TOW #30 - Letter to a New APELC Student

GOOD LUCK SURVIVING NEXT YEAR, NEWBIES!

Greetings, future students of Mr. Yost's class!

I am a survivor of the notorious APENG class from room  L08! You have a great journey ahead of you filled with adversities commonly known as TOWs and Timed Essays, but do not fear, for I, David, the Slayer of Vocabulary Words, shall give you words of advice to guide you through your way. Whether you will heed my words is up to you, but they might be the key for you to have a very challenging yet rewarding year.

Let's set something  straight right away; you are not going to get an "A" in this class easily. Heck, I was lucky just to stay in the "B"-range throughout the year! For most of the time, you will receive grades that will be below your expectation even if you pull an all-nighter (which really doesn't help at all) to study for your unit test or write an argument essay on why Mr. Yost is the best teacher ever. Do not let this fact bother you too much however, for this course is packed with college level contents, meaning that you are going to learn the same materials that many student will learn in their college freshman year .This is no simple feat, so feel proud!

To me, timed essays were a nightmare, and I have a feeling that they will a nightmare for you too. I mean, the only part that I actually liked about having a timed essay was giving myself a funky alias to keep my paper anonymous. In a timed essay, you will constantly be chased by the ticking clock, so it makes sense that most of you will start writing as soon as you receive the prompt. Do not be tempted to do that! I found it immensely helpful to use a method called HECTOR (Hunch, Evidence, Connection, Thesis, Organize, Reread) and to carefully think of what the author's purpose is. Although this process may cost you five to ten minutes, it helps you a lot on the long run because all your thoughts will be organized when you write. Do not underestimate the power of brainstorming and prewriting.

Because this is such a grueling course, you need to take an advantage of every resource around you. So make sure to visit Mr. Yost during his office hours in order to prepare yourself for the upcoming unit test or timed essays! Mr. Yost always tries to be flexible with his schedule so that he can help out each and every individual student during classes, lunches, study halls, and after schools. If you can set up a schedule for a meeting with Ms. Pronko, she will be glad to help you out as well. Make sure to visit these two teachers often, especially if you are working on a take home essay. They will be willing to sit with you and to make as much revisions and edits as you possibly need, so every time you change something on your paper, go visit them to see what they think of the changes.

Finally and most importantly, always stay positive! Without the right state of mind, this class will be downright brutal, so try to enjoy this class and cherish the memories instead of whining about failing a timed essay. It is hard to believe that by next year, Mr. Yost will be a father who will be talking about raising his torpedo baby (don't ask) to you in your class, because all he talked about in my class was about whether the baby will a boy or a girl (it's a boy) and how he will name the baby (I still think "Maayush" is an epic name). These are the kinds of moments that make the class bearable and even enjoyable, so always try to find positive aspects of APELC. And always remember: It's only just a school!

As a fellow comrade, I salute you, newbie, for your bravery (or is it naiveté?) to take on this challenge. I hope to meet you in the future as a mean-lean-TOW-killing-machine, and may Lady Luck be with you every single step of your rite of passage.

Sincerely,

David Min (aka Avid Mind, Nimdi Vad, Cupcake, Brainbow, and I AM ERROR)

TOW #29 - Waiting For "Superman" by David Guggenheim Argument

Imagine yourself running as fast you can just to see yourself getting further and further from your goal. This is one of many problems with the American public education system.

            When the educational reformer and the founder of Harlem Children's Zone Geoffrey Canada was in fourth grade, he was devastated to find out that Superman did not exist. No, he did not cry because it was like Santa Clause is not real, but because he realized that there isn't "anyone to save us" from poverty. Indeed, there is no such thing as a Superman who can make the lives of millions better, but there is such thing as education that grants younger generations the knowledge they need in order to survive in the world. However, the education that is renowned as the "ticket out of poverty" has not been doing such a great job lately as seen in Guggenheim's Waiting for "Superman". Generally speaking, the American public education system is failing due to improper use of the tenure system guaranteed by union contract and the outdated system of "tracking".

            Having a good teacher versus a bad teacher can make a world of a difference to the students. According to Guggenheim, students who learn from a high performing teacher is able to progress three times as fast as those who learn from a low performing teacher. While a bad teacher is able to cover only 50 percent of the required curriculum, a good teacher is able to cover 150%. At the end, however, no matter how great the difference of the impact the two teachers have on their students, they are both paid relatively the same and are given the same kind of privileges. In order for the American public education system to run more smoothly, it is necessary to have schools with mostly good teachers, but this is deterred by the current tenure system. Research shows that in Illinois, one in 57 doctors loses his medical license and one in 97 lawyers loses his law license, but only one in 2,500 teachers loses his credentials because of the tenure system that is defended by the teachers' union. Because the union contract prevents the bad teachers, also known as the "lemons", from being fired, the best that the principals can do is to exchange their lemons with other lemons at the end of the school year. This cynical shuffle is known as "the dance of the lemons", "passing the trash", or "the turkey trot", and it sums up the unbreakable negative cycle of the American public education system today. Because of the teachers' poor performance, the principals want to fire them. Due to the tenure system, however, the principals have to continue paying the teachers even if the outcomes are small. Then the principals exchange these teachers in hopes of getting better teachers, just to repeat the cycle for an another year. However, if the tenure system is removed, the schools can get rid of the bad teachers to make room for the good ones, and then the overall level of the school can be boosted.

