TOW #21: Crying for Someone We Don't Know

     Within the past few months, the world has become all too familiar with the deaths of many cultural icons. As part of a culture that often idolizes people that may (or may not) have talent, it is easy to see the monumental impact that it has had on our society as a whole. One thing is for sure: we may not all get along, but when a singer dies, we can all mourn together. In an article published in the Courier Mail, Karen uses parallel structure in order to prove why it has become socially acceptable to mourn the death of a person we have never even known.
     Even though there are occasions when a fan gets to meet their favorite celebrity, there are many times when a loyal fan is left admiring from afar. Brooks states that we have "adored their films,  listened to their music, read their words, and identified with the many roles they've played." These people are such a large part of our lives as we have the ability to completely consume ourselves with their work. The repetition of the suffix of "-ed" stresses how many different things a loyal fan may do. This shows the complete infatuation with that particular person that plays a role in the eventual mourning of them. Fans realize that they no longer will be able to receive any new forms of their work which is s large part of their depression during that time.
     But, they have not only lost entertainment but also a possible friend. Celebrities have the power to influence and change someone's entire life. Brooks states that celebrities "give us insights into our own emotional make-up, help us discover our flaws and strengths, navigate our way through different eras, relationships, politics, and maybe also help us find friends." The repetition of a verb and "us" creates a list of all of the positive aspects of being emotionally attached to a celebrity. It sheds light on the fact that many fans view these celebrities as actually friends that have had positive impacts on their life. It is logical to mourn the loss of a friend as the support that you may need is now gone.
     Brooks was able to achieve her purpose because many people have gone through the same thing. Through social media and all forms of communication, the loss of a celebrity can never go unnoticed, but the community that is built through it is strong. Even though we may not know the celebrity for which we mourn, we know how much they did and how much they personally changed our lives.

TOW #20: The Nazi Officer's Wife (IRB #1)

     The era of World War II is a rather famous one full of rather disturbing executions and heart-wrenching tales of lost family members and disloyalty. Often times, the aspect of this era that is usually told is the one of the actual Holocaust victims, the ones enduring the excruciating pain caused by the supposed superior beings. A perspective explored through my IRB entitled "The Nazi Officer's Wife" touches on a Austrian-born and Jewish woman who changed her identity in order to save herself and the ones she loved. Throughout her memoir, Edith Hahn Beer uses humor to parallel the paralyzingly fearful events that she faced during the Third Reich. 

     The rather humorous aspects of the Third Reich (if someone may believe that they exist) deal with the citizens of Germany and the "terrible things" that they had to face during Hitler's reign. While millions of people were forced into labor camps or gassed to death, citizens of Germany faced a problem. After a while through the war, there were no more onions. Beer states that her coworkers among the Red Cross nurses said that it was because Hitler "needed the onions to make poison gas with which to conquer [their] enemies." According to Beer, it became so much a problem that people started to buy "their onions on the black market." Today, this is a laughable issue to people who can drive to their local grocery store and buy as many onions as they wish. 

     Although this is humorous, it does have quite a seriousness attached to it. Beer claimed that "many citizens of the Third Reich would have gladly forgone the pleasure of gassing the enemy if they could only taste an onion." This relates to an issue that was occurring that would eventually lead to the end of Hitler's reign. Even with a small issue such as the lack of onions, citizens were losing their loyalty to the Furher. By 1943, the whole idea of attacking the enemies seemed to die down, but only as long as someone weren't to say it out loud as they feared being sent to a labor camp.

     The audience of this book can naturally be anyone. I am enjoying the different perspective that it brings from this saddening era of despair. 

