TOW #3- Non-fiction text

      Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology, Sherry Turkle, takes a strong position on the effects of technology on today's conversations.  In her recent opinion article in The New York Times, Stop Googling. Let's Talk, Turkle focuses on how the age-old face-to-face conversation is being replaced by text messages and the distraction of the cell phone.  With careful analyzation of the human race, she draws the conclusion that our capability of holding a conversation is worsening as a result of everyday technology.  Through "studying the psychology of online connectivity for more than 30 years", she includes a number of different resources in her article, ranging from children to college students.  In one of the mentioned studies, a team at the University of Michigan "found a 40 percent decline in empathy among college students, with most of the decline taking place after 2000".   By including this research in her text, Turkle appeals to logos by providing scientific proof to her audience.  This shows that there is more than just daily observations and scenarios supporting her claim.  

     Sherry Turkle also utilizes satire in her writing, not only targeting the "digital generation" but also including herself in the accusation.  Throughout her article, she constantly uses the words "we" and "our".  For example, she states that "we've gotten used to being connected all the time, but we have found ways around conversation".  This point of view in which she is satirizing not only forces the reader to admit to themselves that they value time on their phone more than genuine discussion with somebody, but it also establishes a sense of credibility about herself.  It makes the reader feel less criticized, but still has the effect that it needs in order to make the audience find fault with themselves.  Turkle also does this in an effort to show the reader how almost everybody can be impacted by these side effects of text messaging and apps; she doesn't try to put herself on some type of pedestal.  

     Through the use of these rhetorical strategies, Turkle is successfully able to make her audience aware of the consequences of relying too much on technology for communication.  However, at the end of her article, she makes clear that "we are not looking for simple solutions" but instead, "we are looking for beginnings".  She then goes on to give suggestions on how to possibly begin improving face-to-face conversation, and how sometimes we just need to be put ourselves in an uncomfortable situation; starting a conversation can be risky.  But her point is that without that risk factor, it's becoming more difficult for us to find ourselves.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/opinion/sunday/stop-googling-lets-talk.html?ref=opinion&_r=0  

TOW #2- Non-fiction Text

    Gerald Early's expository essay on the viewpoints of beauty pageants challenges the standard image of the ideal American woman, with the help of the Barbie doll.  In his account, Life with Daughters: Watching the Miss America Pageant found in The Best American Essays of the Century, Early describes his experiences in watching the annual Miss America pageant with his wife and daughters; he also describes the effects it has not only on his own family, but the nation as a whole.  The first Miss America pageant took place in Atlantic City, 1921, with the main intention of crowning the most attractive woman.  At that time, no blacks were allowed to enter the competition.  

    Written in 1990, Gerald Early takes a unique approach in Life with Daughters, explaining his opinon on beauty standards from the perspective of a black father with a family.  Early shares his opinion to a nation where we strive to behold the "perfect", American image.  There are times in the essay where he reflects on small anecdotes from his childhood in the 1960s, a time where the rights between blacks and whites were still struggling to become equal.  He remembers clearly a family photo that was taken from his little sister's confirmation, and the white colored doll she was holding in her hand.  Early explains that she was "proud of the moment and wanted to share it with her favorite toy" (Early 535).  Back then, white dolls were the only option for little girls to play with.  Also, at this time it had not yet been made possible for a black woman to win a Miss America contest.  This created a false portrayal to the nation that the ideal beauty were to be white.  Early later connects this memory to the current day, and how his two daughters often "play Barbies" (Early 546).  His wife is not fond of the girls owning white Barbie dolls due to the stereotypical idea of white being the only color used to represent beauty.  In the end of his essay, Early retells what happened when he joined his daughters to play Barbie and they showed him the white "child" of a Barbie and Ken doll, who both happened to be black.  Early's daughter explains her reasoning with "'we're not racial. That's old-fashioned'" (Early 547).  By 1990, two black woman had won in the Miss America Beauty Pageant, and general beauty standards had finally shifted.  By sharing these experiences, Gerald Early is not only establishing an appeal to ethos and his personal credibility on the situation regarding race and beauty, but he is also conveying his message through the use of an extended metaphor.  Using two stories pertaining to dolls, both from different time periods, Early is able to connect it with the Miss America pageant and convey the overall message that beauty standards were once, and still may be, controlled by racial discrimination.  

    

TOW #1- Visual Text

The following visual text is a political cartoon from the first women’s rights convention, Seneca Falls, in 1848.  This movement was a big step in creating equality between men and women of the time, one of the most relevant fights was the freedom to vote.  The first thing that I realized while viewing this image is that the woman is raveled up in ribbon.  The ribbon binds her legs, arms, torso, and mouth so she is unable to move or speak.  This depiction of the woman is shown as a metaphor, in order to show viewers all of the ways that she is being constrained just for being female.  She feels trapped both physically from all of the laws and customs that suppress her, but she also feels as though she is mute; while she may be capable of talking, it is of no use when nobody is listening.  The interesting part of the ribbon is that it consists of words like “VOTELESS, LIMITATIONS, PREJUDICE and CUSTOM”.  Words like this are meant to evoke emotion inside the viewer, who may not understand what it is like to feel unequal, to show the weakness that many of these women felt while trying to fight for the upper-hand.  

The body language that the woman is portraying also appeals to pathos, and is used to explain what the women were fighting against at the Seneca Falls Convention.  She is leaning forwards, towards the man, with hunched shoulders.  Universally, a tall stance with shoulders back usually represents confidence and independence, which is something that these women did not yet have.  Another component of this visual text that expresses women’s oppression is the placement of the man over the woman.  He is standing on a stage, making himself appear taller than the woman.  This creates a sense of superiority over the woman, displaying the custom of the time that men had authority over female figures.

Overall, this cartoon is a clear representation of what the women of the 1840’s were trying to stop: women’s inequality. The image is simple, yet conveys the message that is needed in order to express the feeling of a woman’s fight.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/420734790165008912/ 

IRB Intro #1

For my first independent reading book of the school year, I chose They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, a nonfiction narrative piece written by “the three Lost Boys from Sudan”; Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, and Benjamin Ajak. With the help and encouragement of their American “caretaker”, Judy A. Bernstein, these boys are able to transform their life story into text and explain what it is like to be a teenage boy in Sudan during a civil war.  From 1983 to 2005, Sudan was a country of chaos over regional disagreement of natural resources.  Being one of many results from the war, this story focuses on the thousands of young Sudanese boys who fled from being captured or killed by the violence in their country.  These refugees, now known as the Lost Boys from Sudan, share their personal stories of escape which were once the same words written in their diaries.  

I chose to read They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky because it seemed to be very different from the genre of reading that I usually enjoy reading.  Typically, I choose fiction over nonfiction.  For no particular reason, I do not tend to choose novels that involve a historical background- I just never really tried them out.  Since this nonfiction book involves a lot of Sudanese history and culture, it is more challenging for me to adjust, compared to past books I have read.  I am excited to continue reading because I feel that it may be a new genre of interest to me.  This exposure of text variety will also prepare me for the AP Exam in May.  Another thing that I hope to learn from reading about the Lost Boys from Sudan is how different their lives are from mine.  Just from reading the first few chapters so far, it is easy for me to see that Sudanese culture is nothing like the American way of life.  While my mom cooks me dinner that comes from the grocery store, these boys are hunting elephants in order for their village to eat.  I have always found myself interested in the diversity of people, and I have realized that this book will expose me to even more.  Through reading these boys’ stories of their journeys from Sudan, I hope to become more aware of the different people, cultures, and environments that are in this world.