            Another detrimental factor in American public education system is the concept of "tracking", or dividing students by their individual test results, neatness, politeness, and obedience to authority. The students on the upper track reap all the benefits while the students on the lower track have lower expectations and often worse teachers (sound familiar?). This means that even if the students on the lower track run faster, they are constantly falling behind, and it becomes increasingly difficult for them to catch up to the students on the upper track. As harsh as this sounds, the tracking system is specifically designed so that the students' academic careers are practically determined by the officials. This system worked great 50 years ago when America needed useful workforce. About 20% of the people would become doctors, lawyers, and CEOs, about 20% would become accountants, managers and bureaucrats, while the bottom 60% would become farmers and factory workers. The only problem with this today is the fact that there are not enough people to fill in for the jobs in high tech industries, meaning that the U.S. would not be able to compete in the global economy effectively in the future. It's clear that there are many problems with schools that have tracking systems, but how about the schools that does not have any? Guggenheim use Woodside, a school with a tracking system, and Summit Prep, a school that do not have one,  as an example of the unbelievable difference in academic performances. Out of 100 students, 62 students graduate, and only 32 students are prepared for four year colleges in Woodside. In Summit Prep, however, 96 students out of 100 graduate and are prepared for four year colleges. If schools abandon the tracking system and offer high level academic courses to all students, more students would be able to grow up to take highly skilled and highly paid jobs, and America would have a better chance of competing in the global economy.

            In a world where there is no Superman to save the day, people must rely on education to improve their lives and their country. However, due to improper use of tenures and the system of tracking, American public education system has been taking its toll on the American students and America itself as well. If these two problems are fixed, America would have schools in which all students have the equal opportunity to learn high level materials from a high performing teachers, and there would be no need to wait for Superman.

TOW #28 - Waiting For "Superman" by David Guggenheim Analysis

American public education system is clearly failing. David Guggenheim gives his insight to fix this modern day dilemma 

             In the documentary Waiting for "Superman", David Guggenheim takes his audience of American parents, teachers, and students on a journey to examine the different aspects of the American public education system. Throughout the documentary, Guggenheim goes through the "good" and the "bad" of the way schools are run, and looks into how these factors may impact the way receive their educations. One of the problem that he discusses is the ease in which a school teacher is able to achieve tenure and how even a poor teacher cannot be easily replaced. Guggenheim claims that having an efficient or an inefficient teacher can make a world of difference to the students, and yet both kinds of teachers have the same kinds of privileges. He mentions how teachers unions are making this problem even more difficult. Guggenheim also looks into the outdated system of "tracking" and argues that while this system worked well in the past, it does not go along very well in the modern world. He then suggests the use of good charter schools as a solution to the problems of the education system, arguing that charter schools allow some students in poverty to receive higher education, even though this is done by lottery. Throughout the film, Guggenheim establishes connections with students and provides different statistics in order to emphasize that American public education system really needs to improve.

            There are five important students who are interviewed throughout the video: Anthony, Daisy, Bianca, Francisco, and Emily. These students all have a dream and a passion to learn, but they are constantly struggling with the harsh realities of the public school systems around them. Both Anthony and Daisy seem to be destined to fall behind their grade levels and fail to graduate their neighborhood's failing high schools. Francisco may be held back a year because of his weak reading skills. Bianca's mother is struggling to pay her daughter's tuition at a neighborhood parochial school, and Emily will most likely be placed on a lower track that can deter her from reaching her academic goals if she attends Woodside High School. As time goes on, the audience members start to establish connections to these students. Almost at the end of the film when each students enters a lottery in order to get to a charter school, I was relieved for Emily and Anthony for getting into Summit Prep and getting on the waiting list for SEED respectively, but I was also heartbroken for the other families who were crying because the students did not get into their school of choice. Guggenheim establishes pathos by giving frequent interviews with these students, and this ultimately makes the audience feel sorry for the families whose dreams are crushed when they lose the lottery. This feeling then allows the audience to question the effectiveness of the American public education system because it just does not seem fair that these students who do not get elected will have to continue receiving poor education and will have a slim chance achieving their academic goals while others would have the opportunity to get out of poverty through high level education. This sense of pathos allows the audience to believe that America truly needs a public education system that all students can benefit from.

            Guggenheim also includes numerous statistics and facts about the overall education system that establishes the credibility of the film. He analyzes the American public education system in the viewpoints of politics, foreign countries, and individual schools to reveal is weakness. At one point of the film, Guggenheim mentions how the spending per students grew from $4000 to $9000 and yet the reading scores stayed the same. The scores in math are no better, because only 18% of 8th graders in Alaska are proficient in Math, 40% in New Jersey, 30% in New York, so on and so forth. Internationally speaking, U.S. is one of the lowest in education for it ranks 1st out of 30 among in self esteem, but 21st science, and 25th in math. Even the good test scores in suburban schools are nothing to be proud of because the low scores of the bottom 50% gets masked by the top percent of students. All these cold hard facts show that no matter how much money the government puts into education in U.S., the standards are not getting any higher, meaning that U.S. is wasting its precious dollars for a seemingly futile cause. They also show that despite being a strong country, U.S. cannot compete effectively with foreign countries in terms of brains. This would be detrimental to our country, considering that in modern world, societies depend on people who had high education. In order to continue thriving, Guggenheim warns that U.S. must improve its public education system so that all students may have equal opportunity to learn in high standards.

