TOW #7: First Kill the Witches. Then, Celebrate Them (Non-fiction)

               Published in the New York Time's editorial pages, the article First Kill the Witches. Then, Celebrate Them by Stacy Schiff explores the origins of one our country's favorite holidays: Halloween. Especially fitting for this time of the year, Schiff's article looks into the causes of a holiday that essentially celebrates objects which have historically been looked down upon. In her exploration of such an evolution, Schiff speaks to the flaws of American culture, negating it as being especially superficial in its ideals and prone to make mockery of past tragedies. She utilizes a variety of different rhetorical devices in order to achieve such a purpose, the most prominent being her use of situational irony and satire. Allowing her to add an element of humor to her article, these devices are exceptionally successful at bringing the true purpose of the article to fruition.
            Motivated by the fall weather and the coming of such a beloved holiday season, Stacy Schiff decided to take a look into the history of Halloween, primarily focusing on the evolution of witches in American culture. She begins by sharing the findings of her interviews with residents of Salem Massachusetts about witches. Such an interview demonstrates Schiff's use of situational irony within her text to facilitate the meaning to be taken away from the article. The interview showcases a dramatic lack of knowledge toward the historic Salem witch trials, ultimately allowing Schiff to argue her point further. However, with this all being said, Schiff also utilizes the humorous element of satire to keep her article from sounding too serious. She not only describes the ironic elements of Halloween but also the what it demonstrates about American culture, in a comedic fashion. Such a strong control of language is was truly marks success in Schiff's article by allowing her to point out the issues with one of America's holidays without placing blame on the practice itself.

TOW #6: Ad Promoting Rear View Camera (Visual Text)

       

                 In 2012, Toyota released their first ever Prius car with added rear view camera. It was an all new design for the time and was congruently hailed for its added safety benefits. Soon after its release date, this ad, and ones very similar to it, were published across the United States as a clever way to promote the Toyota company's new Prius car. It is easy to infer that the intended audience for such a visual text were any drivers considering buying a new car. Going of that knowledge, the purpose of such a visual is then revealed. With this ad, the Toyota company hoped to persuade such consumers to consider buying their car over competitors due to the added safety features. The ad was especially successful as an advertisement due to its subtle humor, facilitated by allusions to traditional advertising slogans, as well as an appeal to pathos and logos which added a more personal element for its audience.

                 Upon first view of the advertisement, it is the infamous slogan "as seen on TV" which sticks out most. It is also what is most telling to the purpose of the visual. These four words serve to poke fun at traditional advertising techniques as well as tell the audience what their new car offers. Essentially, it depicts the images that may possibly be seen through the rear view camera, allowing viewers to infer what tragedies would be avoiding in seeing such things. By utilizing the image of a young toddler, the visual also strongly appeals to pathos in showing an emotional pull toward the innocence of childhood. This is also what serves as a strong appeal to logos. By not directly stating what is being depicted within the image, it allows the audience to infer the logical implications of not being able to view the image of the young child. Overall, it was this intelligent use of rhetorical devices that allowed the advertisers to accomplish their purpose. 

TOW #5: The Forest Unseen, April 8th: Xylem (non-fiction)

           In his book, The Forest Unseen, biologist and professor David Haskell tracts the happenings of one square meter of forest throughout the duration of an entire year. It is through the lens of this square meter of forest that Haskell is able to draw fundamental conclusions about the synergy of life on this planet and create a dynamic understanding of the interactions of all life on earth -- human life included. In this particular chapter, as the title indicates, Haskell takes a particular look at the xylem of plants; the vascular tubes within plants that allow for the transfer of water and sugars. He takes a unique perspective at such a topic, intertwining it with its implications to other life processes, all of which leave a lasting impact on the reader, however, it is not simply what is being said that makes this book so successful; it is the way with which it is said. Through the use of powerfully poetic syntax and insightful extended metaphors, Haskell is able to inform the general public about the biological systems which they themselves are involved.
          What makes this book different from many of its kind is Haskell's anapestic syntax, which allows him to tell his story of biological significance in a way that is most aesthetically pleasing -- a combination of poetry and prose. This unique syntax to such a topic is seen in the breakup of his paragraphs, leaving lines such as "the forest lives" (Haskell 70) in separate lines as a way to add emphasis. His use of extended metaphors are another branch of his writing style that add strength to his work. These extended metaphors are seen in his description of spring awakening in the forest as being, "like a tide rising" and then continuing the metaphor to describe how "the upward surge floods the mountain side with a sense of renewal" (Haskell 71). This characteristic, which is certainly more prominent in poetic works, is what give his writings value to his audience. Like famed biologist before him, Rachel Carson, Haskell takes a new perspective to scientific writing, opening it up to a much broader audience. He is extremely successful in doing so, with his greatest dexterity being his ability to avoid simply telling facts about forest, but  rather, his ability to tell its narrative.
     

TOW #4: Survival of the Sickest (IRB)

            In his classes at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Dr. Sharon Moalem's main goal is to completely alter the current understanding of illness for his students. It wasn't until 1990, during the initial emergence of evolutionary medicine as a field of study, that Moalem decided to publish these revolutionary ideas on illness into a complete and coherent piece of literature. This work, titled, Survival of the Sickest, examines the reasons for many conditions that are diseases today and why he believes they actually gave a leg up in what he calls "survival sweepstakes". In Survival of the Sickest, Moalem takes the fundamental idea taught in his classes and generalizes it to wider perspective, expanding it past the science field and thus to a greater audience -- the general public. His true goal in writing this book is not simply to provoke a new way of thinking towards biological sciences (though he does make a point to prove why it is necessary in such an area of study) but, rather, to inspire a new way of thinking in all areas of life in order to end parochialism.
              Though I've only completed half of the book, a significant amount of rhetorical devices utilized by Dr. Sharon Moalem have already become apparent. So far in the book, Moalem has successfully used appeals to logos, satirical humor, and simple diction in order to form a connection with audience members as a way to convince them of the negatives associated with parochial thinking. His appeals to logos include many references to statistics taken from The World Health Organization and a vast amount of medical studies. These statistics then serve to give numerical value to the points Moalem makes, giving logical reasoning to negate simple, linear thought. His humor is utilized in order to create an enjoyable flow to his writing and effectively overcome the negative connotation toward scientific writing. Most effective, however, is his use of the vernacular to describe fairly complex scientific concepts to the everyday person. This simple choice of diction allows for audience members to understand arguments being presented. It is this break from traditional didactic writing that makes the book so successful in achieving its purpose.