so hopefully this book will enhance that interest. I also think it is important for me to expand my horizon, especially in the beginning of the year.