TOW #27 - TOW Reflection

Thank you Mr. Yost for giving me this opportunity to improve my writing.

            When I look at the very first TOW I wrote in last summer, it is difficult for me to believe how much I progressed throughout the year. Up till my TOW #18, all of my TOWs were almost identical to each other like they were created from a same template, and looking back now, I think that was exactly what have been doing all along. I am satisfied to know that my TOW style have changed so that all information is not crammed into a single 350 word essay. At first, I tend to summarize all the books and the articles I read, but I soon learned to focus on the rhetoric devices that the authors were using and to decipher the message they were conveying. Of course, this meant that I had to break away from the single 350 word paragraph norm, but I am glad that I experimented with my style of writing because although my TOWs became longer, I was able to write more freely and more in depth about how the authors' techniques influenced how they revealed their purposes.

            With this in mind, I believe that I truly mastered distinguishing a summary from an analytical essay. This means that I now know up to what extent I am to describe  the background information of a source so that I can focus more directly on the author's purpose and the unique rhetorical devices the author used as a vessel to get his point across to his specified group of audience, where as in the past I would take up more than half of the entire TOW to simply write about what the source was about and then cram the analysis in as last two sentences. This does not mean that I completely mastered analyzing sources to the deepest extent. Although I have been practicing, I still have to recognize the complexity of every issue by  addressing the questions "so what?" and "why?" properly. I feel like that I touch upon the surface of the topic, but I never seem to go deep into it to the point where my audience would derive any new perspective from my TOWs. I do hope that that will change once I practice my writings more in the future.

            I am very well aware that TOWs were designed to help the students with their analytical skills, and I think they really did help me with the essay writing during the AP exam. Although the TOWs gave me only a sense of how deep analysis can go in an analysis essay, they taught me other very valuable lessons: They opened my eyes to a variety of rhetorical devices that I would have easily overlooked (heck, I did not even know the term "rhetorical device" at the beginning of the year!) and helped me understand how each rhetorical gives off some kind of unique feeling to the audience. I realize now that with all the different combinations of different rhetorical devices, the author can portray the same message in many different ways ("many" would be an understatement...more like "limitless"?). In a very general sense, I think TOWs were really helpful simply because they forced me to write every week so that my writings would never be rusty. Although they really were a pain sometimes (they still can be), I am glad that I put my time and effort into them.

TOW #26 - WWF Advertisment

Somewhere out in the world, there is are species of animals that are slowly dying off. WWF puts this into perspective with a simple advertisement.

                            

                Pollution. Global warming. Animal Extinction. These are the biggest threats to the natural environments of the world and their inhabitants in the twenty-first century. While there are numerous environmental groups throughout the globe, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF for short) stands out from the rest with its five million supporters from more than a hundred countries and its clever ads. One of these ads is a very simple black and white ad lacking any kind of complex pictures or symbols. Actually, it is the simplicity that makes the ad so defining. The only picture the environmental group uses is the well known Metro Goldwyn Mayer logo, but as soon as one views it, he can tell something is amiss; the famous lion that proudly roars before the movie begins is nowhere to be found. A small message can be found in the upper right corner of the ad that reads "Wildlife is disappearing." Utilizing a popular reference and exaggeration, WWF effectively warns the viewers about wildlife extinctions with its unembellished advertisement.

                Using a well known logo was a smart move on WWF. Metro Goldwyn Mayer produced numerous films, so it is most likely that the person viewing the ad is familiar with the usual triumphant roar of the MGM lion before the screen fades to black and the movie starts. However, without the lion, the entire media company seems to give off less majestic feeling. When I saw WWF's version of the MGM, I realized for the first time how significant the big cat was to the company; without it, the logo looked so empty, sad, and weird, considering that something that I took for granted was simply gone. I am sure that this is the kind of the feeling that many other members of the audience feel  when they see the advertisement for the first time. By using the famous logo, WWF not only managed to connect me to the environment group, but also to connect me with other people who saw MGM movies as well.

                But the whole message of WWF seems to be exaggerated. How can environmental problems actually get rid of the renowned beast from the beloved movie producing company? The answer is, they can't. Unless MGM decides to change its logo, the feline is going to continue being the mascot even if the entire lion species goes extinct. However, this exaggerated idea allows people to consider a more realistic idea: what if the lion species does go extinct? It's quite possible, considering that lions are already endangered. When I saw the WWF logo, I first thought, 'Okay...it's not like I actually go to see wildlife animal other than on screens,' but then it occurred to me that in the future, lions and many other animals might not be seen anywhere other than on screens. That's a scary thought. By utilizing an exaggerated message, WWF creates a powerful essence of fear for the audience members to make them recognize that animal extinctions are real and daunting.

                With the use of a popular reference and exaggeration, WWF convinces its audience that animal extinction is a serious threat that often goes unheeded. WWF first cleverly connects all the audience members who know about Metro Goldwyn Mayer and then plants fear into them to warn about what would happen if the problem is not addressed properly. The message lingered in my mind for a long time, and I'm sure this ad will have the same effect for many other people as well.

