TOW #10- Nonfiction Text 1

     With Thanksgiving just around the corner, November could not be a better time to give thanks.  Whether it means expressing gratitude towards your friends, family, or even the stranger that stops the elevator doors from closing in on you, being thankful not only lifts the spirits of others, but also your own.  In the opinion article from The New York Times, "Choose to Be Grateful.  It Will Make You Happier", Arthur C. Brooks appeals to logos by providing examples of specific studies and includes a personal anecdote in order to argue his assertion that being grateful leaves the positive impact of making a person happier.
     In order to prove the great cure to chronic grumpiness is an unexpected dose of appreciation, Brooks appeals to logos with the support of different scientific studies based off of gratitude.  Results showed that happiness follows right behind being thankful when "researchers in one 2003 study randomly assigned one group of study participants to keep a short weekly list of the things they were grateful for, while other groups listed hassles or neutral events".  When the 10 weeks of research were over, the first group reported significant "greater life satisfaction" than the others.  By providing real life experiments that exemplify his argument, Brooks is able to appeal to the logical thinkers in his audience, and show that there is scientific truth that gratitude can stimulate joy within a person.
     After making his argument, Brooks includes a personal anecdote that illustrates the theory in use.  He explains that in the past, he "published a book about charitable giving" and allowed his audience to give him feedback in the form of radio and email.  However, one night, he received an email from somebody with differing beliefs than his.  The email read, "you are a fraud" and "in brutal detail, [gave] a case against every chapter of my [Brooks's] book".  While a response like this would typically bring somebody a feeling of ingratitude, Brooks had a feeling of appreciation that somebody had at least read his book.  He included this feeling in his email back to the reader, and "felt great writing it".  This personal experience supports Brooks's argument in a different way from the research examples.  Rather than only appealing to logos, this broadens his audience by appealing to pathos on the more intimate level with the author.  By using a story from his past, he is able to give an everyday example of thankfulness and happiness coming hand-in-hand.
     When people are thankful, they not only create an optimistic atmosphere for others around them, but they also create one in themselves.  In "Choose to Be Grateful.  It Will Make You Happier", Arthur C. Brooks makes an appeal to logos with various examples of scientific studies and includes a personal anecdote of his own experience in the happiness that is caused from being grateful.  So be grateful this Thanksgiving: not only may it become a good habit, but there may be something else to come out of it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/opinion/sunday/choose-to-be-grateful-it-will-make-you-happier.html?ribbon-ad-idx=8&src=trending&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Trending&pgtype=article

TOW #9- Visual Text

   Dreaming is one of life's biggest mysteries.  There is no explanation to the absurd dreams that people experience, nor the strange way that time seems to pass during them.  In Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Memory", he uses juxtaposition of place and a distinct surrealist style in order to represent that the passing of time within a dream is enigmatic.
    Known for frequent use of the desert in his paintings, Dali has a reason for his seemingly random setting.  Through the juxtaposition of place and the objects within, he is able to create a dream-like feeling for his artwork.  One of the things that is most intriguing about this piece is his placement of both clocks and tabletop-like shapes in such a place that they would normally never be seen.  In a dream, the logical reasoning of things such as placement and setting almost never makes sense. Through Dali's strategic choice in background, he is able to replicate the mysterious feeling that is often felt while dreaming.
     Perhaps the most widely-known object that Salvador Dali has ever painted are the four melting clocks depicted in "The Persistence of Memory".  In order to display the obscurity of time during a dream, he places a very distinct surrealist style on the clocks.  Through this decision, he is making a direct analogy to his purpose: the distortion of the clocks symbolizes the distortion of time.  Dali also shows this in the melting of the sleeping face on the ground.  By using this style in both the clocks and the figure that is experiencing the dream, he is able to effectively tie the two together to communicate the impenetrable passing of time within a dream.
     For many, "The Persistence of Memory" may actually cause a lot of confusion, which is why it is most effective.  Salvador Dali is able to place the viewers into the dreamlike realm of this piece.  Through juxtaposition between place and objects, and his surrealist style, Dali is able to show that the passing of time within a dream is both puzzling and impossible to keep track of.

IRB Intro #2

      My current independent reading book, 11 Days In December by Stanley Weintraub, is an unheard of Christmas story.  Based on the final winter of World War II, this story takes a look into the individual lives of the soldiers fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.  Despite their struggle to survive through the cold and weary holiday season spent far from home, these men never surrender to the opposing German side.  Stanley Weintraub reveals not only how the WWII heroes withstood harsh conditions, but he also shows the side that many don't see: how they withstood Christmas in the midst of a deadly battle.  I was interested in reading this book because I have a new found love of American history, and really enjoy watching movies based off of its events in the past.  The genre is also very different from what I would usually pick, so I found it both refreshing and helpful in gaining experience with a variety of texts.  Plus, it is a Christmas story which I found most appropriate for the upcoming month!

TOW #8- IRB second half

    For a teenager living in 21st century America, daily hardships may include homework, busy schedules, or parental misunderstandings.  For the three lost boys of Sudan, who are also the authors of They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, these struggles would be looked at as luxuries.  In their collaborative novel composed of their three separate journeys to freedom, Benson Deng, Alepho Deng, and Benjamin Ajak, display perseverance during the Sudanese Civil War with a series of descriptive anecdotes and a hopeful mood that is created throughout the book.  By utilizing these devices, the boys are able to show their audience what a daily hardship looks like to the children of Sudan.
     They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky consists of alternating descriptive anecdotes from the time between the boys' separation and their reunion.  Although these stories may be cruel, upsetting, and unworldly seeming, the boys experienced every single one of them.  Benson explains that when he and the lost boys he was traveling with left Natinga, their search for water was even more desperate than usual.  He remembers, "our mouths and throats [were] so dry it hurt to breathe", and being so thirsty that "we  collapsed on the ground" (245).  By describing how deprived they were of something simple like water, Benson is able to show the audience of people who have never experienced similar feelings how much the lost boys had to overcome.  In a world where most people have access to unlimited water at their convenience, it is shocking to hear that these boys were so thirsty that they "imagined the smell of water" (245).  With including their struggle to find such a basic need such as water, the boys are able to show the different meanings of the word "hardship" from their point of view and kids who aren't living through a civil war.
     Despite all of the life threatening encounters that the boys face during their journey to freedom, they all remain hopeful.  Through their determination, not only are they able to survive, but they also set a hopeful mood across the text to show their perseverance.  When Benson had to hide inside of a thorn bush to avoid being captured, he tried not to think about pain that he was feeling.  Instead, he explains how "Inside me, the feelings of how happy I would be to reach the camp allowed me to forget the pain of each step" (244).  He then flipped his perspective on the scars he would have from the thorn bush, stating, "I hoped that any scars would forever be a sign of my successful escape" (244).  By looking at his situation in a positive way, Benson is not only able to show his endurance but he also shows the audience that hope was really the only thing he had left to rely on.  Even when it seemed nearly impossible to find, Benson used every bit of optimism left inside of him.
     Through all three of these lost boys, a story of determination despite all odds is told.  In They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, the boys are able to put their descriptive anecdotes and hopeful mood to good use in order to educate their audience on the overlooked situation of the Sudanese Civil War.  In the end, Benson, Alepho, and Benjamin were no longer "lost boys", but boys who have found well deserved peace and freedom in their now forever home of San Diego, California.