     

TOW #19: To My Old Master

     Over the course of United States history, the idea of slavery has been ingrained into everyone's minds through various social studies classes. Often times, an average student will be taught the terrors of slavery and the times when a master may let their slaves go. An aspect of this time period that could possibly be ignored is how an African-American may live their life once they are freed. In a letter entitled "To My Old Master," Jourdan Anderson, a former slave, writes to his old master after he requested that Anderson come back on his farm to work. Through the appeal to pathos and rather abrupt diction, Anderson is able to explain his position on his old master's request.
     Often times, children are not always thought of when the word "slave" comes to mind. Anderson makes the issue with his kids known as he uses the appeal to pathos. He states that "the children [felt] hurt" when people made remarks about them being "colored people" who used to be slaves. It may not seem as important or saddening if an adult gets made fun of because that was normal for that time. But for children, getting bullied can be absolutely devastating, especially because children are commonly the most innocent among people. Anderson explains that the kids are doing well otherwise. They are going to Sunday school, they are successful at their school, and they have a comfortable home. The only thing stopping them from truly succeeding in life is the burden they have of being a part of a used-to-be slave family.
     A surprising aspect of this letter is the balance between the well-written story but the forward attitude toward his own master. To end his letter, Anderson includes a person that he would like to thank "for taking the pistol from [his master] when [he] was shooting" at Anderson while he was leaving. This was a rather sharp ending that seemed odd in a way that Anderson would talk to his old master like that. That being said, this also proves how Anderson owns himself now and he does not wish to return to the farm. He does not wish to return back to the life that he was so happy to leave and he shows that through his tone.
    To conclude, I feel the purpose of this letter was really nothing more than just to communicate to his former master. This also goes with the audience on how he did not have anyone different in mind than his former master. I rather enjoyed this letter and the new perspective it has given me.

TOW #18: Trump Visual Text

     The politics surrounding who the next U.S. President will be has held many captive because of its heavy media presence and some of the rather questionable candidates. Although many may talk about the ridiculousness of these campaigns, some statements and promises that have been made approach serious issues that have become a joke to many. This visual text, centered around one of this year's candidates, Donald Trump, explains Trump's plans to build a wall to keep "unwanted people" out and to protect the United States. This visual text shows rhetorical devices such as contrasting colors and the appeal to pathos in order to prove to the audience how many people should not feel too attracted to Trump's outrageous plans.
     The visual uses only black and white to paint its picture which can symbolize how Trump's ideas go directly against basic American core values. Not only does America believe in an open invitation to immigrants but also an open border between the U.S. and our Mexican neighbors. This is definitely the opposite to what Trump thinks. Trump has specifically said that he believes that many problems that America faces today is because of people coming into the U.S. that are not originally from here. These contrasting colors also create a dark mood to this cartoon. Trump is threatening many innocent people and this visual text strives to convince people how dark of a person he truly is. He does not believe in equality and and voters should know that this is what he intends to do once he is elected.
     But this is also not the only thing that this visual text was able to accomplish. Through the use of the appeal to pathos, this text was able to show how complicated and upsetting that this world has become due to this campaign. There have been many reports that state that Donald Trump is in first place in the polls and that people who are voting for him believe in the ideas that are represented in this cartoon. This is quite saddening as America is based on freedoms and equality, but many people do not share those same values. Many times, their values are to protect them and not to protect anyone. The ideas behind this entire cartoon are upsetting because this is oppressing many innocent people. This connects to its purpose of proving to people that his ideas should not be favored because of the possibility of him hurting a large amount of people.
     This visual text brings to the table a significant issue that has been the basis of Trump's campaign along with him highlighting racism and his feelings that feel that he is superior. This does not have to be just toward voters because this also reflects the problems of racism where everyone has to be accountable. Because of the media and the intensity of the campaign, cartoons have come out like this one but have not been able to convey the same message that this was able to accomplish.

TOW #17: Stay Sane America, Please!