TOW #25 - Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

At a glance, a well calculated decision seem to triumph over a decision made from an instinct. Malcolm Gladwell thinks otherwise.

                                                                                          

            Humans' ability to make quick decision with very little information is an amazing talent, as shown through Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. This ability to unconsciously find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experiences is known as "thin-slicing," and it's helpful properties are often overlooked in the world today. Gladwell argues that in many ways, snap judgments might be as accurate as or even better than thoroughly calculated decisions by utilizing anecdotes and rhetorical questions.

            With the use of interesting stories, Gladwell not only manages to keep his audience's attention, but also effectively demonstrates that thin-slicing can be very useful in determining something that would otherwise require an enormous amount of time. In one of the chapters, the author gives an account of a time when a young couple came to the University of Washington where their actions were thoroughly recorded. A psychologist named John Gottman was determining whether the couple will be still together after fifteen years by analyzing their argument of their dog.  Astoundingly, Gottman managed to predict the result with a jaw-breaking 90 percent accuracy, a no small feat considering that he did not use any other information than a fifteen minute videotape of the couple. Using this anecdote, the author is able to reveal that thin-slicing can indeed be used effectively in real life. This shows that in order to determine something as important as marriage, people do not need years worth of tedious data but several signs that jump right at them at a glance. Gladwell is also able to deliver his message of humans' snap judgments in a more interesting manner than to explain his ideas without an example to connect to.

            Gladwell's book periodically contains rhetorical questions to interact with the readers and to transition from the anecdotes to the author's analysis of thin-slicing. After the real dialogue of the couple, Gladwell throws in two questions: "How much do you think can be learned about Sue and Bill's marriage by watching that fifteen minute videotape? Can we tell if their relationship is healthy or unhealthy?" Sure, these questions might not have direct answers, but they do allow the readers to stop and think whether or not if thin-slicing is sufficient enough for the job. With this idea in mind, the readers are able to go directly into the author's take of the issue and his analysis of Gottman's "love lab" without any additional transitions. While these rhetorical devices might not directly show that snap judgments might be as accurate as or even better than thoroughly calculated decisions, they work as little checkpoints for the readers and urge them to read further. "Can a marriage really be understood in one sitting?" The readers would probably think 'I do not know. I better read more,' and would be satisfied to see the answer later on.

            Utilizing anecdotes and rhetorical questions, Malcolm Gladwell effectively argues that thin-slicing can be just as useful as or even better than a time-consuming judgment.  Gladwell's view on this relatively unknown ability makes the readers think twice about the whole nature of decision making.

IRB #4 - Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

            Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell is a book about "intuitive repulsions" that people get from time to time. It is a book that tries to convince the reader that decisions made in a short burst of time can be as good as the decisions made in an extended period of time. The author claims that the book will touch on the subject of when instincts work against people, and how snap judgments can be educated and controlled. I decided to give this book a try because I personally believe that I am an intuitive person myself, trusting my gut instincts and sometime my impulses. While I was reading the introduction, a thought flashed across my mind: if people get their "intuitive repulsions" from time to time, doesn't that mean that I picked this book to give it a try because of my own "intuitive repulsion?" As it turned out, my intuition was right, for Gladwell claims that the design of the cover,  whatever associations I had with his name, and the short story that I already read at the beginning of the introduction has "fundamentally shaped the way" I read up to page 13 of the book. Through this book (which totally grabbed my attention after this incident by the way), I hope  to learn more about intuition and how I can control my own impulses so that they could benefit me. 

TOW #24 - "Lusting For Spring In Our Hearts" by Linda Holmes

Ahh...Spring!

            In her article "Lusting For Spring In Our Hearts," Linda Holmes expresses her joy of spring, a season that many people take for granted, and truly makes it special. To many people, spring is that natural phenomenon in which "their side of the globe" becomes warmer because it is closer to the Sun, but it means much more to Holmes. To her, spring is a gift that everyone was waiting for too long ever since the bitter winter started, and she is enjoying every second of it. Even the unpleasant rain and the wishy-washiness of the warm and cold weather are tolerable because it prepares people for their one perfect day. Throughout the writing, Holmes cleverly utilizes anecdotes to form a connection to the readers and to introduce her important ideas.

            The author's personal stories are scattered throughout the entire article which provides the necessary transition from one ideas to other while giving the idea that she is like any other people who cannot stand the winter anymore. Her introduction itself is an anecdote that starts out as "A friend of mine grumbled on Facebook recently about the phenomenon of people moaning in despair over April's weather. There's often a cold snap around this time, she pointed out. There's often unpleasant rain. There's often unpredictability" (Holmes). The author then uses this story as a springboard to propel herself to her assertion: all the impatience and restlessness in April are the signs of people's lust for spring. Later on in the text, Holmes mentions how she brought a comfortable chair for her balcony and (admittedly) watched an episode of Orphan Black on her table with her feet propped up on the railing. Through this, Holmes openly shows that she is just one of many people enjoying the warmth and the good-hearted air in the spring, and ultimately forms a connection with the audience who are trying to enjoy their perfect day of spring.
            Through her use of anecdotes, Linda Holmes is able to smoothly introduce her ideas and form connections with her readers. She asserts that everyone has been waiting for  the spring, and all the agitation going around this time of the year shows that people are dying for that day when the weather would finally get warm enough for the stupid jackets to come off. Lucky for them, for as Holmes states at the very end of her article, "Lust so rarely comes with a guarantee."

TOW #23 - Ken Ham: The Unbiblical 'Noah' is a Fable of a Film by Ken Ham

Noah is a 2014 film in which a man is given a divine mission to save creation from a great flood by building an Ark. Based on the famous Bible story...or is it?

                 

            Ken Ham makes it clear that he is not a fan of the recent movie "Noah" in his article "Ken Ham: The Unbiblical 'Noah' is a Fable of a Film." Ham, who reveals himself as an Creationist and a believer of the biblical account of Noah and the Flood, admits that Noah may be the worst film that he's ever seen and argues that it is a very inaccurate account of the story from the Bible. He further claims that the film insults many aspects of the Christian beliefs, and that because of this, Hollywood will "have a much harder time in marketing future biblically themed movies to Christians.

            The key technique that Ham uses to defend his position is the comparison between  the movie and the actual Bible. The author first admits that to some degrees, the movie did have Biblical references. It is true that Noah and his family's names were all accurate, that the Ark in the  film was "true to the massive biblical proportions," and that there were many animals that boarded the Ark. However, the Ark illustrated in the movie did not look like a seaworthy vessel, and there were far more animals in the ark than the needed pairs of each kind of animals. Unlike the Bible which explains that the sins that the people committed were rebellion against God and man's atrocity to man, the film depicts the people's destruction of the earth as the main sin. Ham also points out that for a movie that is supposedly based on Christian ideas, it does a horrible job depicting Noah, who apparently gets the idea of building the Ark after drinking some kind of potion, and his grandfather Methuselah, who is like a witch doctor. To further prove that there are signs of "biblical fidelity" in the film, he compares the openings of the film and the Bible. The two seem to have very different ideas about the existence of God because while the former starts out as "In the beginning there was nothing," the latter starts out as "In the beginning God [...]." Ham also believe that the directors of the film got the message of the story wrong, because in the Bible, the account of the Flood is about judgment, mercy, and salvation, while the account in the film was solely focused on judgment. Just for the record, Ham still does not understand why some Christian leaders have recommended this movie when the movie is "so anti-biblical that it will do more harm than good in relation to the Christian faith and the Word of God."

            Using comparisons to effectively guide through his arguments, Ham successfully asserts that the film Noah is a very inaccurate account of the famous story from the Bible, and that the movie may offend many Christians with its pagan ideas. Through his argument, Ham's audience of Bible-believers would be able to understand that watching the movie  is not a great strategy of evangelism, and that they should find some other forms of biblical entertainment instead.

TOW# 22 - BMW Advertisement

BMW used glare! The wild Jaguar is paralyzed! It may be unable to move!

                                                

            Advertisements play a big role of introducing new products and influencing consumers to buy them. BMW's advertisement successfully manages to do both with a simple photo. The ad does not have any text, but it is obvious that the message of the ad is "BMW is better than Jaguar" by using humor. The clever features of the picture will most likely a person captivated by the car, or make him crack a smile at the very least.

            The first thing that pops out at the audience is the shapes of headlights and bumpers of both cars that resemble human facial expressions. With circular headlights, Jaguar looks like a scared kitten while BMW with its wide headlights looks like a glaring predator, waiting to strike its opponent. After one look it is clear which car is the domineering one.  This car ad takes advantage of pareidolia, a phenomenon in which people see human faces in practically anything, to cleverly establish ethos with its audience. I certainly used to see many different "faces" of cars when I was little, and I am sure that many other people did too.  Once the main idea settles into the audience's minds, other little details that makes the ad effective start to stand out.

            The designer of the ad brilliantly took the photo so that the two cars are so close to one another, making it seem like the two cars are "fighting face to face." The fact that the picture of the BMW takes up two-thirds of the whole ad while the Jaguar is in less than a third, however, seems to emphasize the dominance of BMW by making the Jaguar look like it is backing up cowardly from its "snarling" predator. If one looks at the Jaguar carefully, he can notice that the Jaguar symbol on top of the car hood is showing its back to the BMW, further making  the Jaguar look like a "scaredy cat." The absence of texts and complex background actually adds onto the overall "tension" of the two cars because there are no distractions. This fight is just between BMW and Jaguar, and it is clear which one will triumph.

             All these elements of the picture contribute to the overall humor in order to make the ad hilarious and persuasive. The designer obviously did a phenomenal job personifying both cars and creating a tense yet amusing kind of a mood. This is the kind of a car ad that grabs people's attention and linger in their minds as they flip through a magazine.

TOW #21 - Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly

Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre on April 14th, 1865.

                                                

            Every event seems to be ordered perfectly so that the assassination would go flawlessly. Most of the people that President Lincoln asked to go turn down his invitations. John Parker, President Lincoln's only body guard with a long history of terrible behaviors, leaves his post to have a long drink with his drinking buddy Charles Forbes. John Wilkes Booth, knowing the play that the Lincolns are watching by heart, creeps behind the President when the punch line "you sockdologizing old man-trap" booms out, causing the audience to explode in laughter. In his book Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever, Bill O'Reilly gives a very detailed account of the day when America's beloved president Lincoln was assassinated in the Ford's Theatre in the midst of the play Our American Cousin by using vivid (graphic) descriptions.