     The election of 2016 is definitely one that will be remembered in the history books. Not only are the campaigns much more prevalent in many American lives, but the candidates and their stresses toward one another can be perceived as being rather entertaining. People who do not usually pay attentions to elections are waking up out of the shadows and starting to create political opinions while promising that they are going to participate in the voting process. An article titled "Stay Sane America, Please!" describes how this specific election is progressing and takes a humorous tone on how to handle this unusual situation in order to convince Americans to calm down.
     I rather enjoyed this article as it takes a lighter approach to the election. For non-political scientists and generally people are not too invested into the election, this article would be extremely helpful. It describes what is happening and who "is in the lead," but the author includes humorous phrases that change this serious and complicated situation into a simple and entertaining show that all American citizens have the pleasure (or displeasure) to watch. Just by the title, a reader can set their mind into the mood of the article. The author is basically calling out all the Americans who are obsessing over this election and making it a bigger deal than it has to be. Yes, this is the election that decides who will preside over all of us for the next 4 years, but the worrying does not have to start until the end of the summer.
     Not until the very end of the article does the author provide a logical approach to look at the situation. He asserts that "the electorate is going to realize that in an age of dysfunctional government, effective leadership capacity is the threshold issue. That means being able to listen to others, surround yourself with people smarter than you, gather a governing majority and above all have an actual implementation strategy." He then concludes by saying that Trump, Cruz, and Sanders (the candidates the article focused on) do not possess any of these capabilities. That being said, it helps out the reader by returning their sanity as they have just read all of these arguments about the candidates and may feel overwhelmed by how complex the election really is.
     Overall, I believe that the purpose of the article was really just to prove that the amount that the media is controlling this entire situation is astronomical. All people really talk about is their disapproval for these candidates and the author just wanted to tell people that it is not necessary to spend all your time on this absurdness. The election is an important time, but the voters involved in this decision cannot have a jumbled mess in their brain when they need to rely on it the most.

IRB Intro Post #3

The book that I decided to read this marking period is called "The Nazi Officer's Wife" which is an autobiography by Edith Hahn Beer. I was recommended this book by a family member, and I am excited to read it. I am quite interested in the World War II era. The life of a Nazi officer, let alone an officer's wife, is an aspect of this era that is often left untold. I am interested to see her perspective in this infamous time.

TOW #16: Running with Scissors (IRB #2)

     My life can be described as being quite normal. My parents are happily married, I have a good relationship with my siblings, and I have a stable household. This is not the case for Augusten, the main character of my IRB for this marking period. When reading the beginning of this memoir, I was originally just confused. Many crazy things were happening all at the same time that I had no idea how to relate to. Augusten's mother was seeing a psychiatrist who turned out to adopt Augusten after he labelled Augusten's mother as being unfit to take care of him. Also, the environment that the psychiatrist lived in was a mess as he had many of his patients live with him and uncontrollable children.
     A lot of this content, as mentioned before, were problems that I was not familiar with. The reviews that I read before starting my IRB definitely did not lie - there was a lot of mature content in it. It made me feel out of my comfort zone for awhile, but because there is enough of it, I got used to it and I learned how to separate it from overall analysis of my IRB. Do I believe it added to the story? Yes because it explored a teenager growing up and finding his sexuality. I feel that it was inevitable.
     I realized that this entire book has a confusing tone. It is rather informal as there are quite a lot of expletives used, yet there are many serious topics. Mental illness, abandonment, drugs, sexuality and love are all explored throughout this book that I believe support its purpose. This part of Augusten's life that is explored is a confusing, informal and very serious time in his life. He is faced with so many abnormal situations that make his life difficult to live, but he learns how to deal with them.
     After reading this book, I definitely believe that his purpose is to show how to deal with problems that make your life complicated. Whether it is losing contact with a parent, moving into a strange environment, or facing temptations with drugs and alcohol, life can have many twists and turns. Augusten always analyzed his life and wrote it down in a journal. He shared his feelings, he talked with others, and he did not allow himself to be consumed by his feelings. This is an important lesson to share, and one that I hope to utilize in my life. This book may not be designed for everyone with its mature content, but it can definitely speak to any teenager. No, I don't have addicts for parents or my own addiction to cigarettes, but I sometimes struggle with the same internal issues that Augusten wound up sharing with the entire world.