            O'Reilly takes his audience through history by describing each scene, people, and actions with details so striking yet true so that the readers could imagine the whole event as if it is a movie. At one point, the author illustrate the whole action scene right after the crime is committed. Booth hacks down President Lincoln's guest Major Rathbone and hurls his body over the railing, attempting to land like a "conquering hero" but ends up getting his foot hopelessly tangled in the flag's folds. Falling with his "left foot and two hands braced in a bumbling attempt to catch his fall" (O'Reilly 209) Booth breaks the fibula of his lower left leg two inches above the ankle. Split second later, the chaos ensues. "The theater explodes in confusion...men climb up and over the seats, some fleeing toward the exits while others race to the stage, hoping to climb up into the box and be part of the action. Women faint. Children are trapped in the panic" (O'Rielly 210). In here the descriptions are used to vividly show the chaos in a fast paced manner. The description of each action as the time passes by makes the whole event more gripping for the readers.

            However, once things start to settle, O'Reilly's descriptions start to illustrate the scene and the people more than they illustrate the actions in order to slow down the time as Lincoln's life slips away. Only when Lincoln is stripped down to further examine the wounds does O'Reilly recall that the president's upper body still possesses "the lean musculature of the young wrestler renowned for feats of strength," the very appearance that "is in marked contrast to that famously weathered face" (O'Reilly 223). As people carry his body to a place where doctors could properly examine him, O'Reilly describes the procession to be "lit by that murky yellow light from the tar torches" (O'Reilly 224). The author describes the room where the President spent his last moments to be "ten feet wide and eighteen feet long, furnished with four-poster bed, table, bureau, and chairs" (O'Reilly 226) and ironically, the exact room John Wilkes Booth rented three weeks ago. Lincoln "draws his last breath at seven twenty-one" and his heart "beats for another fifteen seconds, then stops altogether at ten seconds past seven twenty-two A.M." (O'Reilly 231). Silver coins are placed on his black and blue eyes and his arms are folded across his chest. Here, O'Reilly does a phenomenal job slowing down time to illustrate Lincoln's dragged on battle with his death. Instead of quickly summarizing the whole event, O'Reilly allows the readers to actually be in the historical event through their minds by setting up all the vivid details.

TOW #20 - New Report Confirms You Are Most Interesting, Most Important Individual On Earth from the Onion

Writing Goals:

To analyze, not summarize. To go back to my thesis and support my analysis.

Reading Goals:

To read a writing with a deeper meaning that requires an higher level close reading and annotating.

You are the most interesting, most important individual on Earth...or are you?

            According to a six-year study that consists of a 220-page report and an analysis of thousand hours, your existence is obviously the most compelling thing on this planet. In New Report Confirms You Are Most Interesting, Most Important Individual on Earth, the Onion claims that the readers, or in this case, you "are the center of everything" (the Onion 7) and cleverly demonstrates the idea of narcissism in a satirical way by using drastic juxtaposition and overly positive diction.

            Throughout the writing, there are numerous examples of when you are compared with other people to illustrate how overly significant you are. Samuel Lerman, the study's lead author, specifically claims that "you are, in short, the only person who matters. The rest of us do not matter" (the Onion 4). Lerman further claims that while your words are "highly desired" and "desperately needed," other people's words are plain "monotony" and "meaninglessness," and that "what other people think or experience is completely irrelevant when compared to even the most minor thoughts and experiences in your everyday life" (the Onion 8). The juxtapositions used here are clearly exaggerated. No matter how important you may be, it wrong to say that the opinions of others are completely irrelevant, and that your existence is the most significant existence in the world. The juxtaposition in the article doesn't actually make you feel better about yourself; it allows you to question whether you are truly important to that drastic extent.

            The Onion also uses overly positive diction to make you as the reader feel like you are important - too important for your own good. Words like "significant," "interesting," and "compelling" describes who you are. Your value to society is "immeasurable," your insights on every topic "well-thought-out", your thought most "profound," your stories most "gripping," and your approval the most "desired"...the list goes on and on. By making countless claims sugar coated with these charming adjectives without giving one actual evidence to support these claims, the fact that this writing is about a scientific research - a research about ever-so-great you - loses all of its credibility. As soon as you as the reader realize that this article is not about the scientific research that you are looking for, you start to realize that this article is not talking about how you are the most significant person on this planet, but that it is talking about narcissism.

            The Onion's article takes the quote "you are the hero of your own story" to a whole new level. By using drastic juxtaposition and overly positive diction, the Onion ingeniously attacks the idea of narcissism indirectly by placing the audience, you, as the main character of the article, because everyone knows that they cannot get enough of your ever-so-"gripping" story.        

TOW #19 - Be one with Flappy Bird: The science of 'flow' in game design by Nick Statt

The game looks simple. The instruction is easily understandable. The game play? Mind-blowing. Meet Dong Nguyen's mobile app game phenomenon Flappy Bird. Making gamers addicted since 2013. Source: news.cnet.com

                It's frustrating as hell, yet pretty much everyone plays it. Dong Nguyen's mobile app game, Flappy Bird, is so addicting to the point where Nguyen took it off from the app store, and in Nick Statt's writing, Be one with Flappy Bird: The science of 'flow' in game design, the author tries to explain the secret behind those addictive qualities and popularity. Statt's answer is pretty simple; arguably, Flappy Bird is a perfect example of a game with the concept of 'flow' , something he describes as a feeling people get from "drugs, from meditation, from spirit rituals" (Statt 6).

                In the beginning of his writing, Statt establishes a connection with his audience of casual gamers by putting himself in the shoes of people who play the highly addicting game. Statt suggests that " While it became well-known for its infuriating difficulty, equally important to its success was what it did to our brains as we found ourselves succeeding at it, a feeling of momentary elation that nestled deep inside our psyches and sent us back for more" (Statt 4). He also claim that releasing "yourself from self-conscious awareness", being "'in the zone'" or "cruising on autopilot" is all the kind of "feeling...every one of us has experienced at one point or another" (Statt 3)." Notice that in these quotes, the author uses the words "our", "ourselves", and "us" in order to imply that the author understands the addictiveness of Flappy Bird simply because he played it himself. Statt knows the experience firsthand, and this gives his credibility a significant boost.

                As readers continue on with Statt's writing, they may notice that the author compares and contrasts Flappy Bird to other games with the 'flow'. Statt mentions classic games like the Tetris, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, modern games like Minecraft, Sims and World of Warcraft, and mobile app games like Drop7 and Threes. All these games and Flappy Bird have one thing in common: they all have the right balance of skill and difficulty for the maximum capacity of entertainment. Then what makes Flappy Bird distinct from others? Arguably, it's the more extreme case of "the contrast between the appearance and reality of its difficulty. Had not the author mention other games to compare and contrast to, the readers would have difficulties of understanding how Flappy Bird was capable of being popular and unique at the same time. Also, knowing some of the games that Statt mentions creates that "Aha" moment that further establishes ethos, ultimately helping the author to easily explain his purpose. 

TOW #18 - Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly

Battle of Sailor’s Creek. Once a place of “outstanding beauty” with “verdant rolling hills” and “virgin forest”, it will soon be “defiled by the ugliness of war” (O’Reilly 67). Both the Union and Confederacy will suffer from huge casualties and deaths. Source: www.civilwar.org

Before revealing the secrets of the assassination of America’s beloved 16^th president to his readers, Bill O’Reilly dedicates an entire section of his book, Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever, to set up the scene. By using vivid imageries and thrilling tone, O’Reilly captures the essence of all the conflicts that were going around at the time. I particularly like the action scenes such as “Down the hill they run, caps flying off, curses streaming from their mouths” (O’Reilly 71) because they make the story more captivating. The book starts at April of 1865, the time of Civil War. Lincoln, with only fourteen days to live, is burdened by the reality of the war. His favorite general, Ulysses S. Grant, is on his journey to capture the arguably greatest Confederate general, Robert E. Lee, in hopes to end the atrocious conflict once and for all. Grant let Lee go once out of military compassion once, but this time he will stop his enemies from reaching the Carolinas, where Lee’s enforcements and supplies are waiting. Lincoln visits City Point, Virginia, where the Union troops just recently won a significant battle. The president declares, “Thank God that I have lived to see this. It seems to me that I have been dreaming a horrid dream for four years, and now the nightmare is gone,” (O’Reilly 25) but he is wrong. There are only twelve days to go until a certain doom. Meanwhile, Lee’s troops march on without proper clothing, foods, and sleeps because of the constant fear of being surrounded by the union army. Many people give up the march because of the starvation, and to make the matters worse, the Battle of High Bridge and the Battle of Sailor’s Creek cost the Confederacy countless lives. With Lee on the verge of losing, Lincoln orders the final plan to end the Civil war to be executed. In the midst of all these chaos, John Wilkes Booth, the soon-to-be assassin of Lincoln, is gathering allies and making plans to kill the President. Lincoln has eight days to live. The clock continues ticking.

IRB #3 - Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever

Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard’s Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever is an history book that reads like a thriller. O’Reilly explains at the very beginning of the book that only few people know the true account of the events that lead up to the murder of America’s well respected 16^th President. The author then guarantees that the contents in the book will disturb the readers, but also teach them how Lincoln’s murder changed the course of American history. To me, Lincoln is a great role model, a hero who had a humble beginning and a legendary ending,  and I always was eager to learn a bit more about his life, or in this case, death. I have heard of many conspiracy theories about the President’s unfortunate fate in the past, and I knew that this book would be perfect for me to reveal what happen during his final days using credible primary and secondary sources. Through this book, I hope to understand the connection between Lincoln’s death and Civil War, the specific causes of animosity toward him, the steps John Wilkes Booth had to take in order for a successful assassination, and the alternative ending had the President lived longer.

TOW #17 - Mental Health Care Access vs. Gun Access by Nick Anderson

Firearms can be exceptionally deadly when placed in the wrong hands. This political cartoon reveals its solution to the gun violence problem in U.S. Source: politicalhumor.about.com

                                   

            Nick Anderson's single-panel cartoon shows a guy who looks a little like a nutcase and another man, who looks a bit more "civilized" than the guy mentioned before,  smoking calmly while sitting in an armchair. The crazy-looking guy is at the bottom of the stairs that is labeled as "ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE" while the civilized man is on the very top of the stairs. Nearby the lunatic, there is a gun store that is covered with signs like "COME RIGHT IN", "WELCOME", "OPEN", and "GUNS!!" with a smiley face. Of course, the crazy-looking guy is googly-eyeing the gun store with a goofy grin on his face. Even though this cartoon does not have any kind of speech bubbles or elaborate pictures, the cartoonist manages to make his message very clear: With the increased level of difficulty of obtaining a mental health care, more and more mentally unstable people are getting their hands on deadly firearms. Cartoon readers and other members of the audience could easily see that the slope of the stairs is unbelievably steep while the gun shop is literally only a few steps away from the lunatic. The steepness of the stairs represents the overwhelming challenge people must face in order to get access to mental health care while the closeness of the gun store symbolizes the easy accessibility of guns, rifles, and other weapons. Also, compared to the boring looking white staircase, the gun store with all the fancy and welcoming signs makes the latter look more...well, welcoming. After Anderson makes a connection between  the two different topics, it becomes more clear to the audience members that in order to lessen all the gun violence in U.S. and possibly the whole world, they first need to lessen the number of mentally unstable people who might cause violence because of their lack of rational judgments.  And what better way to lessen the number of mentally unstable people is there than to lower the slope of the "ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE" staircase? I think that Nick Anderson managed to get a clear message across by using very clever symbols.

TOW #16 - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Review by Zaki Hasan

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the second movie in The Hobbit trilogy. Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, continues his journey with the Wizard Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves in order to reclaim the Dwarven Kingdom from the evil dragon Smaug. Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

                Zaki Hasan, a hardcore Lord of the Ring fan, gives his candid opinion of the movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug to his fellow audience of movie-lovers. At first, he writes his previous experience of the Lord of the Ring trilogy a little over eleven years ago when he "Could. Not. Wait" (Hasan 1) for the saga's continuation. Hasan claims to have "enjoyable enough experience" with the first movie of The Hobbit trilogy, An Unexpected Journey, but not enough for him to watch it "an embarrassingly high number of times in the theater, and a few more times on home vid" like he did with The Fellowship of the Ring, the first movie of the Lord of the Ring trilogy. However, the biggest letdown was the recent movie The Desolation of Smug which Hasan describes it as "a three hour story with no beginning and no end" with "lots of middle" (Hasan 2-3). Don't get him wrong, he loves how the cast returns, including the elf archer Legolas played by Orlando Bloom, but he believes the movie to be "simply too much time spent servicing too little". He explains how Tolkien's book is a "breezy 300-page confection" while the trilogy Peter Jackson is making is a "nine-hour behemoth" (Hasan 5) out of it. Hasan admits that he sees the concept "why make one flick, or even two, when you can just as well make three movies, and three times the coin? After all, there were three hugely-successful Lord of the Rings movies, right?" (Hasan 6) but argues that Lord of the Ring trilogy was each movie adapted on one book while The Hobbit is forcing one book to be three movies to the point that the movies almost are their own separate entities. Hasan makes his review credible and effective by juxtaposing one Tolkien's trilogy with another. I believe that little humorous comments he makes during the review - like when he references The Desolation of Smaug as "a desolate slog" (Hassan 8) - make the readers to easily share his views.

TOW #15 - The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson

A farm in Iowa. "About 95 percent of Iowa's landscape is still farmed. Iowa's farms produced more in value each year than all the diamond mines in the world put together. It remains number one in the nation for the production of corn, eggs, hogs, and soybeans, and is second in the nation in total agricultural wealth, exceeded only by California, which is three times the size. Iowa produces one-tenth of all America's food and one-tenth of all the world's corn" (Bryson 172-173). Source: www.secondshelters.com

                                                                                          

            In a chapter in The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, Bill Bryson talks about Iowa and its last golden age of the family farm to get his readers to understand a bit more about his childhood world. Throughout the chapter, Bryson shows great pride in Iowa's farming by giving interesting facts such as that here were 215,361 farms in the state in 1930 and the absolute maximum  that was predicted was 223,000 farms. As a child, Bryson spent a lot of time in Winfield near where Bryson's father grew up and Bryson's grandparents lived. Bryson describes the Winfield he remembers as a perfect town for a little kid like him because of "its hansom Main Street, its imperturbable tranquility, its lapping cornfields, [and] the healthful smell of farming all around" (Bryson 173). Bryson reminisces about how his grandfather's barn and the fields of corn  looked like the most fun places in the world until he went in and realized that they were really scary places to be. Whether he was drinking Nehi brand pop, watching TV that had seven channels (more than what he had at home), having supper provided by a group of chuckling women all named Mabel, watching tornadoes from safe distance, sleeping under piles of blankets, overcoats, tarpaulins, and old carpets or viewing a town called Swedesburg  from the windows, Bryson remembers that there was always some sort of strange adventures waiting for him down on the farm. However, Bryson expresses his sorrow at the end when he informs the readers that the Winfield that he used to know "is barely alive" and that the best thing that he can say is that he "saw the last of something really special." Throughout the chapter, the author uses a lot of vivid details, metaphors, similes and hyperbole to get the readers to almost actively feel what he is feeling. I think that sentences such as "If you so much as flexed a finger or bent a knee, it was like plunging them into liquid nitrogen" (Bryson 184) are effective in captivating audiences.